Ever felt like life’s trials are steering you towards an unexpected purpose? Join us in this episode of *Seek Go Create* as we dive into J. Marie Jones's powerful journey of surrender and transformation. From navigating a pandemic-induced career shift to uplifting others through "Affirm the Word," hear how J. Marie's unwavering faith and intentional journaling can inspire your path to true and lasting peace. Don’t miss her profound insights on embracing God’s call, even amid chaos and uncertainty.

"Intentional journaling is about focusing on God's movement and provision in your life." - J. Marie Jones

Access all show and episode resources HERE

About Our Guest:

J. Marie Jones is a dynamic designer, entrepreneur, and founder of Affirm the Word, a literary platform dedicated to helping believers internalize and affirm God's promises in their lives. With a career steeped in design and video production, she blends creativity with faith to inspire and uplift those around her. J. Marie's work emphasizes the power of positive self-talk, intentional journaling, and spiritual surrender. Having navigated significant personal and professional challenges, including a transformative leave of absence during the COVID-19 pandemic, she brings a wealth of experience and wisdom to her mission of guiding others towards true and lasting peace through faith.

Reasons to Listen:

1. **Discover True Intentionality:** Learn how J. Marie Jones applies the concept of intentional journaling to deepen her spiritual practice and experience God's provision in every aspect of life.

2. **Transformation Through Surrender:** Hear J. Marie's compelling journey from financial stress and career uncertainty to miraculous provision and lasting peace, underscoring the power of surrendering to God's will.

3. **Challenges and Triumphs:** Uncover the unique insights of an African American woman navigating leadership in a male-dominated industry, and how her faith guided her through personal and professional challenges, including the poignant struggle of being a preacher's kid.

Episode Resources & Action Steps:

### Resources Mentioned:

1. **Website: AffirmTheWord.org**

- This is the official website of J. Marie Jones' literary venture, which includes various resources for believers to internalize and affirm God's word in their lives.

2. **52-Week Prayer Journal for Women**

- A prayer journal developed by J. Marie Jones that includes scripture verses, affirmations, devotionals, and space for personal affirmations, designed to help believers internalize and speak God's word with power and authority.

### Action Steps:

1. **Start Intentional Journaling**

- Begin the practice of intentional journaling for a few minutes each morning. Focus on God's movements, provision, and positive affirmations to start your day on a positive note.

2. **Reframe Negative Self-Talk**

- Replace negative self-talk with positive affirmations. For instance, change "my anxiety" to "I'm overcoming anxiety" and use scriptures to counter anxious thoughts throughout the day.

3. **Assess and Surround Yourself with Positivity**

- Evaluate what you are saying to yourself and what you are allowing others to say regarding your dreams and desires. Make conscious choices to surround yourself with positive influences and environments that support your growth and purpose.

Resources for Leaders from Tim Winders & SGC:

🔹 Unlock Your Potential Today!

• 🎙 Coaching with Tim: Elevate your leadership and align your work with your faith. Learn More
• 📚 "Coach: A Story of Success Redefined": A transformative read that will challenge your views on success. Grab Your Copy
• 📝 Faith Driven Leader Quiz: Discover how well you're aligning faith and work with our quick quiz. Take the Quiz

Key Lessons:

1. **Embrace Authenticity and Truth**: J. Marie Jones emphasizes the importance of not being swayed by societal pressures or denominational expectations. Being true to oneself and embracing authenticity in one's faith journey is crucial for spiritual growth and fulfillment.

2. **Surrender to God's Plan**: Both Tim Winders and J. Marie Jones discuss the significance of surrendering personal plans and desires to God's will. This involves trusting that God can use all experiences, even challenging ones, to guide individuals towards their divine purpose.

3. **The Power of Positive Self-Talk and Environment**: J. Marie highlights the necessity of positive self-talk and surrounding oneself with a supportive environment. Reframing thoughts and prioritizing affirmations can significantly impact personal progress and mental well-being.

4. **Intentional Journaling**: The practice of intentional journaling is stressed as a powerful tool to focus on God's movement and provision. J. Marie suggests using scriptures and affirmations to counter negative thoughts, helping to align the mind and spirit with positive truths.

5. **The Importance of Morning Routines**: Setting aside time in the morning for prayer, meditation, and worship can set a positive course for the day. Early morning routines help align the heart with God's will and prepare individuals to face the day with intention and purpose.

Episode Highlights:

00:35 Welcome to Seek, Go, Create

01:16 Meet J. Marie Jones

01:39 Journey into Design and Media

11:54 Challenges in a Male-Dominated Industry

18:56 Faith and Personal Growth

34:07 Navigating Life Changes During the Pandemic

36:04 A New Approach to Faith and Surrender

37:45 Career Transition and Divine Guidance

41:45 The Importance of Financial Stewardship

54:42 Intentional Journaling vs. Traditional Journaling

58:24 Resources and Support for Aspiring Authors

01:01:01 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

Thank you for listening to Seek Go Create!

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Mentioned in this episode:

Unleash Your True Leadership Potential with Tim Winders

Imagine embracing the full extent of the leadership potential you were created to fulfill. This isn't just a dream; it's a journey that begins today with Tim Winders, your mentor in transformative leadership. Through Tim's executive coaching, you'll dive into the core of what it means to be a truly influential leader – one who combines skill with vision and unwavering faith. It's about transcending conventional success, embracing your purpose, and discovering the joy in leading. If you feel called to become the leader you were always meant to be, book your free Discovery Coaching Call with Tim. This is where your transformative journey to authentic and purpose-driven leadership begins. Let's unlock the extraordinary leader within you.

Book Coaching Call

J Marie Jones: It doesn't work.

So something must not be right.

So God, I'm willing for you to completely tear this whole thing apart and show me

the right way so that I can have true and lasting peace in my life so that

things can really get back on track.

And I can know within myself that I'm truly following you and not making

it my own hodgepodge of a religion.

Because that's what I've been doing.

You ready to transform your daily walk with God?

Welcome to today's episode of Seek, Go, Create the Leadership

Journey, where we're joined by J.

Marie Jones, founder of Affirm the Word Literary.

J.

Marie is dedicated to helping believers internalize and affirm God's word in every

Every aspect of their lives, from health and relationships to business and faith.

In this episode, Jay Marie shares insights from her journey of faith and the powerful

role that scripture and affirmations play in personal transformation, discover how

her experience as a mother and mentor have fueled her passion for producing

spiritual books and journals that support believers in living out their true faith.

calling.

J Marie, welcome to Seat Go Create.

J Marie Jones: Hey, thank you so much for having me.

Great to have you here.

J Marie, we have just met.

So this is not a fake type question, but let's just say we're out and about

somewhere and we bump into each other or we're meeting or something like that.

And I ask you what you do.

What's your response when somebody asks you what you do?

J Marie Jones: I try and keep it simple and I just say I design things.

Because usually when I come across folks in New York, especially having a

background in communications, design, media, when I used to tell people

what I did every day, especially if I said I was an author, either they

have a book they've been trying to write, They're trying to get produced.

They want to know about the company.

