"Whatever You're Doing"

I absolutely love the words to the song, "Whatever You're Doing" by Sanctus Real. I pray that it blesses someone else out there just like it did for me!

It's time for healing, time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong

There's a wave that's crashing over me
And all I can do is surrender

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but somehow there's peace
And it's hard to surrender to what I can't see
But I'm giving in to something heavenly

Time for a milestone, time to begin again
Re-evaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will
Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything, I surrender!

To whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but somehow there's peace
Though it's hard to surrender to what I can't see
I'm giving in to something heavenly

Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held-back tears

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but now I can see
This is something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly

Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out

Jen & Kate's Florida Adventure

A couple weeks ago my now best friend (and twin), Katie came to visit me in the ATL. After singing in the choir together at my church, FBC Woodstock, we packed up the car the very next day and headed to Florida for a week-long adventure. Neither of us had any idea what God was about to do on this much needed trip. The week was jam-packed full of God's favor and blessings on His girls. He did so much to lavish upon us His love and to show us that He is truly in control of our lives and has big plans for each of us.


On our road trip, we made a list of all the things we wanted to do while on vacation in Florida. The list was over 40 items long, and we got all but just a few completed and were able to add a few more along the way. I could share so many stories about each of our adventures that this post would go on forever, so here are some of the things we did in a nutshell for you...

...Sang in the choir at FBC Woodstock, played tennis, watched movies, made a pitstop in Ashburn, GA which happened to be the home of the "Fire Ant Festival" and were led by a police officer to see a fire ant the size of his car, went to Madeira Beach, went on the "Dolphin Racer" (a large speedboat that gets schools of dolphins to jump in the wake behind it almost so close you could touch them), went to two Bible Studies, went to the "Silver Edge" in Ybor to exchange Katie's ring for two beautiful new bracelets (another amazing story where God showed His favor), went to Busch Gardens and rode the Sheikra twice, drove through a scary storm with a tornado, went to Fort Desoto, had a picnic lunch on the beach, played cards, had dinner with my family, played with my nephews, had a picnic lunch in Vinoy Park on the water in Downtown St Pete, watched the sunset on the beach, rode bikes along the water's edge in Downtown St Pete, met my friends Tom & Karen Hudgins for dinner on Clearwater Beach, went to Rita's, went to the Saturday Morning Market in Downtown St Pete, went to the Ellenton Outlet Mall where I got a cute skirt, belt and scarf from Banana Republic, went to the North Shore Pool in Downtown St Pete where we got locked in and had to call 911 to get out and were given lots of free icecream, went to the St Pete Pier, went to the "Madison at St Pete" where I used to live to enjoy their hot tub and outdoor courtyard/fireplace, went walking on the beach in the rain...(just to name a few)

As you can see, our week was full of lots of adventures and we will have many stories to look back on for years to come. As I mentioned, God showed us some amazing things while on our trip. One was during a scary storm that we drove through. It was amazing that God gave us such beautiful weather all week long as the weather reports were showing thunderstorms everyday. However, as we were driving home from Tampa one afternoon a storm came up from nowhere and the rain pounded down. We attempted to drive in it to get home to eat the turkey tacos my mom had prepared for us, and it was probably the scariest storm I have ever driven through. The rain and lightning did not let up our entire trip over the bridge on the interstate from Tampa into St Pete. We couldn't even see the road in front of us and there were a few times I almost lost control of my car as we hit large puddles in the road. I had lost the feeling in my fingers because I was gripping the steering wheel so tightly. Once we finally got off the interstate, the rain just stopped. The rest of the week, we had beautiful weather and did not have any other storms like that one.

We found out later, that there was a tornado in that storm and the reason it lasted for so long was because we were moving right along with it. It followed us right across the bridge into St Pete.

Have you ever experienced a storm such as this one? I have been experiencing a storm in my life similar to this for awhile now. Satan is like that destructive tornado that attempts to destroy and throws things at us to try to get us to lose control. It may seem like the storm won't let up, as though it is just following you. However, God promises to be there with us during the storms of life. You may not be able to see the road ahead, but if you put your trust completely in Christ, He will lead you out of it in His perfect timing.

I believe that God has something absolutely incredible waiting for me on the other side of the storm that I cannot see. I know that eventually the rain is going to come to a halt and there will be something beautiful waiting for me. In the meantime, I am going to cling to my Jesus for dear life as He brings me through it. I know that one day I'll be able to look back and thank Him for the storm because it will be that pain that He will use to bring about His perfect plan.
God reminds me in His word, "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on Me, when you come and pray to Me, I'll listen. When you come looking for Me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding Me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." (Jeremiah 29:11-13 The Message)

Finally Free

One of my favorite songwriters of all-time is Nicole Nordeman. The lyrics to her songs are so powerful - I love her music! This song is especially encouraging to me right now. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING that God cannot deliver you from. It doesn't matter how hopeless your situation may seem. There is no situation too big or too messy or too broken that He cannot fix. God is bigger than it ALL!!!

