Who Put wood in my chicken?

You know what I dislike?

The way the world views my job.

I write. full time. 100% of my time and energy get put into my writing, my blog, my projects, my dreams.

And you know what!? I get tired too. when a job doesn't appear to be a job but it really is a full time job, and people think your not doing anything to be tired so they look at you crazy when you say or act tired. 

This is what I dislike.

The danger in feeding into that ignorant perception is the diminishment of your accomplishments. One thing I have learned as a full time writer is that Slow and steady win the race. If you peak too early you loose the girth that longevity has to offer. Here's the thing: If you are chasing your dreams and someone tells you "you don't have a real job"  or anything that discourages you from relentlessly and unabashedly chasing just remember: Your dreams aren't what everyone elses life looks like, Tell them to stop trying to turn you into an imitation of every body else.

Think it of it like this: meat imitations and actual meat aren't the same thing. It's stupid to put wood in gluten to make it look like chicken wings because it isn't nor will it will ever be Chicken wings!

If you have a dream. Chase it. Don't be gluten with Wood.

Also, This is happening:

3.11.13

If we hit the number before then I will release an exclusive page just for you!

Links = Social Icons

Will you sign my yearbook?

Today feels like graduation. 

Waves of bitter covered in sweet.

It's like for the first time in 2013, I am entering into the real world.

It's the day that I relentlessly chase my dreams. Alone.

The caps are thrown, we hug, we laugh, we cry. We finally say Goodbye.

We make real plans to keep in touch, but most of those plans will be thwarted through time, and distance and the happenings of life. Life will go on, and this moment in time will be but a distant memory.

Krysten, YOU ROCK!

As The Kite Project ends, and we continue on with our chase, I pray we keep in touch, and allow the buds of friendship planted to blossom and flourish into something of majestic beauty, but more so I pray that we take the lesson learned in this time and encapsulate them, so we may never forget what God has done through each and every chaser involved.

I pray that the closer we get to our dreams the closer we get to our God.
I pray the the more relentless we are in chasing Kite tails, the more relentless we become in our chase of the heart of God.

Thank you for the love, and friendship, and understanding!
(esp when I spammed you guys with every new idea that popped in my brain. LOL!)

Since the beginning of the project I:

Launched To Be decided: A daily Devo from funfabsaved, sent to your email each morning. 

Started Single sentence sermons: A free write journal prompt.

Opened Certified Fab: A web Gallery dedicated to overcoming insecurities and learning to love yourself the way you were created.

I have finished and am ready to publish my first E book. 

Just Kidding, I'm a virgin! 

finally got Fun.Fab.SAVED! on social media. Twitter and Facebook. 

I have met some of the coolest people from all over the world, that will forever have a place in my heart!

So I say Thank you! 

Thank you for a brilliant 30 days. Thank you for the momentum to make it though the year. There are literally no other words for me to say, but thank you! If we never get to a chance to meet in this life, I know I will meet you and your kite in the next:)

Here it is, for your forever viewing pleasure!

<3 ∞,

Jesi Rae

This is happening today. Let's Party!

So many new things happening with funfabsaved. 

I hope you all enjoy, what I am producing.

In the meantime, I am focusing on today!

Today is the day that I don't share my opinions, feelings and perspectives. Today is the day that I praise and worship and thank God in spite of all that is going on. 

Today is the day that I decide that my life is AWESOME! 

 TODAY WE PARTY!

i ♥ my readers

a social media linky party 

(join every monday!)

here's how it works:

C O P Y & P A S T E  T H I S  B U T T O N  T O

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L A T E S T  B L O G  P O S T:

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• add your blog URL below

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follow these blogs first!

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Prayer 101.

I don't know about you, but I for sure am guilty of putting [The act of] prayer on a pedestal. Placing it in such a high place of expectation, that it almost killed me, and brought me to the conclusion that prayer doesn't work.
It is vital that we (and my 'we' I do mean me) get back to the foundation of Prayer. It's time we (and my 'we' I do mean me) just shut up and have an encounter with God.

Jeida Has this to say about having intentional encounters with God.

What if the secret to connecting our humdrum, mundane lives to the supernatural pleasantries of God was as simple as saying a prayer? What if the breath of ZOË life could be summoned by prayer? What if prayer is the avenue through which our earthly lives and God’s heavenly kingdom collide?

Could it be this simple?

