I’m am so excited to offer you a new feature to my blog, called “Meet the Model.”  I think everyone has a fascinating story to tell about their life, so I thought you’d like to hear some of the stories behind the faces you see modeling Salt & Light by Lori Delisle.

Today’s Installment:  “Miss Faithfulness,”  Jessica Heilman

“Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.” Psalm 36:5

Jessica, share a little about yourself with our readers.

When I was a girl if you would have asked me what my ‘dream job’ was, I would have instantly told you a mommy. The funniest thing about this is, if you would have asked me what my ‘dream car’ was, I would have told you a limousine! What a juxtaposition! Sippy cups and crystal stemware, chauffeurs and car seats! I guess what I was really trying to say was “I want it all. I want a relationship with my husband, my children, and I want to be rich!”

My definition of “rich” has changed over the years. One of the main reasons why Lori’s rainbow necklace that I am modeling spoke to me so sweetly, was that I was able to be, feel, and appear in my richest state for a very reasonable cost. As of now, I have five children, a dog and a bird named Mango. My grocery budget eats at a few hundred dollars of pet food alone in a month at least! My husband Jeff and I have been married for thirteen years, and continue to teach, preach, and educate others on how to be happy in relationships especially marriages. I grew up getting exactly what I wanted. While my “limo” is currently a station wagon… I am a wife and mommy first… and I love it!

I love to hear stories about people’s faith walk.  Can you share some of yours?

When I was four years old I received Christ. I was in a little church in San Jose, and it was a moment I will never forget. I was in my lacy white dress from the thrift shop, and my friends and I were led in the sinners prayer. I can remember being filled with the Holy Ghost, and while I didn‘t know the power of God or how to apply The Word in my life personally, I always had a heightened sense of morality. Unfortunately, I strayed from my faith in school and went through some very damaging trials that led me to be engaged twice by the time I was 19. Hunting, searching, and hoping to find the love of my life I was steered into a relationship that ended up an adulterous one. We were not married, but in all respects we assumed the roles.

Upon my discovering the unfaithfulness of my partner, I cried out to God. I recommitted my life to Christ and from that point vowed my love to Him as my husband, the only love I would ever need. The Lord was faithful, and as I placed Him first in my life He began straightening out all my crooked paths, and it was not very long until I met my husband Jeff. Four months after I committed my life to Christ I met a man who had recently committed his life to Christ as well. Individually, we were whole and completed by Christ, together we became a power-couple. It is in my opinion that in relationships (especially of the marrying kind) two halves do not make a whole and while the thinking is nice that when we are broken maybe someone else would be able to fill us and ‘complete’ us… the reality is that two blind people together, will not be able to see. Jeff and I teach single people to become wholehearted first. Learn to marry Christ and become committed to Him alone, we believe that until you can understand commitment to God your relationships will never be solid. One must first believe there is such a thing as commitment by experiencing it, before they can give commitment fully to others. I was saved as a child, lost as an adolescent, and completed as an adult!

What was your modeling experience like?  How did you feel?  Had you ever done anything like that before?

As a teen, I modeled. I was very insecure and not at all confident in my looks. It was a hard and pressured time for me. I was competing against girls that were taller and thinner than me.  The trial was with inner image, a result of not knowing who I was spiritually. Modeling with Lori brought back to me the joy of why I liked modeling in the first place. Smiling, engaging the camera, selling something that I loved. Lori chose to use my husband in some of the pictures, this was the best of both worlds! I am so proud of him, and I love to be able to show the world how blessed I am. Modeling for Lori completed a life long dream, to get back into film. I think that pictures are our documented pasts, and someday my children will see their parents together in film. A permanent keepsake of a time long since passed.

What can I say about Lori? She is the most talented woman in the world! Home-schooler, entrepreneur, supportive spouse, and the list goes on! The tediousness of creating jewelry alone with all the hand-eye-work alone is enough for me to go cross-eyed at the thought! We can all aspire to be like her! The thing that impressed me the most is her availability. I was going through a period of asking her to design some pieces for my ministry, and she responded instantaneously with creative, informative, and innovative design! I look forward to having her signature pieces attached to my life’s work. She is a remarkable designer. Thank you Lori.

What struck you most about the pieces you modeled?

Lori and I have very complementary ministries. The ministry I founded in 2008 is focused on encouraging and empowering men and women who believe in traditional marriage and family values. The rainbow necklace that I was able to model perfectly fit what I teach and what I believe. I believe in the promise that God gave us through His rainbow. I believe that there was a flood, an ark, a man of faith, and a rainbow sent to us to remind not just us- but God Himself- about His covenant to never again wipe the Earth clean of its human occupants.

