Journey With Jen

If I heard anything from older, wiser women it is this: 1) My kids will be grown-up and gone before I know it, so I better enjoy these moments when I want to kill them. And 2) The 30's were some of their best years. Here I am in the middle of my 30's wondering if I'll be able to say that. For women, the 20's can be hard. Still unsure about them self. Some are by themselves wondering if or when they will fall in love. Some are newly married and trying to figure that out. Some are a new Mommy tired, exhausted, and nervous. In your 20's, it still very easy to be concerned about what other's are thinking ...and saying...about you. Old friends seem to disappear into their own lives leaving you to create one of your own. Which, I found a bit scary at the time. Now, in my 30's, I am more....huummmm....I am becoming more ME. My beliefs are not easily shaken. My faith is strong. I am still self-conscience but not as much as in my 20's. (I think that's part of...

"Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles..." Psalm 105:4-5 The Bible is full of Miracles everywhere. There are healings, feeding people, and the Red Sea to name a few. But, today, in this world...what do we have? Cancer. Famine. Heart Disease. Autism. Alzheimer's. Stroke. And that's just the beginning. Each of us are touched by this in some way. Heartache is everywhere. This world is so far from the Garden on Eden. It is very easy to miss the miracles that God sends our way now...each day. Little pieces of encouragement to keep us going. Sunrises and sunsets. Sweet kisses. Laundry being done. We need to remember, though, not to limit God. God can still do the big stuff. God is still a healing God. (can I get an AMEN!) God can still take the rain in our life and create a rainbow. God can take little ol' you and me and make us the image of God. Yes, Big Stuff. So many things do not ha...

I have really been thinking about service hood lately. We've discussed it in church and Sunday school several times lately. (God know's how to connect all those dots doesn't He??) Did you know that the word servant(s) is mentioned in the Bible 965 times in the King James Version? The words service and serve are mentioned 341 in the KJV. Maybe God is trying to tell us something. "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another . For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ~ Galatians 5:13-14 "Even the Son of Man came not be served, but to serve ..." Matthew 20:28 & Mark 10:45 This isn't the first time that God has brought this to my attention. In 2009, my children and I set out to volunteer once a month a different organizations. This is a picture of the kids at the Veteran's Retirement Home. We did good for the fir...

Let go and let God have control. We all have heard this time and time again. And, hopefully, we have all been to a point in our lives where we have to let go. We get pushed to the point when our hands fly off the steering wheel of our lives and we brace for impact. Hand it over to God. Yet, sometimes it is so hard to do. We want to fix it. Especially when it comes to family. All of those buttons get pushed and we go into the try anything until it works mode. Yes, I'm speaking from experience. My brother comes to mind. Him and his wife live in the same town that I do. We live about 10 minutes away from one another. Sounds great so far, right? It gets worse from there. I haven't seen him since my Dad's funeral in 2009. He wouldn't even show up in the spring of 2010 when we did his ashes. Before that, it had been four or fives years since I'd seen him. I've tried to fix it on my own. Inviting him over for bar-b-ques and holidays. Writing him letters. Sending him...

I was looking at last year's post about the coming year, Focus of 2011 . It is always interesting to see what you thought would happen. I mentioned my word for 2009 was forgiveness . For 2010, it was struggles . In 2011, well, I thought that I was done with the pruning and moving on to the sowing. It turns out that God was not through pruning me yet! I'd say now, looking back on the year, my word for 2011 was faith . What about the New Year? What word will be the focus of 2012? I don't really know. I'm not sure what next month will bring. The word that comes to mind is renewal . My favorite verses comes to mind: "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:29-31 Renewal. Our strength maybe weak. We ...