Jen Russum

A Simple Life

A Simple Life

During college I used to go to a worship service at my church every Wednesday night. I remember one time at the beginning of the school year, the speaker that evening asked us to turn around and introduce ourselves to someone and describe ourselves in one sentence. After the hustle and bustle of the greetings, the speaker asked us a question.... "How many of you introduced yourselves as a child of God?" Of course, almost no one had considered their identity in Christ when giving their brief introduction. We linked ourselves to the cultural norms of college and young adult life. I'm a sophomore. This is my major. This is my job. I'm from this city. Few were wise or bold enough to say "My name is ___________ and I am in God's family." Or "I belong to Jesus." Although I said something superficial during that introduction years ago,  the most important thing about me is that I am a Child of God. I am chosen by Him and loved by Him, and He should shape all I do and say day in and day out. Because I am not my own; I belong to God {I Corinthians 6:19-20} and anything I do in the day, big or small, significant or not, should be done for God's glory {I Corinthians 10:31}. I think in adult life, most people associate their identity with their job. I'm a lawyer/doctor/nurse/teacher is the first thing we hear from people's lips when meeting them for the first time. But for some reason I don't relate myself very closely with my job these days. Maybe it's because I'm in grad school, so I feel like part-student, part-teacher, and part-crazy person with a lot of books to read.... which isn't so easy to explain when introducing myself. So when asked to articulate what I do, that answer seems muddled as well. I take grad classes; I teach undergraduate writing courses; I substitute teach on the side, but only if I have the time. Oh, and I cook dinner and manage a home and hang out with my husband and try to make time for girlfriends. And I go to church, and I exercise, and I make a lot of phone calls because I live far away from my family and all my best friends. But when it comes down to it, who I am is really simple... I am a child of God. And, therefore, what I do is also straightforward... I live a simple life for God's glory {I Timothy 2:2-3}. At any given time this might mean mounds of essays to grade and books to read, date night with my husband, doctor's appointments for the baby growing inside my womb, singing karaoke with girlfriends, or sitting on the couch reading my Bible in the morning. In fact, it probably looks a little bit like this...             ...that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.   This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior... |I Timothy 2:2-3| ... Read more

Military Wives

Tonight Micah comes home after being gone for almost three weeks. Every year during April and May, he has a bunch of annual trips - both for fun and for work - and this year he has been gone for the past 18 days with a random night home here and there before we wake up early the next day so I can take him the airport to catch a flight for his next trip. But tonight he's home for good and I'm so excited. A long time ago my sister and I had a discussion in which we decided we would make good military wives, because we are super independent and could handle deployment better than many women probably could {I know... these are big claims from two people who have ZERO experience with military life}. But our consensus was... we could pull off the solo lifestyle with relative ease. But now I've changed my mind about my confidence in being a military wife... or any kind of wife whose husband has to be gone often or for extended periods of time. Because there's something funny about marriage. On one level, marriage is about two becoming one... both in physical intimacy and in meshing two lives that were separate into one life and one family. Micah and I found the meshing to be one of the hardest parts of getting married... we had to figure out how to share a closet, organize our kitchen and split the chores. We also had to combine bank accounts, which took us almost 18 months to completely figure out. But on another level, marriage is about one becoming two. Marriage means surrendering a lot of self-focus in order to love and care for and accommodate someone else's preferences and desires and schedule. Marriage means that instead of eating what you want for dinner, you plan a menu around someone else's likes and dislikes. And when you go on vacation, you might go to places never expected simply to fulfill the  travel dreams of your spouse. And sometimes it means picking up dirty clothes off the floor that are not your own when your partner is having a busy and stressful week and can't contribute a lot to household responsibilities. And after three weeks of making dinner for myself {aka eating Lean Pockets and picking up Thai food to go}, and picking up only after myself, and never making the bed that I crawled into alone every night,  I can honestly say I miss the 1 become 2 part of marriage. I like planning my days around two people with two distinct personalities and two sets of gifts, weaknesses, and quirks. The 1 become 2 part of marriage can be exasperating at times, but it is so very good, and it stretches me in so many ways that make me a better person. And so today, on a day where we are supposed to rave about a fellow blogger, I want to give a huge shout-out to Elise. I can't even say Elise and I are "blog friends." I've left a comment on her blog two or three times. We don't chat on Twitter and we've never exchanged an email, things I do regularly with all my closest blog pals. But I have been following her blog for the past year, and I just want to encourage her. Elise is expecting her first baby next month, while her husband is far away, deployed overseas until the fall. Thankfully, he gets to come home for 10 days around their daughter's birth {although he will probably miss the actual delivery}, but then he will be gone again and miss the first few months of parenting with his wife, watching their baby grow. I should also mention that since he left in February, Elise has moved cities, bought a house for her growing family and set up a beautiful home for the three of them to enjoy together when they are finally reunited. She faces each day with bravery and joy, despite the fact that she misses her husband terribly. All photos stolen {with permission} from Elise's blog... So to Elise and all you other ladies out there who are facing or have faced deployment, I just want to say thank you. I am so thankful for our military, and so thankful for the strong wives who can hold down the fort at home with such courage and grace. ... Read more

