Jennifer Bosma

David W Ebel: Okay. Welcome to the God Says Yes podcast. You are welcome here. Welcome to another episode of God Says Yes. My name is David Ebel, and I'm your host. After fifty plus years of ministry, I still have a calling on my life to encourage people. And that's why we're here. ⁓ no matter what you've gone through in your life, whether you've been hurt or betrayed or belittled or be whatever'd, if people have not forgiven you and caused you to feel unforgivedness, if you're stuck, if ⁓ you've been at church and got hurt at church, on behalf of the people at the church. I apologize because the church was designed to be the emergency room of the body of Christ. So sometimes people who when they come in the emergency room are kicking and screaming, they're not happy. And sometimes those people who haven't fallen in love with Jesus splash over the ugly on the rest of us. And it's not okay, but it happens. So we we have to get our eyes focused back on God and his love through Jesus, not on the people who fail. And that's why we're here. So t we this is why we do this every chance we get. And we we're here to bring interesting people in so you get to know more of us and you get to see the hope and the promise that we have. Today I have Jet Jennifer Bozema, who is ⁓ an an interesting lady. She knows a lot, she's done a lot, and you're going to enjoy her. So, Jennifer, welcome. Thank you, David, for having me. I am so excited to talk about Jesus and be here with you and your listeners today. Well And ⁓ tell us about your family. You know, I am a mom of three girls. I have five granddaughters, been married for thirty-seven years, and we are definitely a girl family. I've been I'm a Christian children's author. I was a public school teacher for 23 years, and I love Jesus. And I love sharing Jesus and I love sharing all the things that he has. I like to tell people that if I could give you $10 million, or if I could give you Jesus. Jesus wins every time because he is the only way to ⁓ to fulfill to full contentment. And I love Jesus and that is my whole mission. Amen. So and that's why you're here. ⁓ we pray that God will only give us the people to be guests who who love God more than they love other stuff. They they're they their they know their priority is the love of God. So Jennifer, ⁓ our story is always the same. Who were you before you met him? That's who did you meet before you met Jesus? When you met him, what did it do for you? And what's your life been since? Could you ⁓ tell us your story? Great questions. Well, before I really met Jesus, I had a lot of religion. I was ⁓ raised Catholic, but in my Catholic church was very much, you know, very doctrine and man-made rules, and I did all the things. And so I have religion. I didn't have relationship. It wasn't until my dad took me at 14 years old to a Billy Graham crusade. And I was sitting up there because my dad was a musician and we were sitting in the front row because I was playing the organ. And my brother and I heard Billy Graham, had never heard of him before. And that is my first preacher that I heard share Jesus as a relationship God. And that's what he is. And when he offered the invitation. To accept Jesus in my heart and have him lead my life. My brother and I, I was 14, he was 19, we walked up and I had never seen a pastor like Billy Graham or had any, I've only had experienced priests, and it was amazing. So when I was 14, I went forward at a Billy Graham crusade and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Then I met my husband a few many years after that. I always the one thing really great about the Catholic Church is it taught me to go to church and the importance of. being there and being in church and prioritizing God. So I like to say that. And my 92-year-old mama is still ⁓ a very devout Catholic, but she has a beautiful relationship with the Lord all from my experience growing up and our conversations. So yeah, so that is who I am. I had a very profound experience of my own, as only God can give you when I was a young mama. And that created the front parking spot podcast mentality, motto, life message, whatever you call it. But that's where the front parking spot came from based on the Bible scripture of Ephesians three twenty. So that's a little bit about me. Christian author, want to share Jesus with everyone, and that is about me. Now now now now because you've met Jesus, what has that done for your life? What have you done with your life in a little more detail? People would love to to understand more about you. You know, when When I first learned about Jesus, I never knew about the devil. I never knew when I was in the Catholic Church, I never really understood that the devil wanted to steal, kill, and destroy. I was a little girl, I was a very I'm not O. C. D. at all now, but when I was a child, I was very O C D. I would go to bed. My dad was an alcoholic. He was a nice alcoholic, so I never suffered abuse, but I would hear him drinking, I would hear the arguments, I would hear the fights. And it was only really me that really kind of saw that I was seven when I realized he was alcoholic. But when I was upstairs in a big old house in Fort Lauderdale, I would be convinced that my front door was open. So I would go downstairs, make sure the lock was locked. It was locked. I'd go back up in