another move

ok so i have moved blog sites! jenniferhiatt.tumblr.com

love!

room tour!

haha for some reason i look like a smurf... just go with it! :)

the Character

the Bible is absolutely stuffed packed of what characteristics our Father has. Psalm 103:8-17 is one that we most recently learned about.

one particular part of this scripture that really spoke to me was verse 14: "For He knows our frame; He [earnestly] remembers and imprints [on His heart] that we are dust."

something that our speaker pointed out about this verse what that God KNOWS how He made us. He KNOWS that we are fragile. and He KNOWS how to be gentle with us, and how to be harsh with us.

something that i lost sight of, and really never thought about, was that God knows exactly how He made us. He knows each hair on our head and molded us with His very hands. HE KNOWS!! also, this is another reason why we need to treat each other equally. because we are all made from dust. we are all made in His image. and He made us all! and He favors all of us!

its important for us to know and understand the character of our Father, especially for Him to be a priority. and i think that as soon as we do begin to understand His character than it makes it that much more easier to make Him a priority! Luke 15:11-32 is another passage that presents God's character. when we understand His character we can communicate with Him to great depths. we need to pray for a revelation: "show me what You're like"!

when we learn to communicate with our Father, and relate as children to Him, then He can also begin to bless us. God WANTS to bless us! just as our earthly father's want to bless us as children, God wants thats that, only to an extent that our minds cannot comprehend!! He truly adores us and only wants what's best for us! we have to be child like. we have to be humble. we have to be diligent and ask for hunger!

God wants to bless us, so we can be blessings for others! and He wants to bless others so they can bless others!

HE LOVES US!!!

how Wonderful He is!!

fasting

something I have been struggling with is being confident and clearly knowing what that God is talking to me. i recently spoke briefly with the school leader about it. i told him that i don't know how to hear God, or if i'm hearing God and am just not recognizing it. he told me that i do know how to talk to God. God created me to be able to talk to Him, its just that i'm confused on how to hear Him.

we have been learning about the Father Heart of God this week in class. but today specifically we talked about fasting and restoration in our relationship with God. fasting is a spiritual discipline of going without food to focus on the Lord... it is an expression to be hungry after God. the best way to encounter God is by going to the source... the wonderful gift that God left for us--the Bible. but we shouldn't read the Bible to prove something. it's not about how much you read or how fast you read it. its about taking what you read slowly. really meditating on it. chewing on it. our speaker used the example of a calf: the calf will grab a bite to eat, chew it up, swallow it, regurgitate it (spit it back up), chew on it some more, and get every little bit of nutrients out of it that it possibly can. and we need to be the same way with our Spiritual food. and relate this to fasting, also. be hungry to get closer to God. that is the goal in fasting. to be closer to God. and if God reveals something to you while you're fasting, then its a bonus! but dont fast to get something out of God. and don't read the Bible to get something out of God. those reason's aren't Biblical. really be hungry for God and use fasting as a way to say to God, "Lord, i love You and i want to know You more and be more intimate with You. and when my flesh becomes hungry, You will overcome it with Your spiritual food. Your love is better than food and that is all i need!"

spiritual maturity includes being able to feed ourselves God's Spiritual food. when we rely on others to make the revelations for us, or to give us insights then we aren't getting a fresh Word from the Lord. not that we can't learn from those who have experience and who have walked with the Lord. and its extremely important to be encouraged and to grow together. but no one can feed us the way God can. He speaks to us in our own language. in a way that only we can understand. and when we only rely on someone else's language then it can become confusing. this is something that i felt like God really spoke to me this afternoon because so many times i have resisted reading the Bible because i thought it would make me more confused. i have said i'll just wait to understand it when someone can explain it for me and let me know what it is that God is saying. but thats not what the Bible is for! its for everyone individually to grow and love God individually. we all have a separate intimate relationship with God, and He wants to deal with us on an individual basis. there is no generality when it comes to God speaking to us. although some of us maybe similar, we're all unique! and God knows that!! and loves that!! thats how He made us specifically so He can be intimate with each of us individually!

another way to look at fasting is to realize that God truly did make us in His image! we have a body, we have a Spirit. our flesh and Spirit is constantly in battle with each other. when we fast we're weakening our flesh so that our Spirit can when the battle. we are acknowledging that our Spirit NEEDS to be stronger than our flesh, and we're going to feed our Spirit with Spiritual food of God, and our Spirit is going to become stronger. anytime we acknowledge that our flesh is being strengthened over our Spirit, we need to step back and ask the Lord for the gift of hunger. and then allow Him to feed us and really seek it through fasting. whether its fasting food, or fasting television. if something is taking priority in our lives other than God and being Spiritually fed then we need to recognize that issue (it is an issue whenever God is not the priority) and we need to deal with it in a way that God presents to us.

a scripture that the speaker gave us to really chew on during our time of fasting is Isaiah 58.. the whole chapter.

so please remember me in this time in your prayers as i really seek to hear Gods voice clearly, and learn to be confident in that!

