A Passive Pursuit?...

I've been thinking about the message at my church on Sunday. The series my pastor is doing is called Transformed: Activate the Extraordinary, and it's really good. You can actually listening to it here online for the first week, and here for the 2nd week. Both weeks were extraordinary, but i've been really thinking about this weeks message. One quote in particular: "Spiritual gifts never come to the passive." -Pastor Kevin. It's so true, and not only with Spiritual gifts, but everything. Faith involves action. Being a Christian involves action. Yes, God chooses you, He loves you without any action on your part. But in order to be saved and have a home in Heaven, you need to take the action of repenting for your sins, believe that God sent His Son, Jesus to die for your sins and rose again, and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Action is required to receive the gifts God has for you (including Spiritual gifts).

Several times in the Bible, He says: "Ask and you shall receive.." and "You have not, because you asked not." Christianity isn't about a religion, it's about a relationship and relationships take actions. A relationship where one is passive isn't a very good relationship. The Bible says often- Seek and you shall find, seek me and I will be found by you, draw near to me and I will draw near to you.

If you've been passive, it's time to stop. What results come from a passive life? From my experience, not much. I wouldn't have bought a house if I was passive and didn't contact the realtor, mortgage company, looked at houses, placed an offer (or 2 or 3). Good things come to those who wait, but you can't just wait- GO AFTER IT! Pursue the good things. God has awesome plans for you life, go and seek Him, GO AFTER HIM. Pursue God. Find out His will for your life and go after them. If you feel a desire to be a singer, go after it. Practice, get your voice out there. If you have a desire to run your own business, go after it. Figure out what you want to do, plan it, invest in it, market it, and etc. Dreams don't work unless you do. And most importantly, include God in every step. Include Him in your every day life.

It's interesting, not many of the people from the Bible were passive when it came to things of God. Moses did have some obstacles and hesitations before doing what God called him to do, but God made a way, and Moses did it, He went after his calling. So many of the stories in the Bible involved people who were active in their faith and did not live a passive life, but went after all God had for them and live extraordinary!

 I want to be that. I don't want to sit and watch things pass by and see others living the awesome life God has. I'm going to work on that. And it starts with simply seeking God. I can't wait to know all that God has planned for me. I can't wait to be living the life more abundantly. I can't wait to live the extraordinary life. I'm pretty excited!

Hope this encourages you! I will post verse references for this tomorrow, and maybe add more to this subject. A lot is on my mind about it, hence the longer than norm. post! :)
Have a good night/day!
-Jen

Hello, Again!

Hello! It's been so long! Well, I have some tremendous news... I'm officially a home owner!!! I'm sooo excited to be living in it. I love my house! Also, i've been thinking about this blog and the content, and I have decided that I am just going to be me. Not that I haven't been me, but i've been a follower to an extent. I imagine i'm not the only one in the blog world, but I found a blog a love and started reading, and it shaped what I decided to post on, well... not anymore.. so much. I mean I might post similar stuff like pinterest picks, favorite products, diys (of originality, not copying :)  ), and etc. Also i'm going to keep posting my usual stuff- finances, music, my life, and etc. I'm also going to start posting about my favorite subject, my need and love for my savior, Jesus! I can't shy away from it, He is my life. I won't be overly churchy though, don't worry. I just want to be me!
Also, the blog re-design is going well,  i'm still working on a few things for it. I would like to keep it simple.
Well, I guess that's all for now. I'm going to dream up some plans for my new house.
OH and my house hunting story will be one of my next post, I love talking about houses and want to share my experience, any advice I have, and things i've learned!
Talk to you soon! 
-Jen

Blog Vacation

Hey! I know i've posted much lately, a lot of stuff going on with in my family and my life at the moment. So i've decided to take a blog vacation. Not only because of my personal life, but I also want to take some time to plan, redirect, redesign, and yeah just plan out this blog and my other idea for a blog. To make it better and for refined, focused, and what I want it to be. I'm actually pretty excited about it. Also i'm so much closer to buying my 1st house! I can't wait to live in it! That's another reason for the vacation. I'm not literally going anywhere, just a vacation from blogging for a bit. So Enjoy your summer! I'll be back soon with a fresh new look and maybe a new focus, but we will see!!!
Later :)
-Jen

