Welcome to Paradise Pondering

Welcome to my blog!

First off, thanks for reading!

I just want to take a minute to introduce myself and my "why" for this blog.

My name is Jessica, I am a mother, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a teacher, a community leader for multiple youth activities and most importantly, I am a Christian. Without my faith, I couldn't do all these things, BE all these things in a way that is worthy to those whose lives I affect. For that reason, my faith makes me a better mother, daughter, sister, wife, teacher and leader. I am not better because I force my beliefs on those I am around, I am better because I'm a good person and a good example to others.

I do my best to be a good person and when I ask myself the difference between "good" and "bad," I know the place to find the answer is the Holy Bible. I will be honest, I am not a Bible Scholar, I have not attended any higher education in religion or Bible Study, but I do have strong faith and have had 4 years of formal religion education at a Catholic high school (I am not Catholic, but I have learned very much from the education I received).

As for my "why," this gets tricky and personal. In all honestly, this all started to form in my mind because of a post I saw on social media at one point... don't even know what it was now, but I wanted to rant and rave about it, post some long post in response to the idiot and set him straight. Then I let the idea die, more than once. I said to myself, "no one cares what I have to say on the subject, just scroll on." But what if that's not what it's about??? What if my thoughts and feelings on Bible verses/chapters can bring someone to Jesus? What if I can help someone find the way and the light and the true path to everlasting life through Him? One person... one person and I will have achieved the greatest feat I know. We all sin, no one is perfect, and I will be the first to say, I'm not perfect.

I like to have fun... sometimes, I cuss or drink, I get mad or say something hateful. I'm not a perfect wife, mother, daughter, friend... far from any of those. I fail daily, I fail to be perfect, but that is OK!! And it is ok because I have a lord and savior who loves me just as I am.

Back to how this got started, often times in church when the preacher is reading scripture, I will read a little more of the passage to get a feeling of context. See the preacher has studied the Bible in a way I haven't so sometimes it doesn't make sense to me unless I read a little of what was written before and a little of the after. Anyhow, I came across a couple verses in the Bible that spoke so loudly to me, in a way that made me say, "hmmm, I wonder if I could be a guest speaker at our ladies' ministry sometime and show them this, this right here!" I'm sure I could arrange it, but I decide to go big or go home. So a blog it is!

Here are some things you should know as you read my blog:

1. This is MY blog and MY beliefs, while an open conversation is always welcome, religious debates with unfriendly tones or name calling will be removed from comments. I will not tolerate disrespect. If you're planning to argue with me on the existence of God or Jesus, just move along... I won't engage and will delete your comments. If you don't like what I have to say, please don't feel like you have to come back.

2. The way it works is simple, I will find verses from time to time that speak loudly to me, I will share them with you and my ponderings on them (anyone not from Texas: ponderings are like thoughts). While I don't like being wrong, it may happen from time to time and we may disagree but that's ok. Friendly disagreements are welcome.

3. Sometimes, I ramble... read what you want, skip what you want, but please read it all before you comment. This will save you from embarrassment. It may take me a while, but I do eventually get to the point.

Thats it! Welcome to Paradise Pondering! My hope and prayer is that you will take something positive from reading.