Author Archives: Jessica Lenehan

Celebrate Easter!

By | April 9, 2013

Easter day seemed a little more special for me this year. I’m not entirely sure why, but I think it’s mostly because of the ways that I’ve drawn closer to the Lord this year as a missionary, especially in prayer. It hasn’t been the easiest year of my life, but it has been incredibly blessed! Journeying with Jesus in prayer and in Scripture has brought me to a place where I feel closer to Him than I ever have before, so there was so much to celebrate as we remembered Christ’s resurrection on Easter!

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God Speaks Clearly

By | February 9, 2013

God speaks clearly. Does He really? Just last night I had a conversation with one of my missionary sisters about this. We talked about how sometimes we wish that God would just speak more clearly: that He would tell us exactly what He wants of us, what He’s calling us to, and what He has planned for us. We know that there are many ways that God does show us these things, but sometimes it doesn’t seem very clear. Honestly, maybe it’s more common that we just aren’t listening. The reality

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Trusting in God’s Promises

By | October 19, 2012

Do you ever question God or fail to trust Him completely? I wish I could say that I don’t, but even as a missionary, I’m still human, and I still question God sometimes… A little over a month ago, Life Teen started a new mission base in Houston, Texas, and I am one of five missionaries living and serving here. With a new mission base, there are sometimes more questions than answers and sometimes more things are unknown then things that are certain. I know that in this, God is calling me to trust

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I Am Not Perfect

By | October 27, 2011

I am not perfect. Surprising? No, but it’s not generally something I love to go around telling every person I meet. As Life Teen missionaries, an image we commonly use is that living in community is like holding up a mirror to all of our faults. As we live and pray and serve with the same community week after week, sometimes we get frustrated or annoyed with one another and sometimes we disagree. Here, just as in your schools or homes or workplaces, it’s easy for us to look at someone else and

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Come Together – Haiti Mission 2011!

By | May 3, 2011

Two weeks ago, I went on a mission trip to Haiti with thirteen other missionaries, most of whom I live with here at Covecrest. It was an incredibly blessed trip from start to finish! As I started writing this blog, I was listening to a song written by Michael W. Smith shortly after the earthquake last January. It’s called “Come Together Now,” and there are a few lines that really describe the great things God did during our week in Haiti… “Say a prayer that change will come…” We landed in Port

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Ignorance of Christ

By | January 25, 2011

As I mentioned before, part of our outreach to the local community is running the youth groups at the two local parishes: St. Helena’s and St. Mark’s. When the missionaries returned from Christmas break, we had to create the schedule of topics for St. Mark’s youth group: every Sunday night from January through April. After realizing that many of the teens haven’t spent much time reading the Bible and/or don’t know a whole lot about the history of our faith, we decided to spend most of the semester

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A Snowstorm and New Life

By | January 12, 2011

Last week, I really felt in prayer that God was telling me, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). Since then, He has really shown me the truth of this statement in a number of ways. The first and most tangible way came in the form of snow – and lots of it. A snowstorm hit Covecrest overnight, and we woke up to about eight inches of snow covering the entire camp. I haven’t ever been a huge fan of the cold or snow (especially considering I grew up in southern California), but this was

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Have you ever climbed a tree?

By | November 29, 2010

I think it’s been a few years since I’ve climbed a tree, but it’s something that I definitely enjoyed as a kid. I can remember specific instances were I climbed a tree to put up Christmas lights with my dad and the fun I had climbing a particular tree at a park near my house. As you might know, there’s even a story in the gospels about a man who climbed a tree. This passage about Zacchaeus, a tax collector who wanted to see Jesus, was the gospel reading for mass one day last week. I’ve

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Hypo-what?… Both God and Human: the Hypostatic Union

By | November 12, 2010

In addition to serving at Covecrest, the missionaries and staff are also involved in outreach to the local community. This year, we are helping to coordinate youth groups for the two local Catholic parishes: St. Helena and St. Mark. Last Sunday, the topic for Life Night at St. Mark’s was the hypostatic union. This term, while it sounds very scientific, refers to the Church’s teaching that Jesus was both fully God and fully human. Because Jesus was fully God, He was able to save the world through

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Where Do You See Joy?

By | November 6, 2010

“The life of a missionary… is a life full of happiness and joy.” – Blessed Mother Teresa It has been such a great month here at Covecrest! Over the past few weeks, I’ve really been noticing the joy our community has and the blessing it is to be on this journey together. Here’s a little glimpse into some of the things that have brought us joy: the moment the mailman arrives each day–because who doesn’t love getting mail? peanut butter and the many different foods it can be eaten with praising

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