Meet Jennifer Shook
Certified Life Coach
I am a wife, mother, entrepreneur, and now a dog mom (something I never thought I would be!). I grew up in the Midwest in a Christian family that taught me the love of Jesus. I loved growing up with four seasons and being close to my family. At 16 my family moved to San Antonio, TX, a HUGE transition for me right in the middle of my junior year of high school. After living in Texas for more than half of my life now, I can say that I am a Texas girl!
When I was growing up I understood how important it was to have a relationship with Jesus, but I didn’t understand grace. I was bound up by rules and performance, thinking that I had to be a “good Christian girl” for God to be happy with me. I walked around feeling guilty, constantly confessing my sins and asking Jesus to save me over and over. I had no idea about my identity in Christ!
In my mid 20’s I began a journey to find out what God really said about me, who He really is and what His purpose is for my life. I was a single mom of a little girl and I knew there had to be more to my life! I wanted more for myself and my daughter. I have been on that journey for the last 20+ years. God put so many people in my life to help me learn about my identity in Him, the true, authentic self that He created me to be. He taught me the importance of surrounding myself with other people who were on a similar journey as I was, offering each other a mutual exchange of encouragement and life.
I have struggled with thoughts of never feeling good enough, being overly critical of myself and living in self-condemnation. Living in the “I should be doing …” was a constant thought that I battled and then felt guilty if I didn’t do those things. Feelings of not doing enough, not doing things perfect enough, not being enough for everyone else and putting my own needs on the back burner was normal. Living in the constant need to help, fix and rescue others was my default mode.
The last five years of my life I have learned to have HOPE in the midst of some very painful experiences. My husband, who had been sober for 18 years, fell back into addiction and turned my world upside down. It was through the chaos of addiction & betrayal, through the pain of trying to figure out who I was in this new part of my story, that I found more freedom than ever before! I experienced God’s presence and faithfulness in new and very powerful ways. I learned that I needed to surrender control, let go of all of my fears and trust that He STILL has good plans for me and my family. It was painful. It was gut wrenching. There were moments when I thought I wouldn’t be able to survive because the pain was so intense. But it was in those moments that God stepped in and renewed my hope. Sometimes it was through a friend reaching out to give me a word of encouragement. Sometimes it was in the quiet moments with God when I had my journal and Bible and just let God speak to me. What was the darkest season of my life has also become the most liberating!
I am passionate about helping women find this same freedom in Jesus no matter what their circumstances look like. You can have life and life more abundantly no matter what you’ve been through! You are deeply loved by the God of the universe. You are accepted right where you’re at. You are forgiven. You have a story that God is writing through you. Let’s partner with Jesus and find it together.