I don’t know why I haven’t learned, honestly. When I say something like, “I am never going to be the kind of person that does [insert action here], I always imagine the Lord chuckling affectionately at me and saying, “But daughter… just wait.”
I suppose the idea of starting a vlog is a little overwhelming. It’s not something I ever intended on doing, and definitely wasn’t part of the plan, but the Lord always has this way of breaking us out of our delicate shells– our warm and cozy comfort zones.
For example, when I was a young, bright-eyed, bushy tailed freshman attending Arkansas State University, I made it known that I would never do 3 things:
1. I would never live in Conway (home of the UCA Bears)
2. I would never marry a Frat Boy
3. I would never marry into a religious family, or marry a pastor.
So the Lord giggled as he slowly led me to build my home in Conway, Arkansas (you know, home of the UCA bears), and 5 months later, introduced me to my dreamy, too-good-to-be-true husband-to-be (a Sigma-Nu alum), and then we both received our ordination together a year later. Isn’t that funny?
Hilarious.
But I’ve always been a relatively private person. I enjoy keeping myself hidden behind the safety of “privacy”. You can come into my house, but stay out of the back rooms. You can have this much access to my life, but not all. You can only know what I give you, but you can’t see my dark side,
my messy side,
my insecure side.
You can’t see all the parts of me that make me imperfect.
And I shudder at the idea that a stranger might catch glimpses of my imperfect home, the mess, the stress, the tears. God forbid someone see that I’m just like everyone else, doing the best to hold it all together… and sometimes failing miserably.
I stopped dragging my heals in the dirt. Why? Why did I stop hiding, crossing my arms and pouting? Honestly, if I flat out told Him “NO. I WILL NOT DO IT.”– He would still love me the same.
Absolutely nothing I do can keep him or knock Him off His throne.
But this is not about me. This is not about how good I look, how clean my house is, or how much make up I’m wearing that day. This is about all of us. This is about chasing dreams. This is about letting the world see that God will always show up. Every. Single. Day.
He shows up in the sunshine.
He shows up in the rain.
He shows up in my glory and in my mess, again. And again. And again.
And so here I am, putting the real me out for display. Some of you may not approve, some of you may love it. But how can I show you all the beautiful wonderful redemptive things my God has done for me if I don’t give you the opportunity to see for yourselves?
If you don’t believe that God will show up, just wait. You’ll see. I challenge you to look for Him, because I guarantee, if you’re looking, you’ll find Him.
So welcome.
Welcome to my messy, beautiful, amazing, overwhelming, and beautifully redemptive life.
The Family Flips.
Enjoy your journey, and thanks for watching ours,
-Jessica Rensing.
