a selah story. jennifer meyers.

photo from a vineyard where Jenn and her family stayed a night in their skoolie

Love God. Love Others. My dear friend, Jenn, says it often. And she really does it. She loves big. She shines bright. She runs on mission. And her words echo in my heart. When I make a choice. When I speak my heart. When I decide how to grow my business. I test it against her words. Am I loving God? Am I loving people? Then I’m ok. If my motives pass that test. I’m ok. Ready. At peace. Her ministry is a blessing and her friendship a gift.

I’ve had the honor of sharing in her story. We’ve come alongside each other in these early years of motherhood. Waving in car line. Working preschool choir night at church. Deep talks through my car window in the church parking lot. Peeking into each other’s hearts. Encouraging. Sharing. Growing.

Last Fall, I convinced Jenn to join the Selah Journal test group. Selah became a little more part of her story. And I am so grateful for those hours together. In confidence. With open hearts and minds. We all changed a little in those weeks. Since then, she and her family have embarked on a grand adventure. And she has agreed to be my first Selah story - sharing her heart. Encouraging you.

​Here is her story...

Selah. I heard this phrase a few years ago from my friend, Katie. I would read her blog, listen to her in conversation, or just in passing, and that word stuck with me. Last fall, I was in a small group, lead by Katie, and we met weekly to discuss what Selah meant to us and how we could fully apply that theory to our lives.

Selah simply means pause and pray. During the study I felt God tugging at my heart to breath more. To pause more. To pray and give thanks more. To be with my family more. He wanted me to breathe with my family. To be a breath for my family.

All these ideas rumbling through my head reminded me of a study from a few years back, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Could I really breathe and give thanks for 1000 things? I needed to be present more with my family of 4. I was reminded of another study, Present Over Perfect, by Shauna Niequist. How can I be present all the time, not aiming to be perfect and fit in just so? Ok God I hear you!!!

For several months I struggled with and prayed to God to see what he wanted from me. To see where we wanted to lead my family. I had several conversations with my husband, Dan, as well as trusted friends and mentors about aligning my love of God and others, and what that looked like.

I believed that we needed to add NO to our routine. To say NO to others so we could say YES to each other. I knew God was leading us to empower our family to say no to frivolous things so we could say yes to each other. We needed to go against what society tells us and leave our jobs, leave our town, and just be.

Four years ago we began on our Konmari journey (Japanese art of decluttering) and started decluttering and living a more minimalistic lifestyle. It was so freeing but there was something still missing. I loved my job, my mission, my passion, my calling--- but there was a huge part of our family life missing. I was pouring out and had nothing left to give our family of 4! I needed a break. I needed a reset. I needed a recharge.

Dan and I knew we needed to resign from our jobs to be together more as a family. To focus on being home with our boys. Traveling. Breathing. Being. Practicing what we preach. Love God, Love Others.

We also needed to provide more therapy for our son Kaden, and there were special programs he needed. We had to figure out how to get him there. Near the end of our jobs, we found a camp program for Kaden. We applied, and were accepted within 24 hours. But we had to be there in8 days!

Thankfully we had our Skoolie to live in and provide us lodging and transportation. A Skoolie is a school bus converted into a home. This Skoolie of ours is amazing. 250 square feet with couches, kitchen, bed, bathroom- everything we could need!

We would depart, get to this camp, and live together. All 4 of us, in 250 square feet of a renovated school bus, for 2 months in order to get our son the best treatment possible! In order to be together. To unplug from our community for 2 months to be totally immersed in each other's lives.

This summer, our whole house is on wheels. It's an old school bus converted into our home. We are able to focus on the 4 of us being together. We're growing closer and learning more and more about each other. (Click here for our tour of the Skoolie)

What is so exciting about this adventure is that we're allowing God to lead us. We're stepping out on a faith journey. To some it sounds crazy. To some it is their dream. And to some, they totally get it. We wanted to be intentional about creating room for each other this summer. We wanted to be able to just sit and talk and play board games. We wanted to read books together and say yes to a playground for the 10th time today! (My kids love playgrounds). We wanted to be intentional with what we chose to do each day.
We no longer wanted to wake up and have the same routine each day. We needed a breather. We needed a Selah moment. This 2 months away is our time to Pause and pray.

These little men in my life are growing up so fast. Life is way too important to be lost in the shuffle. My family is so important and I needed a breath of fresh air so that I can pour into them.

How are you feeling? Are you in need of a Selah moment? Pause and pray and see where God is leading you. See where He wants you to focus more on and where he wants you to say no more. This week, no RiGHT NOW--- Pause and pray. Take a Selah moment for yourself and see where God leads.

Jenn
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For more from Jennifer & Dan about their #wildmeyers journey follow along at www.wildmeyers.com or on Instagram: @wildmeyers