Guest Post: Mattanah from This Same Purpose!

Hi friends! I am ELATED to have my friend Mattanah on the blog from This Same Purpose! Mattanah and I recently met on a bloggers' Facebook group and became fast friends. Her heart for Jesus is inspiring! Today Mattanah will be sharing about Identity. Take it away Mattanah :) 

Where Is Your Identity?

Mattanah DeWitt

Hello, Forever Convinced readers / new friends! My name is Mattanah. I recently met Jessica on a bloggers’ Facebook group and she offered for me to write a guest post on her blog. I was honored, and of course, said yes! Also, she just wrote a post for my blog, This Same Purpose, so click the link to check it out!). 

Identity. It’s a broad and important topic, and there’s no way I have all the wisdom and knowledge, but I do have a little experience. So, I’d like to share part of my story with you: two lessons God’s love has taught me about who I am.

Lesson One.

I learned this lesson during an uncomfortable time in my life, a time when I had no direction. I felt I wasn’t good at anything, that I didn’t belong anywhere. It seemed everyone except me had a knack for something. In my church/homeschool group, people either sang, played music, or played sports. And it didn’t take me long to discover that I wasn’t good at ANY of those. I was out of place. I tried to fit in, but by trying to fit in, I ended up below par in everything. Being so focused on doing what I (thought I) wanted to do, I couldn’t see past my own definition of success to God’s, which was much bigger than mine.

Finally, I got tired of being someone besides Mattanah. I knew God had created me for something. And I also knew that if I never figured out what that was, I sure didn’t want to pretend anymore. I was being dishonest about my own character and didn’t enjoy it.

One of the moms in my church knew a little bit about my struggle. I’ll never forget the day she came up to me and said this (paraphrased):

There’s a song by Casting Crowns, “Lifesong,” that I’ve chosen to live my life by, and maybe it will help you too. The chorus says, “Let my lifesong sing to you.” Every person’s life sings a song to God. As long as it makes Him happy, it doesn’t matter what other people, or you, think of it. God will show you what He wants you to do. But for now, just know that your life’s song makes Him happy.

It was such a relief hearing those words. Someone understood what I was feeling! And usually, empathy aggravated me more than it helped. But not this time. It was exactly what I needed to hear. However, I came to my breaking point when I was so exasperated one day that I asked God, “WHO am I?!” Very quietly and softly, He whispered to my heart, “You’re mine.” I burst into tears. In that moment, healing found me. In that moment, the Father showered me with His peace. It was more than enough just to be His. I had been so afraid of losing myself and had clung so tightly to who I thought I was, when it was losing myself to Christ that brought the truth of my identity to light in a radical way. I had been saved, but was still in chains. He set me free, and I’ve never been the same since.

After I began to find joy in simply belonging to HIM, God showed me what I was good at! He opened doors – no, floodgates – of opportunity, and gave me permission to explore. For example, I became the President of Student Leadership Association. I started my blog. I competed in a pageant and won the title of 2014 Miss Tennessee National Teenager. I never thought I would compete in a pageant, but it was a platform God gave me and I ran with it (I’m telling you – floodgates!). I even started a small ministry for young women by creating the Queens in the Making Conference. Keep in mind, all this was God’s working in me, for His glory. I can’t take credit for any of it. The only part I had was surrendering.

During this time, I learned more about the Father. I learned that He wants me to always be in a place of dependence upon Him. I remember praying that He would put me in situations where I had to live by a “crazy kind of faith” – a faith that seems irrational and too extreme, a faith that WORKS! (Hebrews 11:6). And He did. Jesus taught me how to get out of my comfort zone, to walk on the waves and keep my eyes on Him. Trusting Him completely was like being a 4-year-old, jumping into the deep end, and believing that my Daddy would catch me. Scary? Yes. The most exhilarating, wonderful way to live life? Absolutely.

This life is a journey, and we won’t arrive until we behold Jesus, the King of kings. So of course, I had more to learn. This leads to Lesson two.

Lesson Two.

Just to be honest, lesson two was a (recent) repeat of lesson one, and it’s something I need to remind myself of every day. In the first lesson, my identity had been wrapped up in what I could or couldn’t do. The Father showed me that the only way to have peace is to find myself in Christ. Then, I began to discover what God had gifted me to do, which was awesome! But in all the positions, titles, projects, church services, etc., I began to make Christianity my identity. I still loved God and was passionate about His Kingdom, but my focus was a little off. I didn’t like not having it all together. And that’s a problem since Jesus wants me to always be in a place of dependence upon Him. Again, God had to teach me that the only way to have peace is to find myself in Christ (Philippians 4:7).