bed and then it would come out of me again. That door's open. So I'd go back down. I was in a vicious cycle. I would see things on TV. I would think I would do all those things I saw on TV as a child. I became very fearful of just life and I didn't know that that was the devil. So I one day, like anybody, when you open up your fears and your concerns and you actually share it with somebody, I got relief. I got like I I was able that the spirit, the demonic spirit, left me because my dad said to me, and he was a convert from ⁓ to Catholicism, he said, Well, Jenny, little Jenny. That's just the devil telling you lies. So you're on Team Jesus and He's got you protected. So I would from that point on, I didn't know about the devil. I didn't know that that was where the evil thoughts came from and all the evil rabbit holes and how you they can take root in your life. I didn't know about that until he shared that. And it was very liberating when I shared my concerns and my fears to him. And it's almost like all those deep, dark secrets and concerns just left once I shared him. Once I got him out in the open. And I like to tell people that when you like when back then I would watch scary movies too when I was a kid, my sisters thought it was cool, and I was a baby of four. And so all those things would just plant seeds of fear and concern. But you know, it's like those movies, whenever there's like a vampire or whatever, I don't watch them anymore. No, nor nor should anybody. But when they bring in the priest and they bring in the cross or whatever, the demons leave. And that's like what I like to tell your listeners that if you have deep dar dark thoughts and thinking you're this terrible person. That's just demonic thoughts and attacks, but you bring them to light. And that light of Jesus is liberating and they flee and they run from you. And ⁓ you know, I wasn't even going to go there before we started talking, but I want to let your listeners know that share those deep dark thoughts with somebody because that is the root of true freedom through Jesus Christ and the light of Christ. Didn't know I was going there, but powerful message. One one of the neat things is that ⁓ people don't know who to tell. And so to find someone who you know is spiritually mature, whether it's a pastor, a parent, ⁓ or when you go to church, you you can usually sense, you can feel someone who really loves Jesus. Those are the people that you you you tell. Because they they can give give you Bible answers so they can guide you so you make your own decisions but you know where to look. And that's one of the Grown up things that grown up Christians do for the the new ones is they help them walk through those things until they can walk on their own. And David, with with podcasts such as yours, I mean, you are there and you're an email away. And and with this day and age, you know, back in the 70s and the sixties and eighties, even we didn't have any of this, but people can reach out and their the messages are right there. And ⁓ so that's just such a great thing. And obviously getting into a brick and mortar facility, a church. ⁓ and Bible studies and ⁓ all that, you know, it's that knee to knees very You can't replace one with the other, but they all work together beautifully. Mm-hmm. Right. So as we're as we spent this time together, tell tell us at least a a story or two of of how God has changed people's lives through through the life you live. Well, you know, going back and I this is my story with all my children and my children's friends and anyone that walked into my home and our home, they knew about the front parking spot. When my kids were little, I ⁓ I was I taught school for 23 years, so I was always very very involved in children and kids and raising them and having fun and being the fun teacher. But I was taking my three daughters to something called American Adventures, and this was in Marietta, Georgia, and it was a theme park for kids, like little kids. And we would go before naps, you know, so those babies could sleep. Well, the long story made very short, one day I was going before naps. I had all three little girls, I think they were five, three, and one, busy mom, triple stroller, here we go. ⁓ pulling up and everyone is going to the back of the parking lot. They're going back to the left. And I saw this big huge sign saying front parking spots this way, but everyone was in line. And you know, and I I wasn't breaking any rules because there was no one directing traffic. Everyone was just following the person in front of them. And back then there was a little ⁓ like an image, like a sticker, and it was a little fish, and you may remember this, David, but it said go against the flow. And you had all the fishies going one way, and there's this one fish with a cross in his tail that was following Jesus. And I had a very and I had that. I had just seen that. I'm like, I'm gonna go to the right, to the front of the parking lot. And sure enough, my only risk, you know, whenever you do anything like that, you do have a risk of faith. That's a it's a leap of faith. If I didn't get a front ⁓ parking spot in the front, I was gonna have to go back and get back in that long line, lose my place in line, but I did. God told me go check the front. So I went to the front of the parking lot, right by the gate. There was not