Meet Ashley

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Jackie Lea Sommers

What would I do without this girl? I find myself thinking that question over and over again throughout the week. She is one of my go-to friends, an absolute delight, so funny, so friendly, so loving, and she teaches me so much!

Ashley and I had a rocky start, back in 2001 (oh gosh, Ash, has it really been over a decade?!). At that time, she was a spunky, sassy high school student, and I was the camp counselor who could not say anything right. We were pretty wary of one another for about six months, but when January 2002 rolled around, the new year brought with it a new friendship that I would come to treasure as one of my favorites.

After six months of non-friendly aquaintanceship, Ashley and I were forced to spend some time together at a church retreat. Although neither of us wanted to do so on the front end, by the end of the weekend, we were okay enough to exchange email addresses.

Remember, this is 2002. Exchanged email addresses can only mean one thing: MSN Messenger!

We ended up chatting quite a bit– especially about boys– and forging this strange online friendship that we kind of marveled at, considering our rough beginnings. By that next summer, we were fast friends, but our friendship was entirelyonline … until we met up again at camp.

I remember I was nervous about how it would go. Would we clash in person again? Would it turn out that we would just butt heads when we found ourselves in a real room together?

But we got along great this time around … and ever since! Over the years, I have been blessed to watch Ashley graduate from high school, go to Bible college, fall in love with my friend Tim, graduate from college, marry Tim, buy a house, and move to the Twin Cities. Now we see each other almost weekly, just the way I like it.

Eleven years is such a long span of time … Ashley went from being this sassy-mouthed punk teenager I was afraid of to being one of my very best friends, one of my favorite people! She is everything I want in a friend: kind, unselfish, honest, brave, COMMITTED, hilarious, loving, a good listener, and godly.

I love you, Ashley … see you in an hour for taquitos at Eir’s!

just like a girl

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Jackie Lea Sommers

The other day at our apartment dinner table, my roommate Desiree confessed to me, “I’ve been looking at wedding rings lately.” She seemed a little embarrassed.

Quickly, I made a confession of my own: “I’ve been looking at wedding dresses.”

Please note, both Desiree and I are as single as single can be. There is no urgent need for us to be planning out the details of our future weddings, but it’s just so fun.

Here are my favorite wedding gown options. Thoughts?

Christianity and OCD

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Jackie Lea Sommers

Continuing the conversation from last Monday …

My friend Rachel is a college student who recently completed a major project during which she had to view obsessive-compulsive disorder through a Christian lens and present her findings in a medium other than the typical college paper. She created a blog, which you can view at http://christianityandocd.wordpress.com.

The questions that she asked me during this project prompted me to again reconsider the relationship between OCD and Christianity, along with those thought-provoking questions such as “Did God give me OCD?” and “Is CBT enough?” and “What is the cause of OCD?” Her blog explores some of these questions.

Rachel herself does not have OCD, so all of her research is outside of her own experience. I invite you to check her blog out and let me and her know what you agree and disagree with!

Guest blogger: Broken

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Jackie Lea Sommers

If you follow my blog, then you’ve already been introduced to my roommate Desiree. She is a wonderful woman of God and one of my very favorite people. Because we have lived together for five years, she is one of the people who has seen me at my very, very worst, OCD-wise. I asked her to write a guest post about living with an obsessive-compulsive. Here it is:

Broken
by Desiree Wood

I don’t know how to describe what it’s like to live with someone with OCD, but you all know.

I’m sure Jackie told me that she had OCD while I was in college. She told me how hard it was—about thinking friends were demons or that she was destined for Hell, about sharing her struggles at camp the previous summer—but it just didn’t register. She hid it well for the first year or two that we were friends and roommates, an impressive feat.

And then came the day that I realized this was a problem. Jackie had talked through some other obsessions before, but this one was big. We had been on a retreat with the youth group we volunteered with for the weekend, and on the bus ride home, one of the teens dropped a bomb on Jackie about something he had done. I’m a teacher, so it takes a lot for an experience to blow me out of the water, but what this kid shared did just that! I was shocked when Jackie slid into the bus seat next to me and shared the news. And at that moment, I pleaded with God, “Why?” Why would He allow it to be Jackie who had to shoulder this news? Why the one with OCD triggered by thoughts of guilt? It was so much pressure figuring out what to do with this information. As she sobbed and we tried to work through the news at home that night, my heart broke for her. I felt completely lost and helpless.

To be honest, that’s how I’ve felt through most of this journey through OCD—through the changing meds and different reactions, triggers that come out of nowhere and take days or weeks or months to move past, through the CBT techniques that I felt really unsure about—it’s all a bit lost on me whose mind can just let go of thoughts as I choose. Looking back, I kind of like that I was so lost and helpless, because even though OCD has been hard to deal with for me and a million times harder for Jackie, I know that it has ultimately pushed us both closer to Christ. I love that He redeems the brokenness in our lives.

We all know what it’s like to live with someone with OCD because we are all broken people. Whether you live with family, friends, or a spouse, you battle the brokenness. We’ve all got our issues, sickness, and sin to overcome, and the people around us have to be our support. I pray that I continue to learn how to do that for Jackie.

Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” I am blessed to live with Jackie—to have seen her struggle through OCD with Jesus, to have learned from her, and to have her in my corner as I battle my own issues.

What are your experiences with friends or family with OCD?

Me (bottom right) and Des (beside me) BEFORE we were roommates … she had no idea what she was about to get herself into!

my littlest friends

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Jackie Lea Sommers

Tracy is a dear friend from college, and these are her three little daughters, my favorites!

Emma (4), Ava (almost 2), Elsie (3 months) … I welcome you to gush about how adorable they are. I can’t seem to stop doing it myself! Em is SO SMART– she catches onto things so quickly, and she is always so excited to see me. There is nothing quite like having a child make you feel like a rockstar. Avie is the little sugar mouse! If there is candy anywhere in the vicinity, Aves will sniff it out and you’ll find the wrappers in her wake. At only three months, Elsie and I don’t know each other too well yet, but you’d better believe that Auntie Jackie can’t wait to watch her grow!

I feel so blessed to know these girlies! If I go for over a week without seeing them, I have symptoms of withdrawal. Aren’t they the cutest?!!