Tag: #womenoffaith

Tenacity Is My Goal

Posted on by mrsmonarch

Well Hello Friend!

Happy New Year to you and your household!

At the beginning of each Gregorian calendar year, I prayerfully choose a word which has the qualities I’m striving to attain. This year that word is “Tenacity”. What is it about that word that appeals to me? Well…. quite honestly… nothing— in the flesh. LOL. The word actually sounds like struggle and hard work at this moment in my life. But maturity is recognizing that you might need to work on something— even if it isn’t a fluffy, feel-good experience. And I’m trying to be mature enough to choose what I know I need more of. Hence: Tenacity. 🙂

You see, it’s easy to move forward towards your mission when the path is obvious and the road is clear. When your social media posts get thousands of “likes” and “shares” and you have an audience of eager cheerleaders singing your praises. Those kinds of things encourage a person, right? Ah— but motivating yourself to get up and do the hard things can be much more challenging if you have developed a pattern of tying external validation to the value of your mission.

We need to ask ourselves: Do we really want to be vulnerable to the whims of human emotion and AI algorithms? Should our world come crashing down if our husband, friends, family or social media pages aren’t ecstatic with praise for our contributions? What happens when we wake up one morning and the likes and praise are simply not there?

How do you persevere then? Where does the energy, the strength, the courage come from when our external validation dries up and withers away? That’s an important question because we are all going to experience seasons in our life when our outside support systems fail us! Family crisis occur. Friends move away. People get distracted by their own personal issues. Relationship statuses change. How do we keep moving forward when we find ourselves in a dry season, with few external sources of validation and encouragement? 

Well my friend, it comes from Tenacity.

Tenacity is the determination to press forward— even without likes or shares or words of affirmation. It is pushing forward, fueled by the KNOWING that you were created for this purpose and as long as you keep at it, you WILL attain success. It is the conviction that our purpose in this life time will eventually be fulfilled! Not necessarily because humanity has embraced and rewarded us, but because we were faithful to the calling placed upon our lives! 

Such a drive can not be thwarted by lack of cheerleading because its source never came from there to begin with! It is based instead on the unshakeable confidence that the Creator Himself called us forth from the darkness and placed a mission in our spirit. It allows us to move forward with courage— understanding that the World’s opinion of our efforts is meaningless. They can not deem us a failure OR a success— because the mission didn’t originate from them.

And that is the kind of stamina I am after this year! I am yearning for something deeper than I currently have! I don’t want to be distracted by my sales reports on Amazon or by the numbers of followers I have on social media. I don’t want to feel like I’m going to shrivel up and die if my husband doesn’t notice what I’ve done around the house today. I don’t want to spiral into depression because my social network doesn’t always agree with my opinions. Those things aren’t ‘bad” to have but they are not true indications of the spiritual impact of my life, and they aren’t indications of your impact, either!

If the Creator of the Universe has tapped us on the shoulder and invited us to rise up and accomplish a task— is it not clear that He would instill everything we need to accomplish it? When we give in to fear and doubt, it really isn’t us we are questioning. The hard, cold truth is— it shows our distrust in our Creator. We doubt because we can’t fathom that He would choose to use us-— piddly, imperfect, frail humans with our messy little lives. But Dear One, that’s exactly WHY He chooses us! And if we place our focus on just staying the course and being faithful with what He has given us to do, we will eventually make it to the finish line—successful in every way that counts!

That’s why I’ve chosen Tenacity as my word for 2025. I’m a long way from attaining it, but it’s an inspiring goal. What word inspires you to do better this year? Please feel free to comment here— or find me on line. I’d love to hear from you.

Until Next Time, 

A Life Well Lived

Posted on by mrsmonarch

Today as I was having my morning coffee and watching the squirrels rob my bird feeders, I was startled by a loud “Thud” at my sliding glass doors. I looked out the door and was grieved to see this beautiful young cardinal flopping around on the patio below. 

Birds have hit the glass before. Usually, they sit –stunned— for a few seconds, gather their composure, and fly away unscathed. But … not this time. This sweet little girl had clearly hit too hard… too fast… or in a way which did damage beyond what my eyes could visibly see.

