Tag: #encourager

Iron Sharpens Iron

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It was years ago when I first saw one of SC Lourie’s memes and thought, ‘I want to make memes that look like that.’ They are beautiful and well loved. She designs her own paper, so there’s a lot more here than meets the eye.

I’ve mastered the art of making memes, but they don’t look like hers. It more than the paper, it’s the words poured out onto it.

I couldn’t duplicate her heart.

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She was the main reason I rejoined Facebook one year ago. To support her in her FB group for the November Soul Reset.

At some point this year she asked if I would assist her on Facebook. It’s an honor to be there for her in pursuit of her dream. Our friendship has grown into trust and a mutual admiration. She sent me her End of the Year Soul Reset as a thank you.

To celebrate where we stand.

We need to hang out with souls who inspire us. We never know where the path may lead. This began as a love for memes and believing hers to be extraordinary. We’re present for one another because even the Encourager needs encouragement.

Iron sharpens iron.

 

Fill Yourself Up

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I’ve been a Virtual Assistant for a friend in California for 5 years. I take care of one of his businesses online every weekend. It’s not a hard job, but I do it because I value him as a friend. I’ve known him for 20 years, and this job allows me to stay home with my daughter, and earn income. He was my mentor years ago, and taught me phone skills.

The job I do for him doesn’t require phone skills. It’s all online. This new job is because of my phone skills, which haven’t been used in 10 years. It’s fun dusting them off.

Everything we do, if we do it long enough, gives us a skill.

I mentioned in yesterday’s Blog post finding the unopened motivational CD in my briefcase. It has since been opened, and listened to, and I’m listening to one as I type. If you’re young, we listened to inspirational CD’s before podcasts.

You see, if you are a leader, you have to feed yourself.

My daughter mentioned she doesn’t have a lot of friends who encourage her, but they look to her for encouragement. She is learning about being a leader. I told her about the CD’s, and said, “Encouragement is widely available, but sometimes you need to go find it.”

Read a book, listen to a podcast, or just tell one of your peeps, you need some love! People don’t think the leader needs encouragement, but we do. We don’t expect it, and we’re not the best at receiving compliments, but the encourager can run low on encouragement. If you feel like you’re running on empty, take time to go fill yourself up.

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Quitting My Circumstances

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My daughter spent most of the day in her room. She hasn’t done that in years, or not since we moved out on our own. She walked out of her room and asked, “So, when are you going to quit this job?” Her Mother was unrecognizable, sitting in a vat of misery. So, that’s what I did.

Since taking this job, which began as helping someone out of a tight spot, I have noticed a few things about myself that I didn’t like. I have been a Virtual Assistant by trade, but this job escalated way beyond that. I won’t bore you with all the details, but let’s just say I was under micromanagement. I can do my job, but the person who hires me has to let me.

The last email of many I received today caught my eye. He had listed all my responsibilities, and wanted to ensure this was a pleasant experience for both of us. I had agreed to answer the phone, return voicemail, and schedule appointments. Very basic. This list was not basic, so I hit reply, and told him he needed a full time assistant. He needed someone else.

Then I told him, “This is not pleasant.”

My world got very quiet after that reply was sent. It was so good to hear the silence.

I walked across the room to my personal laptop and pulled up my Letitgocoach Facebook page. While I had been sitting in a daze, God had been on Facebook. I had 99+ notifications in a two hour time span. I clicked on them, and to my surprise, this one lady had liked and shared over 50 of my posts. I pulled up her page, just to see if what was happening was real.

It was like God was saying…”See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19. Taking this job was not a new thing. It was old because I have gone down this road before. The only thing that has changed from the last time I helped, is me.

This Ain’t Easy

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If you had $20 to your name, how would you spend it? Years ago, I would spend that money on diapers. Today, I would spend $13 on my favorite candle, and the rest would be a toss up between a Pumpkin Spice Latte, or actual food.

Does that sound silly? I try to be a good steward of everything God gives me, including money. I think He knows, there are a lot of small things I would rather buy before food. It’s just not that important to me. A home that smells like fall from an amazing candle? The moment of savoring my favorite fall coffee drink? Those are important to me.

faithIt’s not easy living in the calling God gives you. God put a desire in me to write and that is what I do. Is it perfect grammar? I’m from Texas, it ain’t gonna be perfect.

I know one of my God given gifts is an Encourager. God prompted me once my legal separation began to start writing publicly. I have always kept a journal, but He wanted to show people my life. Walking through alcoholism and a divorce wasn’t easy, but it was possible. That is all my daughter and I need. Possible.

It is all thanks to God. He gets all the glory for it and that is what I’m here to share.

