The Real Me
This week, Mike Foster challenged us to reveal the “real me”.
I think I’ve been pretty real here on my blog when it comes to most of the things in my life. I’ve revealed most everything from a silly random 25 things list to my largest life failure.
On the People of the Second Chance (POTSC) site, Mike challenges us to participate in THIS experiment:
So this week I thought we could do an experiment. Let’s replace all our “nice-professional-photoshop-hair-looking-fab-pics-we-really-like-of-ourselves” with “REAL” photos of us. Change your Twitter. Facebook. Blog. Remove the sexy and put the #REALME up.
Low res camera pics. Christmas morning rats nest hair photos. Bad lighting and goofy looks. Close ups and flabby neck photos. No photoshopin’ here! No shame here! No image or brand management! Just a snapshot of reality.
And here is the point of the experiment!!! Your value is in you. Not your sexiness. You are beautiful even when you think you are ugly, geeky, or when a photo is unflattering. We love and prefer the REAL YOU!
I was going to post a photo of me RIGHT when I woke up, or some crazy photo like Tam, however, when I read Anne and Crystal’s blogs today, I thought I would just follow suit in video form… so here we go.
Some of you may have a hard time revealing yourself from behind your mask. You mask might not be make-up. If you’re anything like me, your mask could be walls of lies you have built around yourself. Friend… it’s time to be free.
“I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” ~ Psalm 139:14
ALL of you are wonderful and beautiful. Not just your outside… but inside too… when you allow yourself to BE the way you were created. God knit you together with PURPOSE. That “imperfection” you cringe to look at every day is God’s perfection of purpose in you.
My beauty is in my tragedy. I can HONESTLY tell you I thank God (almost) everyday for letting me hit rock bottom. I thank God for letting me feel pain. I thank God for allowing me to EXPERIENCE everything I have in life… even letting me fail. You see, if I didn’t ever hit rock bottom and walk the desert, I’m not sure I’d quite appreciate how beautiful and lush life is now.
So… you’re turn.
What is ONE thing you LOVE about yourself?
Break-IN
Yesterday… I went to go pick up my son, Chance, from school.
Within 3 minutes, I received DM’s (Direct Messages from Twitter) from friends that said, “I think your Twitter account has been hacked.”
See these two:
Let me lovingly introduce you to… Jay McKenney (@jaymckenney) & Tyler Braun (@tylerbraun).
I am SO glad I take photos of EVERYTHING and keep them all filed away for moments such as these. These two wonderful boys “broke” into my house and had some fun.
To be honest, I probably deserved it from Jay. We’ve been pranking each other for YEARS. I’ve played PLENTY of pranks on him… including the all famous “TIN FOIL” incident… when a team of us tinfoiled every last surface of his office. It was epic. However… Tyler is a new player. He and his wife, Rose, were in our small group when we were at our last church and we’ve never pranked each other because they’re just so sweet. But apparently, Ty has been hanging out WAY to much with Jay.
Anyway…
I quickly logged on from my iPhone to see what was going on and saw these following EIGHT tweets posted. I tried to clear up what I could from my iPhone, but could only do so much. You can click on the photo below for an enlarged view (I’ve conveniently marked which ones were NOT mine and which ones were… Tweetdeck = Jay. Echofon = ME).
I quickly realized I hadn’t been “hacked”… but THEY were in my HOUSE. Ok… I didn’t know Ty was there till a bit later… but these tweets had “Jay McKenney” written all over them. I immediately called Jay. But he wouldn’t pick up. Of course not. Who picks up the phone when they are doing evil work? So, I called my neighbor, Laura… who by the way, is the WORST liar in the world… and figured it all out.
Chance and I rushed home and found our home VIOLATED!
While Jay was twitter-pranking and changing settings on my laptop (trying to steal passwords so he could do it from home as well… jerk), Tyler ran around the house and re-arranged as much as he could. He did good. We found:
- the couches turned TOWARDS the walls
- my earbuds IN my guitar
- the ice cream IN the fridge, not the freezer
- our bread IN the freezer
- candles that were once evenly situated, grouped in one bundle
- sheet music hidden
VIOLATED…
… but not for long. My vengeance is coming.
Oh… and I believe that God is blessing me at this moment. I have some pretty creative ideas… that’s the core of who I am… BUT the ideas that are stirring within me are SO AMAZINGLY fantastic right now that I know they MUST be from God Himself.
Stay tuned… no one knows when it’s coming… but when it hits — it will be UNMISTAKABLY glorious.
What’s the best prank you’ve ever played?
OR
What’s the best prank ever played on YOU?
Memorial Day Weekend
Though this weekend was one of the most devastating weekends I’ve ever experienced, it’s was also one of the most fulfilling weekends.
Brian and I had some pretty amazing house guests. Crystal, Brent and Tam (along with Kass & Kota) stayed with us over the weekend. The original reason was for vacation, down-time and friend-time… but once the news hit, this weekend became something VERY different.
