Why in the world do you blog, Beth? Good question… I’ve asked myself that several times when sitting at my computer at 2 a.m.!
I recently listened to a podcast where a woman by the name of Penelope Trunk got all up in the business of a blogger by the name of Steve, from Ending the Grind. Literally, I swear her foot went right through his butt and landed on mine! She kept asking him what is your goal? It was as though she was up in my face, shaking her finger, and asking me – “Beth, what is your goal?” It’s not like I’d never been asked this question before. Marcus Sheridan, from The Sales Lion asked me the same question, and all I could do was stutter… I had no clear direction! If you need a good slap in the face, I highly recommend listening to it… but warning… it’s not for the thin skinned!
Why am I blogging? Why do I have a website? What if nothing changes a year from now? Is it worth it? Who the heck cares? Yep, all that and more were reeling through my brain at warp speed! I sat there just dazed, and the interview wasn’t even mine! I’d just been slapped via osmosis!
After some time to think and pray, I’ve had time to see a definitive goal… My goal, which I believe is directed by God, has always been, and still is, to speak to women. To share my life, and what I’ve learned, in order to help draw others closer to a Jesus. To show people God isn’t a religion boxed up in some church, but He’s relational, real, and passionate about us! To share that He isn’t a God waiting for us to get our lives right so we can hang out, but that He’s a God who likes to hang out with screwed up people!
The blog… well, this is part of that path. I never intended to blog in order to make money… in fact, I didn’t even know that was possible until I started reading Steve’s blog Ending the Grind, that goes to show you how naive I was at all of this… No, I blog to speak. It is my platform right now. I do travel and speak as the doors open, but right now I am committed to another job, raising my children. Everything I do I balance in light of that. Right now, I can’t be gone every weekend speaking, because I am a stay-at-home mom! It was the first call God put on my life, and the first job He personally hand picked me to do. So, why would I think He’d give me another job, if I’m not even faithful with this one?
With that being said, ladies, you might hear me speak/teach sporadically throughout the year as the Lord opens doors, but until then you can hear me speak every Tuesday and Friday right here through this blog!
Now that I have my sights clearly set on the goal ahead, it feels like God is dusting off the steps only as I need to take them. I’ve shared some of those steps in my post Here Comes the Rain; however, right now I am working hard at being diligent with what God has placed in my hands at this moment. Oh, and daily I die to myself as I work at not being discouraged because the comments are low, or the shares are sparse! I just keep reminding myself that in due season, God will give me what I can handle! I just need to be faithful in the little! (Luke 16:10)
Let us not not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up! Gal. 6:9
Let’s Chat: After all, this is why I do this… so we can talk! What is the hardest part about setting clear goals? Do you have dreams that you are trying to balance with responsibilities? Share how you keep yourself in check. As always your interaction keeps me typing! 🙂
The hardest part for me is making sure that my goals are from God and not something in my own agenda. Then its not getting frustrated that I don’t meet the goals because they weren’t God-inspired in the first place.
I do have dreams but feel I can’t even begin to obtain these dreams until my kids are out of high school and until my other dream of being debt-free (minus the house) is achieved I need to work full time. Then I can work on my big dream, a coffee house. With working full time I sometimes struggle in maintaining a balance with work and family responsibilities let alone add working towards that dream…like developing a business plan, working on skills that would be needed and so forth. I feel like this dream, that I truly feel is from God is so far away from where I’m at it seems impossible to even think I could get there.
Thanks for the great blog.
Jennifer, thanks for the comment. Here is a thought, what if the dream is in progress now? What if your faithful diligence with your children is your prep so you won’t give up in the development stages of the coffee shop? What if learning to be debt-free is so that the coffee shop lasts, grows, and is profitable. What if your full-time job, your full-time mothering, and your full-time dreaming is a refining process to prepare you to be the business owning minister that you will be?
I think the lie we buy off on is that we are waiting for something to end so that something can begin. When in all reality we are working towards it every day. I’ve never known God to stop and do nothing until we arrive to do something! He’s always at work in and around us, preparing us for what is to come and using us right where we are at!
When I first started blogging on my parenting site it was like therapy. I never expected anyone to read it. Now I know thousands have. I need to shape up!
The Penelope Trunk Podcast was awesome. It’s so true. We glide through life defining which tactic we want to adopt next or which hurdle want to quash but they aren’t goals. Defining goals is uncomfortable, difficult but OH SO necessary!
Ameena! Thanks for stopping by. I love…
Really, I never looked at it as though they weren’t goals, but tactics! Brilliant! I have so been enjoying reading your blog as well as your husbands! Have an awesome weekend!
Hi Beth,
Thanks for the mention here and I’m so glad to hear that you were able to see yourself in my shoes. At the time, I had no idea that her message would resonate so well with so many people. I love that people are asking themselves the hard questions now!
You’ve got a very powerful message to share and it’s wonderful that you seem to have found your voice. I too will be focusing on the role of God in my life and I’ll be visiting your blog more frequently now (hopefully men are welcome too)!
Good luck on your personal journey….
Steve Roy,
Hey Steve! Thanks for stopping by… and absolutely men are welcome! I’m excited when God stirs our hearts! He has designed us with such perfectly fitted gifts and when we grab hold of them we are limitless!