Dear Ms. Sadie Robertson, Thank You.

I confess, I am a Duck Dynasty lover.

I don’t know if it the beards, the shenanigans, Uncle Si, or the family’s public stand for Christianity, but something about the show gets me every time.

Lately, however, something else has been getting my attention.

Ms. Sadie Robertson.

Before this season, I have never once watched ABC’s show, Dancing with the Stars. However, this season, I am an avid viewer for one reason and one reason only: The #QuackPack

I confess, Ms. Sadie Robertson had never really caught my attention before.. I followed her on Instagram and laughed at her silly life moments on the show, but was never more then a passing semi-fan. Recently, however, I have been extremely impressed as she has danced her way into the hearts of millions of Americans….with all of her clothes still on.

If you haven’t been privy to Sadie’s wonderful performances, you can check them out here!!

One of the heaviest burdens on my heart is how the entertainment business lacks solid role models for young girls. From Miley to Lohan, we have had our share of good-girl-gone-bad or Disney-gone-wrong… There seems to be a prominent mindset that being in the spotlight doesn’t mean having the responsibility of being a good role model…

For example:

Rihanna: “I’m a 23 year old rockstar with NO KIDS! What’s up with everybody wantin me to be a parent? I’m just a girl, I can only be your/our voice!”
“I don’t like to use that word because people have their own opinion on what that means to them. I can’t really say I’m a role model. I’m not perfect. I’m not trying to sell that….” 

Katy Perry: “I’d like to change the phrase “role model” to “inspiration.” “Role model” puts you on a pedestal that no one can really live up to. For me, aspiring to be an artist at a young age, I didn’t think about being a role model. But I definitely thought about being an inspiration. So I hope that I am an inspiration, especially with my work ethic and my ability to overcome obstacles.”

Miley Cyrus: “My job isn’t to tell your kids how to act or how not to act because I’m still figuring that out for myself…” “Your kids are going to make mistakes whether I do or not. That’s just life.”

The point of this blog post is not to debate whether or not stars in the lime-light should have the responsibility of being a role model. In fact, I am glad that most openly say they are not trying to be a good role model. (That is a relief) What breaks my heart is, whether or not these stars define themselves as role models, there are young girls who do see them that way. I often think about when I have daughters of my own… Who would I want them to be watching? Who would I want them to have posters of, go to concerts for, have t-shirts of? Not many names come to mind in the current entertainment industry.

Sadie Robertson is a breathe of fresh air. Beautiful, talented, kind, and passionate about her Savior, Jesus Christ; Sadie is entering the world of pop-culture entertainment with exactly what this world needs: conviction. She knows what she believes in and has shaped her own personal brand around those beliefs. And you know what? Everyone loves her. From her quirky Instagram videos to her adorable dimples, Sadie is an all-American, class-act, Proverbs 31 kind of woman. The kind of woman I hope my daughters will be able to look up to someday.

The #Quackpack and the entire Duck Dynasty Family has given America a small look into what it truly means to be a follower of Christ. Even though I have never met any of the Duck Dynasty Family, I feel like we have shared laughs, meals, quacks, and even holidays together…in some strange way…

So I would like to say thank you.

Thank you, Sadie Robertson.

Thank you for showing girls everywhere that you can be beautiful, while staying classy.

Thank you for showing girls that we don’t have to compromise.

Thank you for being a role model for my future daughters.

Thank you for standing up for what you believe in.

#QuackPack, you have my vote.

Sincerely,

Me

P.S. As realistic as it may seem, the beard is, indeed, a fake.

Duck Dynasty. Represent.

Chasing Squirrels…

When I was a child, I had ridiculous amounts of energy.

According to my Mother (a very reliable source), I would be bouncing off the walls from sun-up until sun-down, always looking for something new and exciting to do or see. Consequently, my poor mother and father were always looking for ways to drain my unlimited supply of energy.

I remember my mother would have me run laps around the house, swing on the swing-set, skip rope, and jump on the trampoline for hours on end. Still, in spite of all the excitement, bed time would arrive with me hyper as could be.

However, there was one activity that would tire me out more than all of the others….

Chasing squirrels.

Yes, you read that correctly….

Near our old house there was a park full of giant oak trees. The oak trees created the perfect habitat for my furry squirrel friends and also created the perfect place for me to expend large amounts of energy. I would run around for what seemed like hours, chasing the little buggers around the park. Right when it seemed I might get even close to grabbing a fluffy tail, they would dart up a tree, escaping into their leafy abode. I never caught one, but for some reason I kept chasing and chasing and chasing until I was so tuckered out that I had to plop on the ground and catch my breath. It was free entertainment for my parents as well as a sure fire way to get me to fall asleep in the evenings when bed time came around. An endless pursuit, I always left the park exhausted and even a little disappointed that I was outwitted once again.