So I don't say that if I said that I work for a particular agency, which

I have for so, so long, then they asked me if they can give me a resume.

So to keep it simple, I just say I'm a designer.

And then once we start getting, we stay there for any length of time and we start

talking about our lives and our walk, I just say, I'm a vessel that's willing

to do and be and go whatever God wants.

That's it.

Be obedient.

Is it, what is the relationship between someone who's a designer and someone

who would call themselves an artist?

What's the relation?

Are they siblings, cousins, not related or similar?

J Marie Jones: I think that this really.

determines whether or not you're looking at this as a profession or

just something that you do because it's a part of your creative identity.

And for me, for a long time, that was my profession.

I was a designer that specialized in media production, communication, and

mostly video for the city of New York.

So this is my profession.

And when people hear about, especially being an African American and a female.

In a technology driven profession, it's very rare, and if you get the opportunity

to do that in city government, that's another level of rarity for people.

So the fact that I was able to do that, that I went to school for it and actually

worked within the profession that I went to school for was very interesting

to people and exciting to them.

Were you interested in that?

Or was that something that started like in, you know, as

you matured and went to college?

I mean, like as a kid, where you want to do video or things related to that.

J Marie Jones: I'm glad you asked that question because when I was younger,

I actually, I started off in Catholic school and then when I went to junior

high school, I went to the Parsons Junior High School for Performing Arts.

But I went to the Parsons Junior High School for Performing Arts and the

majors there were, art, chorus, dance, all these out front type of majors.

And I picked art because I didn't want to be out front anywhere.

And while I was taking art, I found out about the high school of art and design.

I was like, well, if I can go to school and just really draw a

day and not really have to do any work, I definitely want to do that.

And by God's grace, I got into art and design.

And then of course I had been doing it.

So you might as well just keep on going.

And by the time I got to St.

John's, I was also in ministry and my pastor was starting a television, like

the public access television program.

And at that time, because I was really trying to find out who I was,

everything that came up, I would try and be, you know, the song like, come

on, come on, come on, come on, come on.

I mean, I, I guess that was probably me because if it seemed like it

was going the right direction.

It was something that I could receive validation for, then I would try

and do it, anything from building technology to design and because

he was moving into video, I said, well, why don't I start doing video?

And I really found through that, that not only did I like to do video production,

but video really incorporates all elements of design because you have graphic

design, you have photography, you have all the different elements of it, but it's

moving, you have sound, you have motion.

So I found that I really liked it.

And when I was preparing to drop out of ST john's, one of my professors gave me

this entire breakdown of the disparities in income for, you know, for high school

dropouts versus high school graduates.

And so I said, you know what?

Yeah, that makes sense.

And he said, well, listen, it's not a dropping out.

Why don't you find something you really, really like to do

and just transfer to that major?

And I dropped public administration and went into television and media

communication and got straight A's and the rest is history.

Hmm.

I do want to make note that I believe of all the episodes we've had here at

Seek Go Create, you are the first person that has referenced a Boy George song.

So I do, well, we don't have a special award for that or anything.

I don't think we should, but, thanks for that obscure reference from the eighties.

You're just, you're just trying to, you're just trying to pander to the

old dude that's interviewing you.

So, but, you know, you know, what's cool about that conversation, I'm glad

I asked that question because as we get into later talking about, you know,

affirming the word and the intentional journal, journaling and all that God

has you doing now, a lot of the reasons.

That people want to do those things is to find out what they're created for.

What is their purpose on this earth?

God, why did you put me here?

But I think if we go back even to the playground or the, you know, the

playrooms or the, you know, churches or schools, wherever we grew up, I think

that God has given us clues along the way if we, if we pay attention to it.

And it sounds as if the story you just told, the answer to the question I

just asked, kind Affirms that, to use the word affirm here, and, and you

were kind of on this path that kept being moved around and all to, to move

you towards your purpose, correct?

J Marie Jones: Correct.

And I use all of it today and it really affirms to me that God wastes nothing.

Yeah,

J Marie Jones: You may be taking these steps and you work here,

you do this and you do that.

And I would have never imagined that all those things that I've done throughout

my life, volunteering in different ministries and having people say to me,

well, what are you getting out of it?

And you're not even getting paid and got to use.

All of it to give me so many wonderful opportunities, even

for the city of New York.

I mean, I've done the, Times Square ball drop.

I've done the Thanksgiving Day parade.

I've done so many different things and now I'm doing all of this and

I would have never imagined that I would be here doing it and loving it.

Every day I love it.

It's something different.

The way that God gives you gifts, talents, and abilities that really

tie into your personality, because I could never do an office job.

I remember going and getting interviewed someplace.

And it was for me at that time, a whole lot of money.

And the recruiter there said, There's so many things that you can do.

I see on your resume, you have so many talents, and I'm just concerned you'd be

bored here because it's really just Excel.

I can even see you ascending to be a buyer, but until you became the

buyer and had more of a challenge, I just see you being bored.

So she said, you know, today's Friday.

Think about it over the weekend.

If you don't want to come back, then we'll just, you know, we'll let it go.

And that's it.

And I never went back.

But the fact that even other people could see, I know your personality

and even God throughout the years placed me even in civil service.

Cause it's so rare that you get something that is not humdrum day in and day out.

All of my positions have been me moving and shaking and doing different things

because when you really at least intend to give your life to God, even if it's

not for the right reasons, but your desire is to give your life to God, he

still works everything out for your good.

And I'm so grateful for that.

the unfortunate thing is, I think that we will often get this.

Paradigm or dogmatic view of what we believe God can do for us.

Maybe it's one career, one thing, whatever.

And then as we are, we use the word surrender as we surrender more,

we recognize that he can do so much more than our, my words here,

puny little minds can, can do.

Imagine, you know, it's interesting you brought up that

God uses all of these things.

There was a period of time we, we had some businesses that did very well.

they were all in real estate leading in 08 and then they didn't.

It's kind of what's led to this beautiful, what I consider

miraculous life that we lead now.

We never would have done it were it not for that.

And I remember having conversations with God in Part of my journaling experience,

by the way, where I was feeling a little bit, of, failure may not be the

right word, my identity had been tied up in certain things with business.

And I was just kind of in my own way, crying out saying, Lord, it

feels like, this time has been wasted that, why did we do this?

What happened here?

Blah, blah, blah, sort of probably not prayer.

It was probably more whining.

If I, you know, would admit it.

I felt as if the Lord told me that nothing that I have done or been through will be

wasted for the advancement of his kingdom.

And it really kind of changed the perspective and that's roughly what

you've just told me with your life.

Correct?

J Marie Jones: That's correct.

Nothing is wasted.

He showed me every relationship, every encounter, every affiliation

within the organization, even if the organization wasn't legit and

they had stuff, doesn't even matter.

Everything is for your good.

If you love God and are called according to His purpose, as per Romans 8.

28, He's true to His word in that essentially, in a

nutshell, He wastes nothing.

He's just that good.

Yeah.

And I think sometimes we try to shape and frame things.

You brought up something when it might've been the first question

I asked, you mentioned that the role you were, you were in.

was, I don't know exactly how you worded it, but because you were

an African American woman, it was a unique role for you to be in.

