Category Archives: Christianity

Day 2338 – Waiting Well

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A few days back, I felt like a traveling salesman. I lived out of my car for a whole day, went to three libraries (a new record!), ate out for breakfast and dinner. After breakfast, my first stop was the library. I arrived at about 9:20. Sadly, as I walked up, I noticed the gates were down. They opened at 10! Ah! What did I do? Well, I pulled out my journal, signed onto the library wi-fi (I was just outside the library), and listened to a sermon.

It can be easy to complain about having a wait. It can be easy to waste that time playing silly games and checking Facebook. But I challenge you to “wait well.” It looks different in different circumstances, but I’d love to know what you figure out!

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Day 2335 – Everything Is Out Of My Control – Even Paying The Rent

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I’m a bit of a control freak about our finances….and well, a lot of things. I’ve calmed down a little bit (I don’t organize my shirts by color and type anymore….just type now….tanks, fun tanks, fun t-shirts, fun long sleeves, work shirts, etc). But I still have those tendencies.

I had a little cash flow backup and had to juggle some money between accounts. After I juggled the money to pay our rent, I went online to pay and it said it would post at 6 p.m., well, my deposit from another account hadn’t posted yet, so I wanted to wait until after 6. I went on to pay after 6 and it wasn’t showing my rent balance…which was due yesterday! Ah! Freak out! So I kept checking, refreshing, logging in via a private window. Ok, Jen, calm down and try it tomorrow. Ok ok ok.

This morning at 7:50, I tried, no balance. I then started to listen to a sermon.
Then freaked out again. At 8:06, I tried, no balance. Freaked out again, but went back to the sermon. Still thinking of all the things I needed to do to fix this.
At about 8:16, before I logged in, I just threw up my hands and said, God, I give this to you. Help me to learn what you’re trying to show me. This is in your hands.
Wouldn’t you know it, at 8:16, I had a balance and paid my rent.

It (of course) made me cry. How many times do we struggle with something for hours? Letting it keep us up with worry? When all God is after is our complete trust. He can handle EVERYTHING in our lives.
He can handle the tears when you lose someone dear to you.
He can handle lost keys.
He can handle a medical mystery.
He can handle traffic.
He can handle your struggle with sin for years.
He can handle a plan of redemption from your sins.
He can handle Jennilyn’s rent payment.
He can handle whatever you’re dealing with today, whether it be small (in your eyes) or large.

“Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Luke 12:7

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” Colossians 1:16

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Day 2316 – The Last Drink I Ever Had – Or – Sharing Our Mistakes Publicly

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On September 29, 2014, I had my last drink, ever. I’m going to share my testimony at church about my journey through alcoholism, not taking sin seriously and what God changed in me at a later time. I’m super excited to share the full story, but I’m sharing it there first….I’ll (hopefully) get a video and I can paste the full text in a blog post. Since I’ve been working on this the last few months and fine tuning yesterday, not drinking has been on my mind.

I’m listening to How To Win Friends And Influence People In The Digital Age and it got me thinking about social media and the things we share online. Us humans are full of imperfections, mistakes, failures and just all around screw ups. I was thinking, what if we all openly shared our mistakes? What if, instead of making ourselves sound good and that we have it all together, we shared our mistakes? What if, instead of hoping no one finds out our secrets, what if we shared them?

I’m finding through being open about my drinking problem, that it is so much more freeing to discuss it in the light. The power it once held over me (What’s wrong with you Jen? How can you deal with this?) now is one I’m happy to talk about (Wait until you hear what God did in my life!)

I challenge you today, bring your sin out into the light. It’s a lot easier to deal with it there than hiding in the dark corner.

Here’s the bottle that spurred today’s post….funny enough, it was sitting outside the library….this is the last beer I had….not the same bottle of course…. đŸ˜‰

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Day 2293 – Are You A “Domesticated Christian?” – or – Are You Watered Down?

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I recently listened to a sermon by John Piper called The Plundering of Your Property and the Power of Hope. He used a phrase – “Domesticated Christian” and it really struck a chord with me. The sermon was about how easy American Christians have had things. We have not been persecuted like other countries. And until recently, it’s been a good thing to be a Christian. Admired even. It’s a great sermon, and I recommend you listen to it.

So what does a domesticated Christian look like?

I see it as a Christian who doesn’t take God at His Word. There are a LOT of hard things in the bible. There are a lot of things that we can write off and ignore. But that’s not what we’re called to do.

It may not be easy to hear – “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:28
But it’s a very clear message – don’t play around with thinking about those who aren’t your spouse. One way Bret and I have tried to take God at His Word in this area is not watching a movie or TV show with nudity.

It’s not easy to hear – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23.
We like to think of ourselves as “good people” as “not so bad.” But that’s not what scripture says. It says we’ve ALL sinned.

It’s not easy to hear – “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.‘” John 14:6
No one likes the message that faith in Jesus is the only way to be saved from hell. We like to hear all roads lead to God. We like to hear, believe want you want. But that’s not what scripture says.

It’s not easy to hear – “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.” 1 Peter 4:7
We want to hear, it’s all good, go ahead – drink and be merry. But that’s not what God says. I had to take this verse seriously in my life. I had to admit that I could not be sober minded and drink. Over a year ago, I finally admitted I had a problem and quit drinking for good. I intend on telling the full story about that in the coming weeks on the blog, so stay tuned. I took God at His Word and my life has been changed.

This idea of domesticated makes me think of a wild animal that loses all of it’s survival instincts. I hate to break it to you friends, but this world is a vicious vicious place. We have to be serious about our faith in Christ and be aware of the dangers around us. We also need to be ready tell others of the amazing good news of our faith. This world is a terrible place, but God has given us a source of pure joy and hope.

So ask yourself, are you domesticated in your faith? Has your faith been watered down? Have you let the world dictate your belief system or is it God’s Word?

Maybe not one of my easier or more fun posts, but it has been pressing on my heart and I had to share.

“I can’t keep eternity out of my mind. Life is short and eternity is long. Very long. It is a long time to regret a wasted life.” John Piper – Life as a Vapor

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Day 2287 – What It’s Like To Share A Car In Your 30’s

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I have been sharing a car with my husband for about ten months. It’s not the “normal” thing that people do these days. “Normal” people have two vehicles. We realized though, that we don’t need two vehicles.

Here’s what we’ve learned over the last ten months:
– Sharing increases our patience with each other. There have been times one or both of us have had to wait for the other.
– Sharing a car gives us more time together in the morning and afternoon on the days we both need to be somewhere.
– Sharing a car has decreased our expenses.
– We are thankful for the vehicle we DO have.
– It has shown us we don’t have to be “normal.”
– And finally, it really isn’t that big of a deal. Thankfully, my current job doesn’t require a lot of driving and when it does, it’s an easy “drop Bret off at school, drive where I need to and pick him up” situation.

What about you, have you shared a vehicle? What did you learn?

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