one spot, there were two spots open. Pulled in, unloaded my Ford Wind Star. Gotta love that Wind Star. ⁓ unloaded my ⁓ children. And I remember standing there thinking, ⁓ my goodness, there were two front parking spots. Look at all those people going to the back of the line, just because that's the direction everyone else is going. And I remember, thank you, Jesus. This was a moment. I remember standing there, looking at that line and thinking, Lord, you told me to do this. I obeyed, took a leap of faith, and that is what happened. That is a life moment. That's why my podcast is called Front Parking Spot. My ⁓ my ministry is from parking spot because that is goes with, and this came out later too, because at the time it was a physical parking spot, but it can go from a physical parking spot to that very spiritual moment of Ephesians 3 20 that God wants to do exceedingly, abundantly, more than we can desire or imagine. But I like to add the part that we need to let him and we need to trust him. And we need to know that we need to put our faith in him and let him lead us. And we need to be, he's, he's faithful, but we need to be obedient. And that is a difference. And to this day, I it was yesterday. My 29-year-old daughter called me up and said, Mom, we were going somewhere and there's no spots. And I went, and lo and behold, there was a front parking spot and I got it. And so even if it's just a literal, actual front parking spot. But they all know that the tie-in is what God wants for people. But we just don't let him do that. So my encouragement to your listeners is go for the front parking spot in life because Jesus will lead you there. And whether you actually find a spot, it you know, eight times out of ten you will, but it's more of a spiritual ⁓ message and motto that you need to encapsulate into your life that he wants to do exceedingly abundantly more than you can desire or imagine. I love it. I love it a lot. ⁓ now has there has there been a specific story you can tell us about someone when you illustrated that with them, you helped them understand it, they applied it and it was a re a big revelation to them. ⁓ you know, just little things in my children's friends' life. You don't you say all these things, you know, when they're especially teenagers. We did a lot with young life growing up with the kids. And there's one particular family who's the the little girl was sweet kid ⁓ really had more of a not really a church going family. ⁓ I would always share with her my little messages and it was you know never n no one ever s really said, ⁓ wow, I'm gonna go to church because of you, Mrs. Bosma. No one really ever said that, but I just planted seeds. And just about a year ago, she wrote me back about that front parking spot and she goes, every time, and I didn't know this. Every time over the past 20 years, I get a front parking spot. I think of you and I think of your message of what God wants in my life. And that is really powerful because you don't know what you're seeing or speaking over somebody. So yes, so when she to her, the visual is getting that front parking spot, but that's just a little reminder. And there's no coincidence coincidences with God. He has all those planned out. But that that front parking spot equated with a message of a ministry of what God has for her and she needs to trust him to do it. So it's pretty cool. Coincidence when God does something and doesn't get credit. All the time. Every day. Every day. I love it. This is this is very encouraging. And I I hope for our viewers and listeners that they're going to they're gonna they're gonna take this and mull it over. Now in each of our interviews we invite our guest To give us a golden nugget, meaning that something that someone can mull over and and meditate, pray, however they they process things over the next week. What could what could you leave with them? You have time, you you don't have to hurry. But ⁓ tell them something that that that that that will stay with them long after the interview. Okay, this is a great one, and I'm thinking of it right in my mind. Okay, we all know squirrels, right? Everyone sees squirrels. We'd avoid them with our cars. We do everything we can. Sometimes farmers don't like the squirrels. However, one day, ⁓ a couple of years ago, I was sitting on my back porch in Georgia. I had two ten, I had ten, we called it the Ten Pine House. Ten pine trees. We always had the squirrels running up and running down and running from limb to limb, as you can picture. Well, one day I was sitting out there and I was riding and I saw this one squirrel run up the tree. It was a big tree. And all of a sudden this squirrel decided to jump to the next tree. It was a very far jump. I mean, this is the squirrel's little, and if you did the physics, which I'm not a physics person, but it was far. And it was far for this little squirrel's little legs to jump. It literally took from one tree high up and jumped to the next limb, the next trunk of the tree, landed it and continued running on. And I watched that and I thought of this. This is so much like faith. When God gives you something to hang on to, sometimes it's just the hem of his garment, when he gives you faith as little as a mustard seed, and you're like, I'm gonna stick with that, you have to leap, take that leap of faith and jump with that