Jennie Allen's Blog

We simply can’t stay the course on this race he’s given us to run without coming into his presence consistently to be reminded of whose we are. When we spend time with God, he writes faith into our story. He gifts it to us, authoring it into our lives. And then he perfects that faith in us. Amazing, right? It’s his work, not ours. We just hop on and take the ride, like Lucy on the lion Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, shrieking with joy as she swoops and dips through the air.
Have you ever noticed that you can’t just go from angry to calm or from depressed to hopeful on your own? You need time with Jesus if you hope to look like Jesus. You need time with him if you want to shine like he shines.
We can’t choose freedom; we have to be set free.
We can’t choose contentment; we have to be set at ease.
We choose who we will serve—that’s the choice that we can make. And then we become like the One we’re serving. We start to look and smell more like him. And it becomes easier for us to recognize the lies and start exchanging them for what God has for us instead.

What if I told you that every one of us is believing a lie? And most of us think it’s true.

I wrote this book because I have battled lies my whole life. But what really led me to write it was sitting down across from my daughter and realizing—she was believing the exact same lie I had been believing. She thought it was true too. Honestly… it ticked me off. I refused to let believing these lies be the way that we both lived.

That moment became the heartbeat behind this book. And if you pre-order today, you’ll get to read a chapter early - along with my behind-the-scenes thoughts. I want you to not just read the words, but start to see the freedom and hope this book will help you step into.


So this book is me fighting for her.
Fighting for me.
Fighting for you.


The enemy gets us stuck in this train of thought for so long. And we stay there. And we take it.
Not anymore.
We’re fighting back.

Pre-order your book today anywhere books are sold!

For a long time, I thought my problem was that I didn’t have enough friends.

I had people around me.

I had relationships.

I had a full calendar.


What I didn’t realize then was this:

Loneliness doesn’t always mean you’re alone.

Sometimes it means you’re surrounded - but not really known.

We were never meant to live that way.

Community, in its truest form, reflects who God is and how He loves. And when it’s missing, something inside us starts to ache - even if everything looks fine on the outside.


Here’s what I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way):

The enemy doesn’t need to isolate you completely.

He just needs to keep you from initiating.

So many of us quietly think, I don’t really have community, while standing in rooms full of people who would welcome connection if someone would simply reach out.



The Shift That Changed Everything for Me:

I stopped asking, Why don’t I have better friends?

And started asking a better question:

What kind of community has God already given me - and how am I meant to show up in it?

Real community is built like a village.

Different people.

Different roles.

Different gifts.



A Simple Lens for Seeing Your People



Here are a few types of friends God often uses in our lives:

• The Sage - listens, prays, and offers wisdom

• The Encourager - believes in you and calls out the good

• The Foxhole Friend - shows up and fights beside you

• The Challenger - tells you the truth and won’t let you settle

• The Fun One - brings laughter and lightness

• The Planner - makes connection actually happen


A fuller, richer life comes from a village - people loving you in different ways, and you loving them in return.

Now what? Practice the Kind of Community You Want.

Here’s the simplest way I know to move from lonely to connected:

Bring people together.


Not perfectly.

Not impressively.

Just intentionally.


Community forms because you decide to build it.


Here’s your challenge:
Start small.
Start a conversation with your barista.
Get coffee with a friend.
Invite three people over and host an IF: Local.
Be vulnerable.
Worship together.
One invite.
One step of courage.

God does so much with a simple yes.

With you,
Jennie

Last week on the podcast I was answering questions, and I kept thinking, “Okay - this is all of us.”

Different stories, different ages, different situations…but the same ache underneath so many of them.

So here’s the question I want to ask you too:
What are you carrying right now that you were never meant to carry alone?
Is it family members who don’t know Jesus?

A kid who’s doubting?

Fear of disappointing people?

That gnawing feeling that you’re not enough?



I cannot tell you how often I’m talking to people who are praying for family members for years - and I want to say it plainly: do not quit praying. Do not give up.

And in the meantime, you keep loving them.
You respect boundaries when they’re there, but that doesn’t mean your life can’t teach.

The way you live, the way you love, the way you follow Jesus matters more than you know.

This isn’t a story about us.

