Jennifer serves as an ex-officio member of the Worship Committee.
To start, I was raised an atheist -- my parents and siblings still are, so I am, what they would call, the "religious nut" of the family. Their description of these religious nuts? -- stupid, shallow, and weak.
I started on the road to becoming one of these religious nuts in college, when I was dating a guy and noticed that he and his friends were all talking about faith as if it were actually about a real thing -- what I heard in these discussions -- and this was new to me at the time -- was intelligent and thoughtful conversation about God and about the Gospel-- and not anything like the stupid, shallow, weak definition of Christians I had grown up with. Those discussions (and a couple of C.S. Lewis books) did it for me. Not only did I meet the Lord then, I also stayed friends with those folks, and I've been married to that guy I mentioned for 30 years.
However, I should say that at the time of that conversion, I still didn't really become very much of a religious nut -- I was more of a reluctant nut -- I complained all the time about people who said “praise the Lord” too much, I stayed away from anything that had "potluck" in the title, and slid quickly away from anyone who sounded just too bright and spunky. My faith at that time was more an act of the will than of the heart -- I sort of knew what I was supposed to do -- and tried to sort of follow through, but mostly I was scared and uncomfortable -- still hearing the echoes of my family's comments about believers -- wearing the Christian clothes but uncomfortable in them, closing my eyes to reluctantly take each new step I knew I had to take. This act of the will -- of obedience alone -- was, of course, a real conversion -- it just wasn't the end of the story.
What came next, was a transition from mostly an act of obedience to increasingly an experience of the heart -- it has been a gradual transition and a gentle transition -- which came home to me one day when I noticed that I was singing "I'm trading my sorrows for the joy of the Lord," and "I'm desperate for You", and "My Redeemer lives" and actually meaning the words. And the traditional songs that had once been just words I had heard someplace or another -- "Amazing Grace," "How Firm a Foundation," "How Great Thou Art" -- I meant those, too. And then I started thinking that the people who wrote those familiar words also meant them -- and those people were not stupid. They were not shallow. They were not weak. Maybe now I could believe that I wasn't any of those things either.
So now I guess I have to say that I am pretty much a complete religious nut -- both mind and heart transformed, a chicken curry recipe at hand for potlucks, “praise the Lord” even escaping my lips now and then -- and -- well, mostly I'm happy to say that I am truly delighted to be here at FPC. Because my Redeemer DOES live, because Jesus IS my firm foundation, and because Amazing Grace is indeed a sweet, sweet sound.
If money or time were no object, I would vacation in: Alaska (for the scenery), and South America (for the archeology).
My favorite ethnic food is: Norwegian pancakes.
The most thought provoking Christian book I have ever read is: The Peace Maker by: Ken Sande.
My favorite Christian book (not the Bible) is: Mere Christianity by: C.S. Lewis.
My favorite secular book is: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by: Alexander McCall Smith
My favorite movie is: Fargo.
If I knew that I couldn’t fail I would: be a Rock Star!
If I could meet any deceased person (besides Jesus) it would be: Abigail Adams - a cool lady!
If I knew I only had a month to live I would: eat chocolate - lots of it!
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