Most Recent Blog Posts
Moving Forward With A Burning Fire
Moving Forward With A Burning Fire
4 Key Elements of Faith-Based Goal Planning + My Winter Goals
4 Key Elements of Faith-Based Goal Planning + My Winter Goals
Advent Study: Wonderful Counselor
Advent Study: Wonderful Counselor
The Last Minute Advent Study
The Last Minute Advent Study
 
 

Hi there! I’m Jena. I’m so glad you’re here!

i’m passionate about living my

one beautiful life to the glory god.

 
 
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I like to hang out on instagram.

I’d love for you to come and join me there!

My first entry for #if_revivalcamp2019 with @illustratedfaith. I picked to journal Genesis 7:13-16 and was so surprised by all that God revealed in such a familiar passage. I was left blown away by God’s grace in the very hard calling of building a boat when it made no sense at all. It made me think of a few situations where God called me to step out in faith with really hard decisions. Unlike Noah my faith was delayed due to my insecurity. But God in his faithfulness doesn’t relent on his will and continued to pursue me in grace and patience. This verse led me to a desire to respond with obedience more quickly even when it doesn’t make sense. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Another big take away was the fact God shut them in by closing the door. The devotional that came with this months #illustratedfaithkit discussed how this was God’s Grace. That Noah didn’t have to make the decision to close the door. God did. At church last Sunday our pastor explained how the word decide means to cut off. The decision for obedience will always mean something is being cut off or out as an option. This is what make decisions hard for me as I like options. But by God’s Grace he makes decisions for us. It’s often long after the fact we can see his goodness in what was cut off, when at the time it was painful, confusing, or unclear. I can look back and see so many instances of this is my life. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What about you? Do you have an example where God drove you to a decision or he made a decision for you that looking back you can see just how much that was for your good? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #illustratedfaith #biblejournaling #if_revivalcamp #revivalcamp
At church yesterday our pastor preached on God's presence and our anxiety. The biggest takeaway for me was the difference between isolation and solitude. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In 1 Kings 19 there is the story of Elijah and when he was afraid he left his servant and went away in isolation compared to Jesus, who at the cross pulled his three closest disciples aside to share how devastated he was. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ There is great danger in isolation and we sadly see the damage play out in society over and over again. In many cases becoming numb to the tragedies that are taking place on a daily basis. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Having people in your life who can go to in the hardest places and help you choose community over isolation is the way God designed us. Building community isn't always easy or straight forward but the best recommendation I could give you is go first. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Be the person you want to have in your life. Start where you're are and love those people closest to you. Keep investing in community so when the hard seasons coming, isolation isn't a consideration. Find the people who let you know your brokenness is welcome. And be the person who welcomes brokenness from those in your life and loves them with the love of Jesus.
IDEA // Day 4 #hopewriterlife If you all know me, you know I don’t have a shortage of ideas. If you only knew half of the ideas I did nothing with! And then the other half that live in the hundreds of pages that I don’t know what to do with. I’ve been working hard to build the discipline of completion and it isn’t easy! I have BIG dreams I want to make happen and the little ADD brain that lives inside of me has a hard time sticking it out. Goal planning continues to help me grow in this area but even more than that is my @trelloapp!! I’ve been all about it for a while now, and I continue to have friends ask me to teach them my ways. So I have an idea! This one I want to truly be committed to before doing anything else. I want to build videos to help people learn trello! I plan to have an intro to it, how to get started and some ideas to take it to the next level! If you have any interest at all, let me know below or in a message so I can be spurred on!! I LOVE this tool like crazy and can’t wait to share it with ya all!!
FLOW // Day 3 #hopewriterlife Challenge I didn’t plan it this way but it was a very nice coincidence! Thank you Jesus! Getting into the “flow” on a project for me usually comes with the requirement of long stretches of uninterrupted time which is pretty challenging to come by. While my flow when it comes to productivity isn’t predictable, my “flow” (think in terms of lady days) is rather predictable. You may be wondering, this is a terrible direction to take this prompt, and I’d say don’t give up on me yet! You see my productivity, what I focus on and how I complete tasks directly relates to where I’m at in my cycle. If this is crazy to you or if you’ve never heard this, don’t give up on me yet because it’s real. We live in a very masculine dominate world, where talking about things like our period isn’t common place. But we are missing out on so much crazy amazing information by not intimately learning how God created our bodies. It’s CRAZY amazing. Completely mind blowing. So for me, getting into the flow looks like looking at where I’m at in my cycle and connecting with the way my body wants to work in that phase. So what about you? Do you do #cyclesyncing? I share a bunch more about this in my story from today so be sure to check it out!!