information to that next tree and hold steady to it. Because if that squirrel would have wavered mid-jump, like I don't know, it would have crashed to its death, you know, would have crashed the 20 feet down. But so often we do that when God's doing something, we give up midstream. We take a leap and then we're like, ⁓ did I make a mistake? Maybe I need to undo that. You know, so my word picture is be the squirrel. When God gives you something to go for, take that leap of faith, do what he said, get to the next tree, run to where he has you going. And then it's up to him if that leap works out or not. Could that be a job interview? Sure. Could that be purchasing a house? Sure. Could it be whatever he does, what he puts in your heart, take that leap, go for it, and let him direct the path that it goes. So there you go. I agree. Amen. ⁓ that that's a that's a good encouragement for everyone of every age. Because when we first give our lives to Jesus, we're we're we're crazy about it. We can't get enough. I remember when I met my my wife, ⁓ she would write me notes and I'd have them so memorized that I didn't need the piece of paper by the next day. I had them in me. When I want us when I fell in love with Jesus, I wanted him in me better than that. So I studied his word and I applied his word and I practiced his word so that I could please him. And that's where faith came in because each of us is given a measure of faith. It's it's planted in us before we even know about it. It's there. So as we practice the muscle of faith, the more we apply it, the stronger it gets. And we when we really love him, he says it's like the little kid at the swimming pool. Dad's on the in the water and says, Come on, honey, jump. The little kid goes, and and then another kid jumps in. Another kid jumps in. Come on, honey, jump. Trust me. And the child jumps and dad catches him. That child will never forget that he when she put that chief in Dad, Dad caught her and kept her safe. When we put our faith in the Heavenly Father, he's going to not only catch us. But he's got bigger plans than just the catching. The catching is the step one. What he's got next is catch I'll catch you again. Do this, I'll catch you again, do that. And the bigger and the better the things are that he has you doing. It's not you. It's that God loves you enough to use you. You're the soda straw to get the good things ⁓ when you're thirsty, to get the good things to you from that source, and by being trusting and being opened, so God can love through you. God can bless others through you, even if you don't feel gifted or talented or smart or ⁓ any of those things. It's not about your skills. It's about your faith and your trust to jump off like the squirrel and to do what you know you need to do and don't look around. Look at your target. Get stuck on what you're stuck on and and just do that and watch what God will do with every life or any life. Amen. Love it. So ⁓ we are grateful for that and we're thankful thank you for your time. Tell us about your books. ⁓ I love my books. You know, I want to encourage our listeners too. My first book I wrote in nineteen ninety-four and it's called The Baby Garden. And it was about that God has before He formed you in His womb, He before I formed you in your womb, you I knew you and that's Jeremiah one five. And I was using that book to explain To my second daughter, my first daughter, where the second baby was coming from. And that was called the baby garden. So that's where I would that's like my book for big siblings, like where their baby comes from based on Jeremiah 1.5. I love that book, but that book got me started in pregnancy centers. So that book now is in over 300 pregnancy centers in the waiting rooms, and I offered it as a ministry. If they would like the copy, I would reach out to every state in the country. And a lot of them said, yes, we want that in our waiting room. Because that lets a mama know that even though her baby is unplanned, or maybe the circumstances surrounding the conception weren't ideal, but God has a plan for that baby. Because if God has created this child, it is in his image and he has planned it. So that gives hope to the un the unplanned pregnancy mama. So that's how my whole ministry started was from that book. But wrote it in 1994 and it didn't get published till 2018. And that talks about the growth mindset. When because I wrote it when I was expecting my second daughter, then I stayed home, I had two young kids, timing wasn't right, but then God tabled it. And it was twenty twenty-six years later that I brought it back out. It got picked up in one week and that ministry began. So that is book number one. Book number two is I Know the Plans, and that is that is bit in hardback, it's in paperback, and it's also brand new in board book, which you can only get from me. ⁓ that is the book about all the plans, all the scriptures that I prayed over my own daughters. I wrote in ⁓ in this book, and it's all in a rhyme, and it's animal family. So kids love it around the world. We go to every continent, and the kids love the animals, and they start saying when I read the book, they I will skip words and they fill it in because it's all rhyming, but then it's tied to all my go to scriptures, like Ephesians 3 20. Psalm 139, Psalm 91, Proverbs 27, all my really strong scriptures that I