Month: January 2016

Justice & Mercy

/ katiemjenks / Leave a comment

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It is hard to begin writing a post about the man behind that quote, the impact he has had, & continues to have on the world we live in today. The way that he choose to stand up, speak out, teach, preach, & fight peacefully for the equality of mankind was, & still is, inspiring & monumental. I hope that I can fight the way he did. Be a voice for injustice & peacefully fight for RIGHT.

It is sickening to me that we are still fighting over the issue of racism. It SHOULDN’T BE AN ISSUE. You would have thought we’d have figured this out well before the days of MLK & his fight for equality. But alas. We are human, we are marked by selfishness, pride & hate. We are sinners that have to fight our flesh every single day. THANK GOODNESS for JESUS. I would be such a mess if it weren’t for redemption & forgiveness. But mostly, for His undying, never ending, never failing, LOVE. And with that love, I have the freedom from the chains of selfishness, pride & hate because the spirit of the LIVING GOD resides in me. Therefore, with His help, I can choose LOVE, I can fight against my own human weakness & choose LIFE. I can fight for the voiceless, I will fight for the voiceless, because if I don’t, who will? I will choose live my life for a better cause. I will fight for LOVE. Love is the only thing that will heal the wounds of racism that are continually ripped open over & over again in our nation. With Jesus, those wounds will scar, with the reminder of our failings as human beings. But scars can be daily reminders of healing & the GOOD things that we have & that our future holds.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28th, 1963. It is said that the powerful speech was largely impromptu as he spoke out of the depths of his heart about his dream.

 

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed – we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

That speech, if you haven’t watched it recently, is well worth it. Our family watches it every year & it never fails to move us. If you’d like, watch it below:

A few of my personal favorite lines from this particular speech are listed below:

-“We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

-“Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.”

-“The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.”

-“I have a dream that one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”

-“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Don’t we all want to be judged by the content of our character? Rather than by the cars we drive, the jobs we have, the clothes we wear, the friends we have, how many followers we have, the color of our skin, the degrees we hold or how many “likes” we get? Wouldn’t it be so much sweeter if instead, we were judged by the way we live our lives & the BEAUTY that we bring the world around us?! I think so.

Dr. King said it so well. The way he chose to live his life, backed up his words. I want to be a woman of my word. I want my words to be a direct reflection of the way that I live my life of LOVE. I want my life to speak louder than my worlds. Every. Single. Day. If my 2 daughters are the ones who I have as my audience on a daily basis, I want to live my BEST for them. I want to represent REAL love, REAL joy, REAL zest. I want their memories of me to be FULL of life, laughter, silliness, dancing, truth, tenderness, care & dedication to make their lives the best lives possible. I want them to see me fight for goodness, for the beauty of life & for the betterment of mankind. I want to fight for justice & mercy.

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

Thank you MLK for the trailblazing that you did. Thank you for the direct impact on my family because of the way you fought for freedom & equality. I pray every single day that the bondage of racism that has held so many in our nation in captivity for decades would be washed away by that mighty stream. I am tired of it. I am tired of the lack of justice & mercy. I am tired of feeling hurt for the heart of the Father. I want the issue of racism to be an issue no longer. Help us, God. I will be a voice. I will live my life by example & choose love.

Think about a way that you can choose love, a way that you can live your life by example. With each of us choosing love, loving BIGGER & BETTER, we will be able to change the world around us & leave a different legacy for our own children. That is a dream worth fighting for!

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Cheers,

Katie.

Why are we born?

/ katiemjenks / 2 Comments

“The two most important days in your life are the day you’re born & the day you find out why.”

