My heart-friend, Alece, wrote this post today that sent me into tears… which therefore meant I had to write a post about it.
I often find myself speechless to where God has placed me.
In my sins…
In my humiliation…
In my pain…
In my regrets…
… God has renewed me. I deserve death, but instead, I’ve received life.
In grace…
In new beginnings…
In forgiveness…
In community…
In restoration…
I am healed.
My past doesn’t define me. How I choose to live and WHO I choose to live FOR does.
———————-
For those of you who feel “stuck” today, know you’re not alone. Satan’s desire is to have you believe you are. But the truth that is Christ Jesus says you’re not.
Come out. Come out into the light.
“My past doesn’t define me. How I choose to live and WHO I choose to live FOR does.”
I wish more people understood that. I had a very hard childhood, while the things that happened did have a part in shaping who I am, I’m no longer that person. My life today isn’t playing victim to who I used to be.
amen, friend!
so many of us get stuck because getting out feels so much more difficult than just staying IN “it”. then some of us come out blaming other parties.
it’s 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.
I have been reading/lurking your story…
Following the Renewal of your Vows across twitter and pictures.
We must just Move forward towards Christ. He will pick up each foot and move it for us.
Your story has been a picture of that movement, and the power of restoration.
Peace and Love
thank you for UN-lurking and for commenting. your encouragement means more than you know.
Your story is not only an inspiration, it’s a push. You didn’t need to do this publicly, but you did. Without fear… or maybe with alot of fear… YOU DID IT STILL…
By God’s grace He saw your courageous heart and redemptive heart, He gave back what you almost lost… And gave you so so much more!!!
He loved you… He loves us…
I love your words, transparency… it moves me tears each and every time!!
I know need to be courageous…
Love ya!
thank you, heidi.
courage comes from the Lord. we just need to ask, receive, then move. it’s not easy but SO worth it. i’m still such a coward in so many ways… but that’s why we are still journeying.
i have feared SO much in my life… it was my prison. but fear doesn’t get to decide to rule us because it was defeated when Christ went to the cross.
praying for you and the courage you need.
This made me think about Joel 2:25-27. Whatever the “locusts” are, whatever the enemy tried to use to destroy you, the Lord will restore. No more shame.
This is the most beautiful, poetic, & affirming post I have ever read, anywhere. God has turned your ashes to beauty. Thanks for sharing, Jenni!
the most? wow!!! thank you, erin!
you are loved!!!
great reminder of God’s mercy and how His grace operates. thank you for sharing so concisely and eloquently.
for i once was stuck but now i’m free…
amen!!!
This is really, really, really touching, Jenni. Wow. I’m so incredibly moved right now. Thank you.
A million and a half years ago, I too was an “other woman”. You’ll never find me writing about that experience on my blog, mostly because I’ve made my apologies, asked for and been forgiven, and I had to stop dwelling on it in order to get on with my life.
I am finally able now, almost 23 years later, not to think about it every single day.
What you said, “My past doesn’t define me. How I choose to live and WHO I choose to live FOR does.”, that struck me deeper than you could even imagine. Thank you, seriously.
chrissy…
i’m so glad you’ve stopped dwelling and moved on. that is SO important in healing. so many get stuck and just sit there feeling sorry for themselves.
moving forward by making the right decisions from that point on is the best thing you can do for yourself and everyone involved.
may God continue to bless your journey!
You are a gift to all of us with your transparency, truth and wisdom. Thank you for sharing yourself.
thank you, jason.
i’m just glad to no longer be bound in darkness. the light is good!
I shared yours and Brians story of God renewing your marriage from the inside out and creating beauty out of ashes to encourage someone else who is dealing with a similar situation
thanks for being willing to share your process and journey of restoration
thank you, jenny, for your helping give resources to your friend instead of judging and treating them with silence. i’m sure that means a lot to them.
I found your blog from Alece. LOVE IT. what an amazing story of love and redemption. Thank you for stirring my heart to want better lines of communication with my husband. It seems so real what you went through, so easy to have happen. Just like you said…years of little wrong moves make to something huge before we know it. So thanks for sharing your heart and saving marriages in the process! AmaZing!! I shared your story on my blog as well and with our church! Thanks for being a vessel…
thanks, kathy, for reading and for sharing. i don’t think this is often talked about because of the shame that’s connected with it.
affairs happen VERY easily… mostly because i think people THINK they’re immune to it. people don’t usually set out to have an affair… we have to be proactive about it.
there’s no promise that i won’t look at another opportunity to cheat again… but the difference is i now see it coming miles away and can avert myself and i’m surrounded by true accountability.
“…dont think you are better than you really are. be honest in your evaluation of yourselves…” romans 12:3
I was reading in John about the woman caught in adultery yesterday.
What caught my eyes in a “new” way was Jesus’ words, about how He didn’t condemn her, and to “go and sin no more”… I heard Him quicken to my heart His invitation to the woman. “Leave your old life, you’ve been given a new identity.”… “go and live in that new identity.”
As I considered it all I realized that’s the invitation He gives to me, to you, to us all. The old man, who we once were with all our sin and shame, (the sins of others done to us, the sins we’ve committed) are absolved. They are gone, forever. We now have a new identity. We are new creations…. It’s now Jesus in me interwoven together as one. It’s the invitation He gives to me now.
On my worst day I am the righteousness of Christ. Life just doesn’t get any better than that!
I found your blog from Alece’s….
love what you wrote here, julie.
thanks for coming by… hope you come by more often
i love you so.