And for those that are listening and can't see us, I am a older white dude.

You're, I'm going to call you a youngest, youngish African American.

I'm not going to ask your age.

My wife would be so upset if I did that.

Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

You know what I mean?

For us to say, this is why that would be a potential challenge

for an African American woman.

just tell me more.

J Marie Jones: Yeah.

the media to television and media production profession

is a male dominated, mostly.

White male dominated profession.

And if there are other men, you know, of course there are different, racial

backgrounds that are represented, but most of the majority of white male,

and then you may have some other ethnicities, but they're also male.

And then you start to have a little sprinkle of females present, but

then they're white male dominated.

females.

So to have an african american woman who's not only in this male dominated

profession, but in a leadership role is very rare because in both of my

roles with the city of new york in one, I was director of videography

for one of the largest city agencies, which was the department of sanitation.

And the second was a director of digital communications for the new york

city department of human resources.

So that alone is the largest municipal city agency in New York City behind the

police department There are many times I went into a meeting and I was the

only African American in the meeting.

There are other times that I went into the meeting, I was

the only female in the meeting.

So to go into these environments and to have the opportunity to

many times work around only men, especially at the department of

sanitation, we're out of almost 9, 000.

workers, maybe only 500 were women.

So I'm really grateful to God that he allowed me to not only

work within this profession, but to love it at the same time.

You know, there's many times in the gentleman that I work with were absolutely

just that gentleman to go out there on the routes with sanitation workers many times.

And at that time, our commissioner was a female as well.

So to go out there in the route and to actually climb into the top of a

snow melter or to go into a cut down truck or so many different things

was an experience and opportunity.

For me to see that God is able to use you in ways that you

could have never imagined.

And that it's only us who placed the limitations on us.

If we really give ourselves to God and let him lead it and do our best

to block out the noise, because mind you, With that understanding in mind

about what the industry looks like, I grew up with people saying, what

type of money are you going to make?

What are you going to do doing this art thing?

And you need to get yourself a good government job so you can take

care of yourself and get a pension.

I heard all that stuff growing up, but still decided, listen, I

really want to enjoy what I'm doing.

And it's not really about me making all kinds of money and being miserable.

I'd rather at least try to get out there and see what can happen.

And this is what The result was, you

One more question related to that.

I don't deny that there are some people in those roles, in those

boardrooms, the meeting rooms and all of that, that they all look the same

and they want to keep it that way.

I don't deny that at all.

However, I just have this thought, this belief, this hope, this prayer, this

wish that most people that are there and they look around the table and they

all look the same, it could be that they just don't know any different.

They could be naive.

I don't know.

But what would you want to tell?

A group of people that look like me that are sitting around the table that

May not know how to have more people that look different to come in to

those rooms What would we need to know?

I've learned I think we're some of us are just kind of ignorant

to what it looks like to not be at that table, if that makes sense.

what would you like to tell me about that or people that are going, well, we're

open to people coming in, but yet we look around and the table still looks the same.

J Marie Jones: mean, I believe them when they in many instances, and I can

only really speak to the public sector.

I did work in the private sector in production because I was a graphic

production manager in the private sector.

And it was all, it was diverse there.

However, I do believe that there are a lot of organizations and upper management

that are looking to diversify and have different backgrounds come in.

But those other, racial backgrounds need to Try you have to put yourself out there

and really seek out those positions.

Because when I first came to sanitation, I believe this particular title was

public administration specialist, a public association specialist, and they hired,

I think, 18 people just to come in and do graphics, public relations type work.

And out of all those 18 people, only two were minorities, maybe.

Six were female.

Eighteen, only two minorities, and they're looking for diversity.

They're looking to bring in different people, but you got to really believe,

and you know, your self talk and your environment are two crucial

aspects that can really affect how you advance and progress in life.

And if you speak negatively to yourself, If you focus on all the things that

won't go right and all the things that aren't happening, and then you allow

people to come into your headspace, into your ear gate, and say how you're gonna

make it and challenge every single thing that you're trying to do, there's a

good chance that you won't go anywhere.

Because the things that you listen to and the things that you consume

that speak to who you are and where you're going, and then essentially

against where you want to go and who you want to be, are what determine.

Your outcome.

So if you see that you're not moving, you're not going anywhere.

You need to really look at what am I saying to myself and what am I listening

to concerning at least the hopes and dreams and desires that I know God

has placed in my heart, because if God has places here and I know I belong

to him, he doesn't just do things.

for nothing.

He does everything for a purpose.

So if he's giving it to me, he hasn't given it to me as like some type of

spiritual carrot to hold out in front of me and say, listen, you can have

this, but you're never going to get it.

If he's putting it there, it's because it's something that he

wants to manifest in my life.

And if I really believe that and trust that, then that means I submitted

to God in anything and anyone.

And that's what That rises up in opposition to that has to take a backseat.

And it's not about me saying, listen, get out of my life.

Stop talking.

No, you have to make the effort to go in a different direction to move in a

direction toward what God is saying.

And that's it.

Because you can't change anybody's words.

You can't change their mind.

And unfortunately, sadly, many times it's the closest people to us.

Sometimes it's your parents.

Sometimes it's your siblings.

Sometimes it's a partner that you've had for a long time, But

you have to be willing to say, okay, God, I don't know how to take

a step in a different direction.

Show me the way to go.

I bless that person.

I released that person and you leave the rest to God

I think one of the things that we also need to recognize, which

you said this in a great way is We also have to recognize that the world

system is not about that, you know, diversity, bringing people together.

It's about division and strife and chaos and all of those things.

Yeah.

And so we have to recognize that God's kingdom, that's not the way it operates.

And, you know, we, and people listening in have got our passport

stamped with the kingdom of God.

But yet we still are kind of hanging out in this.

World system that is all about junk and mess and all this ugly stuff.

Right.

And so it's one of the reasons why all this is important that

we're talking about here, right?

J Marie Jones: Yes.

I'm so glad.

Go ahead.

J Marie Jones: I'm glad you said that because whenever I start.

with any type of interview or podcast and people ask me

about my life and what we do.

I always like to reference Luke 9 23, where Jesus said, if anyone would come

after me, let him first deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.

For anyone who seeks to find his life will lose it.

Anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.

But what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?

And I reference that I speak it every single day in my life,

because the believers walk in a nutshell is about surrender.

When Jesus Christ was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit,

he was led there to die to self.

to completely surrender.

And when we give our life to Christ, many people think that

it's about going to the altar.

You say, okay, God, I'll give you my life.

And then that's it.

And now everything is going to start going your way.

Now God is going to do everything you want.

And that may be implied in a whole bunch of sermons all across the country

for decades and decades, but that is not what God says in his word.

When you go, you're going to give all of yourself.

All the plans that you had, everything that you thought you wanted to do,

you go and you lay that before God.

It's not to say it may not happen, but if it isn't something that God has for you,

we should be willing to say, God, here, take it because you know why you created

me and you know what you created me to do.

And if this is what you had me to do, great.

If you had me to do it, but in a different way, great.

If you have something completely different from me, great.

