Stop building homes where God has told you to build a tent!
-Pastor Jeremy Foster-

Lately, I have really been on this positive and re-boost kick. I am taking this opportunity and time in my life as a start over. Or, you could say another chance to do things differently. Not just for me though, but for my family. I have very big wants and dreams for the family that I’ve been blessed with. And at this point in my life, I am making it my goal and it will happen.
There are so many times that I have found myself sulking in a situation that I had the power to change. But because I allowed hurt or circumstances to outweigh my ability to conquer the situation both mentally and physically, I found myself stuck there. Thinking of that just disgusted me, because all that I could think of is all of the lost time that I created. All the opportunities I missed. Just sitting in a world of stress and allowing the good to skip on by me while I suffer in the aroma of what I thought was failure.

After you spend so much time in the restroom, you soon begin to smell like all the waste that is meant to be dumped and flushed. By that, what I mean is, the restroom is not a place that you’re meant to reside in, but it’s meant to be apart of your residence. Therefore you make sure that it is only used to cleanse and dispose. But once you walk out of that part of your house, you feel lighter, fresher, and rejuvenated. Seems like a strange analogy huh.
Crazy, but this is the outlook that I had to take on life. Knowing that there are going to be times when I have to go to a cleansing and rejuvenating space in order to dispose of all the dirt and failure that I’ve allowed to pile up in my life. It takes a lot to get to a point where you understand what God is really trying to do in this particular season. Even harder to accept the outcome at times, but its all necessary in order to build your testimony and prepare you for what’s to come!

In order to write a story you must have one. The hard thing is trying to work through and understand that story. Trying to find the positive in a situation you never wanted to be in. This has honestly been a season of cleansing for me, because after July 2015 life got extremely hard for me and I wanted out. What I didn’t realize is that it would never get better until I found the positive in the outcome and I was ready to be cleansed and taken out of that space. I was in a place of feeling sorry for myself and wanting everyone else to stop looking at and treating me like a victim.
Then I realized that in order to get that I had to stop looking like a victim. I had to put on a new face and create a new phrase that would be stated after my name was mentioned. It would no longer be, “Hey, this situation really seems to have Jai down and she doesn’t seem like herself anymore.” But it would now be, “Hey, Jai is really an inspiration and she seems better than she’s ever been.” Come out of that situation that was only meant to be temporary, cleanse yourself and show the world what true strength is. Leave the restroom and step into the kitchen and let’s create something new!

Life can be an incredible ride, but in order to enjoy it, you have to buy the ticket and be willing to stand in the line. Just know your turn is coming and you need to buckle up, lift your hands, and prepare to enjoy the ride.
-Jai-