prayed over my kids are all at the bottom and it goes with the text. So that is planting scriptures with scripture, which is that double-edged sword that we know that God has. When we as parents pray that scripture out loud, they don't need the memory cards because they're hearing it. It just gets in their soul and gets in their spirit. And then when they grow up, they're just Brambling it off their tongue because they've heard it so many times. So that is my I Know the Plans, and that book has been really good for baby showers when you have to bring a book instead of a card. My daughter just had a baby shower and she got three goodnight moons, y'all. So I know the plans is huge for baby showers because it's all God talking to the baby about all the plans he has for them. And then my third book is God is three and one, and that is based on the Trinity. And that was when that same granddaughter who I wrote, I know the plans for, because when she was born, I wanted to have a script a book with all the scriptures. I prayed over her mama. But when that same granddaughter who was four, we were walking in her front yard in Texas. I'll never forget. We're walking in that front dusty road of a hot summer day. And I said something about the Holy Spirit. And I said, I said something, and she said to me, Well, Grandma, who's the Holy Spirit? And this is a Christian family. And I said, you know that chicken coop you have in your backyard? You mean you know when you get the egg of the chicken coop and you bring it in your house? Well, that egg has an egg shell, an egg white, and an egg yolk. And it's all it's all an egg, but it's all parts of the egg. It's three in one, it's three parts of the egg. And she looked at me and she said, Grandma, the Holy Spirit's a chicken egg? And I said, No, no, no, sweetie. So I went on to explain my best part about God the Father, God the Son, and then in God the Holy Spirit. Acts and when God gave us the Holy Spirit after he ascended. And I wrote that book through in rhyme, in rhyme with the same illustrator from book two. It's all in rhyme, explaining explaining the point of view from God the Father, then how God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And with Goddess Three and One, what's beautiful about it is my illustrator is a major Christian. And so her illustrations, we have the doves that represent the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The doves are there at creation, the doves are there at the crucifixion, the doves are throughout the book because we know that's a symbol of the Trinity. And at the very end, there is a way that that little child can invite the Holy Spirit in their heart, all in rhyme. And then there's lots of ⁓ scripture notifications in the very back for further study. So that is ⁓ Goddess three and one. So that is my ministry sharing Jesus with the world, mamas, babies, and families. Now we need a we need a website so that people you know you need to tell us nice and slow what your website is. Yes. My website is www.geniferbosma dot com. That's where you can find all my books. And they can also find me on frontparkingspot.com and frontparking spot podcast on Instagram. Or just frontparking spot everywhere. This has been amazing and thank you so much for making time. And ⁓ we want to pray over you ⁓ and your ministry and for our our viewers, and then I'll have a challenge and then we'll we'll we'll be ready for the rest of our day. So let's pray. Heavenly Father, we're grateful for this privilege that we have to share your love. Lord, your your love starts before we're even conceived. You've loved us from from conception, custom made by God from the inside out. And Lord, you loved us, you always loved us. We can't even do anything wrong to get to lose that love. It's guaranteed. You love us when we're good and you love us when we're not. You love us always. But that's why you sent Jesus so that we could have close relationship with you, Father. So we don't have any of the mistakes and failures we've had. Get between us and you. You shed Jesus shed his blood to wash away those things. So we have a pure, straight path between us and God. We Lord Lord, we pray that you'll use Jennifer's ministry and her books and all that she does for your glory. That you'll touch our viewers and listeners and you'll speak to them and whether they're struggling or maybe they're they they're at the they've got little kids that are own to im to to influence and these books would be a a blessing to those children. Well, this is a great opportunity to share your love with children with while they're trying to figure it all out, broken down simply and understandably. So it can be absorbed and lived. Lord bless her, bless her family, and bless all that she does for your glory. And bless the viewers and listeners and give them a hunger to get to know you better. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Now the challenge is seek after God. He will be found. You want to know him better? Seek Jesus. Jesus said he was the way to God. So go after Jesus. You'll get more of God than you ever dreamed. Seek after Jesus. He was. He is the way. This has been the God Says Yes podcast with David Edel. Connect with David, email him at God SaysYespodcast at gmail.com. You can get his latest book, When the Doctors Say No, God Says Yes, at Amazon.com.