But whatever it is that you're doing, I'm surrendered to it and I'm willing

to come and ask that you lead me and guide me each day so that your will

can be done Your way and in your time.

Amen.

When did you figure that out?

This

J Marie Jones: in the last just in the last couple of years

morning, this morning,

J Marie Jones: Like in the last two or three years I wish I didn't know

this when I given my life to Christ at 12 years old, because only God knows

where I'd be right now if I knew that, but it's just only been in the last

two to three years, especially since COVID, that I've come to a real thorough

understanding about, about what this is all about, especially being in surrender,

because we're, when you mentioned that our life is not about the world's way,

That really is what you're saying.

Like the world is saying, listen, you need to get to a place where

you can pull yourself up by your own bootstraps and you can do what you need.

And God's way is about total dependence on him.

It's a totally different thing.

You know, the world is saying you got to look out for yourself and you're

going to get a maid and you know, you got to make sure that it's 50, 50.

And God is saying, listen, you going into something, want to lay yourself down.

for the other person in the same way that you laid yourself down for him.

You're now going into partnership to lay yourself down to another person who

prayerfully has already laid themselves down before God and they're looking to

lay themselves down before another person.

This is not about you going to get your own objectives met in

partnership with somebody else.

You know, everything that we do when it comes to our walk with God

is about his design and purpose.

For it, not the world's understanding and interpretation on how we should be living

so that we can have this great life.

yeah, the battle, I think that many of us, and I think

you fit in this category too.

You're, you're an achiever.

You're one that was probably wired to achieve and accomplish

things, which is a good thing.

You know, I, I probably am wired the same.

I think the Lord's working on me in my, I call them my second half of life here to

just be a little more at rest and peace.

but you know, that, that world system is all about ownership and control.

I own all this and I control it, which also leads to covetousness

and a lot of other things.

We won't, I won't start preaching here because I'm going to let you do more

preaching, but God's kingdom is about stewardship, not really owning anything

and surrender that you brought up.

and I think part of the battle in first world, I think if you and I were

having this, we wouldn't be having this conversation because we've got

all the recorders cameras and all that.

If we were in some part of the world that they don't have the

luxury and abundance that we have, we wouldn't be talking about it.

In the same way, I do think that,

I'm going to use a word that is, it's kind of a tough word sometimes in especially

modern church world is prosperity.

I do think that prosperity messes with us and I'm not anti prosperity, but I

also think that prosperity and comfort, you said it earlier, a lot of people

believe that once they give their life to Christ or become a Christian,

it's like a magic pill for all of a sudden, now everything is sunshine

rainbows and their life is great.

And there's nothing scriptural about that,

nothing

J Marie Jones: at all.

but so here's something that kind of nags at me.

I've had this often.

Did I see that you're a preacher's kid?

J Marie Jones: Yes, indeed.

you kind of respond the way most people respond.

Isn't that the greatest, isn't it the greatest thing

ever to be a preacher's kid?

Or is it the worst thing ever to be a preacher's kid or somewhere in between?

talk to me about that.

J Marie Jones: I'd have to say it's somewhere in between because the

reality is that none of us are perfect.

And I'm sure there are many folk out there that could say

their parents weren't perfect.

And when you are a quote unquote preacher's kid, you get to see

that imperfection up close.

But when you get outside the house, people see another version of that.

And so you really deal with the dissonance Okay.

The person is holy.

They are kind.

They are charismatic.

They are caring.

They can pray.

They can pray, you know, the lights out of a place possibly.

But when you deal with also the imperfections of that and learning,

okay, what is it that you accept?

What is it that you don't accept?

What is really not okay.

And what are the boundaries I think it makes it more complicated because

now you have this God aspect of puts me in a place of do I have to accept?

Do I have to deal?

Do I have to conform?

Is this the way that I should be?

Is this the way that I should not be?

Because it's so much confusion with it to where you're trying to

live and find and at the same time trying to find out who you are.

In the midst of that, because you have all this, this is the way

you're supposed to be on top of that.

And you see the disparities between, okay, what seems, looks like it's

supposed to be right and what's not.

So it's a, I say at an, in a nutshell, at the ball of confusion, because

trying to find yourself in the midst of that, but you don't want to be

displeasing to God, but you also want to be true to who you are.

It's, it's very difficult.

And the folks that haven't grown up, I think it's enough to grow up in the

church, but to grow up in the church and then have this, this kind of veil

or covering of righteousness or proposed righteousness or whatever the case may be.

But then you don't see that you're looking at, okay, what exactly is going on?

And I think that's why a lot of PKs, preachers, kids.

Usually walk away from the church when they grow up for some time many do come

back after a while They've been out there to get it to have their own personal

encounter with God and see that Listen, if I didn't do everything right and I

haven't been going to church for the past 10 years But God still loves me and he's

still here and he's still been blessing me You know many come back because they

begin to have their own encounters with God and say, okay God is not a boogeyman

standing behind the door waiting to bash me upside the head with a holy ghost bat.

He really loves me and he really has a plan and purpose for me and it's not

about me performing and it's not about me being perfect and it's not about me

never making a mistake, but he really does have my best interests at heart.

They come back.

But many don't because they can't really reconcile what they've grown up with

as far as seeing behavior that wasn't Christ like, their own personal desires

and wants and dreams, the failures that have happened in their life.

You know, I think it's really complex for a lot of preacher's kids and it

shouldn't be, but it just is sometimes.

I think as we grow up in our households, we look at our parents

and if we see people that act one way in one situation and another way, behind

closed doors in the home, I think it does something to our core, maybe our

identity, because hypocrisy is that word.

you're not consistent.

You're doing something in one place.

In church world, it's magnified because there's an expectation of

people acting and being a certain way.

I don't think that expectation is justified because I think we need to

be a little more human in church world.

That's just my opinion.

I was saved in a business setting, so I didn't really even grow

up around church and all that.

So I have different views about this, but from the outside looking in, I'm

going, you know, we just, need to kind of let that, putting on airs, we

would have said it, we're putting on whatever, because I think as a child,

it kind of makes it difficult if you see hypocrisy and we all see it.

I'm not, I'm not throwing our parents under the bus or anything like that.

J Marie Jones: Okay.

And what it does is it makes it difficult for

us to know how we should act.

Should we act the same way?

Do we need to do that?

Is that how we need to prove things to God and around other people?

So preacher's kids usually do one of the things, one of two things.

They walk the line or they rebel.

I think you brought up that earlier that, you know, some would leave the faith.

It sounds like if you were saved at 12, that you were more in

that walk the line category.

Would that be correct?

What are some pros and cons of walking the line as a preacher's kid and in

your faith journey, especially as we start talking about some of the things

we're gonna talk to in a little while.

J Marie Jones: Well, I'm glad that you mentioned, it's not like we're throwing

our parents under the bus because every time I mentioned I speak about

this, I feel like I have to throw this caveat in there when in all truth,

I don't feel that we should have to.

You know, the reality is that there's a lot of times our parents do things

that may not be the best things.

And as long as I'm not condemning them and saying that, you know,

they're X, Y and Z, I I'm just sharing what the experience was.