This is a story about God loving us and fulfilling His promises to us.

Keep going. Don’t panic. Don’t isolate. Don’t give up.

With you,
Jennie

Everyone is making resolutions this time of year, but do you know how things actually change? You change them.

If you have been saying...I need to see a counselor...I need to go to a doctor...I need to make amends...I need to start working out...I need to go to church...I need to invest in friendships...

Come close - I'm going to change your life...FREAKING DO IT.

My prayer for you this New Year is that, no matter what you face, you would feel especially near to God - that you would know He is with you, and He is for you.

Let's grow together this year!

Cheering you on,
Jennie

My hope for this little community is that we become a team - a group walking through life together. I know right now it can feel discouraging, like the world is spinning out of control. It sure does in our world, one of our kids is struggling with school, another is going through some scary health stuff, and we’re on our knees a lot these days. Add work, the news, and the craziness of the world, and it’s a lot.

This Sunday at church, our pastor had us pause. We named what’s making us anxious before the Lord. I did. I told Him what’s keeping me up at night, and asked Him what He wants me to know. You know what I felt Him say? “You already know what to do.” I didn’t feel like I did, but I gave it back to Him. And within days, I realized there was a fear holding me back from what I actually already knew deep down. Once I surrendered that fear, the clarity came.

Friends, this is how we walk through life, not with perfect clarity, but by asking Him over and over: show me. And He does. He leads us.

So today, let’s do exactly what Philippians 4:6-7 says: don’t be anxious, but by prayer, petition, and thanksgiving, hand it all to Him. His peace - real, powerful, beyond understanding - will guard our hearts and minds.

Let’s walk this out together.

With you,

Jennie

I want to talk about something familiar to all of us right now: anxiety. Humans weren’t meant to carry what we’re carrying. Most people before us didn’t know the news of the whole world every day. We do. Every hard thing, everywhere, and our brains are exhausted.

This summer was one of the hardest seasons Zac and I have ever walked through. I had chest pain I thought was my heart, and our cardiologist friend looked at me and said, “Jennie, you’re anxious.” And he was right. My body was affected by how my mind was living. That moment was a red flag. I called my counselor, reached out to friends who pray for us, and things began to shift.

Forty million people are diagnosed with anxiety, and that number is far lower than reality. You’ve seen it in your kids, your friends, your campus. And I don’t want us to just accept this as “how it is.” I want us to be people who fight well.

2 Corinthians 10:5, taking every thought captive, began my healing as a college student struggling with an eating disorder, and it still matters today.

Please hear this: you are not alone. My counselor Kurt Thompson always says, “Trauma isn’t so much what happens to you - it’s if you feel alone in what happens to you.” So much anxiety falls away because we feel known, because we share it, because we bring people close.

God draws near to you when you feel afraid or alone. He gives wisdom, courage, and comfort. You don’t have to hide. You can fight back, and He will help you.

You’re loved. You’re seen. You don’t have to carry this alone.

With love,
Jennie

Zac and I recently recorded a podcast episode together, and it brought up so many memories of our story - the messy beginning, the hard years, and the grace of where we are now.

We’ve been married about 28 years…I think. We honestly forgot. But we’ve lived a lot of life: four kids, long-distance dating, getting married at twenty, a honeymoon Jeep with a hole in the floor, and those early years that were honestly so hard. I remember sitting on the floor in a fancy dress on our honeymoon thinking, What have I done? I don’t even know this guy.

And it didn’t magically get better. We had the same fight over and over - me feeling invisible and missed, him shutting down and going inward. One morning after another night of that cycle, everything changed. We did two full years of weekly counseling. I got help. He got help. And slowly, God rebuilt us.

Today? He’s my best friend. I still think about our first date getting stuck in Branson traffic, both of us reading My Utmost for His Highest, and feeling like the Holy Spirit was playing ping pong with our conversation. When we hugged at the end before he drove me home, I thought, We fit. I still think that.

So if you’re in a hard season - dating, engaged, or deep into marriage - don’t give up too fast. Those years are taxing. They require everything. But I said it in the episode, and I mean it: I’m just so glad we didn’t quit when it was hard.

With love,

Jennie