Prayer is one of the most essential rites in Christianity. Everyone knows Christians pray, or at least we should. But praying is a struggle for many people because we are disconnected from the God we’re praying to. Samuel Bentley and Micah Wood, co-authors of Simple Devotion, observe, “Everyone assumes that everyone prays, but hardly anyone really does… We talk a lot about prayer, but we do very little actual praying.” My pastor, Louie Giglio, adds, “We’re not praying as much as we should be, and we’re not praying the way we ought to.” We know prayer is vital, yet we shy away from the prayer closet because it feels mundane, boring, and inactive compared to other spiritual activities. How, then, do we begin to enter into an intentional prayer life?

To read more Hop on over to Jeida's blog: Destiny Collisions.

Ask and you shall receive, Maybe.

By Brittany B.

She is amazing and brilliant and beautiful and extra special.

Tweet her, check out her blog.

Enjoy!

-----------

Jesus is an extremely practical God. Unlike most people, He has no problem being forthright about what He desires. Because of this, He expects us to also be forthright when it comes to what we desire from Him. Matthew 7:7 in the New King James version of the Bible says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” In the remaining portion of that passage, Jesus reassures those whom He is teaching that God is willing to give them good things if they are willing to ask. 

He is simply telling us that if we’re willing to make our requests known, our Father will answer our requests according to His will. When we are making our requests known to Him however, it is extremely important that we are consistently in prayer. James 5:16 reminds us that when the righteous fervently pray, the prayers are strong and effective.

Praying consistently and passionately does not come naturally for many of us and I know from personal experience that it is easy to get discouraged when we are praying consistently  but still aren’t receiving clear answers; but this is when it is of the utmost importance that we stand on the faith that we have and remember that God is working everything out for our good and for His glory.

 God will not always give us direct answers when we want them or when we expect them; He is God and His ways are higher than ours. This can be tough to accept, but we have to understand that He is all-knowing, infinitely wise and extraordinarily loving. Because of how He loves us, He will answer our prayers in the way that will best benefit our souls. And since we know that He knows best, it is important that we listen to Him when He talks to us. 

The amazing thing about this is that God speaks to each of us in different ways. Some of my friends hear God’s voice in broad daylight while He mostly speaks to others when they are praying. God has spoken to me through various mediums. Songs, sermons, friends, prayer, books and even simply through my conscience.  On one occasion, the Holy Spirit grieved my heart and although silent, it was the loudest wake-up call I’ve ever heard and the only one I’ve ever felt. The only way that one can know how God speaks to them is to be prayerful. Prayer is how God knows that we are interested in hearing what He has to say. When we speak to Him, He speaks back. 

Through prayer, we develop a real relationship with God and as a result, He begins to commune with us more often and regularly. If we take the time to open this line of communication with Him through prayer, God will speak to us in more ways than we ever imagined.

For more from Britt B, check out her blog , thebeautifulashes.wordpress.com

Bee & Jae.

Guys. Hi. 

Hi Guys!

I am so excited. About life, about my dreams, about my future, but more so about this upcoming week.

I am so excited to share the wisdom of a dynamic duo that has so majorly impacted my life, I can't even make sentences work!

thebeautifulashes.wordpress.com ||  apearldefined.wordpress.com

These two ladies are to awesome in so many ways. I really don't want to gush and I feel that is what is about to start happening so now I'm just gonna end this.

Be on the look out for what they are coming with this week on funfabsaved!

Yes, it's about prayer.

It is still about prayer because I will not move on until God tells me to.

I find that I have a very short fuse, I don't like to dwell, If it's not understood after a while I truly believe its not meant to be understood. However, in your relationship with Christ or others it is ok to dwell sometimes.

Sometimes it is vital to exhaust a topic until you fully understand it.

I will not allow the enemy to hinder me from my purpose in this blog and that is to reach those like myself who just do not feel understood, or those who feel they need to hear something new. 

I will not allow the enemy to shame me in redundancy.

We will talk about prayer until I have a firm grasp on the power behind it, We will talk about prayer until the one reader God has purposed that needs to get the same maessage as I do gets it.

We will talk about prayer until we can just talk to Jesus face to face.

So buckle up! Be ready to for more prayer talk from two brilliant authors!

The prayer talk continues Wednesday, February 20, 2013

right here on funfabsaved.com

P.s.: 

Have you checked out the Certified Fab Web Gallery?

