How to Jump In With Both Feet

Posted: 4 years ago

How to Jump In With Both Feet

My new year really starts today. I don’t have a resolution, nor do I have a word. Those things typically don’t work for me.

I just want to work on one thing: I want to jump in with both feet.

My husband and I have been through a lot in our first decade of marriage. 5 moves, a loss, two scary diagnoses for our children and subsequent surgeries and continued medical care that has come along with those. Each of these things has landed us in periods of waiting. I thought I could soften the blow of impending news by preparing for the worst.

Many of those times we didn’t get the answer we wanted. Zero of those times did preparing myself for the worst actually prepare me at all.

Maybe you’re like me and 2020 has a lot of potential for you. It’s exciting and scary, because with high hopes comes the chance of great disappointment.

But can I tell you what I’ve learned from years of heartache and disappointment? Cynicism won’t soften the blow, thinking small won’t help you get somewhere big, too much self-preservation can keep you from actually living.

This year I want to believe the best is yet to come, this year I want to live like God’s got me no matter what the outcomes are, this year I want to here for it all.

I may get pulled down by a riptide, I may be tossed around by the waves instead of surfing their white foamy peaks, but so be it.

Because I know it’s best to focus on my feet no matter where they land. There are lessons up above and down below because God is big enough to work in them both.

So, this year, I don’t want to keep a toe on the shore, I want to immerse myself in life’s possibilities.

Jillian Benfield

I used to be a resurrection person

I used to be a resurrection person. I used to want to skip over the messiness of holy week—the betrayal, the trial, the torture. I

Glass art Marriages

My husband and I have been through hell and back. More than once. We were broken for a time, yes. But instead of staying that

You have permission to live at a different pace than what was once required of you

I wonder if you’re someone who has lived life as if it were an emergency…because it was. Perhaps you’re like me and walked the halls

why i wouldn’t takeaway the pain of my past

“If you could go back and take it away- would you?” My husband asked me this question over a fancy dinner this past weekend. After

Speaker Inquiries & Requests

For all media inquiries, please contact

The Gift of the Unexpected

What if the unexpected is the beginning of becoming your truest self?

Jillian Benfield was living life in the spotlight as a TV journalist, but after receiving a life-altering diagnosis for her unborn son, she realized no camera-ready outfit could dress up her grief. Overcoming this unexpected circumstance wasn’t an option. She would have to undergo it instead. In doing so, she discovered who she was and who God wanted her to become.

In this riveting story filled with grit and grace, Jillian helps you break down the false constructs you’ve built around God and your identity. You won’t avoid your pain, but you’ll learn to feel it, in a healing way. And you’ll discover how your internal transformation leads to external purpose.

No matter what you’re going through, you’re invited to open this gift: The Gift of the Unexpected

The book is available on