My Journey Back to Faith

I planned on sharing some more before and after's of the house but, felt compelled to share something that's been on my heart (and in a draft post) for a while now. I've never shared this part of my life partially because I think I was embarrassed and also a little afraid of being judged when I make the inevitable misstep.

I've been working on my spiritual growth over the past few months but, just didn't feel God's presence. I'm a Christian, I went to Christian schools for many years and I believe His Word to be true from my very core. God is all around us, every second of every day, in every thing. I absolutely know and believe that with every ounce of my being but, how do I reflect that in my actions and make it my heart? How do I take that and have it make a difference in my life? That is where I was struggling.

My heart didn't feel whole.

The hubs says that he feels God speak to him and all he does is listen and act. Um, #excuseme what. I want that! I want God to talk to me and I listen. I knew I needed to really pursue Christ to be the kind of wife and mother I want to be (and the one God wants me to be). Not just say but, act. Like really live my life chasing His will. Fulfilling His purpose for me. Letting Him transform my heart, thoughts and actions. It's almost like I would hear God speaking to me and then kind of resist it when it was something I didn't want to hear. A good friend told me that often times we view our relationship with God like we view the one with our actual father - and that made a whole...whole lot of sense to me. I've always been one to think that I know better, that despite what someone (anyone) tells me, I'm gonna do it my way. Even if I know they're right and I'm wrong. I have to learn the hard way which, has caused me a lot of pain, heartache and tangled feelings that I've had to work through over the years.

As #craycray as it sounds, PowerSheets are what have helped me connect the dots. Helped me create some action items that will help me build that deeper relationship with God that I desire and truly transform my heart. I reached out to a friend and asked for her advice. This is someone I have seen grow in incredible ways and she has had such an impact on me as a wife, mother and so much more. She had many words of wisdom and her words of truth and encouragement were what really pushed me into taking action on changing those empty feelings I was having.

After I spent a few days praying (as best as I know how) reflecting on what I want my life to look like, what kind of family I want to raise and what kind of wife, mother, friend and person I want to be, I had 5 areas of focus.

1. Faith
2. Husband
3. Children 
4. Others 
5. Self

I've learned that my brain seems to work best in a compartmentalized manner (which is reinforced by the time management/organizational system that I'm using. Seriously, amazing. I'll share more about that in the next couple weeks) and when I write things down. Seems to be the only way that things really sink in. 

From this larger goal, you're asked to break it down into an Action Plan that included listing the Why and How. This forced me to form and refine my purpose and put it on paper. One of the biggest things I've learned from Advocare is the importance of having a solid purpose so, I really embraced this exercise. 

My Goal:

• I want to know God's heart through reading the Bible and devotionals (Jesus Calling) start to finish this year and through prayer. I want to seek and align His will with my daily activities, thoughts and actions. I want to ACT on His will and teachings.

My Why:

• Because my family needs me to do this more than they need me to do anything. I don't want God to have to teach me the hard way to get me to listen. It's the only way to fill the void in my heart and accomplish every and any other goal I set. I want Him to know that I treasure His blessings and grace through my thoughts and actions, not just my words. Words mean nothing if your behaviors and actions don't align. My boys teach me that every day. They learn by seeing. I want to earn their respect.

My How:

• Finding a church and asking God for the guidance and discipline to do this - I'm honestly embarrassed to admit that we don't go to church. I always felt like you didn't need to go to church to be a good person and a strong Christian but, as it turns out, there are several verses here that talk about the importance of going to church and why. My girlfriend also said that it's important to pray about it and find a one where God wants you to serve - not just where they have casual dress code and a great daycare/kids program (not that I even thought...or maybe even mentioned that those were my criteria to her. Nope. Definitely didn't do that). 