I'm Just Waiting

I'm been questioned, questioning, and be persuaded about some things I believe. I am pro saving yourself for marriage, but a lot of people don't understand that. Well, I don't agree with their side of the issue, and never will. It had me thinking a lot about this. Just alittle back ground, i'm currently single. The desire has always been there to get married. I've dreamed about it for so long and hoped it would happen soon. Well my soon came and left. And here I am still single. So I took matters into my own hand, I went on a few online dating sites. I've never been a fan of them, and still weary I registered any ways (never paid though). Well, I came across a few semi decent (online at least, in real life- no clue), some creepy, and a few that could possible be potentials. I quit a lot of them for a while then reactivated, quit, reactivated. Every time I quit I felt so much better. I recently read a blog post about online dating and why she doesn't like it, and it totally reconfirmed and helped me realize why I don't like it, which you can read the post here: Becoming a Hopeful Romantic - Online Dating.  So I quit for good! I am just simply going to wait, but in my wait I am going to seek after God more than ever.

Singleness is an amazing season that you should treasure. I'm learning that more so now. I've single most of my life, and at times I did not view it as a gift but it really is. And by letting go of the online dating game, i've given my trust back in God to write my love story. I am more of an old fashion type, I love the story of how Isaac and Rebekah met in the Bible. Isaac actually sent his servant to find his wife and the servant prayed to God that the right girl would water my camels. He came to the well and there was Rebekah and she offered him some water and his camels. She was Isaac's one. But She didn't go to seek out Isaac, he pursued her. You can read the complete story here: Bible Gateway- Isaac and Rebekah. And Ruth and Boaz's story, so Ruth moved to another country with her mother in law (her husband passed away). Well, long story short, Ruth ends up working for Boaz, and then they marry! I left a lot out so you can read the whole story here: Biblegateway- Ruth and Boaz. Another story I like starts at the very beginning of time with Adam and Eve. Adam, newly created by God, was chilling in the garden of Eden naming the animals (off subject, how cool is that- first he named all the animals- he came up with zebra and panda, secondly that he had the creative knowledge to name all the animals, amazing). And out of all the animals there was no suitable helper, not even the dog. So God made woman out of Adam's rib (and dust and God's breath). And the two became one and set the official standard of marriage, which is between a man and woman. You can read that story here: Biblegateway- Adam and Eve.

God is so creative, faithful, good. He has the best love story for you and me. Someday, if it's your desire God will set you in the right place at the right time to either be found or to find the right person. I believe that the guy should pursue the girl. The girl should be found. Proverbs 18:22 says: The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the LORD. In all the bible in all those stories and more, the guy found the girl. Isaac found Rebekah, Boaz found Ruth, Adam found (kinda, more she was made for him) Eve. And all these stories were written by God. God had Rebekah go to the well and give water to Isaac's servant, God had Ruth go to her mother in law's country and work for Boaz, and God simply made Eve for Adam. And God lead each of the guys to their ones. I trust God and know He will direct my path to be at the right place at the right time and be prepared for my future husband. I can't wait to find our what God is writing for my love story, but I will also wait. Along with waiting, i'm not going to date. My goal is to only date my future husband. I was inpired my this from the book 'I Kissed Dating Goodbye' by Joshua Harris and the song 'Average Girl' by Barlowgirl, which you can watch here:

Well, that's all I have to say on this for now. Here's a final video to close that I recommend watching. I saw it last year and it also inspired me to wait for the right guy.

Greater Goals, vol 1

We all have them, goals and dreams we someday hope to achieve. They can be anything like getting a good grade in school, travel somewhere, buy a house, get married, etc. I have a ton a goals. I may goal list all the time. Some are just for a day (like a to-do list), some are future related (5 yr goals), and some are more than those. I've been thinking lately on some new goals. When I read certain scriptures in the Bible, I want to add them to a goal list. But this goal list isn't an ordinary list, but an extraordinary list- a supernatural list. I want to do some of the things that happened in the Bible. If it happened to them, why not me. So I'm starting a series of my biggest goals, extraordinary goals, greater goals. I don't know how many volumes there will be, but I do have a lot of goals and I know more will be add the more I read and discover more in God's Word. So here's my first set of my greater goals:

1.)"But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God."-Acts 20:24(NLT)

The Goal- In everything I do, I want it to tell others about God, His goodness and grace. This is probably my number 1 goal. I want my life to reflect Him. I want what I do to reflect Him. I know i'm not perfect at it, I do fall a lot, but God is graceful and merciful and good. Also i'm working toward not being shy, it's hard for me to flat out witness to people. And it kinda scares me to be honest, but God is helping me. This is definitely something I want to work on on a daily basis.

