I’ve been doing a lot of driving this past week as I have been back in Indiana visiting family. Of course, I listen to music most of the way and jam along with my pup in the front seat as if we are on some great American road trip.

One of the songs that came on during this time was Brand New by Ben Rector. It’s a fun song with a good beat and fun to sing along to. So I was jamming along and having a grand old time, and then really started to listen to the words and think about what it means to “feel brand new” as our friend Ben says in his song.

The lyrics for the chorus are:

Like when I close my eyes, and don’t even care if anyone sees me dancing.

Like I can fly, and I don’t even think of touching the ground

Like a heartbeat skip, like an open page,

Like a one way trip on an aeroplane,

It’s the way that I feel when I’m with you – Brand New!

While Ben Rector does have some Christian music background, I am sure that he is probs talking about his wife, but I think this is a lot how a life lived with Jesus can look like.

Hear me when I say that struggles will come. THEY WILL COME. And they will suck. And people will suck. And sometimes you will do things that suck too.

[Jesus said,] “I have told you these things so that you may have peace, In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have over come the world.” – John 16:33

Jesus told us flat-out that we will have some struggles. But he also didn’t let it hang there – we can take heart! He has overcome the world by living a perfectly holy and righteous life!

[Jesus said,] “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.” – John 10:10

Jesus came to give us LIFE to the FULL. Yes that means an eternal life with the Father, but eternal life starts NOW. Today. Pronto. Immediately. (Hints the word eternal.)

(Inside look at Jami’s writing process: This is the moment in my blogging “process” where I tell myself to bring around to the point and stop typing every thought that comes into my head. As in, I literally just said that out loud to myself.)

We have a reason to dance like no one is watching, and like we just bought a one-way ticket to anywhere. Even when there are sucky things happening to us or because of us. We have a savior who has come to give us life to the full. He has overcome the world, and made us brand new! And His mercies are new each morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). We are being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16).

We have been made brand new by the blood of our Savior. And we have a brand new start each and every day to take hold of the abundant life that is waiting for us.

Let’s go get it.

 

This week is short and sweet. I’ve been feeling thankful this week (and always, but somethings are more specific for this week) and have been realizing that God’s blessings are often waiting there for us to unlock if only we take the first step where he leads.

10. My pup, Penny and the constant happiness and joy she brings to my life every day.

9. My Bible Study Fellowship small group – I am so glad I got placed with you ladies.

8. My church family.

7. New connections with new people or people I’ve known for a while, but haven’t connected with.

6. Opportunities for income while unemployed.

5. Friends who are always there for deep conversations and hilarious moments.

4. Family who is looking out for me and cheering for me from 3 states away.

3. Unexpected quick replies to emails.

2. Conversations with new and old friends at church on Sunday that were encouraging and came at just the right time.

1. God’s unconditional love and blessings that are daily if only we seek to find them.

I have been “searching” for a job for about 2 months now. I use the term “searching” lightly because I haven’t put in a ton of effort toward it until recently.  Sure, I have been looking at jobs, and deciding what I think I might like to do, but it has only been the past few weeks that I have been truly applying and getting down to business.

In the beginning I thought that I was avoiding it because I needed some major healing from a situation I wrote about previously in my blog Get Behind me, Satan. And I believe in part that was/is true.

However in working this morning on my resume and looking at different jobs that I could do, I feel hopeless in it.

What’s the point of even working on my resume and applying for jobs, when I don’t really have many networking connections, or that much professional experience to speak of, or a master’s degree in anything.

I am not saying that I don’t feel like I don’t have something to offer to an employer. I know that I am a hard worker, and a quick learner, but I also feel without more experience or a specific connection, what is going to make me stand out from the crowd? Why would someone choose to put my resume aside to look at further.

It all seems hopeless. Pointless. I will grudgingly  continue to do it. But I don’t see the point other than to do it so I can make money and pay the bills. And that’s difficult for me to say. Even typing it, I started to tear up. I don’t want that to be my existence, but it’s the only thing that is really motivating me currently. That I have to make a living somehow.