Have you signed up for To Be Decided?

I Got Milk!

Sometimes life is the worst.

I've said it in almost every single blog post for the last few posts.

I haven't shared cliche'd encouragement about hope, Faith, and Romans 8.28.
Because I really don't like them.

Sometimes, all of those "encouraging words" are nothing more than words that are overdone and need to be thrown out.

Sometimes life is just the worst. Period. We just have to deal.

On the flip side, sometimes life is the best!

EEP!

Sometimes God will surprise you with some major wins, and vast amounts of comfort and reassurance. 

Sometimes God will Just be God and make everything  right in your world!

I wish I could say that we have to go through bad to appreciate the good, but I simply don't believe that is the case for everyone. Sometimes our life is a giant suckfest simply because we live in a sin cursed world; and sometimes God will show out to remind us that he won!

Sign up for TBD Here.

I have learned there isn't always a rhyme or reason as to how God works.

He just does what he does with his sovereignty and we just have to trust him.

Today, I am more than at peace with being out of control of my life.

Today, I am happy. Today, I feel spoiled and tended to. Today, I feel like a winner.

I Got Milk!

Through a series of extra fortunate events, God let me have my way and I got milk(among other things)!
I prayed, I was obedient,  I exercised my integrity and honored my values.
It's a really cool thing to feel  like a winner; to feel like God is in control and smile on the righteous.
I am Going to chase this feeling.
I am going to continue to honor God with my life. 

If your life is a giant suckfest and it doesn't make sense because you know you are living right.
Keep your head up. Keep pushing towards the mark.
It will be worth it, even but for a moment.

Sometimes life is just the worst.

But sometimes Life is the best thing ever!

<3 ∞,
Jesi Rae

My Core.

I am a sour person.

I know that.

I complain often, and am quite ungrateful.

I feel like Optimism is foolish and pessimism is lazy.

I don't like very many people, or very many things.
I'm not a fan of being "cheered up" or "encouraged".

I know who I am, I know what I like and what I want.
While, I am growing and evolving daily.
I, as a whole, am not really a popular opinion.

One very important thing I've learned in finding my blogging/writing voice.

To be myself, no. matter. what.
Stay true to my perspectives and opinions.
Be open to learning and listening but always stick to my guns.

I knew going into this world of writing and ministering that my voice and I would be black sheep; but to know something and live something out are extremely divergent.
Living outside the box.
We glamorize it.
We make it look fun.
We make it look popular.

That's not always real.

Outside the box is not always fun.

Sometimes it's great but most times it's not.

The Bible says:
"the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.[matt7.14ESV]"

maybe this life outside the box isn't so bad after all.
Maybe it's exactly where I am supposed to be.
Life outside the box is a bit cramped, and mostly difficult, and sometimes lonely.
however it leads to life.
Life.
Not simply being alive in a sin cursed world.
Life. Eternally.
It is why we were created.
It leads to absolute fulfillment.
In Jesus Christ.
I am a sour person living outside the box.
But all in all I am generally at peace with it all.
By it, I mean life.


There is absolutely nothing wrong with the way other people go about life,
but more importantly there is nothing wrong with the way I go about life.


We all just want to feel heard, loved and understood.
The only way for that to happen is to be yourself.
God will seriously do the rest.
It doesn't matter what your peace looks like,
as long as it keeps you connected to your lord, your savior and yourself.

I am a sour person.
I know that.
I hope that somehow I can make someone feel less alone.
Through Christ I am happy patiently waiting for him to come back.
Just like he promised.

Live blogging.

I shot this story in a video, but sadly I can't upload videos on this blogger app.

I'm sitting in my car at a gas station stranded. Since last night I ran out of gas three times trying to get to the gas station. I finally make it here only to realize I have no money.

So here I sit. Sharing my experianced with my readers.

This morning the Lord places this on my heart: "Faith is believing God is who he says he is, despire the facts percieved through your senses".

I have my life predicted down to a T. I knew I would run out of gas on my way to get gas(however, I did not see the lack of funds part), I just hoped God would prove me wrong and Work a miracle.

Thats the thing. I'm always hoping God would prove me wrong. God proving me wrong isn't strengthening my faith, its coddling the tamtrums of a brat.

And so here I sit.
Waiting.
Growing.
Streghnthening.

Friends, curses, and other annoyances.

