Friday, December 9, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Child Like Faith
Hi Gals! :) I wanted to share a story today that has really touched my heart and I’ve been thinking about it a lot... If you do not know I teach kids and babysit often. I teach Sunday school, children’s church, and Sunday night discipleship at my home church and so I have a good chance to get to know the kids. Well there are these two boys who are brothers that come pretty regularly. It never fails that when we ask for prayer request they say their dad who is in jail. In all honesty it gets old sometimes bc I feel like we go over the same thing every week. Last week I decided to dig a little deeper and to ask some questions about their dad. Come to find out he has been in jail for over three years and most likely has about that many left. I asked if they ever got to see him thinking maybe they go every so often and that’s why he is on their mind. No, they have not seen him since he has been in jail. No cards, letters, anything. The further we talked about it the more I became amazed at how strong their faith was in God. Here are two kids (7 and 8) who have not seen or heard from their dad in years (they would have been 4 and 5 when he was arrested) and know full well that they won’t for many more years yet they still continue to ask God to help their dad. If they were any older they would most likely have hard feelings towards him and just hopelessness about the situation. Although they do not... They still trust that God is going to work and although they do not understand the situation they trust that God is going to work. So, I want to ask you.... what is going on in your life that you are having a hard time trusting God with? You may have been praying for something for a long time and it seems like it will never happen. Do you have faith like a child? Next time you question whether you should keep praying or not remember these boys and how not a prayer goes by that they do not pray for their dad. Don’t. Give. Up. With God ALL things are possible! I encourage you to keep on praying and believing!
JEN
P.S. Here are some pics of my kids just bc I think they are adorable!! :)
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Why?
This thought has been ringing through my mind often lately... Why do I do the things I do and not do the things I choose to not do? Yes, reread that sentence if you didn’t get it the first time. You so often hear of good Christian people "Falling away" from their faith and having no conviction about it. It is heart breaking and I ask myself why they would do such a thing. As I have observed I have realized just how many "Churched" teens grow up living under what I call their parents faith. They know what their parents believe and they do what they are expected to, but when that come to that time in life when they have to decide for themselves what they believe the real thing comes out. It is no longer good enough to know what mom or dad believes. You must know what you believe. I personally came to this time around the age of 15/16. I was going through a really rough time. I had made some mistakes and began to realize that I personally must know what I want for myself and what I believe is right or wrong. I had the ground morals down, but not the little things. This was when I began to stand strongly for purity. I remember looking up verses on it, reading books, seeking God, asking older ladies who I trusted, etc. I began to search for what I myself believed. My parents completely back up my decisions and standards although they did not set them for me. They would be perfectly fine with me kissing a guy before my wedding day although I choose not to. It does not just have to pertain to sex. Beliefs as far as drugs, alcohol, your friends, grades, the shows you watch, the websites you go to, the way you spend your time, the time you spend with God, where you go and when you go. These are things that if you have not already you will one day have to decide for yourself. When that time comes will you stand strong or will you crumble? If I’ve said this once I’ve said it a thousand times.... NOW IS THE TIME THAT YOU DETERMINE YOUR FUTURE! Yes, you can quote me... :) jk I'm serious about this. So many teenagers live a life of carelessness and because of it they suffer and regret it for the rest of their life. Do you want to be one of those people? I’m not saying you have to be a holy roller type of person. My plea is to simply know what you stand for and stand strongly on it.
JEN
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
Am I crazy?!
This title is a thought that has been running through my mind often over the last few days... Am I crazy to think that God has a "Special" man for me? Am I crazy to not want to kiss a guy until my wedding? Am I crazy to want to live my life for only one thing.... Jesus?
It's amazing how sometimes I feel as if there are tons of people with me and how everyone admires my standards. Then other times I feel as if I'm the only one that exist who cares to remain pure. Do you ever feel that way? Just to be real with you.... I have heard more than one guy say lately, "I would love to date her, but i just don't think i could do the whole not kissing thing." Does that bother me? Not really. I'm glad they know that I'm not gonna give in and we both don't waste our time. It does make me feel alone though. I know I'm not, but it makes me wonder if I'm the only one who feels called to a "Higher calling". Will i find a man who is willing to wait or even more wants to? Only God knows.
I say all this not to complain or say woe is me, but to encourage you also. I'm sure if it is hard for me that means it is also hard for you girls who are striving for a pure life. Whether you are willing to kiss a guy or not it can still be hard. It is expected that you would sleep around, make out with any guy, and just do whatever. The thought that we wont is absolutely revolutionary. We are few and far between. We are not alone though. Satan wants us to think so, but it is not true.
I challenge you to do a few things.... First, continue standing strong! Do not waver. Know what you stand for and stand strong. Secondly, pray for your future husband that he will stand strong! I believe that it is even harder for guys. Peer pressure is just harder. Pray and pray hard for him. Finally, encourage any of your friends who are standing for their purity! They may seem like they have it all together, but you never know what is going on in their mind. Satan may be giving them down the country and your kind word of encouragement may be just what he or she needs!
I love you girls! I hope you feel God this week and know that you are NOT alone!