MAN GOD IS AWESOME!!!!!

the Father Heart of God

we're learning about the Father Heart of God right now in class. we're learning about the area of God's heart that is Fatherly and how He sees us as His children. the same way that our earthly Fathers absolutely loves us, God loves us so much more!! not to mention the fact that He's just perfect........ and God.

:D He is so amazing!

can opener

soo i think can openers are out to get me.

for my work duty here at school i'm working in the kitchen every other weekend. one night (for dinner) the chef asked me to open a can of potato granules. as i attempted to use that huge can opener it kept messing up! it would just run of the edge, or put random lame holes in the can.

the can opener at home does the SAME THING TO ME!!

ohh myyy!!!

last night i encountered Jesus in a brand new way. we started learning about Song of Solomon.

i really don't know what to say right now!! i'm just so ready to dig deeper into this love!!

oh how He loves US!

"we CAPTIVATE God's Heart!!!"

marriage

we recently have been studying the Song of Solomon. we've learned about how it's basically God's love song to us. just as God is the King of Kings, this book of the Bible is the Song of Songs! its written like a poem, and can be really confusing. i'm still really confused by most of it but i'm starting to unlock God's wonderful love through research and really digging deep to understand Him.

some history... (this may not be completely accurate, i'm just trying to relay what i have learned thus far and am still learning)

the Jewish tradition in marriage is for the bridegroom to seek out his bride by taking her a cup and asking her to drink of it. if she does drink from it than she is accepting the bridegroom's hand in marriage.

once she does accept the bridegroom leaves her and prepares a place for her--a home. he spends a lot of time making sure that everything is exactly the way it needs to be... the way he sees fit.

so once he is finished with this wonderful place, that he has prepared just for her, he returns to her and takes her to their new home.

in parallel with this, during communion Jesus is asking us for our hand in marriage. He wants us to be His bride, and He wants to be the Bridegroom. when Jesus says, "do this in remembrance of Me," He is asking us to accept His invitation and to remember Him until He comes back again! and meanwhile He is preparing a place for us!!! He is just waiting until the time is right and is wanting to come and bring us to our new home. He is waiting for God to just say the word!! He's longing for us and we are longing for Him as His bride! we are ready for our Bridegroom, but God's timing is perfect and we are waiting for our beautiful home in heaven to be ready!

we have all been told that the Bible is a love story from God. but what do you do with that? start reading the Bible through the lens of a bride. the entire Bible is about a marriage that is coming soon. WE ARE THE BRIDE! GOD'S CHILDREN ARE THE BRIDE! AND HE, GOD'S SON, JESUS, IS THE BRIDEGROOM!

this is what we were made for!! we were made to adore Jesus! we were made to fall in love with him and be completely consumed by Him. we were made to glorify Him through our lives! we were made to long for Him!

that's why the thought of relationship is so appealing to human beings. because that is the very nature of God! and we are made in HIS IMAGE!! we want intimacy because that is what God wants!

how awesome! that the Creator of the Universe is soooo in love with us. He not only loves us as His children, but He is IN LOVE with us!

Song of Solomon 6:5 tells us that Jesus is overcome by our eyes!! HE IS OVERCOME! He tells us to turn them away because He is so overcome by our eyes.

i dont think i have ever loved anything so much that i was so overcome by it that i couldn't bear to look at it!

JESUS IS! HE LOVES US, HE IS SO IN LOVE WITH US!!!

free resources: http://www.ihop.org/Group/Group.aspx?ID=1000036187

and we were told that Mike Bickle has wonderful teachings on the Song of Solomon that will complete rock your world and change your life and your relationship with Christ!

Joy

the Joy from Jesus just fell over me today!!!

we were in the prayer room praying and He just poured out His Joy on us. everyone was laughing and smiling and just having a joyful time in the presence of the King.

i could just imagine God looking down on us with a big grin on His face, saying "Oh how I love you my goofy children!"

i find myself constantly smiling now! its so wonderful!