I had begun to mentor young women and they were leaning on me. My gut response was to think I need to be strong for them, but that wasn’t true. My strength wouldn’t be enough for them. If my advice made them dependent upon me and not Jesus, I failed. Even though they were leaning on me, that didn’t take away the fact that I still needed to lean on Jesus. We’re all in need of His strength. I’ll never be able to do it by myself, and to believe that I can is plain ole’ pride. II Corinthians 12:9 says that in our weakness, HE is strong. How will people see the grace of God if they don’t see it demonstrated in people who need it? I needed and still need His grace. During this lesson, I realized that I had made my faith my foundation – not Jesus.

Let me make this clear: it’s not enough to go to church. You and I NEED to sit at Jesus’s feet. We need to allow ourselves to be broken before Him and realize that even though we still have a lot to learn, God loves us and is with us right where we are. 

The more God teaches me of Himself and reveals His love to me, the more I see that it isn’t about me. It’s all about Jesus. And I experience the most joy, peace, and contentment when I stop concerning myself with myself and start focusing on HIM! Because only when I begin to only look at Jesus do I find my identity.

No matter who you are or what season of life you find yourself in today, know this: Jesus loves you! We hear that so much that it sometimes seems like religious rhetoric. But it’s the truth. Would you dare to believe the Father’s beautiful thoughts about you and know that they don’t change based on your current circumstances? He loves you right where you are. If you try to find your identity in your position, your talents, your relationship status, your job, etc., you’ll live an empty life. God doesn’t look at those things when He sees you. He looks at your heart, and He whispers, “You’re mine.”

Mattanah is a passionate gal with big dreams. Her heart is to live for Jesus and show His love to the world by utilizing the gifts He has given her and by putting to action the ambitions He has planted in her heart. Mattanah has served in various leadership positions, including the title she received in 2014, Miss Tennessee National Teenager. She is an entrepreneur and visionary at heart and is the owner/operator of her photography business, Photography by Mattanah. She considers it a hobby that pays - not a job. Born a Midwesterner and raised a Southerner, Mattanah enjoys the best of both worlds (i.e. drinking TN sweet tea while eating IA corn-on-the-cob). She loves meeting new people, making things look pretty, the outdoors, and chocolate.

Follow Mattanah's blog as well as her social media pages and you will NOT be disappointed! She is amazing and so encouraging!

Blog: http://www.thissamepurpose.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mattanahdewitt/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattanah

My fear of being alone

Hey friends! How are the each of you doing? I am enjoying my last days of summer until I begin training for graduate school in a couple of weeks.

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Today I woke up and began thinking about this blog of mine that I love so much. I love how I have grown through my relationship with God by making this blog and writing out different posts. I don't know why though, but for some reason lately I haven't had much of a desire to write posts for my blog. It's been driving me crazy that I've been feeling this way, so today I decided today to ask the Lord to reignite the flame in my heart to start writing blog posts again. So here I am now, writing a post to my lovely blog friends and updating y'all on my life. 

A couple of weeks ago, I found out that I was going to be alone in my new house for about a month until school started. This initially made me very upset, because I was so used to having at least one of my roommates around.  I was angry at God when this news came, and I selfishly questioned why He would want me to be alone. "Why are you DOING this to me God?!" "Don't you want me to be around other Christians?!" Although I did have a big community of other Christians in town who I could hang out with for the remainder of the summer, I felt that it was more important for me to at least be living with other people. I didn't want to be by myself, and I didn't understand why God, who knew me better than anyone else, would want me to be living by myself for the remainder of the summer. 

Up until the very moment where I was officially alone in our house, I was scared to death of what it would feel like to be alone. God had given me the clear answer in my heart by letting me know that He indeed did want me to stay where I was for the rest of the summer, but what I wanted to know was WHY  He wanted me to be all by myself. I didn't understand what God was doing, so I did what I guess any normal human being would do: worry. What would I do by myself? Was God doing this to me because He was mad at me? I was an emotional wreck and my mind was all over the place, and I wasn't giving God any chance whatsoever to let in His perspective on the situation.

When I was finally alone and living by myself, at first I felt very uncomfortable, and also pretty lonely. I didn't like not having someone to talk to when I came home at random times throughout the day, or having someone to watch TV with. But as time went on, I was beginning to notice that I really didn't feel alone, even though technically I was. During this whole period of living by myself, I've felt as if God has been right next to me the entire time, talking with me and laughing with me all throughout the day (yes, God certainly does have a sense of humor! After all, He created humor!). I don't feel alone at all, and I have no doubt that I am exactly where God wants me to be. Instead of feeling lonely as I feared I would, I have only felt God cover me with His love, joy, and peace the entire time.

"Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you."

Deuteronomy 31:8 

 Although I am looking forward to having my roommates back here with me in my house soon, I am thankful that God allowed for me to live alone for a period of time. I learned so much more about who God truly is through this experience. It doesn't matter if I'm by myself or with a million people, as long as I reflect on the truth that God is with me, all my fears wash away. I can either waste my time worrying about the future, or instead  choose to keep my focus set on God and His presence that is always with me. 

I am thankful for God's grace, because I needed a heck of a lot of it to get to where I am now. I wasted a lot of time complaining to God about my circumstances, when instead I should have been praising Him for all that He has blessed me with. I also wasted a lot of time worrying about the future, when I really had nothing to worry about all along. God truly is the best teacher, and I love the fact that I am able to come into His presence every day and seek to know Him more intimately. 

Love always, Jess 

Something New: How blogging Has Changed My Life

To begin this post, here is a random picture of some of my Essie nail polish. I just bought the peach color and I'm obsessed! The peach color is tart deco, and the turquoise color is turquoise and caicos. I love Essie because it stays on forever and all of their colors are each so bright and pretty. 

This photo below is another random photo of some of the different makeup that I use.  Starting from the left is my Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake, my Sephora long-lasting liquid eyeliner in noir black, and my Loreal Voluminous Mascara in carbon black. The eyeliner never fades and stays on all day, the mascara always makes my eyelashes look super long and pretty, and the lipstick is not only is a pretty shade of pink but it also makes my lips feel smooth and it doesn't feel like I'm wearing lip stick at all!

Hey friends! Today marks my FOURTH post for the summer of something new blog challenge. For those of you don't know what this challenge is, it was set up by my wonderful blog friend Annaliese at Southern Belle in Training, and for this challenge Annaliese, Elle, Jenna,  Michaela, Gina and I will be sharing with you guys something new every Friday for 6 weeks! This week, I decided to switch it up from my normal crafts and DIY and share with you how starting a blog took courage and has challenged me beyond my limits. It's been a life-changing experience!

As I was scrolling through the blogging world today and reading many of your wonderful posts, I couldn't help but think to myself where my own blog has brought me. When I say where, I mean a place full of new friendships that I never imagined I would make. So many new friends leading me closer to Jesus and encouraging me to seek Him more and more. So many friends writing about their struggles in their walks with Christ that I could so easily relate with. So many women LIFTING my spirits, and filling me with joy.

I remember the exact moment of when I first decided to make my blog. Before that point, I had been talking with friends about how I was thinking about making a blog, but I didn't really know what to make it about. My first idea was to make a blog about healthy eating. I honestly didn't have enough passion though to make a blog like that, because although I am still very proud of myself for losing 50 pounds and keeping that weight off today, I really was never into the idea of making a blog only about that topic.

It was about 12:30 am on a Saturday night, and  I was scrolling through one of my favorite blogs, Bloom by Nicole. "Thats it!" I said to myself. "I HAVE to make a blog." I loved Nicole's openness in sharing her relationship with Jesus, and she so much reminded me of myself in a lot of ways through that aspect. 

I was so nervous when I started my blog. I didn't know anyone, and I didn't even know what the heck to write about. At first I would kind of flip flop and write about random things, and I was a little nervous to share my faith. I didn't think people would really be able to relate with my posts. I actually didn't even figure out how to add the "follower" button to my blog until a month and a half into making it. That really frustrated me because I had written a few posts up to that point that nobody was really reading. Once I found the follower button, I was happy but annoyed that it had taken me so long to figure out. 

Then amazing things happened. People would write posts that were exactly what I needed to read. God would speak right through them. I started to meet some new blog friends, and what was unique about these friendships was that I could tell that we clicked. No, I haven't met any of them in person (YET), but I just know that if we were able to meet in real life it would be full of laughs and pure happiness.

So friends, if your reading this and you are thinking about starting a blog but you haven't yet, DO IT! Or maybe your new to the blogging scene and you are frustrated or overwhelmed about getting it going: DON'T GIVE UP! I definitely cried a few times when I was trying to figure out how the heck to set up this blog up, it was SO confusing! But... I still did it. I persevered. It has been a true challenge with starting this blog up, but it has been totally worth every ounce of effort. I am challenged every day to write what is really on my heart and what I feel compelled to share with you guys. I still have a long way to go with building my blog, but I am so happy that I have made it this far. Blogging has definitely become a big part of my life, and I have been blessed beyond belief with becoming part of a community that I am unbelievably thankful for.