-Mark Twain

Deciding to embrace that truth takes guts because it calls you to a higher way of living. It calls you to live the life you were born to live. Not just a day to day survival, but a movement ONWARD into your DESTINY. Choosing to acknowledge WHO you are, WHY you are here on earth, right here, right now & then moving ahead with your journey is scary, heart pounding big, full of emotion & it is RIGHT. Sure, there are twists & turns in the road of life, & sometimes we may pick the “not so good” option, but ultimately, if we are moving forward, it means we aren’t stepping backward or shying away from the greatness ahead of us. We were born for a reason & realizing that reason is necessary to live a fulfilled life. Who doesn’t want a life full of joy, success, deepening, growing, thriving & vibrancy?! I know I do! That is why when I wake up in the morning, I make it my mission to live my absolute BEST for that day. Oh don’t get me wrong, I fail miserably sometimes at it, but ultimately making the decision to TRY is always worth it. On days I fail, I go to bed at night with lessons learned, tips that will help my roots deepen & give me a better chance of “BEST” tomorrow. On days that I succeed, it feels great knowing that I truly lived my life to the fullest for those past hours. It all counts guys, it all counts.

“Any area that you don’t have hope is an area that is under the influence of a lie.”

-Bill Johnson

Without hope, choosing to live the best life we have to live will not be easy. Hope is an anchor for the soul! No hope equals no true happiness for tomorrow. There have been times in my life where I have CHOSEN not to live with hope. To bury my joy, turn off the light of hope flickering in my soul, all because of bitterness & festering from hardship in life. When I did that, I felt like I literally just floated on the winds of life, with no anchor to anything good. It was a numb, cold, sad existence & I couldn’t survive living my life like that for long. It took me realizing how selfish I was, how badly I really did want to live with hope, that I gave in. I forgave others, I forgave myself & I chose to move ON. ONWARD into my destiny again. It felt good. It felt like I came alive again. It was a process for sure, but slowly the world filled with color, like a watercolor washed with rain, I embraced my emotions, both good & bad, because it was SO good to FEEL again & I took a step forward. It was scary to live again! But it was LIVING.

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

Looking back on that season of my life, it taught me so much. It taught me that I was living under the influence of a lie, a lie that I was perpetuating. I was CHOOSING a lie! It sounds so ridiculous, because it was. I was robbing myself. Once I chose to destroy that lie, I had to fill it with life. So I intentionally started speaking life over myself, EVERY SINGLE DAY. It was refreshing. It was new. It was quenching my thirsty soul. Choosing to HOPE again, choosing to embrace my destiny, the REASON I was born, was one of the best days of my life. I haven’t looked back since. I don’t want to ever live under a lie, hopeless, not embracing the reason I was created, ever again. It was SO NOT WORTH IT.

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

So I encourage you, take a step back. Look at the life you are leading. Is it full of PURPOSE? Is it fulfilling you? Do you KNOW why you were born? I don’t care how old you are. Sometimes it takes decades to figure it out. Why are you here? Right here, right now? Do you have hope? Are you LIVING or are you just surviving? Take some time to reflect on your life up until this point. Find the color. Why is it there? Are you living in color right now? I hope so. But if not, you can change that RIGHT NOW! Today. Look into your heart & figure it out. It will be so worth the giant leap you need to take if you aren’t living & walking in your purpose towards your destiny.

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

I’ll cheer you on! I have some of the best cheerleaders in my life. My mom, specifically. I have lived for 28 years under her RELENTLESS encouragement. Sometimes it drives me crazy, but without it I know I wouldn’t be walking in my purpose for life, full of HOPE. (Thanks Mudder. 🙂 ) Find people full of hope & ask them to become your cheerleaders. We need people to buoy us up & remind us from time to time why we choose hope & what our destiny is. I definitely do. I married the best man for that. Noah & I daily try to remind each other what a gift our life is & evaluate if we are doing our best at living full of joy & hope. If we aren’t doing so hot, we help each other out! It’s a partnership. We definitely fail, we aren’t perfect, but we get a new shot at it every single day. How rad is that?!

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

So go, friends. Look at your life. Evaluate. Shift. Change. Breathe. Dream. Re-evaluate. It’s an ongoing process. I’ll leave you with this verse from Psalms, out of the Message version:

“God, the one & only – I’ll wait as long as he says. Everything I hope for comes from Him, so why not? He’s solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, An impregnable castle: I’m set for life.”

-Psalms 62:5-6

We’re set for life guys! And that, feels good.

Cheers,

Katie.