Inspirational Author
@JeanneTakenaka +Jeanne Takenaka
There’s something about a new year that enables me to breathe deep.
2018 was a tough year for our family. We walked through some things with the boys that had me remembering that my Hope is truly found in Jesus alone. I found myself turning to Him in the stress and the chaos that the year threw at me.
Continue reading “2019: One Word”
+Jeanne Takenaka @JeanneTakenaka
The urge to cough tickled my throat . . . and kept tickling. And forced me into hacking.
This wouldn’t have been a big deal, except that I had a minor procedure scheduled where I would be under anesthesia. And I needed to be able to breathe without difficulty.
Coughing makes this a bit tricky.
+Jeanne Takenaka @JeanneTakenaka
Can I just say it?
How can it already be 2018? I’m still trying to catch my breath after all that 2017 held. I don’t know about you, but last year was kind of a crazy year for our family. I can look back now and better see why God had me focus on the word Intentional.
Here, at what is probably the quietest time of my year, I am preparing for the unknowns the coming days will hold. I love the early days of January where I can be still. Where there aren’t a lot of demands on me.
+Jeanne Takenaka @JeanneTakenaka
As I read this verse this morning. It stopped me. No, Micah isn’t a book in the Bible that most people flip to when they think of Christmas. Here’s what stopped me:
In this season of Advent, we wait for the Lord’s appearing. For Jesus’ birth. Many of us still watch for Him in our daily lives.
During Micah’s day, the people waited for God to show up . . . when they weren’t distracted by idols. Micah waited for God to fulfill His word. He spoke with confidence, declaring that God heard him. I love that confidence!
In our busy, modern day society, we still hold that longing to be filled, to be heard.
Today, we wait to see Him act in our lives. We yearn to know we are heard by Someone greater than ourselves.
We hold onto hope that God will hear us. That He will answer us.
In his time of waiting, Micah clung to the hope that God heard him. That God would answer in His perfect timing.
As we watch in anticipation of Christmas, may we watch for God’s fingerprints upon our lives, and in our world. May we keep our hope steadfastly set on Him and Him alone.
Please know that you, my readers are a great gift to me. Thank you for your encouraging words and insightful comments this year. I pray you will know the hope and anticipation of Jesus’ coming, and the gift He gave us on the cross. May your time be spent with loved ones and in knowing that you are loved by One who is crazy about you.
I’ll see you back here on January 2, 2018!
+Jeanne Takenaka @JeanneTakenaka
I’ve spent the last few months reading through the book of Jeremiah. The thing that struck me was how many times God gave His people the choice of whether or not to forsake their idols and worship Him. As I read, I realized how many times we have choices to make. In our relationships with family, friends, co-workers, and especially with God. This is the last of a 5-part series on choices (Read other posts here). I look forward to hearing your thoughts on what helps you make wise choices.
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This writing journey leads us on rough paths. Upon rock-strewn trails that trip us up and flatten us to the ground. Those tree roots of rejection stick out above the ground and cause us to stumble in our belief that we are truly called to write.
How many times in our lives have we struggled with hope?
Continue reading “Choices (series): Where We Place Our Hope”
+Jeanne Takenaka @JeanneTakenaka
Our Five Minute Friday prompt this week is—STORY. This largely unedited “rough draft” form of writing stretches this perfectionist, in the best of ways. We write for five minutes on a given word. If you’re interested in learning more about 5-Minute Fridays, check out the Five Minute Friday website. Or, click on the link at the bottom of this post. As you read my simpler Friday posts, I hope you’ll join in the conversation!
STORY
We’re each living a unique story. We have our individual experiences Joys. Sorrow. Obstacles. Overcoming.
No two people live an identical life. No two people have the exact same purpose while walking this earth.
Or, maybe we have the same purposes, but God has created us in such a way that only we can influence the people in our sphere.
God has created each of us to minister to those He’s placed in our lives. I can’t replace you in your world and minister as effectively. Nor can you replace me.
God brings beauty into each story.
Walking through infertility shaped me in a way that I can speak into the pain of waiting and of idolatry from the things He taught me.
You have walked through certain kinds of hard that equipped you to be a unique voice in the lives of others.
Though there may be shame in parts of our story, we should not be ashamed of those times. God redeems our shame. He uses those aspects of our story to speak life and truth into people.
Our stories are crafted by our Father. Shaped by His hand. Yes, most of us have gone our own way at times, But God still redeems.
God hasn’t called us to live our stories in shame. He’s called us to live for Him, allowing Him to continue to rewrite our pasts, to counter our lies with His truth.
He still writes His truth on our hearts and over our lives. God writes His love into the fabric of our lives.
He’s giving us opportunities to share our stories with others so that they too can learn what His love is first hand.
When we share the “pretty” and the “ugly” of our stories with others, they find hope. Because they see that God is the One who heals the broken-hearted,
who sings over them with love,
who rewrites the ugliness of their pasts and transforms their presents into beauty.
What about you? What words has God written over your life? How have you seen His hand redeeming your story?
I’m linking up with Five Minute Friday—Story
+Jeanne Takenaka @JeanneTakenaka
Sometimes it’s easier to see the hard than the hope.
Have you ever been in a season where all you could see was the hard? When those seasons become prolonged, our energy is drained, our spirits deflate, and our bodies become weary. And our thoughts?
Our thoughts have the power to help us frame our experiences. We’ll see them through the lens of hard, or we’ll see them through eyes of hope.
+Jeanne Takenaka @JeanneTakenaka
The man stood at the roundabout as we headed into the school, holding a sign with these three words.
One boy’s first comment was, “Oh no. What happened now? They always have those signs out after something bad’s happened.”
+Jeanne Takenaka @JeanneTakenaka
“A violent hope broke through and shook the ground . . .” (from “For the Cross,” by Bethel Music)
We sang a new-to-me song during our church service this past Sunday.
There was this one line that challenged me to re-think my version of hope.
I never thought about hope being violent.
This word has always struck me as a gentle thing, like a quiet rain falling or a pastel sunrise.
+Jeanne Takenaka @JeanneTakenaka
A little over a year ago, when I first heard Bethel Music’s, “It Is Well,” things in my life were going well. It seemed I was close to fulfilling a long-held dream. My health was good. I was surrounded by people who “got” me. They understood what made me tick. The song resonated. Of course it was well with my soul. I could hum it and sing it and believe it with all my heart.
It’s easy to say, “It is well with my soul” when we’re in the good times.
Jeanne Takenaka 