This is actually what happened.

And I try and teach my daughter now, you know, circle back to walk in the

line that the first issue you have is when you just walk the line, many of

times you move into lying to yourself.

And in this life, you can only attract who you are.

So one of the things that would happen to me a lot in my life was

that I would encounter people, especially men who presented one thing.

But on the inside of themselves, that substance was not there.

And I was trying to understand like, why am I, and even other people,

different situations, why am I encountering people who present this

and they say this and they have that.

But when you really get up close and see, it's not there.

And the truth of the matter was because that was me.

I was presenting something to people as being X, Y, and Z, but at the

core of me, that was not there.

And I have walked so long in my life, just doing what I had to do

because you want God to be pleased.

Do I like being here?

Do I like serving in this area?

Do I even want to be serving with these particular people?

There were so many things that I just completely shut off

because I have to do this.

If I want to be blessed.

So you're walking around a liar as well.

You may not be trying to deceive people out of their inheritance, or

their trust fund, but lying is lying.

And when it comes to energy and like, attract likes and all that kind of stuff,

there's no distinction between a lie.

There's no distinction between theft.

It is what it is.

So when you start to walk the line and you're not being truthful to who you are,

especially what God has placed in your heart, and you do feel a dissonance, you

feel that resistance, but you ignore it because you want to make sure that you're

going to be blessed and pleasing to God.

That's the danger of that.

Because now you imagine going into prayer.

And you're saying, God, open the eyes of my heart and use

me however you want to use me.

I'm a broken vessel.

And you're not even truthful about that within yourself.

And you're saying that to almighty God.

And he's like, really just lay everything at my feet and let me guide you.

And don't worry about being excluded.

Don't worry about being ostracized.

Don't worry about somebody not showing up for you.

Because when you have me in all truth, in spirit and in truth, you have everything.

And once you have that as the base, now you grow and attract what's real and

like, and all that kind of stuff, not just walking in something that's not real

and true for the sake of the status quo or denomination or anything like that.

So that's the danger.

Being in a constant place of deceiving yourself, even for the sake of good,

which is, which is a deception in itself.

and there's so many things that I'll say make it difficult, money.

Is one we may talk about that in a little while.

I know you had some opportunities with some high paying jobs that

Were maybe tempting or whatever and comparing ourselves to others I call

that covetousness, but you know, just comparing thinking that I need to

live That life instead of my life.

I think so many things are thrown into the mix that confuse and complicate

and may lead people to attempt to lead lives or to go down journeys or paths

that are not the paths that they were created for going back to what we started

talking about at the very beginning.

That brings us to a great point to kind of start transitioning into

somewhere over the last few years.

And I think COVID had a little bit to do with it.

You had some work situations somewhere over the past few years,

J Marie had opportunity situations.

Two by four to the head.

I don't know.

We all have to go through certain things to where the Lord said, okay, now I could

start moving her closer to the purpose that I have her on this earth for.

What do you want to tell us about?

About that.

I mean, if you want to give your story, if you want to give us some

high points, cause I do want us to have plenty of time to maybe talk about

some practical things that people can do with the affirm the word books and

journals that we want to talk about.

So, give me a little bit of that transition and how you went

from what we were just talking about to where you are now.

J Marie Jones: Well, I had been married for 16 years I was in relationship

with my ex husband for two and a half years since I was 17 years old.

And after having been married all that time, I was now divorced at

the height of the COVID 19 pandemic.

I had my daughter who, Before the pandemic, we had a total of five people

that were assisting with her care.

She lived between my house and his house back and forth, which

was chaos in and of itself.

And all of the caretakers that were also assisting us now,

COVID's here, everything is remote.

They're no longer involved.

The first few weeks of trying to work with her at home remotely, we tried

to work out a schedule where she'd be with me the first part of the week,

would go with him Thursday and Friday.

But the two days she would go there, she wouldn't do any work.

And now Sunday she's back and we now have to make up.

So I was like, that has to stop.

So now I then have my daughter every single day.

And I begin to see in this time, because once it happened, I had already been

transitioned to a point where I'd stopped.

Giving God an unequivocal, yes, that moment a little while ago when I mentioned

how people give their life to Christ and they come with their own agenda.

And that's, I had done all of that because that's what I saw.

And I begin to realize after the divorce, which actually happened a few years before

COVID, but everything was still chaotic because the way, We finalized the divorce.

It was still set up to where he would have to give money a certain amount of time.

It was just a mess.

It was not completely cut because I felt like he was not

capable of handling things.

So I had to still handle it the way I did before.

Again, my own planning, nothing, God not involved at all,

even though I'm a believer.

And so I'd gone to God and I said, God, listen, I've been doing this my way.

For as long as I know, because this is what I've seen and I want to

now give you an unequivocal yes.

However you want to do whatever you want to do, whatever you

want to say to me, wherever you want me to go, I want to do that.

And I did this by every day, getting up at five o'clock.

I went into prayer, went into worship, went into meditation.

I will write out scripture affirmations.

And I began to practice this daily because I could, I realized that

my life was not surrendered to God.

I was in my own quid pro quo.

type of arrangement with God.

To where if I go to church and I give money and I do all these

things, God, you gotta bless me.

And everything was chaotic.

Even though I've seen people do this, this is the only example that I've seen of

the believers walk up close and personal.

It doesn't work.

So something must not be right.

So God, I'm willing for you to completely tear this whole thing apart and show me

the right way so that I can have true and lasting peace in my life so that

things can really get back on track.

And I can know within myself that I'm truly following you and not making

it my own hodgepodge of a religion.

Because that's what I've been doing.

And I had since given him that unequivocal yes, the only thing I

had not surrendered was my career.

Because how do you just jump out of making six figures and you have a

mortgage to pay and a car note and all these type of responsibilities.

And my understanding up to that point of raising my child was making sure

that I had the money to get all the things that she needed Because although

my parents were kind of in and out, they weren't necessarily there So

if I could just give her all those things, then I'm at least doing a

little bit more than what I had before.

once the pandemic happened, I really began to.

Feel that the Holy Spirit was leading me to now start

walking away from that career.

And I was just like, God, I know that I feel you're leading me,

but how is this going to work?

And the first door that he opened, because even though I was a director

of digital communications, When you have an issue like this come up

where we have everything shut down, you can't go anywhere in person.

Digital communication doesn't stop because we've already been operating that way.

Everything is already through networks and emails and everything else.

So I was just as busy as I was when I was in the office, but I'm also homeschooling.

a third grader who one of her teachers is out on maternity leave.

So now I'm also a co teacher in the classroom and trying to rebuild my

life and get things back on track.

And I remember talking to my director, executive director at the, at that moment.

And he was saying like, what's going on?

What's happening, blah, blah, blah.

Long story short, when I was saying to him, listen, this is a pandemic.

I haven't even checked in with my team.

And he said, ultimately would listen.

If you're not able to do such and such, then, you know, I guess

you're going to have to leave.

And I was like, huh?

Yeah, you have to find something.

I was like, what?

So when I got the phone, I said, God, did you hear that?

Did you hear what he said to me?

And the Holy Spirit said to me, clear as day, take a leave.