Flowers Fade Friday: Uncomfortable

Flowers Fade Friday: Uncomfortable

One of the last times I remember being truly uncomfortable in my surroundings was about a year ago. I was studying at a coffee shop in downtown Phoenix and it was growing crowded around dinner time. Eventually, with no tables available, the waitress came up to me and asked if she could seat two customers in the chairs next to me against the wall. I happily obliged and moved my stuff out of the way to make room. When the guests were seated, I quickly discovered that my neighbors were two gay men on a first date. We were sitting awkwardly close to one another in the odd seating arrangement at this hipster locale and I could hear every word of their conversation even though I wasn't trying to eavesdrop. As I tried to continue studying, I heard them talk about their lives, their broken families, their friends and past relationships. I also heard them flirting with one another as they navigated the uncertainty of the first date. And I left there an hour later feeling sad. Sad for them. Sad for the world that tells them their lifestyle is okay. Sad that the sins of other people - disengaged parents, bullies at school, backstabbing friends - possibly influenced them to choose the life they now lead. Hipsters love unconventional seating. Now before you decide you despise me for being homophobic and stop reading this post, please hear me out. I do strongly believe that engaging in homosexual activity is wrong. It's a sin. It displeases God. It's not His best for anyone. Treating homosexuality as sinful is not old fashioned. It's not some defunct rule that passed away after the Old Testament. Jesus and his apostles clearly tell us that homosexuality is still wrong today and always {see I Corinthians 6:9, I Timothy 1:10, Romans 1:27}. But you should also know something else. Although God hates homosexual behavior {and all sin}, He does not hate gay people. And neither do I. I love them. I am kind to them. I have some friends who have announced they were gay over the years, and I still like them and talk to them and appreciate their same personality traits I did before they announced their sexual preference. When I sat next two those two men feeling uncomfortable, I didn't run away. I smiled nicely at them and shuffled my stuff around to give them more room for their meal. And when I went home that night, I prayed for them. My hope is those who have adopted the false identity of "gay" will come to know the one true and living God and realize how much He loves them. My prayer is that Jesus, in His power and love and mercy and grace, will set people free from enslavement to homosexuality. That He will show them an abundant life free of sexual sin and constantly questioning their identity and seeking love in the wrong places. Because homosexuality is not the only sin that makes me uncomfortable. All sin should make me uncomfortable. I remember one Friday night in high school I got the same feeling I had in the coffee shop.  I stopped by a party because one of my best friends was there. She was dating the host of the party, a guy in a rough crew, and most of the people there were just acquaintances to me. I remember standing in that living room for five minutes feeling so uncomfortable and hopeless in the midst of drunkenness, promiscuity, and drugs. There were unhealthy relationships, women being used, lies galore, and jealousy all around me. These were kids whose parents were completely absent from their lives. Kids who didn't care about school and some didn't make it to graduation. These were teens who were so wrapped up in alcohol, drugs, sex, and money that they didn't have a single thing to hope for in their future except the next fleeting pleasure of whatever substance they put in their bodies. Two of the boys in this group ended up being convicted for murdering a girl a few years after we graduated. It was an uncomfortable place and I felt it like it was suffocating me. I had to get out. And I did. No one at that party was gay that I know of, but I felt uncomfortable all the same. Because I don't hate gay people. I hate sin and the way it damages people's lives. I hate that people look for relationships or substances or hobbies or emotions to fill the void they feel because they don't know the God who fills every void. And while I hate all sin because it separates us from God, the Bible calls us to extra careful about sexual sin, because it's sin we commit against our own bodies {I Corinthians 6:18}. This is why crimes like rape and sex trafficking get so much attention, even by those who aren't Christians. There is something especially horrifying when we sin against our own body or someone else's body. And this is why homosexual behavior is such a sensitive issue too. I hope the memory of my awkward night at the coffee shop reminds me of a few things. I hope it reminds me to pray for my friends who are partaking in homosexual behavior, that God would show them the sin in their choices and the redemption they can find in Christ who died on our behalf to save us from our sins. I also hope that it convicts me to speak the truth often, like I'm trying to do in this post. Because you have to be honest... even if you don't believe what I do, what I'm saying makes sense. If I believe that a relationship with God is the BEST thing that could happen to anybody, but I also know that there is sin in your life that is separating you from God, and that trusting and obeying Jesus is the only way to overcome this separation, then {if I truly love you and care about you} wouldn't I try to tell you about what is preventing you from having the best thing in the world for you? I want the BEST for you. And the BEST is Jesus. Finally, though, I want to be uncomfortable about my own sin. I might not be gay, but there are a hundred ways I sin every day in my thoughts, actions and words. I get impatient and irritable for no good reason. I get puffed up with pride for achievements I can't even truly take credit for. I stretch the truth, hide my flaws, and thrive off my self-centeredness. In all honesty, I'm kind of gross, just like that party I went to back in high school. My sin should make me uncomfortable always. And when I get this feeling of discomfort, this feeling of wiggling around in my own flesh as I try to justify my wrongs and make myself look better than I am, I pray that I will turn to the true Comforter, confess my sin, and run into the arms of the only One who can save me and make me whole and worthy. In fact, I hope we all feel a little uncomfortable today. ... Read more