Journey With Jen

It is the Easter season once again.  Hard to believe it is only a couple days away.   Usually I am decorating with spring colors by now.  Thinking of Easter clothes or spring pictures.  Filling colorful eggs with chocolate and gummies.  This year my heart is heavy with the burdens of the world. So many people are struggling with cancer.  Mothers and Fathers will soon be saying their good-byes to their children and grandchildren.  It is so difficult to lose a parent, no matter how old we are.  Kent and I keep thinking about our Grandma as well.  She is in her 90's and fading faster it seems.  Last year, our aunt heard her talking to Jesus in her room.  She told Him that Easter would be a good time because, after all, You died for us.  (gave us the hint who she's talking too!)  Now, with Easter among us, we keep going back to that conversation.  We keep wondering if it will happen soon.  I saw her on my birthda...

"Fear not, for I am with you;   be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you,   I will uphold you with my  righteous right hand."  Isaiah 41:20 "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you."   Deuteronomy 31:6 "You will forget your misery;   you will remember it as waters that  have passed away.    And your life will be brighter than the noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.    And you will feel secure,  because there is hope;   you will look around and take your rest in  security."  Job 11:16-18 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord , plans for w elfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.   Then you  will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You  will seek me ...

Where are you emotionally right now?  Are things finally coming together and your feeling confident?  Are you in that middle ground of just waiting?  Or are things just becoming overwhelming and you don't know what do to do?  Do tears fall easily even when you put on the happy face for others? Our prayer list grows at church.  So many people in pain.  So much cancer and disease taking our loved ones home.  Accidents that happen which change lives.  This world is full of pain.  I am thankful for the words of comfort that our Lord gives us.  "I sought the Lord , and He answered me   and delivered me from all my fears."  Psalm 34:4 Fear.   One of those four letter words that can keep you up at night.  When a situation hits you in the face, fear can grab your heart.  Fear for yourself.  Fear for others.  Fear of the unknown.    But, when you hit knees and cry out to God ~ He takes a...

"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." v2 "The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strenght eighty; yet their span is toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away." v10 "So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom" v12 I think that says it all tonight. His words are all that's needed.

"And he came down with them and stood on  a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples  and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of  Tyre  and Sidon, who came to hear   him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were  troubled  with unclean spirits were cured.   And all the crowd   sought to touch him, for power  came out from him and healed them all."  ~ Luke 6:17-19 ESV God, our great physician.  Our healer in times of trouble.   I still believe that God heals. It is hard to watch some one suffer.  I watched my Dad suffer from cancer.  And, go from moments of hope and joy...  To moments of despair.  To the point where the hard reality sets in.  And all those emotions in between.  The pain he had to suffer daily.  There comes a point when we realize that it is not in God'...

I've learned that wishing doesn't change things. Wishing does not cure cancer. Wishing does not fix heart problems. Nor does it cure Autism. Wishing doesn't make your problems go away. But, I believe that wishing is still good for you. It is still needed. Wishing and dreaming are both products of HOPE. Hope is what we need to make it through the difficulties. Hope is what keeps us going step by step through it. Hope is why we keep looking up ~ looking for the horizon. Believing that God will pull us through... maybe not today or tomorrow.. but God will provide our needs. So, today, I am wishing...and dreaming...and hoping. Today my faith will carry me through another day.

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,” Romans 5:3-4 Everyday I go to BibleGateway.com for the verse of the day. Today, this is the verse. God has a way of getting what you need to you. Today, this is what I needed. You see, my life hasn't been very smooth lately. (if you can't tell from my posts lately..lol) Life has been, well, for lack of a better word . . . hard. My roots, my hope, my faith is knowing that God has a purpose. That He is in control. God has a way of stripping everything away. And if you have never been there, I am sure one day you will. My husband's job has gone from full time with lots of overtime to full time. Now, it's 4 days a week sometimes. The economy isn't getting any better. A year ago, we moved from our home to a 4 bedroom apartment. Which if you have lived in a house for any amount of time, you know how much stuff you can ac...

