Pursued with Relentless Love

By Jen Skavhaug

"This intimate and inspiring book is...

...a poignant, personal and powerful demonstration of the gospel message which came alive in real life. Jen's story is vivid and visceral, graphic and gripping, awesome and amazing."

-Dr. Jared Pingleton, Psy.D

God said my marriage would become a daily testimony of God's love. At the time

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Oct 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685569884

Jen Skavhaug

JEN SKAVHAUG and her husband are first-generation preachers. Jen is also a licensed professional counselor (LPC), life and parent coach, part-time writer, and proud mother. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees in biblical counseling through the Assemblies of God. Previously divorced, she spent the first decade of her Christian life as a single mom. Currently, she works as an LPC and co-leads Legacy Church in Anchorage, Alaska with her husband.

Book preview

This book is dedicated to:

My precious daughter, Emily!

May she live life to the fullest, encompassed by God’s love, blessings and favor! You are the biggest reason I am the woman of God I am today. Because of your faith and love,

I experienced the love of the Father!

Foreword for Pursued with Relentless Love by Jared Pingleton, Psy.D., credentialed as both a minister and a clinical psychologist, has recently served as the Director of Counseling Services at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, CO, and currently serves as Vice President of the Association of Christian Counselors, and author of his latest book, Making Magnificent Marriages.

God’s loving pursuits towards His children are indeed both relentless and redemptive. This intimate and inspiring book is a poignant, personal and powerful demonstration of the gospel message which came alive in real life: Jen’s life. Her story is vivid and visceral, graphic and gripping, awesome and amazing.

I had the privilege to get to know Jen Skavhaug several years ago while teaching in a graduate counseling program where she was a student. Her passion for the Gospel and for serving others was readily apparent, and it was a joy to observe her thirst for learning and quest for personal growth. It is indeed a special privilege for me to have the opportunity to honor her, and the Pursuer of her soul, by writing this wholehearted endorsement of her wonderful book.

The reader will be spellbound by Jen’s disarmingly candid self-disclosure of her struggles, doubts, fears and pains and how she allowed her Heavenly Father to faithfully love her throughout her personal trials, traumas and tragedies. Hers is a captivating first person account of a life radically arrested and revolutionized by God’s love, grace, mercy and forgiveness.

As a result, you will be blessed. In these pages you will discover how our Father marvelously and miraculously transformed blessings out of her brokenness by providing help, healing and hope to her hurts.

These mind-blowing modern-day miracles are not only fascinating to read about, they are faith-building. As Jen invites you to walk alongside her on her spiritual, emotional and relational journey, you will be inspired to know the heart of the Father more faithfully and fully. These divine experiences will hopefully motivate you to experience more of the supernatural love of the Father yourself, and consequently pass that knowledge, and this book, on to others.

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Foreword for Pursued with Relentless Love by Amy Flattery, Director, Center for Holy Lands Studies. Teacher. Public Speaker. Ordained Minister. Missionary with the Assemblies of God.

God is good. Life can be difficult. Jen’s book, Pursued with Relentless Love, is a realistic and pure display that both statements can be true concurrently. Pursued with Relentless Love masterfully uncovers and unabashedly tells Jen’s tremendous life story for the reader’s benefit. If you are searching for hope, Jen’s story, wisdom, and education as a counselor, encounter the reader with an honest and natural delivery that will give hope to all women. Jen’s story illustrates that Jesus, who walked on water more than 2,000 years ago, still walks with us today. His miracles are still present, His teachings are still true, and He continues to pursue us with relentless love.

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Foreword for Pursued with Relentless Love by Charee’ Davis, Co-Lead Pastor at Jubilee Worship Center, Fairbanks, Alaska. Ordained Minister. Director of Women’s Ministries, Alaska Ministry Network. B.S. Elementary Education.

Shortly after receiving Jen’s book, I was on a six-hour drive home from a women’s conference. I was so excited to be a passenger in the vehicle and have designated time to enjoy the beautiful scenery around me and to read. From the first page to the last, I was captivated by Jen’s story, authenticity, and the goodness of God’s grace and mercy revealed through every word. Within a couple of hours, I had read the book cover to cover. The more I read, I increasingly knew in my heart that her testimony would be a catalyst for bringing healing and wholeness to many women and men. God has given Jen a beautiful, redemptive story to share, and I am so grateful that she was brave enough to write it down. Not so that she could receive any praise, but so that Jesus would be glorified, and other lives could be transformed by the Divine Author of Pursued with Relentless Love.

