childlike faith by Jamie Feliz.

My first ever, guest blog post! Let me introduce my girl, Jamie Feliz. 

In seventh grade, I had the pleasure of meeting Jordan Feliz in my p.e. class. We became instant buds. Jordan and I went all the way through high school together. I remember when he started dating Jamie sophomore year and thinking how beautiful she was. Turns out, while I hadn't met Josh yet, Jordan and Josh were friends through being in bands and playing together in high school, too. Fast forward years later, when Josh was going to meet up with Jordan to grab coffee, we realized we both knew the same curly haired cutie. Jordan was just about to marry Jamie, and he had always told me he thought me and Jamie would be really good friends. We finally set up a double date and the rest is history. They became our best buds that we did everything with. Our dogs, Lennon & Pancakes, are even boyfriend and girlfriend. 

I fell in love with Jamie. You can't not love her. She is so ridiculously stylish and sassy, and without fail she will have you on your butt laughing. She's truly one of a kind. Jamie & I got to work together at the salon until they recently moved to Nashville, where she did Billy Rae Cyrus's hair by the way. No biggie. We are so blessed by being besties with these guys. I am so lucky to call Jamie one of my favorites and to share one of her stories of watching her faith grow. She is original, quirky, funny, stunning, humble, creative, and easy going. I'm a huge fan. Hope you love hearing her heart as much as I do ...

Jamie Nicole Feliz

We've all been there. That place in time where the walls inside of you crack and your heart falls down into the pit of your stomach. Life as you've know it so far has completely changed. A moment unplanned, unexpected.. a reality check. Sometimes these moments hit you right then and there. The second his eyes met mine, I knew he was the one. He smiled at me and my heart started pounding and my throat got dry and from that moment on I never wanted to be even a rooms length away from him. 15 years old, a time in my life when I wasn't looking for anything or anyONE, and I found him.. and I couldn't live without him...unplanned...unexpected. It's only by God's grace & intervention that I have been undeservingly blessed to call Jordan's heart my own. I got the privilege of 7 years of dating the heck out of him before we finally tied the knot 2 years ago. A decision I haven't regretted for a second.

 Sometimes life throws you curve balls. Leaves you feeling.. blank. breathless. speechless. A car crashes, a gun fires, a line goes flat and you think everything is going to be ok. You think you're gonna get through this one unaffected. Until, a week later, you trip going down the steps, or you drop a glass plate, and your mouth goes numb and your hands start shaking and you fall to pieces. You crack, break, and realize that life as you know it will never be the same... unplanned...unexpected...a reality check. 

I remember one time in particular my world was turned upside down. It may not be everyone's ideal story, but its the one I feel like sharing. I'm being real here, so no judgement please.

As a little girl, I was brought up believing in God, knowing the stories of the bible, praying to Him at night, and celebrating Christmas and Easter. As a child, you believe what you're told and you don't question anything, because humanity hasn't taught you to doubt yet.

One day, I was running around town with my dad and our dog, Zeus. First to the pet store and then quickly to the grocery store. On our way home, I pulled out the dog brush we had picked up at our first stop so that I could brush Zeus in the backseat. It was one of those brushes that has a clip attached to the face of it, beneath the needles of the brush. After the brush has collected hair, you can pull up on the clip, which pulls up all the hair, and you are left with a clean brush. And, thats exactly what I was doing. Being in the car, I disposed of the excess hair by holding the clip outside the window so that the air rushing by could wipe the clip clean. Unexpectedly, the wind pulled the clip straight from my hand and I watched, in horror, as the clip flew onto the freeway behind us and underneath passing cars. Gone for good.

I'm sure we all remember, as a child, there is no worse feeling in the world than disappointing your parents. Knowing we JUST bought that brush, I knew my dad would KILL me if he found out what I'd just done. Immediately, I bowed my head and with all my heart, I prayed to a God that I knew was a God capable of miracles. I don't remember the words I said to Him, I just remember putting all of my faith into Him and knowing he was going to cover me.

We pulled into the driveway and my dad opened up the back to unload the bags. I grabbed the first few and as he reached in and pulled out the last two, there it was. Underneath the last two bags in the trunk was the clip to the brush. Speechless, my heart sank. "How did this get here?" my dad said, handed me the clip, and continued inside. That, to me, was a real reality check.

Over the years the world taught me a lot of things, one of them being doubt. But the one thing I never doubted was my belief in God, His love, and His ability to make His presence known in our lives as long as we continue to have child-like faith in Him and not do ourselves a dis-service by assuming what He is/is not capable of doing in our lives. For years I kept that story to myself. In fact, it wasn't until about 2 years ago that I finally told the story to my husband, knowing he wouldn't doubt me. Actually, to my amazement, he told me it was his favorite story he'd ever heard. So when Lexi asked me to write a story, I figured this had to be my best one. 

Faith is like a seed; plant it in your heart. God will give the harvest at the appointed time.

... He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." - Matthew 17:20

nowhere to set her foot upon.

Trying to think of stories that I wanted to share that not everyone may know about me, the story of why I have a dove tattooed on my foot came to me. When I was twenty one I went through an amazing year long program at The Well called Residency. That's where my deep love for the bible really grew. I learned more that year than I had in my whole life about Gods word. To be honest, I had always been confused and bored with the Old Testament. Suddenly though, God revealed it to me in such a relatable, life altering way. I began to fully understand the weight and cost of sin, what sin really was, and how it was dealt with before Christ came. And how much of a sinner I was, saved by grace and grace alone. 

  

Reading through the Old Testament, my heart was broken and my love for who Christ was to me became real. I fell in love with the gospel before I even got to that part! My heart was broken, yet comforted, as I realized I was just like each broken character of the bible. Stories of my own past connected with each one I read. The redemptive power of Jesus & the Holy Spirit comforted me as I realized who I was to Him. 

I really connected with one story in particular, it truly summed up my testimony. Genesis 8:6-12, the story of Noah sending out two birds, a dove and crow. The crow found a place to rest and live without the arc and Noah. But the dove, she found no rest, nowhere to set her foot upon. She came back to Noah. When he sent her out again, she brought back an olive branch, Gods symbol of land & peace to Noah. That was me. You see, I had to be sent out into the world, look at all of it, try to find rest without the arc, but in the end, there was nothing. Nothing but Jesus to set my foot upon. Nowhere to rest my foot upon that satisfied or comforted. It only left me more lonely, empty, and guilty. 

I fell in love with this picture of me, flying back to Noah the second time, holding that olive branch. I knew that was my redemptive story through Christ. I already had 3 tattoos, so I thought it wouldn't be too bad. Then the tattoo artist told me the top of the foot was one of the most painful places... Awesome. Guys, I'm a total wimp. I can prove it, here's something to make you die laughing, just as Cheryl & Josh did. 

Best friends are for holding your hair and laughing at you while you cry. I simultaneously laughed and cried through the whole 45 minutes. Yes, I'm embarrassed. But that lil beauty was worth every minute. It's truly a reflection of me and I'd do it again.