Plowing the Ground

• // We often say, a seed is planted, reaped, and finally harvested. How similarly we could look at our lives this way. A dream is planted in us, raised up, and seen to fruition. What about the ground this lies on? Of course, the parable says some seed lands on rocky ground, others land on thorns, some lay on flat lands, but still some land on good ground. The seed sprouted into good ground grows to bear healthy fruit and a lively plant.

• // Growing up in a farming community taught me a lot about the land and how viable the climate of Arizona is for many kinds of produce. I remember watching in the hot summer air, MANY tractors that plough through the dirt to mix fertilizer and break up firm dirt collections beneath the surface so that roots can grow deeply into the soil. Plowing is essential for the health of a field in order to create lasting harvests. Necessary nitrogen stores within fertilizers are mixed together with the dirt for plants to take in important nutrients from the soil as well as adding an increased oxygen supply to the plant bed. Truly, plowing allows harvesting to remain sustainable.

• // I recently considered this in my own life. I was a student that quickly changed career direction. I realized my college trajectory was not the field that I believed was for me. Unfortunately, this sudden change caused a lot of confusion in my own life and I felt a wandering, praying for a clear direction and wanting to harvest the fruits of studying faithfully and working diligently in my schooling.

• // I started to notice a "plowing of the fields." I wanted to see the fruit, but fields in my life needed to be reworked. Jesus reassured my heart that it was not ready for the seed. I have seen over and over again, the living space that feels like the wasteland. You know, when you wonder where your life is headed and you go through the motions, hoping that you will figure out where you need to be next. Should you move? Should you change careers? Should you go to school or go back to school? This is the rut. Or, we like to think so. We seem to think that doing the opposite of what we have done, will somehow fix the searching. Some people call this place the mid-life crisis, and if you are my age, the quarter-life crisis. You feel no movement forward. As I type this, I am inclined to put this verse, as an anchor of hope for you. 

"Take courage, my soul! Do you remember those times (but how could you ever forget them!) when you led a great procession to the Temple on festival days, singing with joy, praising the Lord? Why then be downcast? Why be discouraged and sad? Hope in God! I shall yet praise him again. Yes, I shall again praise him for his help." Psalm 42:4-5

• // Let me encourage you, because I believe that God is so much more intentional with our lives than we could imagine. God's silence to you is not a wrath against you; He removed a shadowing of Himself when He tore the veil on the cross and has promised that in your drawing near to Him, He will draw nearer to you. Is it probable that the silence you think you experience is really the tossing and turning of your fields? God can plough the grounds of our life so that we can accept the seed of the next season. Maybe, the foundation that you stand on needs to be softened and replenished for the harvest that He is making. 

• // I love the saying from a mentor of mine, "hard things are hard." Life is hard. Life is really, really hard. Sometimes, life knocks you upside down and Christ just needs to rework the ground we live on for a healthy growing space made for the prize that is next. Your "now" is not a waste of time and every chapter of your life will prepare you for the next. Do not waste the sentence you are on right now, because it could be laying the framework for something much bigger than you. I beg you, do not waste waiting and do not buy the lie that somehow it is pointless. You are being molded for your God-given purpose and you are seen right now. "So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

Building Confidence Workshop

• // Shut up and get up. Stop talking about the hope to be someone you are not. Stop thinking that one day you might finally feel more confident or bold or noticed. You are now; let's tone this out. You have some confidence muscles that you need to workout, because right now you are running on an endless strip that holds you in the same place every time you think about becoming a more confident you.
• // Finding confidence means choosing occasionally uncomfortable winding roads. Building your confidence starts with this:

