Happy New Year!
Hello… It’s me… I’ve been wondering if after all these MONTHS you’d like to READ. HAAA. If you know that song reference then congratulations, you and I are now best buddies!
HEY GUYS! What’s up?! Happy New Year! My gosh, it’s been a hot minute since my last blog post. It’s been a challenging 4 months and also wordpress played me hard with the updates and I had the hardest time logging back into my account. BUT I AM BACK! I miss you guys! I miss my blog fam! How are you?? How’s life?? How has 2019 been so far? Speaking of which, that is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about in this post. I have set quite a few goals for myself this year and I cannot wait to share it with you. I’m gonna be completely transparent with you and tell you straight up… 2018 was a yeaaaar. A year of ups, downs, zig zags, spirals, anything and everything. T’was quite the struggle. But the beautiful thing about struggle is the breakthrough and the growth that comes after it. I’m the kind of person who thrives off a new year. It’s a fresh start and a chance to take what I learned from the previous year and use it to make me a much more beautiful, strong, and confident individual. I have learned so much from 2018 alone and I can’t wait to share it all with you. So be on the lookout for that blog post! Anyways, LET’S. TALK. GOALS.
Okiedoke Artichoke. So like I said, ya girl has been very goal oriented. Some people would call them resolutions but I like to call it my New Year Commitments. The reason I set these commitments for myself is because the word that God gave me for the year was Joy. Coming out of our last church series this past Christmas season, I have a better understanding of joy and not only why it’s important to remain in the joy of the Lord, but also how to do so. This year is my joy year. Therefore, the goals I’ve set for myself will help me and ensure that this year will be filled with nothing but joy. I have been pretty consistent in my commitments so far and I already see a difference in my life! If I shared it all with you, we’d be here for hours. So for now, here are a few of my commitments!
New Year Commitments:
- Stay on Budget! – I have a goal to be financially stable this new year and the way to achieve that is to create a budget and to stay on budget! I was always taught to “dig my well before I’m thirsty.” What does that mean? It means to be prepared and to think ahead. It means to work hard now so that my future will be brighter! I want to be able to steward the finances that God has for me now so that I can handle all that He has in store for me later!
- Find the mini vacations in every day! – When I get into the “Future focused” mode, I tend to forget about my own personal soul. I’m the kind of person who will just go, go, go and then BOOM… it’s 2020. But there is just so much beauty to be found in the every day hustle and bustle of life. When I say vacations, I really mean finding me-time! Whether it be taking a walk in a park, sitting on a beach reading a book at sunset, or even lighting a candle, putting on music and eating oreos, I am determined to find my me-time. Do more things that make you smile! This year, I am definitely going to spend more time in nature. I want to go on more hikes! I recently posted on instagram my love for sunrise hikes that pretty much explains the feeling I want to experience every single day. I said, “There is something about sunrise hikes that makes my heart so happy. The way the sun greets the mountains, the way the sunlight feels on your skin bringing back warmth that left in the night.. I can’t help but smile at the sight of the world around me waking up. I love how peaceful and calming everything is. To be able to sit and praise God on these hikes is absolutely amazing. Surrounding myself in God’s creation really puts everything into perspective. That no matter what I’m going through, it will never be too big for my God. I feel unstoppable. I feel capable. I feel valued and important. I feel beautiful. Okay, so maybe it’s not just “something” about sunrise hikes. Maybe it’s everything about it that makes my heart happy.” There is something you can do every day that will make your heart happy. I encourage you to find it and do it as often as you can!
- Healthy Lifestyle! – Okay Okay Okaaaaay. This one is basic but it really is true! Eating healthy and working out does wonders for your physical, mental and emotional health! Start off small and work your way up. Choose to snack on carrots instead of chips or take at least 30 minutes out of your day to exercise. I have been pretty consistent with this this past month and I cannot express how better my life has been because of it!
- No More Negative! – Drama? NOPE. Complaining? BYE. Gossip? Who’s She?! This is pretty self explanatory but life is too short for the drama. I have found that some of our best decisions are often what we choose to not get involved with. No more drama. Don’t want it, don’t need it, don’t have to, not going to. Thank you, NEXT!
5. Do more things that allow for me to live out my values! – At the beginning of this month, my amazing parents helped us discover our values. They said that what we prioritize the most is what we truly value and that shook my world because I was not expecting what I found out about myself. They helped me make a list of the things that take up majority of my time and those were the things I ultimately prioritized most in my life. A lot of the things on that list were not what I knew in my heart what I truly valued. The things you prioritize the most are the things you should be focusing most of your time and energy doing. The things I said I valued were not on my top priority list and that is going to change this year.
I value God and my relationship with Him first and foremost. I value my family and my personal growth. I value creating and expressing myself artistically. And I value my ministry and what I do for the Kingdom of God.
This year, I’m going to spend more time with Jesus, more time in His word, and more time praising Him in the quiet hours. I want to know Him on a much deeper and intimate level. I am also going to make a bigger effort to spend more time with my family. We are planning out a little vacation this year because we haven’t had one in 8+ years and I’m so excited for it!
I’m also going to read more books. I wasn’t always the reading type simply because growing up, I had a comprehension problem so reading was very difficult for me. But I have come to find that there is so much beauty in reading. I’ve always loved words and I appreciate reading more than ever. Reading can open up a whole new world right in the palm of your hands and it can also help elevate your mind and stretch you in ways nothing else can. Reading can be an escape from reality but also a way to be captured and engulfed in knowledge and wisdom from those before you! Reading is helping me grow and I just want to continue to fall in love with my process; fall in love with the growing pains!
Like I mentioned before, I also want to create more! I started scrapbooking and its really fun! I love being able to capture little moments with my polaroid camera that will last forever and be past down to generations after me! I want to create my own EP one day with all the original songs I pulled from Heaven’s bank. But we will see if that actually happens. Haha! I want to write more blog posts because I seriously come alive while doing this and I know that there is at least one person being blessed by them and that is enough for me!
Last but not least, I want to make sure that I continue to live out my life verse, “Christ in me, the Hope of Glory” (Colossians 1:27). A huge part of my ministry is showing Christ in me – shinning His light and spreading His love. In my opinion, it’s not so much what I do but more so who I am that will bring Glory to God and expand His kingdom. I want to make sure I do that more this year and let God lead me the rest of the way. Nevertheless, at your word, I will.
WHEEEEELLLPPPPP…
There you have it folks! My New Year Commitments!!! Thanks for letting me share! Now I give you all permission to hold me accountable! In 6 months, I will give you all an update on how I am doing!! We will see if this is the year where I follow through!
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this post! If you did, don’t forget to give it a thumbs up by clicking the little like button on the bottom left corner of this post! Also, let me know what your commitments are this year!! We can help keep each other accountable!
I LOVE YOU ALL SO SO MUCH!! Until Next time, love bug!
