I Love My Church!

Howdy friends!

Hoping that this post is finding you all well :)

The Jansons have been struggling with the cooties for almost two weeks now. The weather being cold and rainy doesn't help, although I LOVE a good snuggle on the couch :) We could most definitely use some prayers regarding our health :)   

So today at church we celebrated something pretty cool!

We celebrated 6 years, as a campus, in Columbia!

Eric and I are celebrating that it's been 2 years since we first started attending NewSpring!

WOW!! Time really does fly. 

The absolute BEST part of celebrating 6 years as a campus is that, in that frame, we have seen 8,423 salvations in Columbia. 

OH MY WORD!!!!

The sweetest part about that is how Eric and I are a part of that 8,423.

It was two months after we started attending NewSpring that we attended Ownership class. We were so hooked on this church that were excited to dive right in. (And also get some free Chic-Fil-A for dinner, haha!)

Little did we know that night in November that we would ask Jesus into our lives, side my side. I remember that night like it was yesterday.

The impact that this church has had, not only on my life, but my husbands life and now my daughter's life is remarkable! 

So in honor of 6 years AND 8,423 salvations, this post is about the top 5 (out of many!) reasons why I LOVE MY CHURCH!

Here we go:

1) We believe growing people change:

I was a mess when I first started attending NewSpring. I liked drinking way too much, I cursed like a sailor and my overall life making decision skills were just not up to par. I was so apprehensive to start attending yet another church that would look down upon me because I didn't have my life together. NewSpring embraced it. I have leaders and friends from church that are constantly telling me it's ok to not be ok. They encourage me to grow in my walk with Jesus, in my marriage and as a mother .They remind that my story is far from being over and that growing people ALWAYS change! 

2) Community:

I was so very alone when I first started attending church, as was Eric. The "friends" we had in our life at the time were no good. After being saved and letting some of those friendships go, life became lonely. I am SO thankful for a church that believes we can't do life alone. I have met some of my very dear and close friends through serving, small group and just being an attendee. Life with community and others to do life with is so much sweeter.

3) I am taught how to follow Jesus step by step:

Overwhelmed couldn't even describe how I felt the day after I met Jesus. "Now what??" were two words that pounded in my head over and over. How thankful I am that I belong to a church that doesn't leave me in the dark but provides wisdom about where to do from here. I'm taught that there is ALWAYS a next step in our walk with Jesus and I am spiritually fed each and every sermon I listen to. 

4) KidSpring:

I am SO SO SO thankful for KidSpring. I am in love with the idea that my daughter has a safe place to go to where she can learn about Jesus on HER level. At first, I found it odd that kids, under a certain age, couldn't attend the regular service. But after learning what KidSpring is all about, I couldn't be happier that Makenna is being taught the gospel, even at 13 months old. I applaud every staff member and volunteer that puts in the time and energy to make KidSpring what it is :)

5) We believe FOUND people FIND people:

I LOVE what NewSpring is after; to reach 100,000 in the state of SC. To show others the good news that is Jesus Christ. I love, love, love seeing others asking Jesus into their lives. It reminds how I first felt when I was saved and how freeing it was. We, as a church, KNOW how miraculous, amazing, supernatural, loving and graceful our God is. We are on a mission to reach those far from God!

Jesus has and keeps using NewSpring to reach me in ways I never knew I could be reached. NewSpring has truly been used to save my life and to help us grow as a family. I love watching how Jesus changes our hearts. I love watching my husband, week after week, do what he does best in ministering to people. I love picking my daughter up from KidSpring, knowing that she is growing up in an environment where she can learn to follow Him. I absolutely love my church :)

Any questions about NewSpring? Want to attend or watch online?

Check out www.newspring.cc

Happy Sunday all!

Much love :) 

A Little Transparency

Hey friends!

It has been such a while since I've posted!

Life has been busy and filled with so much! We have settled into our new home more nicely than I could have ever planned. Our house has never felt more like, well, home! The two years it took to finally get in here has been more than worth it. I love making memories in this home. Good is SO good!