Have you been chasing any squirrels lately?

I am not talking about the little furry guys in the park anymore, I talking about something a little bit more familiar.

How often to we find ourselves chasing things throughout our day that we can’t catch? Searching for success, we strive and chase after things that can never fulfill us until we are so tired out and discouraged that all we can do is collapse and ask ourselves why we even try in the first place.

Lately I have found myself questioning my definition of success. It is very easy for me to define myself by my successes. My education, experience, job, overall performance: I let all of these things define who I am as a person. The endless pursuit of perfection leaves me exhausted. When I define myself by what I am or am not accomplishing, I quickly realize that I will never meet my own expectations. I am never enough. Never skinny enough, never smart enough, never a good enough wife, never making enough money…. All of these things seem to turn my heart to stone and weigh me down to the point where I wonder why I even try. It is so hard to remember that what I do does not define me.

Ephesians 2:8-10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Grace.

We don’t receive a lot of grace from the world around us.

Life is demanding. School, work, church, family, marriage…every part of our lives demands something from us. It can get to the point where we are pulled in so many different directions that it feels as though we could burst at the seams.

But in Christ, there is grace.

Ephesians 2:2-4 “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.“

A weight is lifted off my shoulders when I consider that from the beginning, God knew I would never be good enough. I would never be able to make my own way, to save myself, to be…good.

Yet, He loved me anyway.

What greater thing in this world could there be than to be loved unconditionally by the Creator of the stars.

What greater thing could I ever know than the love of Savior who laid down His life, who left His throne, for me.

Philippians 3:8-9 “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them [our best efforts] rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” 

Before Paul’s God encounter on the road to Damascus, he thought he had it going on. He was the best of the best. Education, notariety, circumcision, the proper lineage: he had it all. However, his life-changing God encounter and following ministry caused him to realize the only worthwhile pursuit in life is to know the heart of God.

Philippians 3:3-10 “If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…”

If we pursue Christ, purpose will follow.

When we follow the path that God has for us, it is then that we will find the favor we failed to find on our own.

You know, I may have never caught a squirrel as a child.. but that isn’t the end of my story.

While in college one day, I was walking along, minding my own business on my way to class. Suddenly, in the ivy next to me, I heard a rustle. Up from among the ivy popped a fluffy squirrel tail…

I looked left.

I looked right.

No one was around…

Very quietly, I reached down slooooowly until my hand was only centimeters away from the squirrel tail.

It still didn’t see me.

After a moments hesitation, I grabbed the tail and pulled the squirrel right up into the air!! It was just as stunned as me. We both let out a squeal as I let go and jumped back! We both froze..stared for a moment…then it darted away to safety in a nearby tree.

Needless to say, it was a grand moment of victory in my life.

The only sad part was, no one else was around to see it. A shame really.

But there is a lesson to be learned.

Perhaps our greatest moments of accomplishment will come when we least expect them. Perhaps our victories will surprise us as we simply follow the path God has laid out for us.

Instead of chasing squirrels, maybe we need to let God lead us to them.

Well… you know what I mean. 😉

It is Well….

Moving is quite the adventure.

In the beginning, I couldn’t decide if I was excited or terrified at the prospect of starting over. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

Our exodus from Rochester, New York to Mooresville, North Carolina was unexpected, to say the least. If you had asked me a year ago, even 6 months ago if I would ever move from my small home town, I would have responded with a resounding no.

Oh how things change…

The proposition of moving for my husband’s job took me by surprise. I was shocked at the idea of God possibly wanting us to pick up and move 13 hours away. We had great friends, an outstanding and supportive church family, and were in the process of building a beautiful life in Rochester.

Immediately, we began to pray. We knew a decision this big had to be made with prayerful and careful consideration.

As I spent time in prayer, I realized that my conversations with God about the move really revolved around my purpose. At the time, I was helping to develop and run a discipleship program at a large church. I was very passionate about the program and deeply involved in almost every aspect. The prospect of walking away from everything was heartbreaking. I could not wrap my head around God actually wanting me to leave after all that I had put into getting the program moving forward. Surely God wanted me to stay and finish what I had started!

Isn’t it funny how we learn the most about ourselves in the silence… The times when the answer is not obvious.

I asked God for a sign, an obvious answer. I asked Him to speak clearly to me, to make manifest a fleece as clear as He did for Gideon. Instead, I heard His quiet voice ask only one question…

“Do you trust me?”

