WHAT 2018 TAUGHT ME

Well 2018 was truly my best year yet, and I believe that 2019 will be even better!

I learned a lot of things in 2019, but I’d have to say

• Gods love

• Self-love

• How blessed we truly are

• A greater love

I learned a lot, but among the ones I’ve learned those were the top!

It has taken me all of 2018, but I’ve had this supernatural feeling over my life these past couple of months. It’s hard to explain, but I know it’s Gods covering.

I go to church every Wednesday or Saturday, every week. It wasn’t till I went on a trip to Thailand that I had time to really appreciate my time with God. I know I know, it’s vacation why were you “spending time” with God, well it’s not a chore, I do it because I want to get to know him & love him the way He loves us. I came back to the states & really put Him at the center of my life. Once I sat down and really looked at the things I have, I’ve realized that God has moved mountains for me. He has truly blessed me.

Self-love has taken me a lifetime, but this year has been truly magnificent in me loving myself, and when I say myself I mean, everything about ME. As Rachel Hollis would say, “if you aren’t happy with your life that’s on you” & well I wasn’t happy with the life I was leading, so I changed and for the better, I love who I am & I love the woman I’m becoming. I have found that putting myself first, will ensure my happiness in all that I do. I do things for myself, they say that you must first love yourself before you can truly love someone else. I honestly believe that with my whole heart, if you aren’t treating yourself right, how can you expect someone else to?

We are truly blessed and I don’t think we realize it! We take for granted all the small things in life. Like the roofs over our heads, the clothes on our backs, the love ones we hold so closely. We have to live each day like it could be the last, because tomorrow isn’t promised. As we flew on a 16 hour flight, and with me being scared of flying, I couldn’t help but think…what if I never get to see my mom again, what if I never laugh with my dad again, what if I never get to see my baby cousin walk again, these little things tore me to pieces. I told myself as soon as I get off this plane I will put more effort into all the blessings I have. I promised myself to cherish the small moments, to appreciate all that God has blessed me with!

I have learned a greater love for not only God, but for myself, Michael & everyone that I interact with. We don’t know what someone else is going through and that one smile or kind gesture you do for someone will always be paid back. I was at Target buying some last minute things for Christmas & let me say that we had a lot of expenses this year, that we are truly grateful for, but they were expenses, so we had a budget for Christmas & I was struggling & stressed about the money we were spending. Now if this isn’t God showing up in my life, I don’t know what is! As I was walking down the aisle, a woman stopped me and said I would like to be a Blessing for you this Holiday, here is a $100 gift card towards your purchase today. Y’all, this was an amazing blessing that I couldn’t believe happened. No strings attached, she gave me $100 for my purchase. I pray everyday for God to cover our finances and help us with whatever we need, to help us make wise choices and so on… This is not to say just pray all the time for money, but this woman blessed us by the grace of God. Y’all, God is so good & so was that lady, she is a Godly woman whom I will never forget.

You guys, if there is one thing I would like to encourage you to do is take 5 minutes & list the things that 2018 has taught you & what you were grateful for this year. I cannot wait to see what 2019 has in store for all of us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Things I am Grateful for in 2018

• Our new home

• Getting engaged to Michael

• Traveling SE Asia

• Financial gains

• Getting closer with God

• Growing with Michael

• Steps closer to getting my degree

And so much more!!

I would love to hear what you learned or what you were blessed with in 2018 -comment below!

XO- Essence