Well, well, well....
What a time to be alive.
I was going to continue my pattern of a post-per-month but it's July 24 and since my virtue for July is "Completion" I say that it's better done than perfect. You can see the other posts here: The Virtue Project.
So here we go.
April: Surrender
In April, I turned 25! It was probably (no exaggeration) the best birthday of my life. I have never, ever felt so loved, celebrated, cherished and known. I received cards and packages and spent hours on FaceTime with my best friends. I hosted a Zoom yoga fundraiser class for Children's Miracle Network and got to see even more friends. It was the best.
I chose surrender because a) I love the surrender novena and b) birthdays always bring a sense of needing to surrender. There's something about 25 that just kind of freaked me out - but only for a moment because very very quickly God said "I got you."
In fact, on my birthday, I prayed and asked God what I could do with this year that would be most honoring to Him. And he responded: Start. In prayer, an idea began to crystalize and two days later, he gave me a name: The SundayMonday. I got to work on this new online community, designed to equip and empower women to be bold in faith, work and life.
May: Order
This came from the fact that quarantine has literally no order. I was rolling out of bed, working, going for walks, and still struggling to pray. So, the whole idea of Order was putting God first. Before social media, before looking at the news, before all of my distractions. It actually went well - I think. To be honest, I don't remember much of May...
Like, even looking for photographic evidence there's literally NOTHING. I took a lot of walks. We drove to Virginia for Sunday Mass (which was actually incredibly exciting and I looked forward to the adventure all week). Yep, looking at photos and pretty much all I did was walk.
Actually - no! May was the month that I worked my booty off to get The SundayMonday ready to launch! Wow, what a month. Recruiting writers, coding a website, launching an Instagram - exhausting. Exciting. And completely powered by the Holy Spirit.
In May, I also took a surprise trip home to visit my family. That was so good. I saw my brothers and kitten and just laid out on my lawn and stared at the sky.
June: Honesty
Okay, this one sounds sketch but that's because it kind of is. I really needed to work on my honesty. No, I wasn't running around lying to everyone, but I wasn't being completely honest either. When people asked me to do things, I didn't take time to check in with myself. I buried my feelings and exhaustion and everything and just went with the flow. June was a month of honesty. And you know what I learned? People actually respond pretty dang well to honesty. I hate hurting feelings and really try to be seen as "nice" but ultimately that can be more hurtful than just being honest.
So the June focus was honesty. Was I perfect? Heck no - I'd be lying if I said I was (wink). But I tried, actively, to be honest. And, just like all of these virtues, they build on one another. So, we're still working on it.
In June I moved, went home to see my family, visited Yosemite and Lake Tahoe, and launched the SundayMonday. It was the most eventful of the past few months, as things started to open up.
July: Completion
Again, it's still July!! So I have six days to get this down. Man, I love to start things and I don't always love to follow through.
What does this look like? Responding to texts, responding to emails, calling people back, finishing projects, finishing books, finishing prayer before getting distracted - you name it. I want to honor God with my actions and my plans. That means your girl needs to really pray about stuff before jumping in headfirst. I need to be sure to discern God's will for my life and grow closer to Him, so that when I am called to do something, I run into it with joy and energy and enthusiasm. For example: the entire SundayMonday process was wonderful. I was so excited and focused and determined - and I truly think that's because God was with me on that.
So yes, we're getting better.
Alright folks, that's it. If you haven't checked out The SundayMonday yet, do so here! And subscribe to the weekly newsletter where you can read an email from me every Tuesday on faith, work and life.
Love y'all! Hopefully it won't be four months until I'm back.
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