Finally Free - Nicole Nordeman

No chain is strong enough
No choice is wrong enough
No mountain high enough that He
can't climb

No shadow dark enough
No night is black enough
No road is lost enough that He can't find

And if the Son has set us free
Then we must be, free indeed
Let the chains fall away, starting today
Everything has changed
I'm finally free

No pain is deep enough
No heart could bleed enough
Nothing but Jesus' love can make a way

And if the Son has set us free
Then we must be, free indeed
Let the chains fall away, starting today
Everything has changed
I'm finally free!

My Trip to Houston

Howdy Y'all!

I just got back to the ATL yesterday from a fun trip to Houston, Texas to visit my sister, Jane (hence the southern accent). I had not seen her since Christmastime, so this visit was long overdue. We did all sorts of fun stuff together...we rode bikes, had a picnic lunch in the park, went out to eat a lot, went shopping at The Galleria where I got an adorable dress from my favorite store - The Limited (on sale of course :) ) and went to the Studio Movie Grill where we ate ice cream and watched the Hannah Montana movie (I know we're not 12 year old girls, but we still thought it was a cute movie and we didn't have to worry about any bad language or inappropriate scenes :) ).

On Friday night, we drove out in the country in the middle of nowhere to a farm that is owned by a man at her church. He had invited a bunch of people over to go camping on his farm for star gazing, roasting marshmallows, campfire, etc. For those of you who know me well, you're probably thinking..."Jenifer? camping? really?". I know, I know - My idea of roughing it is a hotel without room service - HA HA! We opted to sleep indoors, and everyone else ended up doing the same because it was supposed to rain. We didn't get to have our campfire and star gazing, but we saw a copperhead!

...And some chickens



On Sunday night, we threw Jane a party for her birthday.

We danced and sang karaoke...

...And we had a yummy ice cream cake from Carvel

It was a great week, but we missed our sister, Joy who is in Florida. We are all going to be together in Florida soon though, where we'll be taking our nephew to Disney!

Raising the Flag of Surrender

Surrendering everything to God is a lot easier said than done many times, especially for this "control freak". I am sure there have been many times I have sung that old hymn, "I Surrender All" and didn't even truly mean the words I was singing. I often think that if I surrender everything to God that He will ask me to do something I don't want to do or He will take something from me that I don't want to give up.

However, looking back on those times in my life that I have COMPLETELY surrendered everything to God, He blessed me in ways that I never would have imagined. He did not TAKE FROM me, but He GAVE BACK to me so much more. I found that when I laid everything in His hands and released my fingers from their tight grip, things turned out so much better than when I had tried to handle things on my own.

Surrendering is a daily process. I have found that I can be totally surrendered to God one day, and then the next I find myself trying to grab hold of the reins again. I think the reason for this is a trust issue with God. I think sometimes we have a hard time really trusting that He knows what is best and so we try to take control based on our own knowledge. Anytime I try to take matters into my own hands however, life ends up getting very messy. The results have never been good when I have not trusted God enough to be in complete control over my life.

What is it in your life that you are clinging to and not surrendering to God? Give Him your life, your hopes, your dreams, your relationships, your desires, your will, your plans, your future. All of these things are in much better care in His hands than your own, and He can and will do some amazing things with them if you will trust Him.


There is a song called, "Absolute Surrender" that some long-time sweet friends of mine, Tom & Karen Hudgins, used to sing all the time when they would lead worship with the youth group at church. (I believe Tom wrote the song). I wish I had a recording of it to post, but I don't, so I've just put the words here for you...

"Absolute Surrender"

Is my life absolute surrendered? Do I know the price that I must pay?
Is my life a reflection of the Savior? Am I always heading in His way?

Always surrender to my Father's will
Always surrender to His plan
Always surrender to the Son of God

Oh absolute surrender
Absolute surrender
Absolute surrender to Jesus.

Quit playing games with the Devil
He wants to destroy your precious life
Raise your flag of surrender and kneel at the cross
And receive your victory in Jesus Christ

Always surrender to my Father's will
Always surrender to His plan
Always surrender to the Son of God

Oh absolute surrender
Absolute surrender
Absolute surrender to Jesus

Nothing is Impossible for God!

Great song by my favorite worship leader, Kari Jobe called "Healer".