"But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." Colossians 8-10 We each are in our own transformation. Our own metamorphosis. Our situations leave us changed. As people come in and out of our lives, we are changed. I am not the same person I was ten years ago. Or even five years ago. Nor am I the same person I was a couple months ago. I have changed, just as you have. Each day there are opportunities that may never come again. Each day is a new beginning filled with promise. . . and hope. Each day gives us a chance to grow a little more. Strengthen our faith a little more. Show love and kindness to others. Lean on God a little more. To become more like our Creator. That is our journey. That is a tough act to follow....

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." ~ Isaiah 55:8-9 I was looking through my online photos and ran across this picture from the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. Each chair represents a person who died there. There were 19 children among the 168 that died that day in 1995. The children's chairs are the smaller ones across the grass. It is a very moving memorial honouring those who perished. When I look at the loss and the pain that is here, right now, in this world ~ it is easy to wonder. . . W H Y ? ? As I flip on the news or look in the newspaper, that question pops in my head. Just yesterday, there were 3 people in the obituaries that were in their 40's. Parents still alive. Small children yet to raise. Yet, there earthly lives are no more. I have a friend that has lost two of her children. Cancer is everywhere. Layof...

God knows when we are tired. He knows when we need a little hope. I've been feeling a bit worn out. . . physically and emotionally... in need of a little hope. God can supply this through others. This Saturday was filled with soccer as usual lately. Afterwards, we went to get some pizza for lunch with my niece and her parents. We ran into some friends my husband and brother-in-law grew up with. They left and the waitress told us that our tab was taken care of. They bought our lunch. I know they didn't think much about it, but it reminded me of God's love. God's care. Hope, that even in the midst of the anniversary of 9/11, good is still out there. I know, I know ~ it's lunch. But, it wasn't something they had to do. It wasn't something expected of them. It's going a little extra for others. When is the last time that you went out of your way for some one else? Not for their birthday... just for no reason at all. God might be trying to use you to bless an...

"Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water? While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant. Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish." Job 8:11-13 This verse goes on to tell us, "what they trust is in fragile and what they rely on is a spiders web." Think about that for a moment. To rely on a spiders web. Spider webs are strong enough to hold the spider and catch it's prey. It is strong enough for the day to day routine. Yet, when strong wind...or a strong storm comes, it's gone. Nothing is left. The same is true with reeds without water. They cannot grow and flourish. They wither and die without the life support of water. That is also true about us without Christ. A strong wind in our lives and we are left with nothing. Without Christ we cannot become the person we are supposed to be. Can you imagine waking up everyday thinking that th...

Luke was so proud to be sitting on my hospital bed holding Faith for the first time. Who knew looking at that adorable three year old face what struggles would come? I know that I didn't... but God did. And when in the mists of this mess... God provides a message to keep going ~ keep trying ~ don't give up through our message at church on Sunday . "Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. " Psalm 69:1-3 No, that is not the message of hope that we went over! LOL Yet, I understand this passage. I am sure that each of you have been there as well at some point in your lives. What do you do when the water is about to take you down? You look up! That is where my hope is. Sitting on my knees at the altar asking for God's help and direction through this ~ having two wonderful Christian women praying with me ~ that is God's hand. I kn...

We all have our struggles. Some are daily from our job or our families. Some struggles might happen spiritually or even financially. All of those struggles cause us stress and frustration. Then ~ there are those big struggles. Those moments that happen that leave us changed. The difficulty could be anything. It might be bankruptcy. It could be a divorce. Or an autism diagnosis. Or a death. Or even cancer. Those are hard pills to swallow. Yet, all of us have been there ourselves or with a loved one. And ~ unless God calls us home ~ we will be going through it again. And when we get that phone call ~ it is easy to ask the question, "why?" Why today Lord? Why does it happen to me or my family? Why can't everything be back to normal? Why? Why? Why? " Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I...

"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world." ~ 1 Peter 5:8-9 The Bible warns us to be watchful more than once. "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Does that make you feel like prey? We are. There are so many distractions. So many difficulties in this life. It is very easy to take our eyes from our goal. To live like Christ ~ For Christ. There are so many opportunities for satan to attack us. He has many things to use against us. Things that are in our human nature. Pride. Anger. Discouragement. Things that can be twisted and turned from things of God ~ to things for our own wants. How many times do we get angry at our family? How many times has pride hurt a relationship? How many ...