We’re born, we grow up, we make money, then we die.

But wait! There’s more!

Even in the midst of all of the crap that has happened the past couple of months, I know that there is something bigger and better waiting for me on the other side. And that my life on this earth was created to serve my Creator in whatever I do – work, play, life.

So I will press on with the only hope that is true and that satisfies and that is that Christ has won the victory over death for me and that one day I will be in paradise with Him. And until then, I will praise Him in the good and the bad. In the pointless and in the fulfilling moments. In every moment, I will praise.

Here’s a video: With Everything by Hillsong United

 

I’ve been at this blogging thing for 3 months now. And I am going to be honest with you (since that is what this blog is all about), It’s been getting harder and harder to come up with things to write about.

Perhaps after writing some blogs and then hearing from various people how much that meant to them, I feel like there is an expectation that needs to be met and don’t know exactly how to meet that expectation.

Maybe I am just in a writer’s slump and am currently lacking some creative juices.

It could be that now that life has slowed down a little bit, I have less exciting things going on in my life and therefore have less things to write about.

Whatever it is, it is getting more and more difficult to write these blogs each week. And I have 9 more months of this to go… Hooray.

But I am doing it. I am sticking to it. Why? Because God has asked me to do write a blog and I have followed through… this time.

To be honest, there are a lot of things that God asks me to do, that I don’t follow through on. We always have a choice to listen to God’s calling and do what he has asked of us. But we don’t always follow through.

I think part of it, is that there is no one physically there to disappoint. It’s a lot harder to see someone face to face and own up to what you haven’t done than it is to know that you can not do it and not have to worry about facing them in the future.

Another piece might be, as petty as it sounds, that we know God will forgive us. Countless times, and countless more He will. So it “doesn’t really matter if we do it or not.” (I do not believe this is true, but I do think it can be a common mindset for believers.)

But one day, we will have to face him. And it will be glorious. And we will have to face all of the things we did and the things we didn’t do. Hear me correctly, I am not saying that if we don’t do those things that He will forsake or we will lose our inheritance in heaven. I know, and I hope you do too, that my spot it secure.

What I am saying is that I believe that God still holds us accountable. We have already received his grace, but now because of that grace, we have a job to do. We spend the rest of our earthly lives living for him and letting him guide us and shape us into a more Christ-like version of ourselves every step of the way.

To put it in perspective, I am studying Revelation with Bible Study fellowship this year. One of the gals in my group said that her grandma would say to her, “When you are doing something, think to yourself ‘Would I be proud of what I was doing if Jesus came back right now?'” Shoot. Grandmas know what is up. They’ve lived lots more of life than we have and we have a lot to learn from them.

But that’s what I am talking about. We aren’t guilted into following the Holy Spirit’s lead or living our lives the way scripture has laid out for us. We want to make our Poppa God proud! He loves us so much to send his only Son to live, die, and rise so that we can have eternal life, and now we get to spend our lives learning from him and listening to him and making him proud by doing what he asks of us! How awesome!

It’s not easy. He often asks us to do things that are outside of our comfort zone. And there is grace waiting for us when we come to him and let him know that we didn’t do what he asked of us. But there is so much beauty in listening closely to your Abba Father and following what he is calling you to do – big or small.

…So there’s that. That just sort of came out and I don’t plan on reading it back before posting. Hopefully you were able to follow along and perhaps even get something out of it! Because I know from experience that even when you reluctantly follow God’s call, you’re still following it and He is bigger than your attitude and can do immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine in his name! Amen!

Sidenote: If you have suggestions for something you are going through, have wondered about, or like to hear about – comment below, and I would love to write a blog on it! It will be mutually beneficial – you’ll hear about a topic relevant to your life, and I will have some more writing material for the next 9 months!

Thanks for following!