Hello. My name is Jes Wolfe and I am a 24 year old living in North Carolina. Voicing my feelings and my opinions in a public setting is not something that I do lightly because I in no way believe that I have any special insights on the world around me nor am I especially qualified to make judgements on how things are or how they should be. I am average and I make mistakes on a daily basis. Why should anyone care about what I have to say?

Honestly, I don’t have an answer to that question. In my short, nearly quarter of a century of life I have done many things that I am proud of. I am proud of the lifelong friends I have kept, the man that I married, and the woman I have become. I am proud of the fact that I am a college graduate, of the four years I spent as a younglife leader, and of the relationship I have with my family. I am proud of these things and so much more but I am also aware of my failures. I am selfish. I am impatient. I am materialistic. I have come so far in these 24 years but when I take a hard look at myself I know that I am not yet the woman I want to be.

And you know what? That’s okay! I don’t expect to ever have things totally figured out. In fact I think it’s better that I don’t. God is doing His work in me. I am not in control. Through Him, through His teachings and through prayer I am learning (slowly) how to be the best version of myself that I can be. A Godly woman, a Proverbs 31 wife, a devoted daughter, and a loving (dog and one-day future baby) mama.

In today’s world we wear so many hats. When we go to work we are either a boss or an employee (sometimes we are both). When we go to the doctor we are a patient, at the supermarket we are a customer, at school we are a student. When we go home we are daughters or sons, brothers or sisters, wives or husbands, mothers or fathers. We are friends, we are neighbors,  and if we are lucky, we get to have a second alone just to be ourselves. Sometimes, under the weight of all of these hats, it’s easy to lose sight of the most important hat you’ll ever wear. Being a son or daughter of the Lord is the most important role you will ever have. Its a hat that, if worn properly, will be the only one you’ll ever need.

As a follower of Jesus I can know how a wife should love her husband by seeing how Christ loves His church. I know how to lift up my friends by reading about how God created us to live in a community. I know how to respect my father and mother because it was spoken to me through the Gospel. I have an example in Jesus who is perfect in all ways.

The problem with this is that I am not Jesus. Nowhere close. But each and every day I am getting a little bit closer by studying the Bible, learning in a community group, living life, and making a whole bunch of mistakes.

2017