I ran outside, gently scooped her up and tried to assess the damage. Her little body went limp in my hands. She was still breathing but there was absolutely nothing I could do to “fix” her. So, I did the only thing I could think to do. I sat down on the steps of the patio and gently ran my fingers across her soft feathers while I told her how beautiful she was.

I kept hoping that the situation wasn’t as dire as it seemed—- that she’d ‘wake up’, gather her strength and flutter away, the way I’d seen so many other birds do. But that didn’t happen this time. After a few minutes, she sighed her last breath and was gone.

Her body was warm; a stark difference from the frigid morning air which surrounded us. I continued to hold her for a few minutes, stroking her feathers and appreciating the intricate details of her body. She had been strong enough to live and fly during a Missouri winter. Yet looking at her lifeless little body, it was clear that she was also shockingly fragile. One wrong move and her life had been cut short.

So many encouraging analogies have come from my garden. But today, instead of joy, it brought a tinge of sadness. It brought an unwelcome admonition; a reminder of how harsh and fragile life can be. It smacked me in the face — I am mortal. I am limited —both in the days of my life AND in the power I hold. Most things are outside of my control, regardless of how desperately I wish that were different. I can’t fix everything. In fact, I can’t even “fix” most things.

But you know what? In spite of my humanity and all my many short comings, I can choose to remain kind. I can choose to remain empathetic. I can choose to offer a helping hand where it’s needed. I can choose to provide both comfort and kindness where it’s needed. And in spite of how fragile and short life is, those choices can make me— or any of us, for that matter— incredibly powerful!

It might not feel like much during a moment of sadness— but being impactful is my definition of a life well lived. What about you?

 

Until Next Time,

 

A New Season

Posted on by mrsmonarch

Dear friend,

Fall is upon us.  This morning, as I sit from my office spot, coffee in hand, and look out over the garden, I am in awe of the beauty of the world around me. Green, gold, and crimson leaves flutter through the air and litter the yard. A family of squirrels has been busy gathering nuts while our dog Pearl goes crazy from their intrusion. My beloved hummingbird friends are visiting the feeders for the final time as they begin their journey south. One of them hovered at the window for a few seconds, as if thanking me for my generosity before bidding me farewell. Yes, I have been enjoying my days; relishing in the excitement of the changes that are coming!

Then it hit me. There were so many years in my life when I could not enjoy Fall. Though the changing colors were stunning— I was simply too wrapped up in the dread of winter to enjoy what Fall had to offer. I had to force myself to take a deep breath and then, slowly release it. Ah! That was the old me; the way I used to think— and that me is gone! Like the baby caterpillar I have talked so much about, I am changing; growing; becoming…

What a relief there is to be able to see a new season of life arrive and be joyous about it instead of fearful! Goodness, it’s taken me a lifetime to get here! Oh my Friend, I want to share the feeling; I long for others to experience it, too— but the words elude me.

The seasons aren’t the only things that are changing! This year, instead of watching it all unfold as a spectator, I am choosing to join in and make a number of changes myself! My beloved BuiltToBeAButterfly site will be among the many things in my life to receive an update. Old material is being removed; new posts, sharing fresh perspectives, will eventually be added to replace them. It is time to also consider bringing BuiltToBeAButterfly  back to social media, too, I guess— though I’ve been avoiding that as long as I can.  🙂  Keep your eyes posted!

So many of you have emailed me with kind remarks and sweet notes this past year or two. I can’t tell you how much your words have strengthened me! Courage in the face of tremendous change is not my strong suit! But your snippets of encouragement have kept me motivated to finish the good work God put me here to do. I am really excited to see what He has planned for this new—and very different—season of life.

And next—drum roll please— I am thrilled to announce that my two most recent projects—the book Lessons From My Garden, and a 30-day coordinating study guide which parallels the book, are currently in the final stages of development. I know—I told y’all that I was working on this set several years back. But, life happened and time sort of slipped away from me. All that procrastinating is behind now, though! They should both be available on Amazon in the next four to six weeks! Woo-Hoo! 

Of course, life is more fun when we can share it with friends! Please make sure you share this site, and like and follow us once we return to social media. Meanwhile, I will post updates here! Keep me in your prayers! There is still a lot of hard work to be done before I can inch across the finish line!

Until Next Time!

 

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