Freedom

I was in church this morning… First off, I woke up at 7 a.m. a half hour before my alarm was due to scream at me with a burning desire I needed to be at church. I spent the hour trying to convince myself that I didn’t need to go and still the desire burned, Jessica, you need to go to church. So I went and when I got there, I swear I was about to have a freaking panic attack something in me was just telling me to turn tail and run as fast as I could. But I didn’t and I had some questions answered and it was just wonderful! I felt a peace sort of come about me after talking with the Guest speaker at our church. So, if you ever wake up feeling like you NEED to go to church, go. Don’t ask questions, just go.

Anyway, the guest pastor, Pastor David, was talking on living in freedom and understanding that freedom doesn’t mean we get to live stupid. Well, while he was talking, I began elaborating in my head.

As we grow older we get more and more freedom. You eventually get to drive, own a car, drink alcohol, carry a handgun, stay out late, do what you want, when life and work doesn’t require you that is..

But with all that comes responsibility, you can drive, but you need to drive safely and respect the vehicles around you and the laws of the road. In order to own that vehicle, you must pay insurance and maintenance on the vehicle. It’s not a bad thing, some times a headache, but we do it because we enjoy the freedom that vehicle allows us to have.

You hit 21, hooray! You can legally drink, however, it also comes with the responsibility of not getting drunk because that can cause health issues and harm (possibly death) to you or others.

You hit 21 and you can carry a handgun! Your responsibility: keep it protected, away from others and children, don’t be careless because that could end very badly for yourself and/or others.

A house! Yes, you can move out, away from your parents, BUT that freedom gives you responsibility for house payments, electric payments, water payments, the whole nine yards. But, once more, it’s not a bad thing. It’s just life. It’s a part of that freedom you have achieved.

So don’t think that just because we got our “freedom” means that we can live carelessly, or act carelessly. It means that we are given an even higher level of responsibility and we should take care of that.

The greater the freedom, the greater the responsibility.

Anyway, I will leave y’all with this.

God Bless,

Jessica

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7 Reasons to Learn Martial Arts

I’m back on the path to starting Mixed Martial Arts… I’m excited! I’m hoping to start tomorrow if everything goes smoothly. I’ve been interested in MMA for several years… Never really took an interest in watching it, but for some reason, MMA… I wanted to learn it. I decided recently that I would invest in a handgun, I’m 20 so I can get my Concealed Carry License next year. (Most 20 year olds are excited about getting to drink legally… not me, I’m excited about getting to Carry legally…). However, I came to a roadblock.

I saved for my handgun, unprepared for how much I would invest into the MMA classes. So, after some questioning and moving things and convincing myself. I settled on the choice to take the MMA classes before getting my firearm.

Some of you may be thinking, “What?! Why would she do that?” Or “The handgun is more effective any day.” Which, is true to a degree. So here are my reasons for taking MMA before I carry a handgun.

1. Even in Texas there are places we CAN’T carry. Hospitals for instance. One in which I will have to attend school in that supposedly has one of the highest rape cases for students in Texas. Therefore, I cannot carry into the hospital and have no real efficient way of defending myself once I make my way to my vehicle.
2. What happens the day you decide to leave your firearm in your vehicle, or at home because you are making a quick run to the store down the road?
3. What happens if someone is up close to you and grabs you before you can draw? For us smaller people we can’t just break loose without having some skill.
4. Say you do break loose, you draw your firearm, what if he anticipates it and takes the gun? Then your done for.
5. On the off chance that multiple people are involved without your knowledge and you have your weapon trained on one person but someone comes behind you and tries to take your firearm?
6. Or worse yet! You have butterfingers because your hands are sweaty and you are stressed because you don’t want to have to shoot anyone and it’s WAY out of your comfort zone and you drop your gun?! That’d just be embarrassing… But you’d have a way to defend yourself without your firearm…
7. Then, what if it’s someone who was close to you? A friend, a family member? Would you really be able to shoot them? Personally, I’d rather be confident that I could hold them until the police got there. Sure, there might be some injuries on their part, even to myself, but to me, it would be better than carrying the guilt of shooting someone I cared about if I could at all help it…

So, to me, these are the reasons I want to learn MMA rather than rely on a weapon. Plus, MMA will keep you active and fit… It’s good for helping to manage anger and stress, it helps with self-control and self-confidence, helps with reaction times… There are so many benefits to learning MMA and personally, I think everyone should learn some form of self defense that doesn’t rely on a weapon for these very reasons, whether it’s MMA, karate, Muay Thai, joint locks, something that will help you defend yourself, keep you active, and allow you to channel stress or anger out of yourself.

