I’m not sure how I got there or what year it was — my home life was chaos. My memory is a bit cloudy, but this part is clear—the woman who spoke that day said challenging words I will never forget. She said, “Always say ‘yes’ to God before He tells you what it is that He is asking of you.” She went on to explain, but my attention was already locked into the nudge of the Holy Spirit, and there in my journal, I wrote the simplest most powerful sentence I had ever written down:

“Yes, Lord, send me!”

I had no idea what I was saying yes to, but I meant it. 

I had no idea that this untrained, prefers the background, stay-at-home mom was entering into something much bigger than myself. That yes synced into my spirit, releasing a fire in me to fight for God’s will for my life. . . no matter what!  

I was broken, insecure, and overwhelmed, but something powerful began to birth in me. 

It wasn’t me. It was Him in me with that wholehearted “yes” that the shift began to root. 

The more I looked to God to meet me in my broken places and get freedom, the more I had to give to those around me. This became a natural receive and release in my life, and it began to touch the lives around me. Sometimes it was as simple as tearing out pages of my journal and handing it to someone who would need the very Word God had spoken to my heart earlier that day. A boldness for Jesus that I had never known before was ignited. 

I was living for Him.

Fully in.

In 2009 I was forced to get a restraining order against my abusive ex-husband and from there, filed for divorce. I felt a strength and peace to step away from the abuse cycle and trusted God with everything, including the hearts of my four children. My children’s father left the state and did not return, and shortly after the divorce was final, I broke down. 

When I say broke, I mean B-R-O-K-E! 

My heart was shattered into pieces, and I couldn’t take one more step. 

It was time to heal. 

Through my healing journey with Jesus God showed me a greater facet of what He was doing in me, was for a bigger purpose – His purpose – and the vision for what He had for my life began to unfold.

One day, I was washing dishes and watching my four children run around in the front yard with some neighborhood kids, I experienced something I had never experienced before: I saw a scene in my mind’s eye of me with a microphone in hand, preaching to crowds of people. I knew that was a vison from the Lord, one I kept quiet in my heart for many years. I didn’t know when, how, or exactly what I was supposed to do, I just knew God was leading me to places I would’ve never chosen for myself. 

Over the course of the next several years, I was asked to share messages of hope at events and a few small gatherings. With no formal training in speaking and absolutely no experience (I was always the behind-the-scenes kind of girl), I was stepping into a new season. One that both terrified me and awakened me at the same time. 

In 2012 I married Rolf Ahonen who eventually adopted my four children. In 2013 God blessed us with a baby boy, making us a family of seven. We established our family in Temecula, Ca. where the Lord continues to work in each of our lives. 

In 2014, the Holy Spirit began to speak to my heart and put a passion for gathering women in my home. Each week women from different walks of life would come to hear the message that God put on my heart to share. We quickly grew out of my living room and expanded to a local park. I honestly thought that was what I would be doing for the rest of my life, but God had a different plan. It was 2015 when He started giving me clear instructions to establish a 501c3 and that’s when Jillian Ahonen Ministries was born. I had zero idea of what I would be actually doing, I just knew God was up to something and He was asking me to partner with Him – so I did.

Today, I am blown away at the people God has brought into my life to love on and serve through this ministry. 

I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I do know this, with God on our side, and a yes from us, no one and nothing can hold us back from doing incredible things for His Kingdom! 

I pray that God continues to use Jillian Ahonen Ministries to restore, transform, and mobilize each one of us as we go from glory to glory, for His glory. Amen.