Here are my blogging besties whom I love dearly and pray for the opportunity to meet in real life one day!

Francesca at Beautiful Things

Katie at Hope Engaged

Annaliese at Southern Belle In Training

Gina at Gina Alyse

Hannah at Wonderfully Sewn

Julie at An Anchor For The Soul

Brittany at Happy Is a Choice

Cassie at Sage

Kiki at In Its Time

 Bailey at Anchored in Love Divine

Abigail at Abigail Jasmine

Lauren at Marked By Grace

Kellie at Nothing Less

...and I also happen to have a REAL-LIFE friend who started a blog at the same time I did, her name is Allison and she blogs at a A God Fashioned Life- Love her & her blog!

Thats them! Go look at their pages, I promise you'll love them just as much as I do. But seriously, go look. I love them all. I also recently have met some other wonderful ladies on here that I am looking forward to becoming better friends with as well. I pray very often that somehow someday I would be able to meet each one of these ladies in person one day! I really want to do a "blog meet up" or "blog trip" but I have no idea how to set it up, let alone how that would work with all of our crazy schedules. Oh well, if its in Gods will it will just somehow happen anyway! Until then, keep doing what you do blog besties, I love you all!

Ps- My blog's Facebook page is could use some love from you guys! Click HERE to like Forever Convinced on Facebook!

PPS-  I also love Instagram and I'd love for you to follow my Instagram adventures by clicking HERE!

Love always, Jess

the girl behind the blog: real life ME

This picture of me at the beach for 4th of July weekend has absolutely nothing to do with this post, other than the fact that I am an ice-cream-aholic and now that its summer time my addiction is getting worse. If I could eat only ice cream for the rest of my life, I totally would.

Hey, I'm Jessica! I like chocolate, boxer dogs, converse sneakers, my family and my friends, DIY craftin', and lots more. I have a really loud laugh that often people can never seem to forget. Jesus is my biggest passion, that guy changed my life from the inside out {but seriously I lost 50 pounds and accepted Jesus into my heart at the same time}. I especially love animals, mainly dogs and cats. As a matter of fact, I am heading over to my local humane society this week to do some volunteer work with the animals there, and I am so excited!

Some of you also may not know that I am a public relations intern, and it is honestly so much fun. I love everything about it. As a girl who majored in communication, I love everything that lies in the world of PR. I love the idea of building relationships with others and using social media to do just that. {(Hmmm, thats funny, sounds exactly like building a blog...;)} Anyways, I have been a PR intern for exactly a year now, and it has been a wonderful learning experience. One of my dream jobs one day is to work for the world's largest PR firm-Edelman. Yesterday, I wrote to you guys about how it looked like this summer I wouldn't be working at all, and I was totally okay with that. However later that day I found out that I in fact WOULD be working this summer, and it was all very unexpected. My intern boss emailed me and let me know that they had all agreed that it was time to start paying me. I was surprised, thankful, and beyond excited. It has been a long road getting to this point, and many times I wanted to give up, but it was worth every step.

Maybe some of you are wondering what I do as a PR intern. Maybe your not, and thats okay but I am still going to tell you anyway. ;).

I.....

 ·Write press releases to promote different events {I LOVE doing these!}

 ·Build and manage media contact databases {Facebook, Twitter, yah know!}

 ·Talk with other businesses, get to know them and strive to build new relationships with them

Although my heart lies in PR and working at Edelmen one day, another BIG part of my heart lies in working in ministry and sharing God's love with others. I am keeping an open mind, knowing that God has a way of twisting things around in our lives when we least expect Him to. I love writing, and I  like the idea of writing my own book one day, about how Jesus changed my life.  Yes, Public Relations is amazing, but Jesus is ten billion times more amazing. God's love over anything baby, holler atcha girl. But seriously, holler at me, I love new friends in the blogging world! Also, I am getting around to responding to many of your comments and emails on my blog that I haven't yet responded to. I have just been super busy catching up with all of those,  but I promise that I love hearing from the each of you and that I always look forward to getting to know my blog friends better!

I love you guys! Seek God's love first today, its better than anything that this world offers, and its unconditional. I am thinking I am going to hopefully get around to posting my 3rd VLOG this week on here, so be on the lookout for that! Fun stuff!

 

Love always, Jess 

 

Ps- I would love it if you guys would show my blog's Facebook page some love, it needs some of it :) Click HERE to like Forever Convinced on Facebook!