Most of my life, I felt I was alone in this world.
The only person who questioned and challenged.
The only person who constantly thought about life on a bigger scale that what I was taught.
Most of my life, I felt crazy. Still do sometimes.

It wasn't until recently, that God sent me a companion so profoundly architectured for me, I can't even explain with mortal words. I was sent a friend, a personification of what I have with jesus. It's insane.

I care so deeply for this friendship that God has so perfectly timed. I sat down to right this with the intent of sharing a piece of my heart, but there are no words to describe how perfect God's orchestration is. Just take my word for it. It's legit, for it has rendered me speechless.

Sometimes God will send precious little reminders, that not only does he love us, but he deeply cares for us. He did that for me tonight. He opened my eyes to how precious a gift my friendship is, I am grateful. I hope everyday, my friend know just how massively grateful i am for the friendship and for the heart/mind placed inside you.

I love Jesus. He really does think of everything.

**yea lil pookierayray, I'm talking about you.

Two posts in one. SURPRISE!

Life sucks.

I really do not know why we spend so much time glamorizing it.

Life is the worst.

Life is a literal curse.

However, I have realized on thing.

My father, my friend, my lord, my savior.

Everything that Jesus is, is alive and active.

He never, I do mean NEVER misses a beat.

I realized that this life is bigger than us as humans, I realized we are fighting against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in dark places.

I realized that we are not the ones fighting, we are just affected in the aftermath.

I realized that if god had his way, he would spoil the mess out of all of us forever and ever, and he plans to.

I realized that, even though God wants to spoil us, he has to handle business first.

I realized that God must take care of the enemy first.

I also realized that heaven is a place of submission.

I realized that God not only want to take us to heaven with him, he wants us to enjoy it.

I realized that while it sounds absurd, heaven is our destiny, and hell is our choice. 

If we don't adapt a heavenly mentality here on earth, we wont enjoy it when we get there. God is honestly just trying to look out for us.

I also realized that God, will do anything it takes. anything it takes. anything it takes. to ensure that we spend eternity with him.

Life sucks.

I really don't know why we spend so much time glamorizing it.

Life is the worst.

Life is literally a curse.

There is only one way to deal.

Through faith, we can rest in the deep rooted hope that there is something bigger and better waiting for us, if we so choose to accept it.

.With God, Eventually.

Patience. Chasing. Waiting. Trusting. leaning. searching. reveling.

That's what I'm being told chasing God and chasing dreams is all about.

To be honest, these sound exciting and fun.

If you hold on to your patience, boldly chase, humbly wait and full heartedly trust. You Will Honor God and he will give you the desires of your heart.

That's what I am told.

All I hear is: Eventually.

I Should be ecstatic, that I even have a dream to chase to begin with, but I'm honestly not. Don't Get me wrong I am quite pleased, but meh. It's not a surprise.

I mean, I have been asking for a dream since I was 14, and it was Eventually revealed to me when I was 21.

What took so long? 

I do not know, all I know is 'with God, all things are possible, Eventually.'

I read stories about people reaching their dreams after an allotted amount of time.

All I really see is eventually.

[Twitter.com/funfabsaved || facebook.com/funfabsaved]

Being haunted by such a underwhelming, lackluster Term feels almost like freezing to death.

Yes, Chasing my dreams feels like I am Freezing to death.

A very slow numbing has over taken me, and instead of fighting to stay alive, I am giving in to the sensation and just letting nature take it's course.

Maybe Eventually has beaten me so deep into defeat, that I'm ready to give up but I know I've come to far to do so. It's not really apathy, it's more like an unnatural calm.

Maybe this is the unglamorous side of taking on the yoke and burden of Jesus.

(matt. 11:28-30)

As I grow Numb, and succumb to eventually, I care a lot less about the outcome, and just rest in the fact that I am no longer my own problem.

Maybe the easy yoke and lightened burden of Jesus means that it will be bad, but it won't feel bad.

Maybe Eventually isn't haunting me, Maybe eventually is saving me.

I do not know.

All I know is: the sufferings of this present time are nothing compared to the place that no Eye has seen, ear has heard nor heart has imagined.
(romans 8.18/1corinthians 2.9)

I know that the enemy will be destroyed, and I will spend my forever with my best friend. Eventually;)

.Return of the pep.

Let's be honest, the past few posts on the blog weren't very... fun.

I'm not apologizing. I'm just saying.

