I just completed my first album, "Where You Found Me: Songs of Redemption & Grace," in
July of 2007. The day I received it back from duplication I was filled with mixed emotions. I was so excited, and at the same time I felt as though I'd just had a baby! That may sound ridiculous, but it's true! I just wanted to sit back and say, "Whew...Lord, we did it! It's finished!" Yet I know that my journey is far from finished. I have a long way to go. I have a story to tell...my story.


I grew up in a very small east Texas town. I've been singing since the age of four, and I've pretty much done it all...from everything in high school (choir, musicals...I even sang at my prom!) to community theater, to just about every wedding in town. I had BIG dreams of being a BIG star! But as I grew older, reality quickly set in. I gave up those dreams and I settled for an education and a family. I became a school teacher and a mommy. Life went on, and it became about ME.

I also grew up a "PK" (that's code for preacher's kid) and I've been a Christian since I was 12. I accepted Him as my Savior and was baptized. But to be completely honest, I didn't have a clue what being a Christian truly meant. I went on with my life, the "faux Christian" that I was, but it is clear to me now that I never embraced that relationship and never allowed any roots to establish. In this last two years I have had to go into the "pit" and it was there that Jesus met me. Through my sin, I was forced to my knees and have been found in that place by a Lord whose love and grace mean everything to me. I can now claim and proclaim Christ as my Lord. I now have been blessed with the opportunity to share my gift, and more importantly a message of hope. I have always done things previously for selfish gain, and now I simply want to take this album and its message and let it be heard just for God's glory. I am eager to see what He will do with it.

In January, I heard God (for the first time) speaking directly into my heart. I heard him because I finally opened my heart and listened. I asked Him what He wanted me to do. I heard him telling me to use my spiritual gift, and to use it for His glory. I have to be honest and say that I sort of felt like noah! Where on earth do you begin? I'd long since given up on a career in music. I prayed for guidance, and He told me to use my experiences as a testimony of hope for others out there, who were just like the old me..."Sunday Morning Christians," who are living a life devoid of an authentic relationship with their Savior. My message and my testimony will touch these people, and hopefully stir their hearts to want to "wake up." As I personally know, complacency leads to weakness and weakness to sin. I know because I've been there. Because of Christ, I came
through.

I am so grateful for His love, and the sacrifice that He made. The Bible has come alive for me now. The stories that I heard as a child aren't just stories anymore. I AM the woman at the well...I AM the woman, lying in the dust, waiting to be stoned. The songs that I've written come from this place. They're original and truly inspired by the story of my own life. I know now that no matter what I've done, God will NEVER leave me. I am His child. I am forgiven.

This has been a very emotional journey. I've prayed for God's will to be done.
This is not about me. It's about spreading the good news of God's love and grace...and what He can do in a person's life if only you will let Him. All I want to do is His will, and give Him the glory and praise each step of the way.
I wouldn't have made it this far without His guiding hand.

And so here I am. Jennifer Austin. Renewed Christian. Servant of God. Just a vessel. I never dreamed I'd be doing this today. I'm not looking to become rich or famous. I just want to help spread the message. I want to offer hope to the hurting...to show the world that there's a better way...that we can't make it on our own. I know because I tried...for so many years. I tried and failed miserably. But God took me back, and now I'm letting Him lead the way.

I ask for your prayers!

Jennifer



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