Becoming a Butterfly

Hi loves! I apologize for falling off the planet for several weeks, I've just been going through a weird spot in my life the past few months. I'm at a place where I need to make some decisions on some things & honestly, I'm really unsure of what to do right now. I feel so confused with my VA Business because I don't seem to be attracting my ideal clients and to be honest, I really miss working a normal 40 hour work week instead of putting in 80 hour weeks on my business to try to make it perfect, not to mention I would like a dependable income. I was so frustrated yesterday that I ended up taking the day off today to just let my mind rest and do some praying.

I honestly love what I do everyday but I don't love having to market myself (I'm an Introvert so I hate hate talking about myself!) & the need to constantly update my brand. I think the worst part is how much time it consumes from my life and I feel like I don't have time to spend time with God like I want. I had people try to give me advice, recommending me go back to school, but this confusion doesn't come from not having enough knowledge because God knows that all I do all day is read & take classes/webinars constantly. And I've done the college thing already, believe me!

I think the problem is that I have always been the one that works behind the scenes and serves others. I don't like being on the front line and the center of everything; it's just not what I love. I really would love to work for an amazing company that offers great benefits + perks where I can continue to work from home. I don't know if it's just me wanting to hide in my cocoon and maybe God is wanting me to step out into the spotlight or if it's just not meant for me. I hope that I find the clarity that I need soon.

Speaking of cocoons, today I was listening to worship music & organizing my Pinterest boards when my eye caught this image of a butterfly. It brought my mind to the process that butterflies go through in their stage of life. First, they are born and then they form into a caterpillar where they lose their skin many times as they grow. They increase in size up to several thousand times before the next step (which sounds painful). Next they turn into a pupa (chrysalis) which is the resting stage and lastly they become a beautiful butterfly!

If you look at it spiritually; it looks like this:

First, we are created by God and are in the cocoon stage, then we are born and then we go through the growing stage thousands of times (life). This can be quite painful, being stretched beyond the point that we would like at times. After that, we get to a stage of rest (thank goodness for this stage) After growing to the point where we need to be, we reach the stage of becoming a beautiful butterfly!

When I started really thinking about it, it made me think back on my life and that's in nutshell what my life has looked like. I've gone through growing moments to where I am stretched and stretched to my breaking point. I can definitely relate to Job of the Bible. For the past five years especially, I have been through so many tests + being stretched in a way that I have never been before and I've held strong to God through it all. Forming into a beautiful butterfly is painful and it isn't pretty in the beginning stages. Have you actually seen larvae up close? Not pretty at all. But it takes time to form into a beautiful butterfly; it doesn't happen overnight.

Lately, through songs, quotes, sermons, I've had God giving me words to just hold on, that restoration is on it's way. "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10 (I heard these words the other day at the end of a song that I was listening to). I literally just prayed & cried listening to it over and over. I know that God sees my heart and that I have been faithful to him through everything and he will reward the righteous!

I'm getting ready to emerge into a beautiful butterfly soon; just you wait and see! A lovely thing about butterflies for me; is that my husband is really the person that introduced me to the beauty of butterflies when he took me to Callaway Gardens at the age of 19 and I fell in love with them! I have always said that I should have been a butterfly because they live in the warmth, float around & drink the nectar of flowers and fruit juice. What a beautiful life.

Anyway, I expect to be back here soon to share some amazing blessings with you guys because God never goes back on his promises! Blessings + love to all of you!

What are you going through right now that you are praying over?

God's Plan for My Life

I listened to two sermons over the weekend by Rick Warren; about getting our ship out of the harbor. He talked about dreams that we have in life and how we need to surrender our dreams to God in order for them to become successful. To completely give our dreams up to God. I feel like this sermon was exactly what I needed to hear this week.

He talked about those who try to sail through life on their own power and how we need to lean on God to get our ships out of the harbor. We can't do it on our own power. He talked about not making excuses or blaming others if you're not successful in life and how you need to have faith to go along with the dream that God has given you.

These sermons really resonated with me because I really work hard on my business and writing my books and have so many dreams in life. Instead of trying to do everything on my own, I have been working on leaning on God more to help me get my ship out of the harbor.

Things in my business have been going amazing. I love the clients that I work with- they are all amazing women who are extremely successful. But I want more out of life; I want God to abundantly bless my life so that I can be a blessing to others. I want to follow the purpose and plan that God has for my life. I'm going to keep praying and keep working and waiting. I'm giving my life over to God, completely. I want His plans for my life, not mine! I'm excited to see how God's plan for my life will unfold!

What are some things that you need to put in God's hands?

God's Plan For My Life//

Hello there- I have somewhat of a confession to make...

I haven't been completely honest and up front on the blog- recently I put in my notice as Legal Assistant/Office Manager at the Law Firm after almost three years of working there. Yesterday was my last day after I worked my one month notice.

This past year, I began noticing that I just wasn't myself and that I had lost the passion that I had for my job in the beginning and I knew that it had come time for me to make a change.

God actually gave me a vision  (you can read about it here) about 8 months ago that I would be leaving this job- so knowing that really helped me feel at peace when I was making the decision.

Here are a couple of interesting quotes from that vision that I wrote about in my blog post:

I almost feel like he (God) knew this would hurt me, but he knew in the long run that it was the best thing for me, but he was still sad to see me hurting//

I know ultimately that anything in my future that God has planned for me will be the best for me- I trust him fully and completely with my life// I know that he loves me with an everlasting love and I love him more than anything// 

I have always put my trust in God and not once has he ever failed me- not once. People keep asking what my plans are, what am I going to do for a job and I want to tell them- it's not about my plans, it's about God's plans for my life. I want to go in the direction that he leads me. I don't know what is best for me, but he does and I trust him with my life.

Now that I have all of that behind me, I really want to slow down and focus on the things that I am passionate about- social media/email marketing, writing/blogging, design, photography, etc. I am very thankful for the things that I learned in my job in the time that I was there- such as email/social media marketing and CRM databases. I also learned how to use a Mac and I was able to have some creative freedom in graphic design to create flyers for non-profit events and seminars. I met so many great people and some life-long friends along the way. Instead of feeling as though I have failed, I feel that I have grown throughout this journey -I've learned so much more about myself and what I want and do not want out of life. I've gained more confidence and I have learned how to stand up for myself and ask for the things that I want. That is definitely a success, in my book.

So, starting today- I begin my new chapter and I will be keeping you all updated to my progress and how things are going! Stay tuned for what Day 1 brings!!