I’ve had the life of get up, take kids to school, go to work, pick kids up, eat dinner, go to bed and start all over. When it was time for my son to attend high school, the thought horrified me. He was such a good kid, I was afraid he would be eaten alive, so I homeschooled him. Then my daughters school closed down after her 3rd grade year, and I chose to homeschool her. That was the beginning of quality of life for us.sky

When she was younger, I would take her to work with me. As she got older, employers started to frown upon that, so God opened a door for me to work from home. When she turned 13, the beginning of her teenage years, I worked virtually for a friend of mine in California and still do, part time. It was less hours and less money, but the rewards!

That was when I found it to be true that we can make better choices and have a better life. My daughter took this picture of the sky behind our house. She goes outside almost everyday between 6 and 7 pm. The time she goes out depends on the colors reflecting in the house from outside. It’s the beauty factor that gets her attention.

This morning, I was going through a file I have for her in my email. In it was an email she sent a year ago, wishing me a Happy Birthday. The words that jumped off the page this morning were, “I want to be like you when I grow up.” This humbled me as gratitude just spilled out for this beautiful life God has given us. Once again, this must be God.
 

Back To Basics

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God has given my daughter and me a beautiful life. This Blog is that journey of the lessons learned and divine intervention along the way. I sit here this evening with a heart full of love and gratitude for you reading my Blog.

Cannon RebelSL1 006 edit (500x490)I’m an ordinary woman, living an extraordinary life.  Why? Because almost 17 years ago, my alcoholism was killing me and destroying what looked to be a beautiful life. The fancy cars, house on the hill, jewelry, designer clothes and one dinner party after another. The status quo.

The morning of November 10th, I handed my wine glass to God, half full at the time, and have not desired another drink since.

This picture is my life today. My daughter and I recently moved into this quaint little farm house and we’re sharing this new beginning, again.

He started our monumental new beginning 2 years ago and you can read about it throughout this site. If you want to see how pretty life can be, take a look at my Facebook page. All the pretty pictures are there. I’m not independently wealthy, but I have a God that has given me a life more beautiful than any amount of money can buy.

I am starting a little series of Blogs this week and invite you to join in. They will be listed under the category of “Quality of Life” and  “Stealing My Joy.” I love to show people they can have quality of life without quantity. God showed me a long time ago how much joy I received taking care of all my stuff. I had a lot of stuff but no joy.

Today, I want to reach as many people as possible and encourage them through their life. What I write about is whatever God puts on my heart to share. Right now, He is showing me I need to clean house and get back to the basics of living. It’s going to be a great adventure to live it and an honor to write it. Feel free to join in and share.

 

blackandwhiteBarbara is a writer and loves being a Mom to her 15 year old daughter. It’s a dream come true for her to be a Let It Go Coach and help others enjoy their lives. She hosts Workshops, does one on one Coaching and is working on her first book.  You may connect with her via email. Letitgocoach@gmail.com

 

What Am I

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I am a private person. A private person with a passion for helping others. That doesn’t make much sense, but today God yanked me out of my box. I sat here taking the simplest of steps and watching as God does what only He can do.

blogI am a child of the one true King. He leads and guides my steps as long as I let Him. It’s easy to step in the way and try to run the show myself, but that normally doesn’t end well! Today, He grabbed me and started running. It was all I could do to keep up and it was mind blowing!

Two years ago I went through a process of shedding the old me and welcoming the new. Sorting through my past and keeping only what was beneficial. Afterwards, I was offered the opportunity to become a Coach of Letting Go. That was two years ago and we’re just now getting started.

The process took time and getting certified did too. A year ago I created this Blog spot and named it Letitgocoach. Finding the name started by using the words Let It Go, but none of those were available so I mashed it all together with Coach and it took. I had become a Letitgocoach by name.blog1

Then came the Facebook page. A year ago again, I created a community for people to be encouraged. It has grown over time and is just starting to really get noticed. Someone from that page contacted me. He asked me what prompted me to start it, so I told him, ‘God did. I’m an encourager and I’m a Coach.’ He had no clue by looking at the page that I am a Coach.

I went into the settings of the page and pulled the three words together that said, ‘Let It Go’. and added ‘Coach’. I changed the category from ‘Community’ to ‘Coach’. When I clicked ‘save changes’, it reloaded and my page transformed into saying ‘Letitgocoach‘, and that I am a ‘Coach’.

It changed right before my eyes. There are other Coaches out there that do similar work as me, but only one Letitgocoach. When we step into God’s will, He will show us what we need to become everything He has planned. I guess He saved that one word for me.

 

blackandwhiteBarbara is a writer and loves being a Mom to her 15 year old daughter. It’s a dream come true for her to be a Let It Go Coach and helping others enjoy their lives. She hosts Workshops, does one on one Coaching and is working on her first book.  You may connect with her via email. Letitgocoach@gmail.com