Changing of the Seasons

I’m not sure why day by day it seems like nothing changes, then one day you look around and it seems like everything is different?

In Charleston the summer is long and hot; it can sometimes feel oppressive. Similar to how some people long for spring in colder climates, I relish in the relief we get in September and October from the August heat. The fall is my favorite time of year in Charleston.

As I was walking around my neighborhood the other day, it finally started to feel like fall (or, at least what fall feels like here). 60 degrees and sunny - absolutely beautiful.

As I was walking, I noticed (surprisingly) that some leaves had even started to change. And I felt so peaceful and grateful.

On my walk, I was reminded of how God is in control of everything — from the changing of the weather and the seasons to what might seem like mundane aspects of my everyday life. Although I have a part to play in God’s plan, it’s humbling and encouraging to be reminded that God is the one who makes the world go round, who makes the trees change color, who controls the seasons year after year after year.

And although this process happens every year, it’s still so easy for me to get lost in my daily tasks and miss what’s right in front of me. Even if you’re mindful of change, it is easier to see when you step back or take a break from things.

I’m not sure why I realized that things have changed or are changing, but I’m grateful for the awareness that God gave me. I can just feel it in the air, things are or are going to be different. And I’m excited for what’s next.

While God has control of the whole world, our choices and actions are still important in how we choose to glorify Him. On my walk I was thinking — as everything around me physically changes, am I changing? Am I growing for the better over time, day by day, as God changes everything around me?

I can do my part to make intentional choices to change myself for the better over time. But I can also rest in knowing that God is the one who is changing my heart — it is Him in me who is truly changing my character. It is my job to step out in faith into what he’s calling me to.

So here I go, stepping out in faith. Something that I think he’s called me to since I was a kid — writing and creating. But rather than for my own glory, it is for His.

My blogging journey began when I was a sophomore in college. All thanks to my friend, Lauren Carter, who introduced me to the wide world of blogging. I had a blog just for fun, all about my style — which has certainly evolved over the years. You can check out the archives of The Land of Style and Sass here.

As with many things in my life, something that was just for fun turned into just for work. “If I’m going to be spending so much time on something, shouldn’t be making money from it?” So in 2016, I took a hiatus from my blog with the intention to relaunch a more “intentional” blog with the goal of monetizing it.

Fast forward to college graduation, my first full-time job, my second full-time job and a move to another state…I still hadn’t started my blog, but I’d never stopped thinking about it. God was persistent with the idea sticking with me, and yet I continued to make excuses. But in His perfect timing, COVID hit and there were no more excuses for me NOT to create my blog.

So in 2020, I launched Go Getter Gal, a blog about reaching your full potential in the niche of self-development. A lot of business advice recommends that you NICHE DOWN! NICHE DOWN! Find your specialty and sell that. And while this is good advice, the only thing I thought I was an “expert” in was being a go-getter — trying hard at whatever it was that I set my mind to.

And I set my mind not just to a blog, but a YouTube channel too. It was a lot of work and I learned a lot in a short period of time. But after a conversation with my mentor, I began to think critically — if I was investing this much time in my blog, how was I going to monetize it? Rather than continuing to post for the sake of posting, I took a step back and evaluated my options. How could I make money on my site sooner (rather than making money years down the road if I ever grew my YouTube following)?

And by some way or another (truly the grace of God) I stumbled upon a blogger I followed who had worked with a life coach. Life coaching…realizing your full potential, setting goals, time management…that sounds like me! So I scheduled a call with Alexandra from Grace Spaced Christian Coaching and started working with her for the next few months.

Through coaching with Alexandra, I gained clarity about my next steps of pursuing a life coaching certification for myself. I signed up for classes with the Professional Christian Coaching Institute (an International Coaching Federation (ICF) accredited organization…we can talk more about that later). I hit the ground running with classes in January of 2021 through August of 2021. And got engaged in the middle of it :-) I’m not sure what I was thinking at the time, but when you know, you know ☺️  and despite the busy season of life, there was truly no real reason to wait.

During my time of coaching with Alexandra, I realized that filming and editing a video every week and writing a blog post for Go Getter Gal was not sustainable for that season of life… My priorities changed for how I wanted to spend my time once I realized I found “the one” 😍  Sappy, I know. (But still practical! Making values-based decisions is important — and how you spend your time is one of the biggest indicators of your priorities and values. But that’s another story for another day:).

The old truism that “the only thing constant is change” certainly fits for the past two years of my life. Over the past two years, I got engaged and married, completed my life coaching classes, bought a house with my husband, we got a dog, my husband and I both changed jobs, we changed churches, and I made a new best friend.

Not everything is rainbows and butterflies — in the joys of marriage there’s also an adjustment period, buying a house was an extremely difficult and trying process for us, while we’re grateful for new opportunities for our careers, it’s still a challenging change to navigate, in moving churches we mourned the loss of our past church, and although making a new friend is a great blessing, it came months after some of my closest friends had moved away.

With this blog, I will strive to bring a balance between the highs and the lows of life and share how I’m finding joy in the journey.

As I reflect on how God has worked in my life over the past few years, and truly over my lifetime, I am filled with gratitude at how He has orchestrated everything together for my good and His glory.

In the moment, it can be difficult to see what God is doing or how something fits into your story. But when you look back, you can see just how much has changed and the goodness of God through it all.