Make it Happen Cap’n!

Hey y'all!

I'm sure some of you have noticed, but my posts aren't the most consistent.

Go ahead all you sarcastic people say it in unison: Really??? Nooooo........

You may think: "Why does she not post perfectly on time every week or even every month for the love of consistency and all that is scheduled!?!" Just for the sake of transparency transparency though, if you're wondering why my posts are all over the place, this is a secret you might want to know. The main reason I'm hit and miss about posting while I'm doing my best to write often is, I'll be honest:

You aren't my priority.

::collective gasp::

WAIT! DON'T UNSUBSCRIBE YET!

Don't get me wrong, I love that each and everyone of you have found this, are reading this, and are supporting this ministry opportunity! Even more importantly, I care about each one of you as an individual loved by God and I really do try to make sure that is reflected in every interaction I have with you online or face to face. No matter how much I love you and want to be present, when it comes to prioritizing blog timing, I will always choose to spend time with God, my husband, my kids, and those God has placed in my immediate vicinity before spending time responding on Facebook or here on the Blog. I will also do my best (however hard it may be) to keep my house in order before spending inordinately large amounts of time working too…or at least lightly season my cleaning with the fun stuff. ;) I absolutely LOVE sharing my heart with you here, but as I've been praying about it, there's something I feel I should make perfectly clear before I go any further into this, and hopefully you'll still be with me by the end.

The Heart Behind the Art

My heart in starting HIMH was to serve God with the gifts I have, use those gifts for something that helps me and hopefully helps others, and maybe eventually be able to bless my family with some extra income if all goes well. I did not intend to spend my every spare moment reading, writing, and scheming to create a large platform for income or to perfect a business model that would make all my time worth it. My purpose is not and has never been success, income, fame, or accolades.

I'm working toward creating a resource to be utilized by other Christians...to get a better knowledge of God's Word and to continue improving that knowledge on their own

The largest part of what I'm working towards is creating a resource to be utilized by other Christians, no matter age, location, or scriptural experience, to get a better knowledge of God's Word and to learn how to continue improving that knowledge on their own as they become more comfortable—as you become more comfortable. That being said, I am not the one who will decide whether or not this venture will succeed--God will.

Whether I give him a mountain of ill-gotten efforts, or a molehill of time I had after taking care of the rest, he can use my efforts to make an unfathomable impact on this world, or he can impact one life before telling me it's time to quit. While I hope for the former, and will work toward that end until I know it's time to move on, I hope you are on the same page with me of trusting God no matter what path he chooses to take you.

If you don't like that, now you can hit unsubscribe.

Or keep reading. Your choice.

Moving On....

Phew, I'm so glad you're still reading. That was a lot and I'm excited to move forward with so much more to share! All that being said, I had several purposes in mind for starting this blog and I'd like to let you in on a couple of them.

1. Expectation for Memorization

The first was simply to reemphasize the importance of taking time to memorize scripture in an overly busy world. Memorizing is not convenient nor is it easy; it takes time and effort. It's an all-day simmered, hours of chopping meal in a microwave world; and often in the rush of microwaved burritos and 5-minute devotionals, we forget the immense satisfaction of long-term success. When was the last time a project took you more than a day or a week at most? I think the closest many of us come is doing large projects around the house, but even then we cut corners to finish more quickly, sacrificing quality for speed. I'd love for us to be reminded again and again of just how fulfilling patience and dedication to a long-term goal can be. This entire venture is a long-term goal for me and I'm praying for my own patience toward success and I appreciate all of your prayers and support along the same lines.

2. To Equip and Encourage

I’d also love for this to be a place where there are fun incentives that make memorizing fun, exciting and desirable until you begin to miss it when it’s gone and begin to want it for yourself without the incentives. Of course, it’s always fun to get incentives and rewards for doing good things but that won’t necessarily always be the case. We learn to do chores with sticker charts and prizes as children, (and sometimes we need them as adults too for the ones we don’t like!) but eventually the goal is that the cleanliness of your surroundings will be a reward in and of itself even if there isn’t an additional motivator. Paul says in Philippians 3:14 that he is running toward a prize, and while he is talking about the epic eternal prize that we are ultimately pursuing, I find it's easier to keep focused when supplementing with smaller and much less significant prizes just to remind us of what we're really aiming for…like free coloring pages, alone time, and pretty art you've created for your walls, journal, and bible.

3. Revelation and Growth!

I love lightbulbs. Not the kind with filaments or LED to brighten your house, but the idea kind. I am an idea person and I love the feeling of finding a solution or explanation that really clicks for a specific person. I choose to invest time and energy for the "Aha!" moments! I love watching eyes light up or a chin lift realizing possibilities or understanding concepts that had seemed out of reach before. If any piece of information on this blog leads to an "Aha!" moment for you, please let me know! They keep me excited to share more with you and let me know what kinds of things you're excited to hear more about! In the same way, if there's ever a difficult concept for you to grasp even vaguely within the purpose of this blog, please let me know! I'd love to address it if I can, and chances are that if there's something confusing to you, you are not the only one.

And with that, I’m signing off to go spend a quality day with my kids and enjoy the smell of fall and the rain in the air. :)

Blessings!

Ellie