And I said, you mean the pain medication?

I mean, I literally said out loud, do you mean the pain medication?

He said, take, I'm serious.

He said, take a leave.

I'm like, well, how am I going to take a leave?

He said, I've made provision for everyone in this season.

Go read the provision.

I never thought to read the hallmarks of the CARES Act.

When I finally went and read the outline, I saw.

that they were offering paid pandemic sick leave to all parents

who had school aged children, even if they were able to work remotely.

So even if you could work remotely, you could go on a paid pandemic sick leave and

your employer would have to pay you and it did not come from your annual leave.

Most people didn't notice because of course they're not going to advertise this

on news because of most of the workforce We got a whole bunch of women who are

even on the networks that could possibly leave so we're not going to advertise that

So I took a leave for about four months.

My job paid for three and a half of those months And during that time,

that little journal that I had been writing in for all those months, every

single morning, I began to organize and really get the scriptures together.

And that was the first affirm the word.

But for me, I would have to say that the key that I got from

COVID 19, if anybody gets sick.

I would hope it's this.

When a tragedy happens, usually in your life, usually the world keeps going.

When a tragedy happens in the world, you have to keep going.

But when COVID 19 happened, everything stopped.

So, Even if you needed to get off the ride, all you had

to do was step off the ride.

You didn't have to worry about doing a tuck and roll and getting all scraped

and bruised and everything else.

All you had to do was just step off and say, I'm doing something

different and really trust God.

And I think to be able to do that and have.

At least a limited amount of provision to say, okay, God, I

know the starting point of this.

Yes, that's there.

Then when I finally left, I read with the city of New York and state of New

York, department of labor, that if you have to quit, because I ultimately had

to quit, wasn't able to go back full time and you have a compelling reason,

They will grant you unemployment.

So although it was initially denied, once they reinstated it, I got all the back

money This is the way God will work things when he begins to lead you out because

you decided to follow him and trust his lead step by step, moment by moment.

I can't say overall, you know, I'm going to have my, you know, 100,

000, a million dollar pension and whatever, but I know that my needs are

provided for going into this season.

And I know that God has set this up for me in this season.

And I know that he has me right now.

And for me, that's good enough.

How, this might go back to the little bit of the preacher

kid upbringing that you had.

How important is money or was money in your life?

And maybe the word is provision, but we could call it money too.

Was, was that?

Kind of something that you had to work through some money things I have.

I mean, I, I always thought I was really good at making money, at creating

it, at building things, and then when 2008 hit, I went, Ooh, maybe I'm not

that good at it and what do I do now?

And it was more of a final surrender for me also, but what, I mean, just

when we talk about money, what comes to mind and what is, what is your

money tapes or whatever that you've had to kind of, think through.

J Marie Jones: Well, I think at that time, my career and my salary, six figures,

my rental income, this, that, and the third, it was mostly about status.

These were things that helped to validate that I had made it, that I was

making it, that I was going someplace I really had no real understanding.

As to the type of money I was making, what it could do, how

to be a good steward over it.

Just nothing.

It was like, okay, you're making six figures.

People can ask what you do.

They can imagine you make it.

So now you've been validated as being a success.

It wasn't until again, even in the most recent few years, I began, and I have to

give this person credit because my eyes were opened after listening to him, Dave

Ramsey, a believer, listening to him about debt and the word of God that says, you

know, I'm called to be a lender only.

A lot of people leave that only out and not a borrower.

I would say it all the time, but it really did not believe that was really

not walking in it because you just say it.

Everybody has a car note.

Everybody has a mortgage.

It wasn't until I really began to listen to his teaching and say, okay, listen,

I've had at this point in my life, millions of dollars flow through my hands.

Why is it that I'm not debt free?

Because I was not a good steward.

This life is not about you having oodles and oodles of money

because there's plenty of money.

What are you doing with the money God has given you?

What are you doing with the assets and the resources that he's giving you?

And I can assure you, many of us are not even optimizing what

he's already placed in our hands.

But we believe that if we just got a whole lot more, it would get better and easier.

I now am of the understanding that it has nothing to do with you

having vast and vast amount of money because once your needs are met,

once you're abundantly supplied.

It's now about service.

It's now about purpose that you should be looking to use your

money for, because it's only about so many bedrooms you can live in.

It's only about so many cars you can drive.

And when you understand that it's not about accumulating all kinds

of credit card debt and loans and everything else like that, but being

a good steward over what you have, You really see how much more money

that you have to be of service with.

So for me, it was just about status and validation.

So I can say, Oh, you make six figures.

and at the same time, you don't want people to know cause you don't want

anybody asking you to borrow money.

So I must have made it.

So I must have accomplished something.

But I now understand, especially because of the last few years, Me succeeding

is about my level of surrender.

Am I really surrender to God?

Am I really open to what he has to say?

Am I willing at any given time to pivot and go in another direction through the

power and assistance of the Holy Spirit?

Those are indicators of success for the believer, not just accumulating

all type of material possessions to say that you're somebody.

My guess is part of your intentional journey, journaling

process, part of what spun off from your experience over the last

few years with now the affirm the word books and journals is part of.

Internalizing this instead of, I went to Bible school for two years and

people would run around in Bible school.

they could spout scriptures at the drop of a pin.

very similar to being a preacher's kid.

I would look at them and I'm going, I'm not sure you believe that.

Or know that.

So talk to me a little bit more about your process, your

products, what you have available.

Let's just, dive in for our last 10 minutes or so here.

And let's really get into what all you've learned and especially have

began applying, and allowing other people to apply over the last few years.

So,

J Marie Jones: first.

original Affirm the Word book, it is a compilation of all the scripture verses,

affirmation, and prayers that I compiled throughout that three years leading

into the pandemic and beyond that.

And the reason why I organized it was because when I was in the process

of getting my house in order and contacting GEICO and Different lenders

and saying, okay, what do I need to do?

The first question I would ask them because we were still in the middle

of a pandemic was how are you?

And when I asked that question to people, I let them answer it.

sometime I'll be on the phone for about 20 to 30 minutes before we even

got to the business of my accounts because that representative would

be telling me about how they have so much anxiety and that the key word

was constantly my anxiety, my anxiety.

I had one person who had such an issue with fear that they Couldn't

go out and drive with their kids.

She said, I'm afraid to take them out in the car because I don't

know if we're going to have an accident, somebody's going to hit us.

I mean, this was the level of her anxiety.

And I would let people talk, and once they were finished, I would say, you know,

can I make a suggestion that instead of saying my anxiety, you say I'm overcoming.

anxiety.

Because if you say that to yourself, not only are you acknowledging that

it's there, but you're also speaking to the fact that you're overcoming

it, that you're putting the steps and the keys and resources, whatever you

need to do in place to overcome it.

And then I recommended that they take like one or two scriptures

or one or two affirmations.

And when they have those anxious thoughts about, Oh, gosh,

what happens if I go here?

And what happens if this doesn't work?

That they say those affirmations, the scripture verses in those places, even if

they have to say it all day long, you can just take one and say it all day long,

It's only going to make you keep on saying it.