Geez, Jes is your blog called funfabsaved.com or letswallowinmiseryandmakeeveryonesad.com?

I decided to mix it up and do something I've never done before.

1.) make a video exclusively for the blog.

2.) something pertaining to girl stuff.

It's true, as rough around the edges as I am, I do have a significant amount of estrogen that makes my love for lipstick run deep, wide, and strong.

If you want to see someone who actually knows about beauty, check out  this awesome beauty vlogger, My make up yoda, and my friend.

Melanie!

Until then, enjoy me in a garage sale t-shirt and head scarf doing girly things.

Great thumbnail, THANKS YOUTUBE!

P.s: BIG news coming soon to funfabsaved. 

Be sure to like us on FB and follow us on twitter!

I don't know how else to be, but real.

I spent a lot of time trying to find the words.

What started out as a simple Quest for answers to my personal prayer debacle,

Turn into a rich dive into the mysteries of the Gospel, Salvation, mercy, grace, and what it truly means to be a Christian.

read part 1 here || read part 2 here.

Singlesentencesermons.blogspot.com

I realized my disdain for prayer is equivalent to everyone's disdain for something about the Christian walk that plagues them.

I am not sure what you your thorn is, however the answer to your thorn is the same answer to my thorn.

We as Christians have been conditioned to believe a number of things; however, the bottom line is the simplicity of grace is too profound for our human minds to understand at face value. We are so anti-codependence that it trickles over into our walk/relationship with Christ.

However the true essence of Christianity, the truest essence of our identity as Christians is simply codependence. That's the core of our faith to be so dependent on Christ that you become united as one. 

I find, that we as Christians tend to over use the words "reborn "and "submission ", However that is the constant theme of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can search the Scriptures for answers to any of these thorns that plague us, however the answer will always be to be completely dependent upon Christ, connect with him, and allow he and you to become one.

So the answer to my prayer debacle is simply stop trying to control my life using prayer as the means, stop trying to add divinity to my flesh, kill my flesh and unite with Christ.

I reckon that's the answer to your thorn as well.

Also, I just said reckon... After 15 years the southern belle conversion is complete.

Happy Depending,

Jesi Rae

Certified Fabulous Monthly Challenge.

Today, I opened a web gallery. 

To encourage. To inspire. 

To showcase. To celebrate.

Some people, including myself, do not simply evolve and out grow their insecurities, for some certain insecurities, plague their life and burden them, from their weight to their skin to their hair to their personality.... there are things that we seemingly just cant get over.

Certified Fabulous is a gallery of inspiration, where we showcase conscious decisions of learning to love ourselves, just the way we are. Sometimes we can't wait to simply evolve, we must make a choice to love who we were created to be.

shescertifiedfabulous.tumblr.com

Certified Fab Challenge: January.

The First of every month I have dedicated to ME!

A shameless celebration of who God created me to be.

I know from the outside looking in this may seem like a vanity project, but for someone who lives in a perpetual state of self loathing this is a healing process. Trust me;)

Each month I will list 3 different thing about myself that I like, 3 different thing about life that I am grateful for, and 3 insecurities that I have reconciled.

What do I like about myself?

I like that I can come up with ideas almost constantly.

I like that I have the guts to speak my mind, but have learned the importance of a filter.

I like that I am fearless and will jump feet first into any project that I believe in.

What am I grateful for?

I am grateful for the time i have to spend with god and chase my dreams.

I am grateful for my friends. they are indicative of what i dream and what i represent.

I am grateful for my appendages. I am grateful that they are properly placed and work efficiently. It's simple, but it's a blessing i definitely take for granted.

3 insecurities I have reconciled:

I used to hate my knees, they are fat and didn't like to look at them. I love them now because they are awesome... except the fact they don't work well, I dont mind looking at them.

I used to hate my hair, the length, the texture, the color... just recently I realized that while it's not the hair I want, its the hair I have been given and it is awesome in its own right.

I used to be insecure in my talents, for the longest time I didn't think I had any talents, Now I have a confidence through christ in the gifts/talents he has given me.

Wanna Take the challenge with me?

Download this image, add it to your post and make a tri-list of your own, then add your link to the party below:)

Wanna submit to Certified Fab? Awesome, CLICK HERE!

Let's Celebrate our royalty! 

Kicking insecurities in the rear!

The devil has no power here!

hehe. That rhymed!

<3 ∞