We still have four weeks left in our Ladies Spring Bible Study series. The first two sessions have inspired us to make God our hope and confidence and to drink freely from our Fountain of living water. Join us on Monday nights at 7:00pm for more encouragement from the book of Jeremiah!
Meet the Sheep
This month we'd like to get to know Amy Jenulis a little better...
"A little bit about me… First, it is the most uncomfortable feeling to write about myself. It only took me 4 months to begin to write. Haha. But seriously… about me. I grew up with my mom and dad in the same home until age 12. There is this song called “Two Houses” by Matthew West and that is pretty much what life felt like after the divorce. “…all I want is the way it was… back to the day before two houses…". My parents were not saved back then, nor did they have any real knowledge of God, yet they placed me in Christian schools as early as First Grade. I eventually landed at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in 8th Grade and graduated there in 1995. I believed all the Bible stories I had been taught at school, I had said the sinner’s prayer (a few times), and I called myself a Christian, but I had no authentic relationship with Jesus. Any knowledge I had was just head knowledge… and even that head knowledge did not have much of an impact on my thinking or my behaviors. When my parents divorced, my mom quickly remarried a man I never felt too comfortable with and she started a new family, and my dad went on to date endlessly. I was “lost in the middle.” I did not know my identity or my value. I looked for it everywhere else but God. That led to many, many years walking my own path, yet calling myself a Christian.
At barely 20 years old, I married a family friend. We spent the first 15 years of our relationship living a life that consisted of a lot of partying with lots of drinking. In the year 2000, we had our son, Dylan. We had “everything” this world could offer… a family, a house, toys, friends. Life seemed “good” through my rose-tinted glasses, and when it did not seem good, there were always ways to mask it. Fast forward, in 2011 our neighbors invited us to Harvest. After attending several services over the next month, I knew I had to respond to an alter call one Thursday night. When the invitation was given, it was as if God put a mirror before me and said, “This is who you are to your son”… and the images I saw were my undoing. I went forward that night, and from that day on, God began to do a radical work in me. My life literally flip-turned-upside-down. My husband did not want to walk down the same path as me, and as I grew closer and closer to God, he pulled farther and farther away from me and my son. LONG story short… His drinking multiplied and EVERYTHING got really bad over the next few years. My husband and I were separated near the end of 2014 and divorced the end of 2016. After that, I spent what felt like 5 years grieving my broken family and dreams lost. But in that time of grief, God did, and allowed, some radical things in my life. HARD things, but RADICAL things. I was raising my son pretty much solo from age 14 on. Without a healthy coparent to bounce all things “teenage-boy” off of, I was left to work out this mom-of-a-teenage-son all on my own. But I was not alone. God was with me every step of the way. He became my husband and my helper. He became Dylan’s good good Father (even when Dylan did not realize it). Those teenage years are also a long story, but through it all, I am reminded of how the Israelites would set up stones as alters to remember God’s faithfulness at a particular place and time.
I feel like that is what I have been doing the last decade or so. There have been SO many situations I thought surely, I would never make it through… BUT GOD! He continues to work ALL things together for good to those who love God, according to His purpose. His love and care and direction and protection and provisions are way more than I could have ever imagined.
Here I am now at Calvary Chapel Living Word where I am beyond blessed by the teaching, the leadership, the congregation and the fellowship I get to be a part of… and last but FAR FROM least… I have a very special someone in my life that words cannot do justice to describe. Mike Harris is definitely God’s superabundant gift to me, and I am beyond blessed to be a part of his life and to have him a part of mine! I am thankful for every season… the good and the bad… because without the bad, I would not have gotten to know my Jesus so intimately and trust him so fully. Just like everyone, I have my days of downward spiraling, but when I think back to all of His faithfulness over the years… there is no room for doubt. HE IS MY ALL IN ALL!!
Prayer
The women's prayer ministry meets every Monday morning at 11am in the sanctuary. Come pray with us, get prayed for, and pray for others.
Connect
Life can get crazy - If you need help or would like to speak with one of our women in leadership, please contact the church office.
Monthly Devotional
By Linda Varda From Living Daily in the Word: Devotions by the Ladies of Calvary Chapel Living Word (2013) "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.” (Psalm 42:5)
Lord, You know me very well, much better than I know myself. You also know the valley that I am in and all the struggles and challenges I am facing. Sometimes I wish I had stayed on the mountaintop and had never come down into this valley. But at the same time, I know that You always have my best interests in mind, which might not always be the experiences I want to have, or the places that I want to be.
I know that sometime soon, or not so soon, this season of my life will end and another season will start. It is up to me to either choose to learn all that You have for me during this time, or just whine and have self-pity. Lord, I need You much more than ever before, I need to lean on You, and I need to talk with You constantly. I need to meditate on Your love, Your sacrificial selfless love, and Your promise. I praise You for all that You have done for me and all that You are doing for me.
Though sometimes my eyes cannot see well, my ears cannot hear well, and my feet cannot walk properly because of weakness, pain, and sleepless nights, I know that joy comes in the morning!
“Oh send You right and Your truth! Let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle.” Psalm 43:3
“For I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.” Psalm 43:5b