Love Your Life : What Do You See?

First off I want to start off by thanking an amazing family friend, Katie Reine, who yesterday took Lauren and I’s engagement pictures. Look for kvrphotography on Facebook and #kvrphotography on Instagram. She’s pretty awesome.

So I have never been one to like taking pictures. I usually take one and then I’m done. Yesterday was a little differenent. I think it was because I realized the person I was taking them with was the very person God thought of when I was formed. We take what God does for granted so often. We look at circumstances as just that, circumstancial. When infact the things God has laid in front of us are precise and accurate.

We schew the things God intended us to see becasuse our vision is bad, not God’s. We forget the perfection God offers us. We need to stop blaming God for what we can’t see going on around us, and thank Him for what we do see. It all changes when we change our perspective. When we take on a godly view of this life, it looks different then our own. When we stop taking the little things for granted, and see them blessings, we begin to love our lives again.

Look for the beauty that is all around you, and begin to love the life you’re living.

Risky Business

As you read everything that is posted, I want every one of you to understand that I am speaking to myself with every word that is typed. I am stressed, I am hurting, I am searching, I am seeking what God has in store for me, I make people unhappy with me, I make people mad at me, I am working on my relationship and walk with God every day, just the same as you. If I sit here and type this and tell you that I have my life together, I would be lying. I would be better off not writing anything at all than telling you that I am something I am not.

Throughout my life, I have known the ups and downs of ministry. I have seen the effects, both good and bad, that ministry has on people around me. I am no genius, but a child can understand emotions that are shown around them. I am a pastor’s son, and I not change the experiences I had with anyone in this world. People see ministry as all heart ache, and loss of friends and family and time. But some of the best stories I have heard or been a part of, some of the best experiences of my life, some of the weird experiences of my life, some of the most fulfilling experiences of my life, have come from ministry.

Not everyone is called into ministry, but everyone is called to serve. Everyone is called to give of something for the benefit of others. Do not hide what God is telling you. You are going to make people upset at you for a little bit, some people will not understand, and some people will want to have nothing to do with you, but it will be worth it. When God has spoken to you, and you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was God, don’t be afraid. Don’t try and run, because God will put you right back where he wants you to be.

All of that being said, do not be afraid of what God has ahead of you. God has a way better understanding of this life than we ever will. You just have to be willing to take a risk. You have to be willing to trust that what God has for you is better than what you already have.

If you take a risk and you win, you will be happy. If you take a risk and you fail, you will become wise.

Take risks in your life, it is the only life that you get. If you take risks for the right reasons and for the right things, you will grow and begin to see things that other people don’t, because you were the one who was willing.

 

Hopefully this becomes something more than what I can imagine. I’ve thought about starting a blog for some time, but just didn’t. So here we go, something new.

My name is Justin Jantz and I am 19 years old. I’m no one special, but I feel that God has given me a calling for ministry. I grew up the son of pastors and saw first hand the struggles that many people do not realize. God never promised his work would be easy, but He did say it would be worth it. That is what drives me. I did not always know that I wanted to be in ministry or have anything to do with the church. It was always a choice for me, and I just chose to be apart of something that I enjoyed. I am no where near perfect and I know that I will continue to make mistakes, but I have a goal for my life and I am striving to get there.

My parents always told me they did not want me to go in to ministry because of the things they went through, and just like any child that is told to stay away from somewhere, that’s the only place I want to be. Being in the presence of God is a feeling like no other, a feeling that I continuously long for. It is in the quiet where you find God, and so that’s where I am looking.

My goals for this is not to be something flashy, but something truthful. I hope that the words that are put on this page come from the Lord to help someone, whoever it may be, with whatever they are experiencing. I’m not looking to be famous, just impactful.