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Foreword for Pursued with Relentless Love by RaVae Erickson, B.S. Psychology. Served on the board for Slave Free Earth. Currently serves on the board for Homestead Bible Camp. She is a Wife, Mom to three and bookkeeper for her family’s many small businesses.

Pursued with Relentless Love is both captivating and encouraging. Jen draws you in with her story from frustration and anger to joy and grace. She shares her heart and bares her soul. She is brutally honest and painfully raw at times. This story is one of dramatic change, caused only by the love of God. As you read how God pursued Jen in these pages you will be able to see how He has, and is, pursuing you also. This is a must-read for anyone questioning God. This story will bring you back to His heart for you.

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Foreword for Pursued with Relentless Love by Deb Mitchell, Associate Pastor at Hilltop Assembly of God, Houston, Alaska. Ordained Minister. Doctorate in Physical Therapy.

To know Jen is a blessing and a joy beyond most others. The opportunity to dive deep into the sacred space of her heart is a wild adventure with God! As Jen pours out her life’s testimony, you will be encouraged to dive deeper into your own relationship with Jesus and explore the vastness of His love. As Jen weaves the tales of both daily challenges and miracles, the undeniable voice and guidance of the Holy Spirit will become a possibility and reality to you as well. I pray you also experience and witness the steadfast love of our Heavenly Father and understand to the core of your being that He has immeasurable adoration for you and a powerful plan and purpose for your life.

Preface

Many people do not believe that God still speaks to His people today. This book is a testimony of just that. It is the story of my life in which God’s still, small voice guided my steps. Through times of despair and through times of freedom, one thing was always constant: God!

This is God’s story written upon the pages of my heart. It is His story of redemption in my life; a story I am continually asked to share with others. It is dedicated to the many of us who have wondered, who continue to wonder, or who are looking for true love and not finding it; to those of us who have sacrificed the person we once were to become the person we thought someone else would love; and to those of us who want to be made whole again.

If you choose, I will take you on a journey through the pages of my life—not always leading us to the best of places, but ending in the arms of the Father. This God, whom I thought I never deserved or was good enough for, continually pursued me with His love. Along the way, He has taught me to trust in Him like no other. I’ve learned to let Him take care of me as I rest my head on His chest, while He leads me around this dance floor we call life.

I will take you on the journey God took me and my family on. It was a path that began with everything being stripped away, and it ended with nothing less than my heart’s desire, HIM. I was the girl everyone saw, but did not want to know, and at times I limped through life with no one else to depend on but God alone.

God rescued me and my daughter, and our journey has become God’s hope for others who have also felt rejected and left behind. I have learned to choose to see myself the way God sees me now: forgiven and loved. I hope and pray you learn to see yourself the way He also sees you: forgiven, loved, and fully pleasing in His eyes. As I share my life story, I challenge you to remember all God has done in your life and the times you have heard His voice! I am not special; God speaks to us all and asks us all to remember Him and all He has done for each of us!

Introduction

She Carried My Hope

Whatcha doing, honey? I asked my daughter as I passed by her bedroom door.

Playing with Jesus, she answered nonchalantly. Catching my attention, I peeked back into my three-year-old daughter’s room with a frown. She was sitting on the floor in full-out play with a person I could not see. 

What do you mean, Jesus? I asked. 

You know, Jesus, Mommy. She sounded almost dumbfounded as she continued playing without skipping a beat. 

Oh, okay, sweetheart, I said, as I watched for a moment and then headed downstairs, feeling a little off. I was somewhat taken aback by my daughter’s response, but I shrugged it off and continued with what I was doing. I was in Las Vegas, Nevada, living a life the farthest from God I had ever known, and choosing not to speak to Him. But now my three-year-old daughter was coming downstairs, walking hand in hand with her new imaginary—and best—friend, whose name was Jesus. He had joined our family as a small child, and my daughter played, talked, ate, and slept with Him. I don’t know why that wouldn’t make any mother a little concerned, even if His name wasn’t Jesus.

Jesus was so real to my daughter that she made me put an extra car seat in my truck to make sure Jesus was buckled in too. Everywhere we went, Jesus went with us. It was funny and cute, but at the same time, it was annoying. Anywhere we went, I had to make sure I had both hands available: one to hold each of their hands—not to mention making sure I put on both of their coats and shoes and didn’t forget to buckle both of them into their car seats.

But like most new things