I LOVE YOU JESUS!!!

THANK YOU FOR THIS JOY!!!

focus

so over the past couple of days that i've been here God has really been speaking to me and challenging me. focus has been one of these things. i'm constantly finding my mind wondering away from what i should be focused on. for example, if we're having praise and worship i may be really into it on second and the next second thinking about something that happened earlier that day. its so frustrating. i even ask God why i do this. i so badly only want to focus on Him and bring Him glory. so I have been kind of experimenting with different approaches to keep me focused. to start with i know that i'm super a.d.d. and need to do something that involves all of me. so i started writing randomly whatever i'm thinking. sometimes its just the lyrics that are being sung. or the prayer or thoughts that i have on my mind. that has seemed to help some but i still find my self drifting at times. maybe its something that God just has to mold me into, and a growing process.

please pray for me as i seek God on this issue and other conflicts that i'm dealing with!

love! :D

Genisis genealogy

this is the genealogy that is listed in Genesis 5. (on the list is the names in order by birth and on the left is what their names meant).

Adam - Man

Seth - Appointed

Enosh- Mortal

Kenan - Sorrow

Mahalalel - Blessed of

Jared - Shall Come Down

Enoch - Teaching

Methuzala - His Death Shall Bring

Lamech - The Despairing

Noah - Rest and Comfort

a bit of knowledge: back then people didn't name their kids without God's consent. so therefore all of these names were appointed by God.

also... Methuzala died the same year that the great flood (of Noah) happened.

check this out, so from the VERY BEGINNING of the Bible, God was telling us about Jesus and what would happen.

lets go step by step... Man appointed mortal sorrow (Jesus). Blessed of shall come down teaching (Jesus). His death shall bring (dying on the cross) the despairing (us!) rest and comfort (ETERNAL LIFE WITH HIM FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER!!! YAY!!!!!)

or you can parallel it with Noah, since Mathuzala (a.k.a. His Death Shall Bring) died the same year that the flood came.

its a little crazy/ironic/funny to think about it...

so Noah was running around freaking everyone out about this thing called rain. warning them about this incredible flood that will kill everyone. meanwhile "His Death Shall Bring" is probably on his death bed at this point, i mean the guy was like what 969 years old the same year that the flood came. you'd think that everyone would be a little suspicious about "His Death Shall Bring" dying. haha, weird people.

and then of course, Noah (a.k.a. Rest and Comfort) listened to God, which did, indeed bring rest and comfort.

HAHA! how funny is God! so awesome!

Isaiah 12

something the Lord gave me...

"And in that day you will say, I will give thanks to You, O Lord, for though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.

Behold God, my salvation! I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and song; yes, He has become my salvation.

Therefore with joy will you draw water from the wells of salvation.

And in that day you will say, Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name and by means of His name [in solemn entreaty]; declare and make known His deeds among the peoples of the earth, proclaim that His name is exalted!

Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done excellent things--gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.

Cry aloud and shout joyfully, you women and inhabitants of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel."

cliff jumping

ok, so i'll just go ahead and explain this for everyone so you guys can know what's going on. i wasn't gonna make a very big deal about this but facebook keeps no secrets.

so we (students/staff from U of N) went as a group to this local cliff area. It was so pretty, the water is so incredibly blue, and the waves were insane. apparently people have been going to this area for a while to jump from the cliffs. its fun!

so people start jumping in, no big deal. first the guys, then some girls. it was so simple.... jump it... swim over... climb out. the only catch was that we had to wait to jump between wave sets because the waves were really big.

it was no big deal. no one was having any problem with it.

so i waited for my turn and waited until they told me i was good to go.... and then i went for it. it was awesome! so much fun!!

so i came up and headed over to the rock that we were using to get out of the water.... just like everyone else had done before me. that's when another set of waves started.

they pushed me up on the rock and then pulled me back out.... it happened a couple times. each time i was trying to keep grip of the rock but the current was too strong.

so then the current started pulling me out again.. only this time it wasn't stopping. and it was pulling me in the direction of the cave [that i forgot to mention earlier].

so at that point i started panicking because i was really freaked out about the cave. on top of that i was already pretty tired from trying to pull myself out--unsuccessfully.

so then another set of waves came. i started swallowing a lot of water and going under a lot. i was really trying to stay above water but it seemed like every time i tried to take a breath of air the water would just smack me in the face.