So you really have to get to a point where you've replaced that information

with something else that you can draw from, because as you begin to get that

into your spirit and your subconscious, that becomes the only thing that's there.

And your environment, your atmosphere, even the Holy Spirit will allow you

to come into contact with things that help you to accomplish that

thing that you're calling for.

So if God has called us to walk in faith and not fear, if God said that he's

our peace, if God said that he is made perfect in our weakness, and that's what

you're drawing on, you begin to see, because now you can recognize all the

ways that God is manifesting that within your life, instead of resistance to

it, because you're constantly speaking that nothing's working out for me.

I take two steps forward and 10 steps back.

You know, when you speak that, that's what begins to manifest.

So you can decide, am I going to have a positive?

Affirmation that goes in the direction of where it is I believe that God wants

me to be so I have peace and joy and rest and prosperity and everything else

or I'm gonna go in another direction.

That's gonna keep me stuck in this place But also feeling miserable

looking miserable and in a place essentially where I have no

so somewhere, you mentioned that you would get up at 5 a.

m.

I'm guessing you would do this before work and before probably your

daughter got up and things like that.

And, a practical question that I always like to ask is, is early in the

morning, It is that the time is that I, I do it early, but because we don't

have kids anymore, I don't, I don't, I get up when my body says get up now.

but why is it so important to kind of get started with this process early?

J Marie Jones: believe it's crucial And even when my daughter's grown one

day God willing it has our own families that are out I believe I'll still

be doing it this way because you're setting in the course of your day.

When you start, it's just like when you work out first thing in the morning.

Once you get going, you get out of the house and this pops up and that pops up.

There's a good chance that the further along you get into that

day, the least likely you are to actually go and get that workout done.

And the same thing goes for your prayer, your meditation, your worship time.

The more you get into that day, the further away you get from

actually doing it aside from, Oh Lord, please let that work out.

Oh Lord, please don't let that get worse.

No, when I'm going in with the intention to worship.

To be still, to hear what God has to say, to really get my heart aligned to the

truth that God is working on my behalf, that miracles upon miracles upon miracles

are happening, manifesting before me, no matter what comes up after that point.

I've already set the attention.

I've already set my heart to be aligned toward that truth

because that is truth for me.

So if I believe that no matter what type of craziness comes up throughout

the day, I know God is with me.

I know I'm aligned.

I know that if this happened, it has to be for my good.

I know if this happened, there has to be something else on the other

side of it that's working out for me.

So, you know, for us, when we did that affirm the word book to then come out

with the prayer journal right behind it, because I realized, okay, listen,

as you're writing things down and you are in prayer, I pray that we all who

are believers should be in prayer every day because that's our spiritual oxygen.

As you are in prayer, the Holy Spirit will speak things to you.

Well, he spoke this.

Now I'm going to write it.

Or somebody may pop up on my mind to pray for it.

Let me write that down so that when I come back in here again,

I have a reference point.

I can see what God is doing.

I have a place that I can understand.

God is hearing me.

God was in the midst of this prayer and he's answering it in this kind of way.

And now I have something else to give him glory for.

So I started out saying, okay, look, Once you start your business, they

said, Hey, look at your competitors in this world that we live in.

As far as believers, I don't call the folks that do what we do a competitor.

I call them co laborers.

And when I began to look at co laborers, one of which had a prayer journal, I said,

well, let me order this prayer journal.

And I got the book and I had like about, maybe throughout the

whole book, 20 scripture verses.

And that was it.

And I said, no, we can do better than this.

When somebody is in prayer, you need to see actual word.

You need to have some gratitude prompts.

You need to have places to really write that coincide with those sections.

And I began to design a prayer journal.

And once it released, it became an Amazon number one new release

within the first, I think, 60 days.

And then a year later, Broad Street Publishing acquired it.

And we just released a new 52 week prayer journal for women, which not

only includes those scripture verses, those affirmations, but it also

includes 52 devotionals that tie into practical ways that you can actually

live out your faith and a space for you to craft your own affirmation.

Because this is not just about you saying cookie cutter things like I'm

bold, I'm powerful, I'm courageous.

if you're a believer and you're really trying to internalize the word of God,

you need to speak the word of God.

It's not enough just to try and write it and memorize it, but you really

should be speaking with power and authority, affirming, that's why

we're called affirm the word, the word of God over your life every day.

Because day in and day out, not only, you know, is the enemy

present, but they're also just life.

Lifing, you know, real things happening, real loss happening,

real challenges happening that are before you and you have to really

be diligent and intentional about saying, listen, yeah, all that's there.

But this is also here and i'm choosing to affirm and speak that god says this about

me god said i'm going here This is stuff that's happening in my life God says that

I am this regardless of what else is going on and i'm choosing to stand on that and

affirm that No matter what because it's so and I see it coming to pass I see it

manifesting and you really will begin to see more and more of it to where That

will be so present and real in your life.

That's no longer an affirmation.

Now you're looking at other things that God is bringing to your attention

in your prayer and worship time.

Well, it's moving you towards growth, which is, we're

all in some form of a growth mode.

And I think the kingdom of God is about growth and life.

The world system is about death and stagnation, but right before we

hit record, I brought up journaling and you in a great way, you kind

of jumped on me and said, well, this is intentional journaling.

And so the word intentional journaling to me means that even though there

are a lot of people out there doing what they would call journaling,

theirs would be scattered or random or some word that's not intentional.

Speak about that for just a few minutes.

And then I'm going to have you tell us, cause you've got so many resources

and bundles, I want to talk about that before we finish up, but just give the

contrast between what a lot of people are doing when they're calling it journaling

and what intentional journaling is.

J Marie Jones: Yes.

So I call it traditional journaling versus intentional journaling.

Traditional journaling is you essentially just venting everything that's going

on in your day, your circumstances with people, with this, with that, a hodgepodge

of whatever, throwing it on a piece of paper and trying to get it out there and

saying, this is what happened in my day.

However, Continuing to focus on these random, scattered, happenings does

not propel you toward a goal, your vision, your purpose, or anything.

You're just venting to get it out so that you can live another day.

When it comes to intentional journaling, again, you're not denying.

That these things have taken place in that day, but you're choosing to

focus on, okay, this is what I did in my pursuit of what God has told

me about my life and my purpose.

This is how I'm moving in that direction.

You know what, this happened today, but I thank God that he allowed me to connect

with this person because now I'm one step closer to moving in that direction.

You know, I thank God for the nurse that he allowed to come and give

me this information so that I can now get the resources that I need.

That's intentional journaling and really documenting the way that you see God

moving on your behalf concerning the person that he's called you to be, the

purpose that he's called you to, and the people he's called you to serve.

It really takes a lot to decide that, listen, I'm going to focus on that.

That means.

That when I see it, I write it.

Yes, this came up.

It was a distraction.

It happened, but this also happened.

And I'll give you an example.

You can say, listen, you know what?

I'm so tired.

I've been depressed.

Nothing seems to be going right.

the car's not working right.

You know, my child is acting up, but at the same time, somebody came along and

said, listen, you need a ride this week.

I'm going to be heading your way this whole week.