2.) "But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love.
For you have been my refuge a place of safety when I am in distress.O my Strength, to you I sing praises for you, O God, are my refuge the God who shows me unfailing love." -Psalm 59:16-17(NLT)
The Goal- I want to sing more. Remember when I told you I was shy, well, i'm also shy about singing and not confident. I don't like singing infront of people, even when in a group. But I want to sing more, about God. Also I want to be more outward in expressing my love for God in a creative way, such as painting, writing, etc. He means more to me than anything and He is the reason for my talents, I owe them all to Him.

3.)  "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." - Acts 4:13 (NIV)
The Goal- People would know I've been with Jesus. That my time alone with Jesus will infiltrate my world. This story in Acts 4 is pretty cool, Peter courageously spoke to the Sanhedrin (it would be kinda like speaking infront of the Supreme Court, I would think) while on trial. The key would be though, is that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. His words were led by the Holy Spirit. I want to be led by the Spirit as well. I want people to be astonished of my courage and that it's not by my own doings, but Jesus' doing. I want people to see a difference, and that will only come with spending time with Jesus.


Well, those are my big greater goals for now. I will have more for the next time! If you have greater goals of your own, feel free to share in the comments I would love to hear them!
Dream Big!

-Jen

News and a Preview

Hello there! I've been quite busy lately packing, planning, and just reg. life things. So some news, first: I bought a house!!! Well in the process! I'm quite excited and can't wait to move in!!! And secondly- I've decided to re-do this blog, i'm planning it out more and designing it. So here's a preview:

Well, that's all for tonight, more coming soon!
Have a lovely night!
-Jen

Financial Friday- Birthday Freebies

I was trying to think of a good subject for today's financial friday post most of the day, and since today (well, 11 mins ago on the 27th) was my birthday why not post about that! One of my favorite things I discovered about 4 years ago was birthday deals and coupons. Businesses and companies want to give you free stuff on your birthday, i'm all about that! A lot of places have free e-clubs or some sort of thing where you sign up your email, birthday, and other simple info (not your credit card though, totally free!!!) and through out the year some will give you coupons and updates or special deals, then on your birthday they will send you something for free. For example- sign up for Arby's email and you get a free 12 oz shake with any purchase for you birthday. It's nice also because some of them expire after your birthday. My birthday is the 27th and most of my coupons expire May 3-5, and a small few the 11th and 27th of May. Which is nice so you don't have to use all your coupons in one day.
I will add a list of places that I know of that does birthday deals, some may be local to Michigan though, so it's a good idea to search 'free birthday coupons' on google.com.
Here's my list:
-Totally Free-

-Houlihans- Free meal (or food item) up to $15. (ex. the Stuffed Rosemary Chicken is $15.99, all you pay is $0.99 with the coupon!) (printable email coupon)

-Red Robins -Free Burger (royalty card)

-Culver's- Free Single Scoop Sundae or Mix your own with 2 toppings (printable email coupon)

-Biggby's -Free Grande Beverage (mail card) (Biggby is a Michigan Coffee Shop business, i'm not sure what their out of state locations are, but their Strawberry Shortcake Smoothie is amazing!)
-Menards- Big Card Members - Free tool of some sort, different every year.(mail card with coupon) This is a little different because it's not a royalty card, but a credit card. Which I don't recommend getting a credit card just for certain perks, but if you need a card or have one, Menard's sends you a tool coupon, last year I got a little flash light, the year before a screw driver set, and this year is a different type of screw driver set. They are worth about $10 and under so it isn't an extravagant tool, but I look forward to it every year.
-Noodles and Company- Free bowl of noodles (printable email coupon)
-NCG Cinema- Free Small Popcorn, value can be used to larger size (printable email coupon)

-Buy one, Get one-
-Applebees- Free Dessert with Entree purchase (printable email coupon)
-Bennigans- Free burger, salad, or sandwich with the purchase of a burger, salad, or sandwich equal or lessor value (printable email coupon)
-Dairy Queen- Free mini, small, or medium blizzard with a purchase of a medium blizzard
-Logan's Roadhouse- Free Peanut Butter Dessert thing with a purchase of an entree.
-Cold Stone Creamery- Free Like it ice cream with a purchase of a Like it ice cream
-Auntie Annie's -Free Pretzel item with the purchase of a pretzel item
-Fire Mountain Grill (Maybe Old Country Buffet too?) -Free adult buffet with the purchase of an adult buffet and 2 beverages
-Aveda- Free sample with $25 purchase online

There is others, if I remember them I will post more, but that's my list for now. Definitely search online for more!
-Jen