eventually i got "help" out and some guys from the group jumped in to help me out. they were really great and really helped me to calm down a lot.

so we had to tread water for a while, waiting for another set of waves to pass before we could attempt to get out again. i was extremely tired at this point and had swallowed even more water.

finally the waves passed and the guys were able to help me out of the water. i was so shaky and felt like i could barely walk. i all of a sudden got an excruciating headache. my stomach was hurting and i had lots of little scrapes on my legs and hands from the volcanic rock.

i finally threw up and was able to get the seawater out of my stomach and soon after that my headache went away. my strength returned and i was able to put one foot in front of another--in a stumbling manner.

i definitely learned several different lessons from this.

i praise God of life, for those guys, and for oxygen!

intense.

gecko

first night in Kona!

ALOHA!

i'm in Kona, Hawaii finally!

the plane ride was insanely long. but i'm kind of glad that the trip was split in two. i can imagine having to sit on a plane all the way from North Carolina to Hawaii!

Hawaii is so brown (at least where i am). i guess from the volcano. but the brown makes any color look so much vibrant!

the U of N campus isn't as brown as the area around the airport. its full of all the hawaiian flowers! soo pretty!

the pacific is about an 7 minute walk from campus. and there is a cool little surrounding town that made it really convienient for me when i realized that i didnt have a bath towel!

i thought i was gonna be able to go to Wal-Mart to pic up different things (like sheets and a pillow) but it turned out that the shuttles aren't running right now... GREAT!

but one of the staff lent me a huge white sheet. so i sleep on half of it and cover up with the other half.

the towel that i found in that little town leaves blue lent everywhere. its hilarious!

there are 6 girls in the room that i'm in! we share a bathroom with one shower, two sinks and two toilets! very fun.

to Hawaii!!

hotel

of course i had to take pictures of myself in my hotel Seattle :D

plane ride!! :D

from Wilmington to Atlanta!

wilma

probably one of the hardest things i've had to do in a while has been having to say bye to my family.

vacuum cleaners are annoying

i basically just spent FOREVER cleaning out the vacuum. it was so stuffed full of the new carpet stuff that it was no longer preforming to it's normal suction potential. i was so excited about being able to vacuum the floor again. and only 5 minutes of vacuuming it got all stuffed up again!! blast it.

weddings

wedding season in full bloom.

it takes so long to edit one flipping wedding. i kind of go crazy!!

but i'm very thankful to have a job like i do! definitely blessed!!

pray for grandpa

Grandpa Hiatt is in the hospital with heart issues! keep him in your prayers!

cmt awards

this was such a blessed night! so much fun and able to see so many cool people!!! YAY!

shag lessons

tonight mom, dad and i took our first shag lesson at the cb shag club.  i think we're pretty good and we're excited about our next lesson.  every wednesday night!

fort fisher pano

i was driving the other day and decided to try to get some cool shots at ft. fisher.  if you've ever been there then you know that the place is covered in huge rocks along the shore of the ocean.  so of course i ended up having to go climb on all the rocks just because i get a.d.d. and like climbing on rocks, i guess.  then i shot a pano, just because i remembered the pano from class and i really enjoyed working on them.  so here we go... 

funny story...

so its weird... i've been getting these instyle and harpers bazaar magazines and i'm not sure why.  my card isn't being charged for them, and they're sent to my address with my name.  i never read magazines like that, i'm more of the national geographic type chick. so i usually just stack the instyle or harpers bazaar mags on the shelf because i feel too bad throwing them away and wasting all that paper.  i've collected like eight or so, so far.  

but anyways, the first day that christa and i were able to lay out together, i offered her one of those magazines cause i know she usually likes to flip through and read about the random fashion stories or what's happening in the celeb world.  

the magazine she chose was featuring matthew mcconaughey.  there was segment about matthew's "favorites"  which, of course, she ended up reading out loud.  and it mentioned that his favorite Bible verse was Matthew 6:22.

curious, i went hope and looked it up, which read:  "the eye is the lamp of the body. so, if your eye is sound, your entire body will be full of light;".

i was always taught never read a bible verse with out reading the before and after verses, because it can be taken out of context otherwise.  so i went ahead and read through the whole chapter.  which took me through a whirlwind of a Bible study and God reveal so many things to me and still is, just because i was curious what matthew mconaughey's favorite verse was.  

its crazy, awesome how God can use what seems to be the silliest things at the time to talk to us and reveal His love.