Also, our sweet baby, Makenna, turned one on August 14th and life with a toddler has been, well, exhausting but absolutely amazing :) She is learning and growing so much every day and I love being able to be her mommy. 

So, jumping right into it, I am going to be totally honest. 

I had an entirely different post planned, typed and ready to publish. Normally after I am done writing the draft for a post and have proofed it, I automatically publish it without any second thought of the topic. But this time was so different. My iPad kept messing up and it literally would not post. 

You bet your bottom dollar I took that as a sign from God to rethink what I wanted to post about and have be seen by the public eye.

My deleted post was all about disappointment and all the things that have been getting me down lately. After my iPad kept glitching, all it would let me do is go back to the draft so I reread the post and it really hit: "oh my gosh, how WHINY do I sound?! I can't post this! Is this really the Jesus I want people to see in me?!!"

It kept me up till after midnight, last night, thinking about how much I look over everything I've ever been blessed with. I've focused on the negative for so long that it's starting to become normal. When did I start developing this glass half empty attitude?? This is NOT me!

I jumped out of bed, lit a candle in the living room and wrote out, in my journal, all of the disappointments I was going to post about. Under each of them, I wrote the positives. 

I wrote how God can, is or will take these disappointments and turn them into something beautiful.

A few examples:

Disappointed by friends?

 Lately, I've been focusing on the friendships that have faded away, the feeling of being left out or forgotten. I needed to write this out in front of me and really pray over the many friends and family that Jesus has blessed me with. That He can always continue to work in my heart to be a good friend or daughter, wife or sister. I have many people in my life and in my little family's life that are so beautiful inside and out. I am more than thankful for these people. 

Disappointed by what's on the news?

Use that as fuel! Fuel to get out and be proactive. What I see on the news should give me, a follower of Jesus, more incentive to get out and spread the Good News. To lead others from death to life. Instead of filling my mind and heart up with fear because of what is happening in this world, I need to take a moment, look up and thank Jesus for the life He has given me. How blessed I am to live so free and GOOD! To have a hot shower and dinner every.single.day. Ok, so the dog may pee on the floor or the guy in traffic who cut me off, gave me the finger. Things could be SO MUCH WORSE.

Lastly..

These past few months (ok, maybe more than a few) I have been thinking of my old life back in NY. This was a place I was born and raised in for almost 20 years. I up and left, never looking back and have only returned 3 times since 2009. This was one of the last disappointments I wrote about last night.

I miss it. I really do! 

I watch shows or movies based out of NYC and my heart literally hurts. I think of how life would've been if we had moved us to NY. What would my marriage, with Eric, be like? Would Makenna even be here with us? It even hurts my heart now to write about it.

But I thought about our life here in South Carolina. I think about how much Eric and I have grown up here. 

I think about NewSpring.

How ABSOLUTELY grateful am I for this church?! 

What would life have been life if we moved to NY, never have attending NewSpring??

Jesus has used this church over and over and over and over (you get the point) to bring us closer to Him. Goodness, it's where Eric and I were both saved, almost TWO years ago, side by side!

I think of KidSpring and how my daughter goes to a safe environment each week and learns about Jesus on her level. Where volunteers take time to nurture and pray over her every week. 

Would we have found that in NY?

My roots are there; memories that will never be forgotten and people who may have only been in my life for a season, but have made a difference. 

But we are meant to be here, in South Carolina. This is where Jesus needs us to be. This is where He, currently, has us living out His plan. Meditating on that alone overwhelms my heart with joy. 

I absolutely love where God has my little family right now. I love where He has me.

I love looking back at harder times and what I learned from that situation. I love looking at a list of "disappointments" and how He can point out the good that can be found in everything.  

Doesn't mean more disappointments won't arrive at my door. The point isn't that, being a follower of Jesus means hard times won't come..it means when they do come, I can handle them with His strength, grace and love!

The best is yet to come my friends..the best is yet to come :) 

MUCH love!