Conquering One Goal At A Time

Hello again...after another long break in-between posting and not-posting. Giving you the reason of life has been busy may seem legit, but it's really just an excuse (I mean, yes, we have been busy, especially with getting ready for our baby to come in March, but that is still an excuse to use to get out of not following my commitment to keeping up with our blog and reaching out to others). Have you ever heard the saying, "you make time for what is important in your life?" Well, although this blog is important to me, I have allowed the mundane every day life get in the way of me keeping up with you guys and our blog. To some, this may come across as 'I'm being too harsh on myself', and maybe I am, but the purpose of this blog is many things, but the main one is for God to use this blog to encourage others and to show others that it's okay to be "different" in a world full of hatred, evil, and predictability. Therefore, I feel as I should put more of an effort into keeping up with the blog so that God can use this blog as a tool to reach others, even if it's in the simplest of ways. 

---

Now on to why I titled this blog the way I did....

I FINALLY finished reading all of the Sadie Robertson book, "Live Original" earlier today (yes, I know, that is a long time to finish a book...I guess you can call it another "slacking" moment), and this book has got me contemplating on how I want to be as a person and as a Christian, and how I want others to view me. After I read this book, it also had me thinking and writing about goals that I have for my own life. Goals I have for being a wife and soon-to-be Mom, goals for myself in general, and marriage goals...which lead to the title and creation of this blog post.

While looking back at all the goals I wrote down for each category, there were a number of them that were repeated throughout each one, but the ones I chose to deal with now are the ones about "gaining more confidence and self-respect", "defining my confidence in who God sees me as...a DAUGHTER OF THE MOST HIGH KING", and "to STOP comparing myself and the life I have been given to live to others." When you put all of those separate bullet points together, they basically come out to mean the same thing...to gain more confidence. 

​Having confidence and being prideful are two different things. Ironically, Sadie Robertson talks about this very thing in her book (have I said "I love her book" before?!!). It's true though! Being confident means that no matter what happens you walk with your head held high, knowing that you were made for a purpose. You were made to fulfill God's plan for your life as well as to further His Kingdom. You were made by God himself, the Creator of the whole universe, and that Creator of the whole universe wants and has your best interest at heart....YES, I mean YOU! However, being prideful means to boast about the things you have, and to think better of yourself than you do others. So, when I say I want to gain more confidence, I mean the confidence that God has in me and wants me to have for myself and in Him.

​If I am being honest, then having that confidence that I should has been a big struggle for me. I too easily compare myself to others or compare the life that I live to others. I think to myself that I'm not pretty enough, smart enough, capable enough, strong enough, etc. Sometimes these thoughts can really affect me and how I live my life on a daily basis. In addition to these negative thoughts about myself, I also find myself having the same negativity about the life that I have been given to live to how I see others live theirs. For instance, if I see people or couples traveling to different places and experiencing different things, then I can get pretty depressed in wishing that was me or us doing those things, but instead, I am (we are) "stuck" here doing the same mundane things. Having all of these negative feelings locked up inside is not healthy, it's not confident, and it certainly NOT FUN! 

​So that is why I chose to nip this goal in the bud and make it one of my first goals to conquer this year. In doing so, I have made the decision to stop using Facebook. As much as I enjoy keeping up with my friends and family on Facebook, Facebook can also be my number one trigger for comparing myself to others. That's where I sulk the most over what others do and what they look like compared to me. It's also where I seek acceptance of other people by seeing how many "likes" or "comments" I can get on the things that I post. Life shouldn't be about proving yourself to others or worrying about what others think or say about you. It should be about what God has for you and what He wants for your life AND to be thankful for those things God has given you.

I will still have Messenger and I will continue to use the Baker's Journey Facebook page to stay updated and to update everyone else, but as far as my actual Facebook page, I will no longer keep up with. I won't officially delete it or anything, I just won't use it to update people nor will I skim through the newsfeed. Besides, Facebook takes up way too much of my time when I could be conquering my other goals, such as reading more books, keeping up with the blog more, reading and actually reading and taking the time to understand the Bible, go on more dates with my husband and actually put an effort into dating him, cleaning and maintaining the house on a daily basis instead of just whenever people come over, and just enjoying and being thankful for the moments God has given me each and every day (which is another purpose behind this blog, so in order to post about it, I need to actually LIVE it, too).

​There are still a number of goals for me to reach, but hopefully with starting with this one it will help and encourage me to reach and accomplish all the other ones. So here's to conquering goals and living the best life possible...the best life that God has intended for me to live! You are more than welcome to join in! :)