JEN
It's amazing how sometimes I feel as if there are tons of people with me and how everyone admires my standards. Then other times I feel as if I'm the only one that exist who cares to remain pure. Do you ever feel that way? Just to be real with you.... I have heard more than one guy say lately, "I would love to date her, but i just don't think i could do the whole not kissing thing." Does that bother me? Not really. I'm glad they know that I'm not gonna give in and we both don't waste our time. It does make me feel alone though. I know I'm not, but it makes me wonder if I'm the only one who feels called to a "Higher calling". Will i find a man who is willing to wait or even more wants to? Only God knows.
I say all this not to complain or say woe is me, but to encourage you also. I'm sure if it is hard for me that means it is also hard for you girls who are striving for a pure life. Whether you are willing to kiss a guy or not it can still be hard. It is expected that you would sleep around, make out with any guy, and just do whatever. The thought that we wont is absolutely revolutionary. We are few and far between. We are not alone though. Satan wants us to think so, but it is not true.
I challenge you to do a few things.... First, continue standing strong! Do not waver. Know what you stand for and stand strong. Secondly, pray for your future husband that he will stand strong! I believe that it is even harder for guys. Peer pressure is just harder. Pray and pray hard for him. Finally, encourage any of your friends who are standing for their purity! They may seem like they have it all together, but you never know what is going on in their mind. Satan may be giving them down the country and your kind word of encouragement may be just what he or she needs!
I love you girls! I hope you feel God this week and know that you are NOT alone!
JEN
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Is God Writing Your Love Story?
Have any of you ever read the book. "When God Writes Your Love Story" by Leslie Ludy? If not, I encourage you to! With that said, I want to talk about the theme of the book. The books purpose as a whole is to help you realize that God has a plan and that He wants to write your love story. Are you willing to let Him? Do you think He will do an ok job or would you be better at it?
Sweet girls, I'm here to encourage you.... I was reading through my journal the other day and I was an underlying prayer within the whole thing. That prayer was that if the guy of my affections at that moment was not the one God had chosen for me that He would simply just take him away. Not out of my life, but out of my focus. The other part of the prayer was that when the one God has chosen does come along that He will not let me question whether he is the one or not. He will stick around and I will know that He is the one! I honestly hadn't really realized how often I had prayed that prayer, but looking back it had been quite often. Girls, there are tons of guys and some are decent guys, but i challenge you to not just settle for a "Good" guy, but to wait for the "One". I have full confidence that it will be worth it!
If you had to describe your love story and view of guys in a prayer what would it look like? Would it be an "I trust you God, but.....", "I will follow you where ever, doing whatever, and to whomever God" , or "I can just straight up do this on my own."? Think about it... It is easy to say that you are letting God write your love story, but if you are dating guys who He wouldn't choose for you to date or giving bits of your heart to guys who are not the "One" then it is as if you are letting Him write your story, but every once in a while you steal the pen back and write a few chapters of your own.
I'm not sure about you, but if someone asked me to write a story for them and then they kept taking the pen and changing what i was writing or adding on to it I would get pretty upset and very tired of it. The beautiful thing about God though is that He is willing to take the pen back no matter how many times you have taken it away. I remember in my own life I would take the pen away and then when I realized it, which normally meant I had been hurt He was ever so faithful to gently take the pen back and make my mistakes into a wonderful love story. He is still working on it and I have no idea what the end result will be, although I have confidence that He has a perfect plan!
It reminds me of a few verses...
Sweet girls, I'm here to encourage you.... I was reading through my journal the other day and I was an underlying prayer within the whole thing. That prayer was that if the guy of my affections at that moment was not the one God had chosen for me that He would simply just take him away. Not out of my life, but out of my focus. The other part of the prayer was that when the one God has chosen does come along that He will not let me question whether he is the one or not. He will stick around and I will know that He is the one! I honestly hadn't really realized how often I had prayed that prayer, but looking back it had been quite often. Girls, there are tons of guys and some are decent guys, but i challenge you to not just settle for a "Good" guy, but to wait for the "One". I have full confidence that it will be worth it!
If you had to describe your love story and view of guys in a prayer what would it look like? Would it be an "I trust you God, but.....", "I will follow you where ever, doing whatever, and to whomever God" , or "I can just straight up do this on my own."? Think about it... It is easy to say that you are letting God write your love story, but if you are dating guys who He wouldn't choose for you to date or giving bits of your heart to guys who are not the "One" then it is as if you are letting Him write your story, but every once in a while you steal the pen back and write a few chapters of your own.
I'm not sure about you, but if someone asked me to write a story for them and then they kept taking the pen and changing what i was writing or adding on to it I would get pretty upset and very tired of it. The beautiful thing about God though is that He is willing to take the pen back no matter how many times you have taken it away. I remember in my own life I would take the pen away and then when I realized it, which normally meant I had been hurt He was ever so faithful to gently take the pen back and make my mistakes into a wonderful love story. He is still working on it and I have no idea what the end result will be, although I have confidence that He has a perfect plan!
It reminds me of a few verses...
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Praying for you as you let God write your love story!
JEN
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