Wow. I really don’t have adequate words to describe this conversation I had today. Jenna Lodewyk joins me today and we are really talking all about boundaries. Jenna grew up in the Midwest and grew to fall in love with Jesus through her family and FCA Volleyball. She played collegiate volleyball at Calvin College (now University) in Grand Rapids, MI and interned with FCA Volleyball in 2015 where her relationship with God took off. Jenna is currently the Director of FCA Volleyball in Orange County, CA, and has been on staff with FCA for the past two years. She believes God is moving and working in the here and now to draw people closer to him and bring about reconciliation.
Jenna interestingly describes boundaries as anything that differentiates you between someone else… essentially helping you identify what is yours. I had never thought about it that way before but it was so eye opening. It opened up a whole new vision on what boundaries are and how we can set them and use them to work for us and not against us. She breaks boundaries up and talks about three main categories: feelings, thoughts, and people.
I had several realizations today about what boundaries are to me. It shifted the framework in my mind to not only how it can help me, but how I can better describe, encourage, and relate to others when the issue of boundaries is brought up in daily life. If you find yourself struggling with boundaries or intrusive thoughts, remember that you are in control of those feelings and thoughts. We can control who we follow on social media. We can control who we are around. We can control what we are exposing ourselves to, for the most part. Jenna shares so many key points and highlighting revelations that will make you look at some things differently. I can honestly say that this is truly a life changing episode.
3 key takeaways from this episode:
Taking ownership of feelings
Feelings are so easy to be controlled by. In our conversation, Jenna shares about a time where she really let her emotions control the way she felt about someone. That led to resentment. She shares about how you have to own up to the emotion or you are going to continue to be hurt and blame your emotions on other people. You have to beware of how you’re feeling and bring it to the Lord.
Loving God with our minds
When it comes to your thoughts, only you know your own heart and your own thoughts. The Bible harps on loving the Lord with all of your mind and that means controlling your thoughts. In a scripture Jenna reads, it says to set your mind on things above and to fill your mind with thoughts that are noble and lovely. Another big part about controlling your thoughts is allowing yourself to set boundaries and say no to things that may lead you into temptation.Saying yes and no to people
This one may be the hardest… setting boundaries around people. We as believers have to find the balance between loving people how God loves people yet having healthy boundaries. This does not mean completely cutting people out of your life because you don’t want to be around them, but it may mean encountering healthy conflict. An important factor in this is having security in your identity and knowing who you are so that you can allow yourself the flexibility to set boundaries when and how you need them.
This conversation was inspired by this book! Check it out to learn more!
Follow the FAM: @femaleathletemission
Follow Jenna:
FCA Volleyball Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/californiafcav/
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenna_lodewyk/
FCA Volleyball website: http://www.californiafcavolleyball.org