In this world today, there is very little security. Each day holds new challenges. Every moment is insecure. Mat Kearney's song, Closer to Love, speaks of it beautifully. "We're all one phone call from our knees." How true is that?!? Just turning on the news, it is clear how little security we have. Tornado's whipped through Joplin, Missouri on Sunday night. In a moment, their lives were changed. Over 100 lives have been lost. Homes being destroyed. Businesses gone. How do you even pick yourself up from that? There's no going to Wal-Mart to pick a few things up because Wal-Mart is gone. There isn't a job to go to in the morning. A bed to tuck your kids in a night. How fragile life is! My security is not in my job or where we live, but in Christ. He is the One security that we all can have. I am SO thankful for that security, because this world has so much pain, uncertainty, and challenges. I pray for the people affected by this tragedy. I pray they can res...

We have had a wee bit of rain lately. . . There is a normal size fence in there... I really wish I would have gotten pictures during out flood. It was amazing how much rain we got in such a little bit of time. The places and roads just flooded with water. I did get out today with my camera and got a few. The usually dry creeks were water rapids. The little pond by our library was filled to the brim. The water reminded me of life. How it can throw things at us we don't expect. How life happens right now ~ not some time in the future. We don't know when the floods in our life are going to happen. Those moments when you can throw you hands up and just cry, "why?" Or those times when no words will come out. The floods... It's how we handle the floods that matter. Do we stay rigid and break and become uprooted? Will our circumstances determine us? Or are will learn to bend? There is a difference between getting knocked over and bending. Bending does not mean letting ...

"Three times I pleaded with my Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why for Christ sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For when I am weak, I am strong." ~ 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 What a wonderful scripture to hold your life up to! I'm not sure that 'delight' is the word that I think of when I go through hardships and difficulties. However, I do understand the meaning. When I am weak ~ then it gives opportunity for God to be strong. It gives me the chance to show by example the love of Christ inside of me. The Faith inside. The Peace inside. Throughout the chaos this world will bring, Christ pours out His grace. One of my favorite verses is Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who streng...

Proverbs 26:20-22 "Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip the quarrel dies down. As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife. The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts." While reading Proverbs, I came across this verse. Don't you love the description? I can visualize the fire or even the words 'choice morsels.' It goes on in verse 24 to say, " Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit . " Each of us gets a different image in our head about this that is some how a product of our childhood or how we're raised. Honestly, when I think of this, it takes me back to 6th grade. That's when the separation began for me. I remember being in the bathroom stall when some of the popular girls came in and started talking about me. I stayed in there until they left. Then, I cried and had to wipe it up and go back to the classroom...

Last week when I was reading the bible....looking for something but I didn't know what. I had a few things wrote down from Psalm 24 from church a few Sunday's ago. So, I started there. When I got to Psalm 25, I stopped and re-read it a few times. This! This is what I was looking for! You might be thinking...that was a week ago, haven't you moved on since then? Yes, but I keep going back to it. It's amazing! David's plea...his yearning...that should be our plea. Our yearning. "Guide me in your truth and teach me" for "my hope is in you" (v5). My hope is not here in this world. I'm very thankful for that. This world if falling apart. My hope is knowing there is God that loves me. Mistakes and all. He wants me to do better...be better...yet, understands when I fall and extends His grace. Even David can look at his life and see mistakes. (v7) "Do not remember the sins of my youth and rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for y...

"You will stand firm and without fear. You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by. Life will be brighter than noonday and darkness will become like morning. You will be secure because there is hope, You will look about you & take your rest in safety." Job 11:15-18 There are times when your calm and open. What you need to hear ~ it finds you. God gets it to you and you actually receive it. There's no distractions. This is what I needed tonight. Isn't it just beautiful? To have our troubles a distant memory as waters gone by. Life brighter than noonday. Wow! When have I felt that good in this life?? To look around you and feel safe... To feel that security... To feel that hope . I do feel hope today, in this life. In the mists of the chaos that is our life ~ there is hope . Just knowing that God is in control. God has it covered. The mistakes. The misunderstandings. The hurt. The pain. God walks with us through it all. Isn't that ...