Monday, October 31, 2016

Dreams, Fears, Miss Mustard Seed, and Me

I am going to shamelessly plug my blog today. I have this weird accountant person hiding somewhere in me and she is a numbers person. I try to keep her medicated with good chocolate but recently, when looking at some stats on the blog, I realized that after two and half years of blogging I have a grand total of 37 precious followers-I picked up a new one this week! I would guess most of you are family, (except my family is not that big). It is my own fault really. I have not added one of those pop-up things on the blog that prompt visitors to sign up partly because I have not taken the time to learn how to do it and partly because I didn't want to bother my readers and partly because I didn't want to feel like a failure for not putting out posts as often as the bloggers I follow. It's pressure!

After meeting Miss Mustard Seed, (oh, yes I did!), a few weeks ago I am rethinking my thinking.


Not the best photo of me but she is just so cute!

At a recent 'meet and greet' a group of women sat around a table asking questions of her and she was so very gracious to share with us, throwing out ideas as she listened to where each of us were in our creative endeavors.


Miss Mustard Seed, Marian Parsons, at Signature Finishes in Grafton, MA. The
 display behind her is Miss Mustard Seed paint.

There was one common thread in each woman's answer, including mine, whenever she asked "Why don't you ________?" That blank was whatever would seem the next step in marketing our creativeness.  The answers: "I'm scared.", "that scares me", "I am afraid", "I'm worried", "It terrifies me". Every woman that answered said basically the same thing! So what are we afraid of? Failure...is that what we are afraid of?

Marian Parsons, aka Miss Mustard Seed, did not point that out but spoke about her parents' encouragement during her childhood. If she failed at something or found out she didn't like something or wasn't good at it -she just did something else. As I listened it started sounding like bells pealing in my ears. I was convicted.

II Timothy 1:7 "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." and Romans 8:31 "If God is for us, who can be against us?" 

Now, don't misunderstand me, I know that these passages of Scripture are not talking about my desire to do something I love while making money at it. I am afraid I may fail, so much so that I have procrastinated on even trying to figure out what direction to move in. One thing is certain; if I do nothing I will have failed-100%. If I step out, I may fail but then I can just try something else. Right? I have a lot of different interests...I can't stink at all of them, right? And, maybe I will find the ones I really want to spend time improving upon. I am blessed with a husband that will support me and provides me the resources to pursue my wacky thoughts.

There will be some changes on the blog. Maybe you will notice them and maybe not. It will be a slow go as change for me is always a hard thing. (I know, you would never know it by looking at my home.) Big things, though....a different story for me. I still feel scared. Even writing this post to you is giving me a little case of butterflies. Accountability! Will you be reading this blog in a year saying to yourself "I thought she was going to make some changes, she failed." Maybe. 

There is one thing I do not want change.  I do not want to ever do anything with this blog that will keep me from speaking truthfully about my faith when the occasion arises or the moods hits me. It is the biggest part of who I am and why I am. Anything creative in me is only because I have been made in the image of the Creator, my heavenly Father, and the ways I am allowed to display that creativity are a gift.

So, all that to say this: if you have not signed up to follow the blog pleeaase consider doing so using the box under the "About Me" section to the right of this post. An email will be sent to you when there is a new post on the blog! You can also follow my on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram and Pinterest accounts. I am not nearly as savvy as I would like to be on any of those social media sites but I am learning. 

Thanks for stopping by, taking to time to listen and thank you, in advance, for signing up!

Linky Partyies: 
About A Chick, Savvy Southern Style, The Blissful Bee, DIY By Design, Ducks n' a Row. Poofing the Pillows, A Cup of Mrs. Olson, Imparting Grace, Chic On A Shoestring, Pieced Pastimes, Christian Blogger Community

14 comments:

  1. I am a reader of your blog and enjoy it immensely. I did indeed sign up to receive emails on your new posts some time ago. Your post today caught my attention because when you mentioned having only 37 followers I thought, that can't be right, and I had to look. Sure enough your stat on your sidebar says 37 followers. Well I guess when I signed up for emails I never signed up through blogger to follow you so I didn't count as a reader. Why am I bothering to comment? I thought you should know you probably have many readers who signed up for emails but didn't get counted as followers on blogger so there are more of us than you realize. I don't know if there is a way for you to get an actual count of those who read your words through email but I will sign on as a follower so you may notice your number jump to 38. Keep sharing and posting, your readers love hearing from you!

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    1. Ahh, the power of numbers to deceive us or encourage us! Thank you for letting me know about that little hiccup in the system. I am thankful that anyone reads my ramblings and so much more that you all bothered to sign up to hear from me whenever my fingers and brain manage to work together to write a post. Thank you for taking the time to stop by, thank you following. Have a blessed day!

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  2. Hi Jolena, I just started following you this past week through emails, so I don't know if I have been counted either as Diva Kreszl has noted. You got me at "I am a daughter of the King". And now you just used two of my most favorite scriptures! Romans 8:31 is the one verse I clung to growing up. I am now in my upper 60's and just added the 2 Timothy 1:7 to memory. Growing is what God has gifted us with as well as our talents, what ever they may be. We are so truly blessed by God. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Blessings and smiles, Emilou 😊

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    1. Hi, Sister Emilou! Thank you following! God is so good to work through his Word to strengthen and encourage us, to rebuke, redirect and grow us. I was notified of your following and that combined with my Miss Mustard Seed encounter worked together to inspire this post. I am grateful for your reaching out to me. Through it the Lord reminds me again that I do not know where this all will go or who he will touch through it...but he does and that should be enough.

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  3. I'm your newest follower and I wanted to write you a private email but did not find a contact email.

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    1. Hi, Bonnie. You can email me at whileilinger@gmail.com

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  4. You are very talented Jolena. Go for it!!

    I don't think the followers reflect the number of people actually reading your blog these days. There are so many ways that a person can follow your blog including having their own list that they check daily. Don't sweat the followers. Just do your thing and you'll grow. :)

    Did you see that you are featured at Thoughts of Home today? Growing.

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    1. I did see that, Stacey! Thank you for the reminder to keep my eyes off the numbers and for the encouragement.

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  5. You are a talented gal and should not be afraid of failure. I have always been taught that it's what makes us who we are. If everything went smooth sailing what fun would life be. Failure can be humbling and brings us to our knees. Love following you! Fun that you got to meet Miss Mustard Seed. Truly an amazing gal! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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    1. Aww, thank you, Jann. Miss Mustard Seed is an amazing gal, to be sure. Thank you for following and for taking time to leave me such a kind and encouraging compliment. On my knees... yes, not a bad place to be.

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  8. I just love Miss Mustard Seed and have always been inspired by her! What a blessing to actually be able to meet her. I'm realizing as a Christian Blogger just how much the enemy tries to deter us by using fear. To hear so many women of faith say it out loud is a clue to how much of an epidemic it is. I look forward to getting to know you better.

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    1. Hi Natalie! Thanks for stopping by and spending time with me today. Boy, oh, boy are you right about the enemy and the tactics used by him. I am constantly reminded that my fear is ultimately sin because my Father has told me to "fear not". Would that my little, wimpy heart would learn that He is faithful and oh, how I long for the day that every thought is brought captive to Christ. Spent some time over at Milk and Honey Faith today. I will be sure to visit often. Praising the Lord for blogging sisters using their gifts to exalt our King!

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