Remembering Jalexus

By: Adrienne Reece

I aim to live my life in a way that says “she was the right choice.” From rather small decisions such as choosing me as a friend or confidant, to bigger decisions like choosing me as a wife and future mother of your children. I’ve always had a love for learning and many would even agree that I’m pretty advanced in my personal and professional development.

I have also learned through trial and error that I can’t say yes to everything that I would like to. This blog was no different. We’ll get into how I got connected with this blog in a bit but first let me tell you how it all started.

I’ve always had a love for writing. In fact when I was around middle school age, I professed wanting to be a journalist. I maintained my stance for a few years and it ultimately progressed into a more part time hobby that I would get to…one day. I used to attend poetry slams and even fell in love with the eloquence of public speaking. This was all before social media was introduced so it seemed super unattainable for me at the time. I remember in mid year 2021 I started really thinking about starting a blog. I had so much I wanted to share about living a Christian life as a young person; as well, I thought it would be a fun way to document my own journey. Ultimately I decided against it because if it’s one thing I’ve learned about content creation, it’s that it’s not as easy as it looks and more goes into it than what we see from the outside. I didn’t want to bite of another full time project in addition to everything else I was already trying to balance.

But then, around late 2021, I got the biggest call of confirmation from Jalexus and couldn’t have been more excited. But first, let me rewind and tell you how I got connected with Jalexus.

I first met Jalexus in 2015 in Hawaii, shortly after the Air Force moved me there. I had gotten tired of having one foot in the world and the other in the church, and I had finally decided to get for real about my salvation. It honestly didn’t feel like a hard decision at all, partly because of people like Jalexus. I had never seen men and women, in their early to mid 20s, so on fire for God, and for real about it. Jalexus helped to show me that I didn’t have to wait until I was 40 to serve God wholeheartedly. She loved Him and represented Him so well, that it helped to instill hope in me that if she could do it, I could do it too.

The truth is, we grew up in ministry together. Our pastor, who would later become our father in the faith and spiritual covering taught us how to hope, how to have and be the light, and how to give and receive unconditional love. Jalexus modeled this with such grace. It became the anthem of her life. You never had to question whether it was genuine, and with me, I could tell that it was heartfelt because she NEVER wanted anything in return.

One example of this is last summer in July 2022, my husband and I had made plans to go to Houston to a ministry event. We invited Jalexus to come with us and she said yes. We were all supposed to meet up at the event. Well, less than a week before the trip, something came up and my husband wasn’t able to make it. So, I called up my sister Jalexus, and asked her if me and my 4 yo could stay with her. Without hesitation, she agreed to this weekday schedule change with little to no heads up or time to prepare. That’s the kind of person she was.

But, the most permanent and lasting effect she had on me was when she called me around the end of 2021 to invite me to join her in starting a blog. She said The Lord had been calling her to start a safe haven for women through a blog FOR YEARS but she sat on the idea until finally he gave her peace about having help to carry such a big vision. I was one of 5 phone calls she made. The others, were two friends from HS, Brittany and Casey in California, a battle buddy from the Army and fellow choir member from Christian House of Prayer,Carmen in Killeen TX, and an extremely mature teenage niece from Life More Abundantly Island Church, Rachael in Hawaii. All of which brought confirmation to each of us that it was time to stop sitting on our gift of writing and that we didn’t have to do it alone.

And so, on 2/22/22 Peculiar in a Popular Place was born. Through Jalexus’ obedience, we reached over 4k+ women in just one year.

When we got the news, we weren’t sure what to do with the blog. Should we continue? Should we archive it in the history of who she was? Then we realized, the vision that Jalexus had was just STARTING to gain momentum.

When something like this happens to someone so young and full of life, if you’re anything like me, you might find yourself asking questions like “what’s their legacy” or “how will we carry on the memory of them?” As soon as I started to ask myself those questions, I was gently guided back to her blog, her legacy.

Peculiar in a Popular Place was never meant to be carried by just one person. Jalexus did her part, she ran her race through all of life’s hills and valleys. We had monthly meetings, and I always aimed to bring value through my ideas, leaving everyone feeling empowered, and inspired as well as re-affirming that ‘I was the right choice’. During these meetings, Jalexus made sure to share everything that God was giving her—she made sure to pass the baton of her vision.  

To my fellow writers and readers of P3, know that we are just getting started. I pray that just as God sees me as the right choice for a time such as this, that you will too. Although bittersweet, we are excited to see how big and how wide this community goes and grows. We are grateful to each and everyone of you for being here, because we wouldn’t be what or where we are without you.

Now, it’s our turn to pick up the baton and run. Habakkuk 2:3 says though the vision tarry (delay), wait for it, because it will surely come. As I continue to allow the vision of P3 to permeate within me, and as sure as I believe she is resting in The Fathers arms, know that the legacy she leaves behind is one of light and love not just through words on a website, but how she lived her life. She believed in and loved The God she wrote about. Her light, her love and her vision live on, through the safe haven she created. We will always be, Peculiar in a Popular Place.

You can follow the author of this article, Adrienne, on her self titled Youtube channel “Adrienne Reece” by clicking the following link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjoojY5kJikIX_6oJuynAzg .