You know, I'm willing to work with you.

And I also got a good guy.

Here's the telephone number, but don't worry about it this week.

I'm going to pick you up.

not only do you have to worry about your car, but you had transportation and now

you have a new contact to get it fixed.

The things that are happening in life are going to happen but God is there

to provide you with a provision.

He didn't say, when the rain fell on the just as well as the

unjust, that it would not fall.

He just said, he'll give you an umbrella.

So thank God for the umbrella.

When it falls, you got an umbrella, you have support, you have resources, begin

to acknowledge and thank God in it.

And that's the stuff that you write.

Don't focus on that.

The car broke down and it just messed up.

And I really hate this and nothing's working on my behalf.

Focus on all the things that God is doing in consideration of that or despite

that, or in light of that, focus on that.

That's what intentional journaling is all about.

Yeah, that, I think that's good, and I love

that mindset and attitude.

And I guess I do want to say, I mean, listen, God's there

for the people that cry out.

I cried out some even during COVID, and finally, I think God, I felt like

God told me this within my heart.

Quiet time, journaling time.

He says, I've told you this multiple times.

Are you going to keep asking and whining and all that the

world system is crumbling.

It always has been.

And always will.

Why do you act surprised and shocked by what all's going on

around you with, with all of this?

So I think it's so powerful.

And the thing that I love about.

Journaling and especially when you add that word intentional is that you can't

Multitask when you're doing it we are in a world that everyone is so distracted

They're trying to do like 15 things at once and if you're doing it, well in my

opinion You can't multitask so we are pressed for time here, but you i've got

your website pulled up here And I didn't realize you've got All kind of bundles

and books and man, there's a lot here.

Tell us about it.

J Marie, tell us where people can get your stuff and find you or connect with you.

Some people are probably going to want to connect with you.

J Marie Jones: Our website is affirmtheword.

org.

So very simple, just like our, most of our products.

And of course we have our original affirm the word book.

We do have our newest 52 week, prayer journal for women on that site.

And about the next two weeks, we're coming out with a digital fillable version.

of that prayer journal as well.

However, for all those who feel like they have a story to tell, because I

have women reach out to me all the time and say, you know, listen, I'm writing

a book about, you know, women who are barren or women who've overcome trauma.

We now have a new tab on our site that is specifically for authors

where we've partnered with bookbaby.

com so that we can help women who have already began to write their story.

be able to finally publish it.

So there are various packages there, And we also offer free resources that they can

download right to their computers so that they can learn about how to self publish.

They can learn about how to plan out the launch of a new book.

If they're ready to publish the book, they can also go on that page

if they want to consult with me.

Another new resource that we'll be listing is a downloadable ebook, digital

content, so that women can on a consistent basis, download more devotionals.

We offer for this particular journal on the product page itself, a free printable

download on how to use this for a journal.

the first week is right there so that you can see some tips on how to use it,

how to make the most of it, how to craft your affirmation so that right away

before even having to go make a purchase.

This is not only about us trying to quote unquote convert and make sales, but it's

about you getting resources that you need so that you can right now start

crafting your own spiritual practice and growing in your walk with God.

When it comes to this intentional journaling, this doesn't take all day.

If you can just devote five minutes to taking some time in the morning

and just writing out one thing.

And that's the one thing I love about this devotional that it's 52 weeks so

that, you know, if you, it's not 365, if you miss a day or two, you haven't

fallen off the wagon, like a treadmill.

You have a whole week to sit there and meditate on this word that God has

placed in your heart or meditate on the affirmation that you're crafting.

So you can really focus and be intentional on internalizing that into your spirit.

But secondly, I want to note that sometime life can get to a place where

you get kicked so hard in your gut.

you don't want to do anything.

You don't want to journal.

You don't want to pray.

You don't want to talk to anything.

Sometimes you don't want to get out the bed and with God is not so much

just about you having a practice and you getting up at a certain amount

of time and praying for 20 minutes.

You can lie right in your bed and say, God, here I am.

I don't got the strength to get up.

I don't want to write anything.

I don't want to pray about anything, but I know that you're here.

I know that you love me.

I know if I was able to get up and open up my eyes this morning

and know who I am, that you still have a purpose and a plan for me.

And I'm asking you to come and be with me right here, right now, and

to wrap your arms around me and to reassure me that you love me.

And to let me know that this is going to work out because I don't

know what to do and I don't want to get up and even face another day.

God still honors that.

He still loves you.

He knew that you would be here and he just desires to have fellowship with you.

He's still in the midst of even the worst kind of chaos and loss, trying to

love on you and get something to you.

So no matter what, calling him, even in those situations, calling him

right in the bed, calling him right in the chair, calling him right in

the hospital and let him show up and show himself strong for you.

That's good.

Very, very good.

And we'll, we'll include links down below for depending on where people

are listening or watching this.

One of the things, this is going to sound extremely superficial after that

message you just gave is I actually love the spiral bound of some of them.

my wife just got a spiral bound Bible and I've looked at him going, man, I

love how this opens up and it lays so flat and you can write in it so well.

So sorry to go from, you know, like you were.

Man, super, super spiritual.

J Marie, we are seek, go create those three words.

And I'm going to allow you my last question to choose one of those seek, go

or create that just means more to you.

You like it, whatever.

Seek, go or create.

And why that's my final question for you.

J Marie Jones: Go.

And I like go, because as the word of God says in Mark 16, 15, that we're

supposed to go out into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

And a lot of people interpret that as meaning, you got to be in somebody's

pulpit, but that's not what it's saying.

You can be right at the bus stop.

You can be right on your job.

You could be walking down the street and encounter somebody the whole point is to

just have an open heart of willingness To, as God leads you, you're open

and available to speak, to serve, to lend, to essentially go and do either

of any of those things at any given time, depending on what the Lord leads.

That, that's the word that most resonates with me because that's where my heart is.

I desire to go wherever God wants me to go, do whatever it is he wants me to do.

and, you know, being a PK and being in ministry, This whole long

time, sometimes I get like a little bit, are you sure about that?

Because it's still like, okay, is God going to send me over to Broadway,

Junction train station and have me stand on the milk cart and preaching.

I mean, that's still there.

When you say anywhere you want me to go and anything you want me to do.

And sadly, we always think about God sending us do the worst things.

When I found that when you say, God, send me, I'll go.

He send you to the places that you would enjoy being in, that

you will feel at peace being in.

Even if they may not be the most comfortable in your heart, you're at rest.

You're at peace.

You have a divine supernatural joy because you know that you're doing what you're

supposed to do at the right time in the right place for the right purpose.

And that's why that word resonates with me the most.

That is awesome.

J Marie, thank you.

So many great nuggets, so many great, I think it's going to be

great clips and all that are going to come from this conversation.

I appreciate the time.

I encourage everyone to go check out affirmtheword.

org.

There'll be links down in the notes and just check it out.

I'm sitting here looking at the site and just, there's just some beautiful things.

I appreciate everyone listening in at the show.

If you want to support what we're doing, go to seek, go create.

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We have new episodes every Monday here at SeatGoCreate.

Until next time, continue being all that you were created to be.