1. Find your comfort zone. Send it out further one inch until you have pushed it to an unimaginable boundary. This advice was given to me by a speech coach that will have forever changed my life and perspective. What is your comfort zone? Perhaps, your area of expertise lies in a group of four people living under community. Maybe, your gift is leading worship on a stage, or dancing in a room full of children. Identify the place that you can excel and champion yourself to move outside of that. Confident people have simply extended their range of comfort and continuously stretch beyond. My journey began very similarly. I was always terrified of people, never wanting to communicate and engage with any one person that dared to attempt a conversation with me. As I got older and began my public school journey, I made a promise to myself that I would grow confidence, believing in myself to make a place of purpose from a God-given strength. Truly, I can say that God gave me a divine vigor to speak; I was horrified at the thought of connecting. I noticed then that I tapped into leadership skills which propelled me forward to lead small groups, bible studies, and eventually bigger speaking opportunities at conferences. God anointed my words like He does any gift used for His glory. As an elementary age girl, I can almost guarantee that no leader of mine would ever believe that I would speak from a stage. This is the transformative power of Christ and effective influence of positive circles surrounding you.

2. Set your goals. Do you want to lead? Do you want to influence more people? Do you want to refine your communication skills to be more effective? Decide on a clear direction to channel your energy in order to meet the confidence cornerstone you are aiming for, do not walk blindly, or you will be led by something else.

3. Just do it. No, I swear I am not promoting any company. But for real, act. Stop talking and start doing. You will never build your confidence until you do what scares you and see that you were able to do it. Think about this like any skill you had to acquire as a child, riding a bike or swimming. You never learned until you were forced to do it, and you adapted because we are a resilient people. God made us this way. I am reminded of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These Hebrew men were thrown into a furnace for the refusal of bowing to a king. These men were faithful to their creator and their creator was faithful to them. They were not swallowed by the fire, even though the king's forces experienced the opposite. God protected them amidst impossible odds. Jesus is a king of impossibility and can do what we cannot, only to do it again. These men were resilient under the fire because the Savior gave them a power against it. Find ten seconds of crazy courage to say yes to the things that scare you and just do it. I wish I had genius words to tell you about building your confidence, but it really is a simple choice.

4. Keep doing it. You will only build confidence when you give yourself another chance to change what went wrong the first time. I heard a quote that once said, "Repetition is the mother of skill." Your skill? Confidence. Do it over again until you can walk in calmly trusting that you own the room you exist within. I do not mean owning the room with a selfish pride or arrogance, owning the room means an entrance with humility that you have been graced an opportunity to influence other people.

5. You have never arrived. The most confident people that I know refuse to buy the lie that they somehow "made it" and hold no more room to grow. The truth is, you are never done. Remember, you are extending your comfort zone, and we live in an ever-expanding universe. There will always be a place to push further; be teachable and love correction. Read more books about the topic that you want to succeed in, listen to the professionals in that area, and believe that your knowledge can keep developing

• // Harnessing confidence opens incredible doors throughout your life. Interactions change, mindsets change, and you WILL see an increased ability for you to reach your goals. You were given a name and an identity, there is no reason to feel anything less than capable. Seek, knock, and the door will be opened, according to His purpose. "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33

Blog Launch

• / / I have spent hours thinking about finding a creative outlet to share my heart about all things lifestyle. I have considered podcasts, blogs, vlogs, journalism, and so many other “influencer” options. So here she is, a blog to share my thoughts about what God is teaching me, who God is using in my life, and hopefully a place to encourage you to understand who you were made to be. You have been created with a purpose. You are not an accident, and your story matters. 

• / / We all live through the “in-between” and in fact, we’re living there right now. The “in-between” that is life are the beautiful moments of finally reaching a goal or the gut-wrenching conversations that make your stomach turn even thinking about them. But your life, was not a mistake, and every mountain top or valley low moment you have was given to you with purpose. Your reactions to these seasons have defined the character you have chosen to hold. We are not done, though. At least as long as we are here, we have never finished. That is enough of that, I did not want a lengthy first post. I just wanted to tell you about an exciting dream that I have had in my heart. So cheers! Cheers to a new adventure, who knows where it will lead, and I pray that you can be encouraged to find your best self in this process.