Joining in on @hopewriters writing challenge and the first prompt of the series says it all! The fact I'm posting this in the final hours of the day says a whole lot more. But because I want to practice what I preach, I'm still starting this writing challenge. Throwing aside the perfection and just giving it a go.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ For me starting comes with a whole lot of thinking and not a whole lot of action. Thinking the more thinking the better. However, I believe there is a point of no return. I also believe there is a point where I am no longer living by faith but consumed by my own agenda, anxiety and/or fear.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I saw this last week when I sat down to do my goal planning for my blog. I thought I needed four hours of uninterrupted time to get clarity for my next steps. After a turn of events, which was a huge blessing, I was left with less than an hour to sit down and plan. Scared that I wasn't going to have the time I needed, God showed up and multiplied my time. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It was after time in prayer, He took me back to what he has already shown me for my blog. While I have HUGE aspirations (like launching a magazine) my real hang up is simply taking the steps to start. I keep thinking I need the perfect plan to make that happen. But that's not the case. Simply starting where I am with what I have is what God has for me. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Will that lead to a magazine? Oh, how I hope it does. But if it doesn't then that's okay too! But if I don't start with any steps I can guarantee it won't lead to that desire of mine⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Starting in the messy imperfection is better than all the best-laid plans because it's starting. It's movement forward, which may lead to a few steps back, but with each time I start, it will always move me forward. Bring more clarity. Open up new doors. Reveal new opportunities.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ So that's where I'm at today. Once again starting with not the best-laid plans but what I feel like God has for me today.
I was driving to the coffee shop this morning and praying over my time that I plan to spend putting an action plan together for my blog. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I was praying over how I want to reflect God’s glory. And I felt the Spirit convict me asking the question, do I want to do the right thing, or do I want to reflect God’s glory? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I often think the perfect plan is what reflects God’s glory the most. And in some ways this is true. However, God knows I’m not going to do this life perfect. If I had the ability to do this life perfect he wouldn’t have needed to send Jesus to live the perfect life for me. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ So as I sit down to put pen to paper and lay a game plan to what I feel like God is wanting me to do to truly reflect his glory, and not the perfect life, would you pray for me to humble my heart. That I would step out and do things imperfectly know Jesus is my perfection, to show up scared knowing Jesus is my peace, and to show up broken because Jesus is my healer. 💕
Here is another little gift I got myself for my 33rd birthday last month! I think I may be equally in love with this quote. This helps cut through the noise of my to do list and prioritize it all to find what would have the greatest impact. For me, a year from now I will have wished I done the hard work of developing a morning and evening routine I’m consistent and committed to. I’m 20 days into that goal and have made HUGE progress! So what about you, a year from now what will you wish you had done today?
If you’re and Enneagram 3 there is a good chance this quote resonates with you as much as it does me! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I celebrated my 33rd birthday last month and much like the new year, and this was a gift to myself while we were in Bellingham at our little getaway. This little quote card is my bookmark for my 100 day goal planner and every day I’m reading it and being reminded of this truth. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ As I type that I can sense the rejection to that statement from some as I think as Christians we can be so afraid of this, “be who you are” statement. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We read this and think who I am is a sinner and so it isn’t good for me to be who I am. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But as I read this quote through the lens of the gospel, and apply God’s truth to these words, I see that God has given me a new identity which is who I am because who I am in Christ is a new creation. The old has past and the new has come. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ So if I live in this truth, I want every day in light of being who I am. And being who I am is being who God designed me to be. Being who I am looks a lot like Jesus. Better yet, who I am is to be like Jesus. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But because of sin and the world we live in. This doesn’t come by default. Every day we live is every day there is something that comes against us being who we are in Christ. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It only comes only by abiding in Christ that we learn to walk in the ways he has intimately designed for each of us and in this abiding we learn who we are. And this is where the life he desires us to live begins to grow. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Again, as an Enneagram 3, I fall into the trap of wanting to be who the world wants me to be. That’s where I derive my value and figure out who I am, or better yet, should be, through the lens of what the world wants. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It’s one reason I started this IG account. To have a place where I show up and be who I am in Christ. I fall short of this so often, and struggle to step into this daily, but having this little card as a reminder helps so much!
