Vision for Fully Man Series

Vision for Fully Man Series

1.18.2021

Hello!

A year ago in March, I did a four-part series asking women in my life to share and answer the question: When was the moment you realized you were becoming a woman? This project was fun, insightful, and inspiring and I am grateful of the women who said yes to sharing their stories. My soul has been stirred, impacted, and inspired by how God has touched and changed their lives! This project has impacted me so much that I began to consider how interesting it would be to feature more stories from voices other than my own, which ultimately led to the idea of launching the Fully Man Series, in which men in my life would answer the question, When was the moment you realized that you were becoming a man? 

I am incredibly grateful for the vulnerability, ease, safety, and counsel that relationships with men have been for me. My dad and brother are significant male influences in my life because of their willingness to love, encourage, and respect who I am and were able to offer their strengths in my weaknesses. They taught me how to be strong, tough, and knowledgeable in things like softball/baseball, changing a tire, fixing furniture, and parallel parking (trust me, if you've seen Tuxedo, starring Jacki Chan, that's how good I drive *pops collar*).

I understand that this narrative isn't the same for many women. I have close girl friends that have confided and shared their experiences with me about men who have manipulated, objectified, and/or abandoned them, but I still hope and contend that these women experience and know healthy, safe, and trustworthy relationships with men. My hope with the Fully Man Series is to build-up and shed light on stories that express their individual journey of what it is like becoming a man. Believe me, this will be as much of a learning process for me, which is why I was incredibly interested in learning, listening, and partnering with my fathers and brothers in Christ as a woman. For my ladies reading this, I hope you keep an open mind and heart in learning and understanding snippets of what manhood may look like. And if you are a guy reading this, I hope this helps and allows you to pull on men in your life to talk about any of the topics discussed in these essays. 

Theses essays are by no means the epitome of what manhood should be, but a discourse in which like life, is a process. The world is changing, growing, and searching for something bigger than ourselves. I am incredibly grateful of the way God has brought these men in my life and I am excited to feature their voices. These men are trees that have set deep roots into the land that God has given them to expand His kingdom and I have the honor and freedom to enjoy the protection of their shade. I hope that the men and women, who read these posts understand that we are in this together. Thank you for taking the time to be a part of the process  and get a glimpse of the voices that I care so much about!

With Love,

Jacky

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Time, Choices, and the Yes We Give

Time, Choices, and the Yes We Give

1.14.2021

My beautiful 2nd Year Revival Group Class of 2020.

These past few weeks, I've thought about the time when my younger sister graduated from boot camp in South Carolina in 2014. My family and I flew out to see her graduate and spent one week there. After leaving the military base, I found out that we were only two hours away from the Georgia border and I told my parents and suggested that we go to Georgia just to say that we've been there. They thought it was a fun idea, too, so the next day, we made the two hour drive to the Georgia border. After crossing the state line, we stopped at a mall and I remember sitting on a bench as I watched families, couples-- people-- walking by and I thought We're technically not supposed to be here. I felt like a fly on the wall because there was nothing significantly tethering my family and I being there at the mall in Georgia on that specific day. The only thing that brought us there was a yes. A yes to driving two hours, a yes to a thought and I felt that all it took to take that yes further was standing up and introducing myself to any one of those people-- just one.

While in BSSM, I have grown to understand the power of a yes and how much impact, influence, and change it can have on my life, on those around me, and future generations. My Revival Group pastor in 1st Year, Jeremy Gonzalez, said that what we carry everyone needs and what others carry we need. This statement changed the way I see myself and others. We are all a part of the equation. There were countless times when I wanted to hide and run away because of self-hatred and shame, but God said He wanted me. Dear reader, I hope you know how valued and loved you are. There is a man named Jesus who thought of you and called you worthy by giving His life so that you could live-- to live in freedom, joy, and peace. You carry something that no one in the world has and He has the power to reveal and share that through you! And all it takes is a yes to invite Him into your life. At this moment if you feel anything on your body, mind, or spirit--please-- reach out to me! 

Now in 2nd Year, one of the pastors at Bethel Church said, "when God said Let there be light, He had you in mind." For all the people that I've gotten to meet, know, and run with, it is an honor to behold and marvel at who He had in mind. I wasn't the only person that said Yes to moving here to Redding, California, for college. I wasn't the only person that said yes to going to BSSM. It blows my mind that a (not so) little town like Redding would bring so many people together. 

I wish I could share in-person, how valuable it is to be free and vulnerable with a group of Christ-followers. Not only does the yes we give has a significant impact on our lives, but the timing of our yes plays an important factor. The people in my RG could have said YES to starting BSSM next year or the year after that-- or earlier, which would have a significant contribution to how and when I'd meet them or if I'd meet them, but they were first prompted by a cry in their hearts by the Yes when God said it was time. Getting to know, learn, and listen to the people God has placed together is a plan that only He could have thought of. As I write this blogpost, I think about my friends and family, as well as myself because I, too, have power over the choices I make. The actions, investments, and decisions I decide to pursue impact my future. This may seem elementary, but I feel God highlighting an urgency of the power that lives inside us. As crazy, confusing, and/or disappointing this time may be and as hard days can get, all He needs is our yes. Our yes to show up, to keep showing up, and showing up even after we're tired of showing up, but know that He understands and knows what that feels like, too. Be reminded that you are human and that doesn't surprise Him.  As I'm writing this, I feel the Holy Spirit so close and if no one has said thank you for your yes, I want to say thank you for choosing to say yes even when it hurts. 

With All That I Am,

MJ

 

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