Okay a $10,000 flight voucher to get off a plane is unreal but THIS to me, is worth far more…
There are some victories that make me more emotional than others.
And getting THIS photo (the one on the left - zoomed in photo to read the note sitting on top of her luggage on the right) from my mom the day she was leaving Michigan to come spend a week with me here in Texas recently, is one.
Why?
Well for anyone who knows our story and/or my mom, VICTORIES like this make me weep. When you’ve been through horrific tragedy, especially those kinds that can take DECADES if not more to heal, it can be so easy to LOOK BACKWARDS and stay in fear, at times not even realizing that you are.
Those feelings are so real. The fears, the loss, you’ve already fought through SO MUCH.
But this day, my incredible mom CHOSE to walk forward.
And not just walk forward but take authority over her own spirit and speak PEACE to her mind as she prepared to travel…something she use to hate to do. Something that previously had always filled her with so much fear.
Why does she do it now? Because she knows, that what’s on the other side of that decision is something she REALLY wants…to be with me!
I’m just so freaking proud of her!! Knowing the journey we have had. And all that SHE has had to overcome to get here.
And by "here" I mean, mastering her mindset and taking authority over it!
Have you ever found yourself noticing themes or patterns in your days or weeks? Well maybe, just maybe there’s a reason for it.
That was definitely the case once again for me these last few weeks. And that pattern was about walking FORWARD.
And it didn’t stop with the powerful victory shown through my mom’s visit.
While on a call with another friend, as we were diving in exploring the vision for her brand and what she wants to do suddenly the story of Lot in the Bible hit both of us.
And how Lot’s wife literally looked BACKWARDS (she looked backwards to see the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as she and her family were fleeing when they were told NOT to, not to look back at the DEATH!) and she turned into a pillar of salt!
We’re meant to walk FORWARDS!!! Not look backwards.
When we LOOK backwards it doesn’t bring life.
LOOKING backwards at what you see, brings death.
But WALKING forwards in what you can’t yet see, takes faith, but brings LIFE!
Forwards is life and backwards is death!
What happens when you look back at things that happened to you that hurt you?
What happens when you look back at things that you wrestle or struggle with?
What happens when you remember how you felt, alone, heart-broken, abused, taken advantage of, abandoned…the list goes on!
That list when we go there…keeps us STUCK!
Where is your mind?
Where are your thoughts?
Where are your words?
Walking forward takes action. And what can happen when we walk forward is where this last story shows.
Is walking forward really worth it?
Well let me tell you this next story.
An incredible friend messaged me just this morning randomly saying “He is not letting you stay in the old Jen…He has so much more in store for Jen 2.0!!”
I then told my friend, “It’s funny that you say that, cuz I can just feel it. I can feel that I’m entering into an entirely new season and I can tell that my new season is so done with the old and the old me. There’s no part of me left that has any desire to go back to the previous seasons. Which is a huge thing to be able to say. Because in any season prior I still had that desire. So it’s cool to be at a place where you know all you want is what the next season holds. You don’t want what use to be things that were a desire before. It’s cool to feel it and be so ready for it, but for someone else to see it and say it, it’s an extra dose of confidence that’s where we’re headed.”
And talk about an extra dose of confidence. When HIS voice hits you. It’s a done deal.
Recently I asked my God "how do I really know which voice is you"…and He answered, “If you’re ever confused if it IS me…then it’s not me. I am not the author of confusion. You will know when it is me. As you always have”.
In that moment, I KNEW it was Him. He was confirming a passage I had read months before which had been pivotal to my confidence in where i'm at now. In what I'm CHOOSING now to walk forward in, and it was found in 1 Corinthians 14:33.
Not only had I been hearing it, did I feel it, but I was seeing it too. What do I mean?
Just the other day I was browsing instagram and I happened to see something. Something that caught my eye. It was a new account set up by a woman I had just recently met. Someone who had been impacted by my book and everything that The Overcomers messaging is all about - finding the gold within us, and how HE (the Father) not only heals the brokenness in our lives but that He fills it with GOLD!
This new friend, was courageously posting a picture of herself everyday letting God tell her how beautiful she is. Something she NEVER does - post pictures of herself. As I scrolled through the photos she had been posting daily, and read the posts I saw it…she was letting HIM heal what she feels on the inside and letting Him tell her what He SEES on her and who she is. That she’s absolutely beautiful.
I was so moved. There are no adequate words when you get to see that the Father is helping a new friend HEAL, after being inspired by the movement you’re putting forth into the world.
That’s what’s there when you walk FORWARD friend.
Stories from those who cross your path, that go behind the scenes and reveal what He is doing, to impact, and to heal more than just you (or me).
Those are the stories, and why I keep choosing to walk FORWARD.
Where do YOU want to go?
WALK FORWARD. And take authority over your own mind for where it’s going to look and walk.
Something my mom now also does every morning - she is CHOOSING what she’s going to believe no matter what thoughts might try to win over.
And now she tells me, “Jen - I learned this from you!”
Never doubt the IMPACT you are making by choosing to walk forward friend…you never know when or how it might be helping even those you care for most!