Our amazing house guests became our pillars. They listened, they encouraged, they comforted, the supported, they spoke God’s truth, they LOVED, they babysat, they made us laugh and most importantly, they PRAYED. Crystal even extended her stay to help us move this weekend. You couldn’t ask for better friends.
What’s MOST crazy is that everyone in our house this weekend – we met through the blogosphere!
Here we all are (plus Tyler) on the waterfront today.
And here’s a couple of just Tammy, Crystal & me.
Yes… Tam knew about her teeth. That was a good laugh there! And yes, that’s Kota in the back trying to get in the pic.
Here are some more of my favorite pictures from this weekend. They were taken by all of us from our iPhones, so some are blurry… mostly from us laughing:
50 Pics Friday
For some reason… I thought I would be blogging more than I have been this week with Crystal in town and all. Apparently, I DO enjoy real life time with my friends more than blogging or twittering.
The Hodges, Brent, Tammy, Kass & Kota, just rolled into town too… so it’s a full house for the next few days and I’m beyond thrilled.
I’ll post more soon… but for now, here’s my 50 pictures marking today:
oh… and this pic was #42 (I couldn’t use my iPhone for this pic so it’s not in the sequence):
If you captured all your moments on Friday…
Exponential Conference 2009 – Day 2
I took notes today but I’m not posting them up tonight because of a million factors (one factor being Craig Groeschel kicked my booty across the room… twice… so I need to just let that sink in first), but I DID Twitter a lot of it.
However, today, I want to focus on the people portion of the conference. I have gotten the privilege of meeting some really AWESOME people. Most of them, I have been following via Twitter or blog for quite some time… so it’s more like reconnecting with an old friend.
I got to meet Dave Ferguson (@daveferguson). First thing he did was come up and give me a hug. Second thing, he says: “You Twitter a lot about food!” HA! He’s right, ya know. I think that’s how he’s been introducing me to people too. HAHA!
Also met Mary Beth Stockdale (@mbstockdale), who is just about as cute as a button. Ever met a person who just has the “glow-of-Christ’s-love” on them? Yeah… that’s her. When she talks to you, she makes you feel like you’re the only person in the room. I need to learn how to be more like her when it comes to people.
Then, there’s Eric Bramlett (@billshazzar) who is SO funny, he just about makes me pee my pants from laughing so hard. Seriously… every time he opens his mouth, only KUH-RAZY comes out. There is something NOT RIGHT about him…
But the coolest couple we’ve had the privilege of meeting is by FAR are Justin and Trisha Davis (@justindavis33 & @trishadavis23). It started with me standing in the main worship auditorium. Justin and Trish walk by and Justin stops, looks at me for a minute and says something like:
“Hey… you’re Jenni Clayville?”
I think I started to sweat. I was, like, um… ruh-roh… what did I do now? But I replied, “Yes…” Was I supposed to know him? Cuz seriously… the babies took away ALL my memory brain cells… every last one. Could have been a REALLY awkward moment!
Long story short, they went to high school with Matt Payne (@mlpayne) and are also good friends with Pete & Brandi Wilson (@pwilson & @brandiandboys) who are friends with Brent & Tammy Hodge (@inworship & @inprogress) who are my friends frienemies enemies people (whatev!).
Nice full circle, right?
Their story of how God has restored their lives from a place of complete brokenness humbles me. You can read their story HERE!
Brian and I seem to be surrounded by friends who are calling it quits in their marriage. The sin that has crept up in their lives or the brokenness that seems to be irreparable looks too difficult to conquer. Forgiveness and redemption appears impossible. Then, we meet Justin and Trisha… a couple who made is making it. A couple continuing to CHOOSE to make it every day after pain and brokenness beyond any describable words.
I think that may be my next tattoo: CHOOSE LOVE.
When was the last time you CHOSE love?
Floating Thought
It’s that time again… you know… when I can’t seem to gather all my thoughts into one comprehensive post, so I’ll just bullet point and type ALMOST exactly what my mind gathers!
- I just received free albums from Kari Jobe & Joel Ruge (promo items for churches). The bum deal is I just BOUGHT Kari Jobe’s album. Glad I supported her. Sad I spent money where I didn’t need to.
- I love that my cutie patootie hubby, Brian, is blogging and twittering a lot more than before. I like sharing this world with him.
- Chance has a ridiculously large vocabulary for being 3, but he still says a few things incorrectly and I think it’s WAY to cute to correct him just yet. Here are just 4 of his words (I’ll write a whole post about it someday):
- “cric-crocs” = flip flops
- “peeks” = keeps
- “perfeck” = perfect
- “liveberry” = library
- Paxton is getting some seriously chubby thighs and I just LOVE that. He also rarely cries, and you can always stop his crying just by singing to him. When he smiles, my whole world melts for him.
- At this time last year, I would have NEVER thought I’d life, for me, would look the way it does today.