I love sharing a photo from my intentional time with Jesus because I feel so accomplished after achieving my ultimate goal of having a morning routine. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ A consistent morning in the word with my inconsistent schedule has been such a battle going on years now and is my current 100 day goal. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You see the truth is, spending your first moments of the day with Jesus is a sacrifice no matter how much of a morning person you are. There is and always will be something fighting for our attention and devotion. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ When you see perfectly curated photos of people in their bible, don’t believe the lie that it’s easy for everyone else but you. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I think there is good to be had by sharing a photo from your life of you reading your bible. But let us not forget the sacrifice that goes into getting to such a beautiful place. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Or if you believe your morning time isn’t beautiful so it doesn’t count. Don’t believe that lie either. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ God sees every sacrifice of your time, treasure and talent for his glory beautiful. It doesn’t have to exist on Instagram to count. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Reading your bible isn’t easy, but neither are the other things in life that product good fruit. But with Jesus he makes them easy because he is the one who fuels the faith that leads to the sacrifice. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Know that God sees and honors each time you choose him. And when you do, be sure to step back and watch for what God does with that sacrifice. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.” Psalms‬ ‭5:3‬ ‭ESV‬‬
My stories played in the background as I got ready this morning. I reached a particular account and my spirit instantly reacts with a bold, “that isn’t true”. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ With the desire to get defensive and judgmental I sat with that feeling praying how God would want me to respond. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The verse Luke 23:34 comes to mind. I verse I didn’t even know I had memorized, “Forgive them for them as they know not what they do”. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Except forgive was the word pray. Pray for them for they know not what they do. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ While my desire is to defend, judge and make sure people know they are wrong, I don’t believe I should exist on IG to create a battle against everything that isn’t true. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ My life would be quite exhausting and I also believe it’s a fight God isn’t interested in me engaging in. As we killed Jesus on the cross this was his response, forgive them, for they know not what they do. If that’s Jesus’ response, how much more should we respond to injustice in our own lives. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ To have our hearts break over the fact they don’t know what they are doing. They are blind to their own destruction and that it’s leaving a wake of damage in their lives to which they are unaware. And can I be honest, I fall into this category quite often too. I do something incorrect or say the wrong thing and I believe Jesus says to the Father, forgive her for she knows not what she does. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The truth is, Jesus wants us to know what we do. He wants us to have discernment and to make the decisions that lead to life. But when we don’t his answer is always, Father, forgive them. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ My instagram feed or stories shouldn’t be a place where I wrestle through judgement, it should be a place I go to God in prayer. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And if it’s someone who is a Christian and I have a relationship with them who is in my “circle” so to speak, then I believe speaking up and sharing truth IN LOVE is so needed and necessary. That is how we grow and learn the heart of the Father for us. And if they aren’t, pray for them as they know not what they do.
Today’s the day I’ve been waiting three years for!! @followradical’s annual #secretchurch event takes place! I attended the simulcast in 2016 which was on world religions. It was SO good. I have been dreaming of attending another one ever sense and this year it will finally work out!! It’s six hours of epic preaching on one topic throughout the whole Bible. 125 different points with SO much scripture under each point. I shared more about this in my story and include four screenshots of all the topics and scripture David Platt will be covering. Secret church started after David Platt witnessed Christians in foreign countries hungry for the teaching and preaching of God that they’d beg him to keep teaching at times for 24 hours. God has gifted him with the ability to do just that. He shared how here in America we are satisfied with 30 minutes of church and wanted to bring a taste of how he preaches to us in America. That the fact here in America we don’t have to fear getting together. We don’t have to keep our church attendance secret because of what our government or society would do to us. While we might like to think we have real fears, they are no where never as validated as our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world. It’s so true how we’ve become satisfied with being entertained not counting the cost of following our faith. I’m sure I’ll be on overload from all that I take in tonight and hope to share bits and pieces! Know I already have a LONG story going on from last night so bare with me as I do my best to document! I’ll plan to save it as a highlight if you miss it!
It’s been ten days since my birthday, and 10 days since I started this little goal journal! I try my best to wait to share new things in my life because I’m a big fan of starting things. Finishing them is a different story. I was SO drawn to this goal journal while in Bellingham and I couldn’t help but purchase it. I was unsure if I’d start it right away but with my birthday taking place the next day I figured I’d give it a go. Completing an important goal would be such a great gift to myself. I quickly landed on having a consistent morning and evening routine that I’m committed to as the goal I hope to achieve. I’m amazed at how much I’ve grown and changed in the area of my morning and evening routine in just ten days! It’s been years since I’ve had consistency with my routines and I honest gave up hope it could happen. However it was all excuses and I’ve been able to gain such life from my routines. I plan to share more about my 100 day journey as I go along. I’d love for you to share where you stand with your morning and evening routine. Love it? Hate it? A favorite thing you do that I should consider adding to mine? :)
 
 
 
 
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