And no, I don’t worry over every little thing. I just prefer to take caution. I’m a proactive person, and it would allow me to be more confident in myself. Knowing that if something were to happen, I could likely take care of myself.

Y’all have a good week,

Jessica

Why I Don’t Like Christians

Once again, I hear the devastating effects of the stereo-typed “Christian.” Those judgmental, bible thumpers that put a bad taste in our mouths. Yes, I’m being a bit blunt, but it’s true. They are the reason I… Very strongly dislike the word Christian and don’t refer to myself as a Christian. It’s not all Christians, but it seems like a majority of people who say they are Christian are like this. So it’s not really that I don’t like Christians, I don’t have a problem with them. For a long time, till I figured out how I wanted to phrase it, I referred to myself as a Christian and still do occasionally if I need a short and sweet term for what I believe. I honestly couldn’t think of anything else that was catchy and would stop people, that still went along with my topic…

You see, I know that for many they may truly have a good intent, but when you judge someone harshly it tends to turn them further from God because they think “Well, if this is what God’s followers are suppose to be like, I don’t want any of it.” On top of that, you also are judged and you should be positive that God will not judge you harshly for your passing judgment where judgment should not be passed.

The other thing, don’t be judgmental thinking you are going to change them because

1. It only serves to pull them further from God.

2. We are instructed to love. The bible says it quite plainly in Matthew to LOVE your neighbor as yourself. And for some of us, that really is hard because we don’t love ourselves, so we treat others the way we treat ourselves. If you don’t love yourself, you really should seek council from a pastor or God fearing mentor. Seek God’s love and mercy and grace and forgiveness, and you’ll find love… a love far beyond anything you’ve ever known.

We aren’t instructed to “love if…” if they are atheist, we love them. If they are agnostic, we love them, if they are Jewish, we love them. Catholic, we love them. Non-denominational, Inter-denominational, Baptist, Pentecostal, Homosexual, Transgender, Mentally Retarded, or perfectly functional, WE ARE INSTRUCTED TO LOVE THEM INTO THE ARMS OF GOD! Not judge them and tell them they are going to hell or tell them God won’t love them until, or that God won’t forgive them unless… God loves every person on this earth… Each and every one of us He is waiting for us to run into His arms to accept and claim His love and call him Abba!

I don’t say any of this in a condemning in fact, yet again, we aren’t suppose to condemn people… As followers of God that isn’t our job. Condemnation isn’t even of God. So if you are feeling condemned, know that is not of God, that is what Satan uses… God Convicts… Never condemns… Anyway, I don’t say this to condemn anyone. I am actually immensely excited as I write this because just thinking about how much love my God has for me, and the fact that I am his adopted daughter who He calls His. Fills me with joy! What’s great is it isn’t just me, it’s you too. So don’t ever let anyone affect your walk with God. Don’t let them convince you that you’re going to hell, or God doesn’t love you… Sure, you may have some changes that need to be made, but God will never turn His back on you…

So to those who judge and condemn,

1. Don’t do to others if you wouldn’t want it done to you.

2. Don’t judge harshly, or unfairly and don’t condemn.

Matthew 7:1-5 (NIV)

7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

For those who are the target of a judgmental Christian, I do apologize.. However:

1. Forgive them.
2. Don’t let it sway your walk with God
3. Don’t let it turn you away from God
4. Just tell them God loves you the way you are and you’ll come around when you’re ready.

I’ll leave y’all with that.

Have a wonderful week!

Jessica