- How is it possible to just stop loving someone you said you would always love?
- Life as a stay-at-home Mom can get really lonely if I’m not careful.
- Good: The weather is crazy beautiful right now in Portland. Bad: That means allergies are going to attack me soon. Boooo!!!
- We got rid of cable a month ago… I don’t think I’ve even missed it.
- Looking at a possible new home. I’ll update soon… if there’s anything to update.
- I’m so sick of moving!!!
- We are going on our annual beach trip with our closest friends in two weeks. I can’t wait ‘cuz I miss having THOSE friends around.
- In THREE weeks, Matt, Brian and I (with Paxton in tow) will be in Florida for a week for the Exponential Conference. This is exciting because I haven’t been to a conference in a few years AND this will be the first NON-worship or Youth Ministry conference I’ve attended. This will be for church planters. I *heart* learning.
- I love lemons.
- I had a dream that I was in a home that was disorganized and full of cats. I woke up sweaty and so tense, it took me 10 full minutes till I could move again.
- The memory foam pad we got for our old bed helps us A LOT… but I still think we need a new bed.
- It’s time for Chance to move out of his toddler bed and it’s time for us to find a big boy bed for him. Anyone getting rid of a twin bed? Bunk beds maybe?
- I still have a box of thin mints in my freezer
Quick!!!
Tell me the first three things in your head RIGHT NOW!
Song About ME
My friend, David, and his wife, Diane, over in Australia, compiled my most interesting tweets and wrote a song for me… well… ABOUT me.
You can hear it HERE.
Here are the lyrics:
I gave up on the idea of sleeping
Cos everyone is snoring and I’ve been weeping
The ear plugs I like they’re no longer making
I’m telling my friends to go to work nakedOh what is wrong with me?
Don’t answer that cos it’s obviously just me(Jenni, Jenni) I tell my friends they suck
(Jenni, Jenni) And they should just shut up
(Jenni, Jenni) While I joke about your mom
(Jenni, Jenni) It’s just me here spreading the loveSo don’t make me laugh when I am driving
Cos my eyes shut and we’ll soon be dying
At least that will stop the hyenas fighting
And adenoid removal is so invitingI think today is just for me
But don’t tell Chance ‘cause he’s pumpin’ a grumpy at me
They made me an album cover and everything!!!
This makes my day SO much better It makes me wanna dance.
Enjoy!!! and don’t forget to tell them how AWESOME they are.
Nikao | @locustfist
I’m guest blogging AGAIN!!!
You can find me HERE today at Vince Marotte’s blogsite.
Vince (aka @locustfist) and I also met on Twitter. Apparently, this is where I meet all my friends now
So… click on over and leave a comment. Let me know what you think!
I’m truly curious.
OH NO!!!
Twitter is down!!!
I may, or may not be having an anxiety attack because of that.
This is where I learn patience.
SpinVox Happiness
I’m a WINNER!!!
I’ve only gotten to say this a FEW times in my life (not counting the times I’m talking myself into believing it).
I woke up this morning to THIS twitter
from @whatleydude this morning, who also wrote THIS POST!
A couple years ago, a friend of mine gave me one of his “giveaway” SpinVox accounts, BUT it was not compatible with Sprint (my carrier at the time). I thought my chance to have a voicemail-less life was only a dream. But apparently, life… well… at least Twitter… offers second chances.
Now, I get a FREE SpinVox account.
Thank God for my Twitter addiction and ability to OVER-exaggerate life… except sometimes, I’m not exaggerating.
The Hodge Lodge
Here’s my view of life right now:
I know, I know… MacBook’s everywhere
I’m just sitting here in Brent and Tam’s cozy living room thinking,
“How in the world did I get here?”
BLOGGING… that’s how!
Brian had a conference trip planned to come down to Southern Oregon. We haven’t really been spending a lot of quality time together recently, so I told him I wanted to come down with him. After all… road trips ARE a whole lot of time for chit chat.
THEN… Tam wrote this post, inviting the whole world to come stay at their home. So, we did. We invaded their home
Brian and I showed up last night and stayed up way too late laughing and talking about some really real things. They are just about the most amazing couple, parents, PEOPLE we’ve ever met… and I’ve come to realize even more how much I can learn from people around me.
Here are some pics for now. I’m sure there will be more to come later:
Right when we came in, Tam had to grab Paxton out of his carseat.
We got our own personal viewing of Kass & Kota’s band rehearsing for their concert. Um… they are FREAKIN’ talented. I am beyond impressed… and as some of you know, I’ve worked with MANY talented young musicians.
Brent introducing Paxton to the muppets on YouTube.
I feel so privileged to actually have met these guys in person, and now we’ve launched a REAL in-person friendship. We’ve graduated from just being twitter friends, y’all!
Well… I better go shower before I LOSE some friends, if you know what I’m sayin’!
Jenni on Skype: jclayville 
