Faith like Mary

          This Christmas season, I have been thinking a lot about Mary. Our pastor gave a sermon about her that really got me thinking about Mary’s faith. I always think about Mary as the mother of Jesus, but don’t often think of her so much as an actual person, a young woman who was called to a bigger purpose for God’s plan. How crazy it must have sounded to be literally expecting God’s child!!!

Mary must have had an amazing connection with God to readily accept such an unconventional assignment. Her heart must have already been prepared to follow God’s will, no matter how crazy it sounded. Imagine the heartache she stood to face as she suddenly appeared pregnant in her time of engagement. It certainly was no easy task to commit to such a plan. Yet Mary was ready to proceed in faith that things would work out just as God has told her. He was bringing a Savior into the world through her. She believed that He worked in the impossible!

           Now, I don’t know about you, but when I feel God leading me to do something, I want a roadmap. I want to see exactly how it is all supposed to unfold so that I know beyond doubt that I am on the right path. I am sure God’s plan did not come with a roadmap for Mary either. Although, as a mother, it sounds quite nice to have the perfect child to parent!!! I imagine there were times that Mary wondered about the details of God’s plan as well. After all, it was 33 years later that she saw the ultimate plan. I am sure that was a difficult reality as a mother as well, her perfect son suffering for the sins of the world. Again, it makes me think Mary must have had such strong faith that God was working in all of this. 

            I don’t know what God has called you to do, but whatever it is, may you have faith like Mary. Know that He has called you for a reason and will see His plan through to completion. When you feel like He hasn’t given you the roadmap, ask Him to show you the next step. He calls us to follow Him one step at a time. It is up to us to tune in to that still, small voice to hear the next step. He also never promises it will be easy. I am sure there will be times that it feels like God wouldn’t call us to do something so difficult, just like Mary. It is my prayer that if I am willing to proceed in faith like Mary did, God will be faithful to show me all of the details as we go.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”        Ephesians 2:10

I did it again!

I just got home from my 2^nd Business Boutique in Nashville, TN. Just six short months ago, I went to the BB in Dallas with nothing but a dream of starting a new business. If I could describe my experience there in one word it would be INSPIRING.

 This time, I returned as a starter and vendor. It was my first time to get my scripture canvases out there for people to see. If I were to describe this recent weekend in one word, it would be STRETCHING.

In the weeks leading up to the BB, it was so easy to overthink everything and get overwhelmed. I got so hung up on seemingly small things like what I would wear. When I focused on me and how I would present myself, things would start to fall apart. The idea of having to “sell” my work led to so much insecurity. (That is my next thing to work on!) I had to give myself permission to be me.

I began to pray for God to help me to connect with other women at the Boutique in a meaningful way and let me be able to encourage the women I would meet there. Wow, did He come through with answers to that prayer! I made so many connections with women there and inspiration and encouragement were shared both ways.

It was a completely surreal experience being a vendor for the first time ever! My table was mingled in with other starters, builders, and “celebrities” side by side. I love how the women at the Business Boutique are all there to encourage each other. The speakers there truly have the heart to encourage new business owners. My table was right next to Crystal Paine, The Money-Saving Mom, who was a speaker at the event in May. Directly across from me was Nicole Walters, who was a speaker at this event. When I say surreal, I really mean it! I could not believe it was really happening, like someone needed to pinch me.

 I also couldn’t believe I was brave enough to do such a thing! I took a photo with the “Do it scared” sign because that was the perfect description of my experience. If I let fear stand in the way, I wouldn’t have gone at all! It is so much easier to hide behind my computer from home than to actually put myself out there in person. Not only was it super stretching for me to go and present Captivating Joy in person, but I was invited to do an interview for Christy Wright’s Business Boutique podcast! I quickly replied “Yes, I would love to!”, then started to think about the reality of what that meant. Ironically, I love to talk and I love writing, but am terrified of any type of “speaking”. I tried to convince myself it would be just like talking to the women there one on one. However, it felt so different when they put a microphone the size of my head just inches in front on my face! It was kind of hard to ignore and I felt like I turned into a bumbling fool, hopefully their editing masters will be able to do something with it! I was so honored to have had the opportunity and so relieved when it was over. Not sure when my interview will be featured, but here is the link to her podcasts if you want to see what the Business Boutique is all about. https://www.businessboutique.com/podcast/

I was definitely inspired all over again by my experience this weekend. I can’t wait to see what God is going to do as I learn to take my business to the next level. I see the whole experience as the beginning of my journey and know I will look back in awe one day at what God has done.  

