Living Wisely Sweet 16 Issue | Page 8

GIVING. PRAYING. FASTING 8 of music and the desire to see people set free in the presence of the Lord. This twenty something pescatarian enjoys a healthy lifestyle which enables her to truly make her body the temple of the Holy Spirit. Here’s a quick look at our time together. LW: Casey, you’re a southern girl so I didn’t expect to hear you are a vegetarian? CJ: I was praying to God about some things I wanted Him to change and I really wanted Him to increase my level of stewardship and at that time He brought it to my attention that I wasn’t even stewarding what I was putting in the inside of my body. So it would be difficult for Him to give me more when I don’t really steward what I have very well. So it’s a form of discipline… it is more of a lifestyle fast. I think in church we want to talk about the spiritual and mental health but your physical health is a part of your honor to God. You can’t carry His Spirit around in a beat up box and we won’t be able to do it for a lifetime or for as long as we probably could have if we were able to steward our bodies better. LW: Casey, I was reading your bio and there’s a line there where you say “Singing is a language unto itself.” Tell us a little about that. CJ: For me, singing has always been something I did in private. So when I’m walking around the house or cleaning or just kinda in my own space I would hum … even when I was a little bitty girl my mom says before I even had the words to articulate I would just hum when I would get nervous or hum before I went to sleep. I began to understand how in Jeremiah, God literally rejoices over us with singing. So if God can use it as a language towards us then I most definitely can use it as a language towards Him. There are a lot of things I cannot articulate in spoken word that somehow forms together when I hum or sing. LW: How did you make the leap from elementary school teacher to fulltime music ministry?