• Reading Jesus Calling each morning before checking any social media - this was a hard one for me. Again, embarrassing but, I'm working on it.
• Being still, spending time with God and praying throughout the day - it's weird. I feel like I don't know how to pray. What do I say? How do I become disciplined and focused so that my mind doesn't wander? I'll start praying and it's like I'm not really there. This is a big focus for me because I think prayer takes practice.  
• Getting rid of distractions that keep me from this - I unfollowed a lot of people/groups on Facebook and Instagram that weren't positive or fully in line with my values (ex. Someecards, certain fitness accounts on IG, etc.). I've also set some technology boundaries. My phone is a slippery slope. I found myself checking FB, IG, etc. habitually. Kid #1 calls my phone my camera because I'm always taking pictures with it and not too long ago he said to me, "mommy, QUIT LOOKING AT YOUR CAMERA! LOOK AT ME!!" I now am only on my computer or phone (for anything except something regarding the husband or kids) before they get up, when they're at school, or when they're napping. It's been really hard because I love being available to my Advocare people/team all the time, but it just didn't align with my core, nor my priorities so, I've had to set some boundaries. 

I think that my Spiritual journey is much like my health and fitness journey. I had to get to a point where I wanted and needed change and was willing to do the work to make it happen. 

God put things, like Advocare and my friend, Danielle, in my life to give me the tools, support and mentorship that I needed to truly transform my life. It's been an amazing journey so far and I am so excited to live the life that God is calling me to and fulfilling His purpose for me. 

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Life Is Too Short To Play Small. Go Big.

You guys. Have you heard of these magical little things called PowerSheets?!

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Quite the Little Goal Digger and a {Giveaway!}

I do it for many reasons, but mostly because setting and achieving goals gives me self-confidence which is the key to success (in my opinion). When you feel and know that you can do anything, nothing can stop you from accomplishing anything you set out to.

MindTools gives a great little breakdown on how to set goals:

1. State each goal as a positive statement - Express your goals positively – "Eat clean at least 90% of the time" is a much better goal than "Don't eat cheat meals"
2. Be precise: Set precise goals, putting in dates, times and amounts so that you can measure achievement. If you do this, you'll know exactly when you have achieved the goal, and can take complete satisfaction from having achieved it.
3. Set priorities - When you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by having too many goals, and helps to direct your attention to the most important ones.
4. Write goals down - This crystallizes them and gives them more force.
5. Keep operational goals small - Keep the low-level goals that you're working towards small and achievable. If a goal is too large, then it can seem that you are not making progress towards it. Keeping goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward.
6. Set performance goals, not outcome goals - You should take care to set goals over which you have as much control as possible. It can totally suck to fail to achieve a personal goal for reasons beyond your control. 
7. Set realistic goals - It's important to set goals that you can achieve. All sorts of people (for example, employers, media, or society) can set unrealistic goals for you. They will often do this in ignorance of your own desires and ambitions. 

If you follow me on instagram you may have seen that I'm a big fan of May Designs. They have the most adorable and functional books that you can design to suit your purpose and style.

I use this one for workouts. 

And just got this one specifically for goals (now that I see these together, I'm beginning to see my obviously obsession with navy. Perhaps there's a support group I should seek out)

I also have one I use for meal planning and it's recently come to my attention (*ah hem, thank you husband*) that I apparently need one for budgeting so, that's on the way as well. As it turns out, money does not grow on tress #whoknew. If you follow one of my favorite people (person's?) on Instagram, she's got a stockpile of adorable ones as well, so make sure to check those out!

{In all seriousness, being 'financially fit' is my biggest struggle and something I plan on sharing more about with you guys. It sucks and it's boring, but I feel like if I tell you guys I'm going to do something, I have to do it.}

Ok, so on to the fun!

May Designs is giving one lucky Hello Stripes reader her very own May Book of her choice! Stylish and sweet, what's not to love?! 

Head over to May Designs, check it out and then tell me what YOUR favorite pattern is AND one goal that you're committing to right now.

(If you already like or follow, just leave a note in the comments :))

Full Disclosure - My Favorite Pattern and Goals

Favorite Pattern: Ikat Dots Navy 

Performance Goal: Get 200# backsquat by December 1, 2013

Financial Goal: SAVE $1500 by December 1, 2013 (someone please keep me away from Target)

Home Goal: Create a functional play area for the boys by September 1, 2013

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**Here's the deets:

Winner will be chosen and then contacted by May Designs with a gift certificate code good for one book of the winner's choice + the cost of shipping (valued at $26). 

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