mark and erin engagement pictures

today i was able to partake in the engagement of Mark Raynor and Erin Norris! i had a great time and feel blessed that I was able to take their engagement shots! heres a couple of my favorites:

rat-dog

so we're several weeks into summer and facing ferocious heat waves.  our poor little poodle, scarlett, had about a four inch coat... until today.

mom took the surgical clippers to her.  i've never in fourteen years seen her so bald.  poor dog... she looks like a rat.

so long dear emily

we sold my sweet/vicious chinchilla today, emily.

its starting to get hotter, and since we keep her outside, she could easily get heat stroke.  so now she is under the supervision of a 14 year old boy who owns 3 other chinchillas.

i will miss her... even though she scared the crap out of me!

straw/blue berry picking

today mom, christa and i went strawberry and blueberry picking at lewis farms.  it was pretty amazing.

pelican

lead us not into temptation

growing up in church and growing immune to the words of the Bible, the hymns and the redundancy of religion i have realized that many times i don't truly listen to what i'm praying or singing about. i'm guess some of it has to do with the fact that i'm a little a.d.d. and my mind enjoys bouncing around to different topics at a thousand miles an hour and in a hundred in thirty-five different directions, but nevertheless i feel like i have caused myself to miss out on so much wisdom because i haven't forced my brain to chill out.

so recently i have really been focused on slowing things down when i pray and praise. i wrote out a list of characteristics and concerns that i force myself to read out carefully and really think about each word.

one day i was studying the Lord's Prayer in Matthew chapter six. and when i came across "and lead (bring) us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one" (amplified Bible) i really began thinking. what i have grown to learn about God is that He doesn't tempt us. although He may allow temptation to occur, He doesn't bring the tempting upon us. so why is this example of how we are suppose to pray to God asking Him not to tempt us.

so i asked my dad what he thought about it (as i usually do if i have a question about a Biblical principal... either him or my mom):

"'lead us not into temptation' is NOT a plea to God to not lead us into temptation. but instead, it is a plea to help us stay away from temptation....or 'lead us' to places in life where there is no temptation so that we can stay pure before Him."

sanctus real

"everything about you"

be my light in this darkened room
i'm on my face and i'm calling You
i can't fathom all You've done for me
everytime it finds me on my knees

like sunlight in the winter cold

everything about You, it takes my breath
away...Hallelujah
i tried this once without You and it was my
great mistake...Hallelujah

questions fade when You invade
You chase all my fears away
with Your love in my atmosphere
all confusion disappears

and nothing but your truth remains

questions fade, You remain
You are color on a page of white, bright
like eyes beneath black lights
like a glowing city on the plains, You call
my name

everything about You, it takes my breath away

Hallelujah

haircut

so this is a little silly that i'm posting about this, buuuuuuuuuutttttt........

so i did something crazy today, and got my hair cut. like shooooort. but its good :)
i was a little nervous since i have had my hair long for over 4 years now, but christa assured me it would be ok, and it is!

yay for sisters, speaking of sisters...
i'm sooooo excited christa is home finally for the summer. she rocks my face off!

mothers day

mothers day dinner with the family.

promo materials

ive been working on some promo materials for this summer to send out and to put in the local shops and reality businesses.  i'm being super indecisive and a little ocd.  i can't decide on different designs.

oh well i'll figure it out eventually!

today was fca's day of champions.  it was great and it was kind of fun yelling at all the kids with christa during ultimate frisbee.  close to a hundred kids came to Christ today.  how amazing is He? crazy amazing.

plane ticket

tonight i'm buying my plane ticket to kona.  turns out i'm going to be spending the night in seattle... probably sleepless (har har har).  i'm excited!

still working on booking portrait sittings for this summer to help raise money for funds for the trip.  

fund raising

so school starts september 24th in hawaii, which means i have the entire summer to hang with my family and try and raise money.

i plan on  having a small business over the summer to help with finances.  pretty much i'm just going to take as many pictures of people as possible and then set up a website for them (or you) to purchase prints from.  

let me know if you're interested in getting some portraits done!

910.619.6812 :D

or photography@jenniferhiatt.com

please keep me in your prayers!

step one

today i got confirmation that i am accepted to the university of the nations in kailua kona, hawaii!! i am so incredibly excited!  i have been so crazily blessed to see, hear, and feel the Holy Spirit working.  

i made a commitment that as soon as i received confirmation from the school that i would blog about my journey and pray that in some way it may touch your life.

i love you all and thank you so much for your support, encouragement, and prayers.