hey, i’m jocelyn!
a glimpse of my story
The first thing you should know about me is that I was a once dead soul who has been made alive by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I am a recipient of grace from the One who is rich in mercy. I surrendered my life to Him at a young age, but my life has been an ongoing further understanding that the Gospel is not only the door we walk through as a means of salvation — it is the very path we walk.
As of New Year’s Eve 2022, I also became a wife to Jonathan. One of the reasons we chose that date is because we’re both introverts and it gives us a solid excuse to not go to New Year’s Eve parties, cause aww man, we can’t, It’s our anniversary. Strategic, I know.
Jonathan is one of God’s greatest gifts to me and the journey of our relationship has not been an easy one, but we’ve seen God’s kindness in the midst of it all. I’m so thankful that he’s been given to me and I to him in order to, as someone once told me, imperfectly mirror Christ and the Church to a watching and broken world.
one of my greatest joys
If you ask me, there’s nothing like being in a room of women, having our Bibles open, and studying God’s Word together. It’s one of the settings in which I feel the most alive and makes me question what could be better.
I got the change to lead a freshman girls’ Bible study during my senior year of college and I haven’t turned back. It’s truly an example of God doing exactly what He plans to do with our lives, because it’s not something I would’ve chosen for myself at the time. A mentor simply said, “I think you should lead a Bible study for your senior year. I think you’d be good at it and I think you’d enjoy it.” I know the Lord would’ve found a way to light this passion in me in one way or another regardless, but I can’t help but think what would’ve happened if she didn’t make that suggestion to me.
God used that one group of freshman girls that year to launch me into vocational college ministry for the following 8 years. I’ve since been able to mentor and teach dozens of women through individual discipleship, along with teaching groups of women in Bible studies and intensives on Biblical literacy.
A love of theology and apologetics and coming alongside others to know and love God’s Word is what drives me. And ultimately, those things are by no means an end in themselves but are so critical to cultivating a knowledge and love of God Himself.
A correct theology (what we believe about God) is what leads to a correct doxology (worship of Him). A solid and sustaining orthodoxy (again, beliefs and doctrines about God) is what leads to a fruitful orthopraxy (walking out those beliefs). These things need to be based on God’s Word and what He has revealed to us about Himself, not through pursuing our own truth.
The Bible is not a book about us. It’s a book about God. And it’s our primary means by which to know Him. Should we not know what it says? Should we not..
I give a huge YES in response to Hosea when he says, “let us know; let us press on to know the Lord…” (Hosea 6:3)