This rainbow, and covenant is one of the very reasons why God had to send us His Son Jesus Christ. God will never break His Word, and since He was “stuck” with us after the flood… well… He must have figured that sending a Redeemer for us, to carry the burden of our sin, was the only way that we would be returned to our proper state. Men and women, in love with God, called according to His purpose and in communion with Him. I was honored to model this representation of this pivotal piece in our history. I was blessed to wear the covenant reminder, the rainbow.

"God will never break His Word"

How did the scripture set that accompanies the pieces speak to you?

Of all the scriptures that are associated with my piece, this one is the one that describes my life in the most relational manner-

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness…” Galatians 5:22

This scripture and the implication there in, is the most tell tale scripture of what we as Christians have had to apply. Another scripture says,

“By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips – giving thanks to his name.” Heb. 13:15

What this means to me is that when we praise the Father with our mouths, and the words of our mouths, the fruit that we receive from the Spirit is love,  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness (plus so much more!).

You can tell how much faith a person has, just by listening to the way that they speak. You can tell those who know of their covenant promise, by listening to how they address problems. For instance, “This job is too much for me,” is not spoken by the person who has read the Word well enough to know the scripture states “With God nothing is impossible”. You see the Word is like our title deed, to ownership. It is more than just a manual, it is a solid foundation. It is where the rubber hits the road. I have heard it explained like this… “If you wanted to take a bird, and go back to its origin, you can only get as far back as the first bird created. You would have to stop your study. If you wanted to see the origin of a plant, a river, or even a rock, you can only go back as far as the first one that was created. Again, you could go no further. BUT when you take a man… not only do you go back to the first man created, you do not have to stop your study because the very nature of man is founded on God our Father, we were created in HIS image!
Jeff and I have gone through many trials. Each time, we laid hold of a scripture to change our internal identity to that of an over comer. We could only do that by day and night meditation in The Word of God. (Joshua 1:8) It wasn‘t until our speech lined up with The Word, that we saw completely manifested the fruits of the Spirit.
What the Bible does is shows us the nature and character of God. It furthers our study to find out what it means to live in ‘God-Reality, God-Provision, and God-Initiative’. Matthew 6:33 in The Message Version says,

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.”

Whether you read The Message Version or not, no one can argue the truths in this statement and that those who understand fully their relationship with God and who they are in Him will produce great fruit, and all we need to live a life full of fruitfulness… is to be faithful!

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Heb: 11:6

"It wasn‘t until our speech lined up with The Word, that we saw completely manifested the fruits of the Spirit."

Are there any special ministries that you would like to share with the readers?

I founded Wholehearted Ministries in 2008 (www.wholeheartedministries.com) to answer the call that husbands and wives, men and women needed for representation. With the onslaught of media attack, attempting to inform the world that traditional Christian values have been obliterated I felt it was necessary to encourage, enlighten, and uplift the Body of Christ via the Internet and written word.

I have just completed my first eBook, Should My Passion Become My Profession? And my first printed book Wholehearted; How I Received Healing from the Inside Out, and You Can Too!, which will be available for sale sometime this summer. I am also the founder of  www.wordchew.com, a site devoted to topical video search of today’s typical daily problems. This venue of our Ministry is very exciting because it is Jeff and I recording video episode weekly to share with our audience on how we apply The Word of God in our lives. Wordchew.com is a place where you can send your friends who have an issue, (like “fear”) they can type “fear” into the search engine and up will come various 10 minute videos recorded on fear for people to watch. Jeff and I have always studied topically, and this video answering system has already begun to help out many. In addition to our various ministry endeavors, Jeff is a Professional Golfer and in training to become a qualified golfer on the PGA Tour. It is our long term dream to move to Florida, and continue in the pursuit of this professional athletic vision.

Thank you Lori for this opportunity to  share with you and your friends the love that we share for our God and Father, His Son Christ, and our visions and goal for the future. We have had such a blast pursuing our passions, mine for writing and Jeff’s for professional golf. You are a woman of God who never ceases to amaze me, and has pursued your passion for design and enriching the lives of others and you most certainly are and will be continuously blessed! God Bless you!

Thanks again, love you too!- Jessica

Wholehearted Ministries

WordChew.com

Jessica's Latest Book

Jessica, thank you for taking the time to share your heart with all of us!

Be inspired all!