Well, of course I trust you! I just want to know what I am suppose to be doing and where I am suppose to go! I mean, this is a big deal, a life-changing decision!

“Do you trust me?”

Yes! Yes, of course I do! But what about everything I will leave behind? Friends and family, the program? Why would you want me to walk away from all of that?

“Do you trust me?”

At the end of a couple weeks of praying and seeking God, my husband and I came together to talk about our decision. He felt God clearly spoke to Him that we were suppose to leave. I, on the other hand, was left only with the same question…. “Do you trust me?”

Sometimes, I believe God speaks to us in a way we don’t expect, solely to test our trust. In this instance I had to decide if I was going to trust not only my God, but also the discernment of my husband. I had to make the decision to leave our church, my job, and my security. It felt like walking into the unknown. I had no idea what I would be doing once we arrived in Mooresville. No idea where my life would be headed.

But, I chose to trust.

I chose to trust that His plans are higher than mine, that He loves me deeply and passionately, and that I am a cherished Daughter of the King.

                                                               “Let go my soul and trust in him.

                                                         The wind and waves still know His name. 

                                                                      It is well, with my soul.”

                                                                 – It is Well by Bethel Music –

Being here, starting over, has not been easy. I am still not sure what my purpose here is or what God has called me to in the future. But what I do know is: it is well with my soul. 

God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 

though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.

Psalm 46:1-3

When we trust God to the fullest extent, it means our eyes are fixed on nothing else. When we lift our eyes to heaven, we are no longer blinded by the wind and waves around us. We are bound to Him and He to us. He is our refuge and an ever-present help in trouble.

As I was reading Hebrews, this passage jumped out to me:

Hebrews 4:15-16 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Curious, I looked up the original meaning of the word “help” in this passage.  According to Strong’s Concordance, the word help in this passage is the Greek word “Βοήθεια: aid, specially, a rope or chain for frapping a vessel.” 

According to the Sailor’s Word-book, Frapping a vessel is the process of “passing four or five turns of a large cable-laid rope round a ship’s hull when it is apprehended that she is not strong enough to resist the violence of the sea.” The rope would hold the ship together as it was thrown in tossed in a storm.

What a beautiful picture of how God holds us in times of trouble. When we feel like we could break apart under the tension and stress of our storms, God literally wraps us in His love and grace to hold us together. He holds the innermost pieces of our being together, binding us to Himself.

It is well with my soul because God is holding me together. No matter the storm or stress in my life, I am guided and held together by the Captain of my life.

“Let go my soul and trust in Him. The waves and wind still know His name.”

If we trust the one who controls the wind and waves to be the Captain of our lives, no matter the course ahead we can be assured that He will hold us together and guide us to safety. He knows the course of our life and will guide us with steady, nail-scarred hands.

For Such a Time as This

Before you begin to read my blog or listen to my music, I think it is important that you know a little bit about who I am. After all, music or words are simply an extension of the self. It is the stories about all that we have encountered, seen, and felt; the passions of love, the regret of choices we can’t take back, the resonance of the nights we can’t forget.

Raised in a small town, I grew up in a place where life stays simple. I had a beautiful childhood with parents who loved me, and a little brother who was always willing to adventure with me. I grew older and became a high school/college student; the time in life when everything becomes confused with hormones, chemicals, feelings, and all the other crazy things we young people are bombarded with. During this time, I fell in love with and married my high-school sweetheart. Although our journey was anything but easy, we have now been married for two years now and could not be more blessed.

My relationship with God has been tested, stretched, and has grown substantially throughout my 22 years. God has orchestrated situations in my life so that I have experienced a great many things, both beautiful and devastating. Through it all, the most important lesson I have learned is that God is faithful and loves us more than we could possibly think or imagine.

About 3 years ago, I was given the opportunity to work with a producer. Together, we transformed mere ideas into music. My debut album is entitled Wishing. It encapsulates my journey thus far, putting so many of my moments and emotions into song. The only dream I have for my music is that it brings hope to anyone who listens. You can hear my album (or order it) on my website, http://www.JennaRenae.com.

At my very core I am a story-teller. I believe I am called to create and share stories about God’s faithfulness and abundance in my life. Whether it is through music or words, I am privileged to share the adventures God has allowed me to encounter so far.

Life is an ever-changing journey filled with mountains and valleys, but the one constant is hope.

That being said, I hope this blog will bring you joy and hope. I hope my words inspire you to chase after kingdom dreams and revitalize you to always take the next step forward, no matter how seemingly small. I know that God has you and I right where we are “For such a time as this…” (Esther 4:13)

May the journey always inspire you.

Never stop Wishing.

Love Always,

Jenna Renae