Stepping out in faith

I am a planner by nature, so it was somewhat out of character for me to take a spontaneous 3-week long road trip at the last minute and I will always be glad that I did. There were so many good things that came out of that trip! The road trip was to Salt Lake City, Utah to attend my cousin's wedding. Although it was last minute, a lot of planning went into it. Each place we stayed was just for one or two nights along the way. I strategically planned which states we would visit along the way as we were adding to our goal of visiting all 50. This trip alone would add Colorado, Wyoming (briefly), Utah, and New Mexico (again) to our list. One of the biggest parts of the planning was packing to fit ALL of the people AND stuff we would need! We came up with some unconventional solutions.

It began with meeting my sister from Austin and picking up my youngest nephew, Owen, to bring him along on the first leg of our trip. I took Owen (5), Jaxson (2), and Trenton (9) to the Great Wolf Lodge in Dallas for one night on our way to Amarillo. Once in Amarillo, we traded off Owen for my mom, Gabe (11), and nephew, Nate (14). Therefore, we had 6 of us for the rest of the trip in my small SUV!!! That may have been a bit further complicated by Nate having broken his foot and being on crutches at the time. It truly was an adventure!

Our next stop was Colorado Springs, where we got to stay at the Broadmoor for two nights. It is so spectacular!!! I would love to it to become my second home one day:) This is where we met up with the rest of the family for the wedding trip. We enjoyed such a great visit with my Aunt Deb, Uncle Randy, and Cousin Jeff. Randy and Jeff took the older boys to the Airforce Academy and showed them around. Then we headed out in a caravan with Deb, Randy, and Jeff’s daughter Jojo (5). We stopped to stay one night on our way to Utah in Wyoming, which turned out to be the theme of the trip. The longest we stayed in any one place was two nights the entire trip. Honestly, that looked easier on paper than it felt on the trip.

The ROAD part of this road trip was significant. That is why my biggest concern was everyone being patient and having fun. I didn’t want to end up regretting tackling such a big trip because everyone was cranky and miserable! It turned out to be a lot of fun and good memories for everyone. Most of the trip we had Deb and Randy’s car to trade people back and forth too. That helped immensely as we could change up combinations of people. One thing that didn’t change was Jojo riding in our car with Jaxson, they had a great time together and were fast friends!

 We were in Salt Lake one night for the wedding and headed out to Moab the next night. We visited Arches National Park in Moab. It was truly breathtaking! I am so glad we took the time to stop in as it was one of the more memorable parts of the trip for me. We also had an amazing hotel room there that had three queen beds in it. Also significant on a road trip with 6 people! This is where we said goodbye to Deb, Randy, and Jojo as they headed home to Colorado.

This trip was really my boys first time to get to know my Colorado family and I am so glad that they did. It ended up being the only time for my boys to get to know my Uncle Randy as he passed away only a few months later.

It would have been so easy for me to miss out on the opportunity of this trip because of fear, inconvenience, and the unknown of tackling something like this by myself. We would have really missed out on a blessing!!! I am so glad I didn’t let fear stand in the way of stepping out to try something new. I learned that I can do much more than I ever knew! (I also discovered 5 hour energy for those late night drives.)

This is the story behind a couple of my first Captivating Joy creations. These two photos were taken at Arches National Park in Moab. I partnered them with mottos from that trip! I hope you will be inspired to follow God’s lead in whatever He is calling you to do. I know you will be glad you did.

www.captivatingjoy.com