The 8 REAL reasons he won't marry you.

There's one question that replays in the mind of every hopeless romantic . . .

Will you marry me?

If you're like me, you've rehearsed it, imagined it, hinted at it, and longed for it all your life. Grant it, there may not have always been a man you wanted to marry, but you've still dreamt of that moment.

Everything returns to normal.

Have you ever looked around at your life and wondered, "What the heck happened?" Things are in utter disarray, you have no time for yourself, and nothing's going your way.

With the major shake up I've experienced over the last six months, I began to think that I would never have a life again. No more nights of sleep or childless shopping, no time to write let alone create, no more REAL meals, (Oh Ramen noodles how I despise you!) and the worse of all . . . no more time to clean or decorate my home.

Gasp!!!

The funny part is, little by little I became accustomed to it; IT was my new normal.

As the months continued to pass, I slowly noticed I was getting my groove back. It's not that things returned back to the way they were pre-baby, yes that's my little Jake Jake in the photo. in fact, things will never ever be the same.

Yes I know that's a contradiction to the title but hear me out.

I accepted that things would never be the same, but then I determined to pick up my life and make a plan to put it back together.

I adjusted my schedule, realigned my goals, set realistic expectations, and determined to get things done. No more excuses!

You see, so many times we find ourselves in tough situations where everything seems to be falling apart. Whether it's a loss of a job, an impending divorce, broken relationships, or some other situation, we can always determine to get back to some sense of normalcy. Of course there are the extreme cases that need professional help, but for those situations that take personal drive, we can always take back our lives.

The first thing we must do is realize our situation and admit we've gotten a little off track. You know the whole "admitting you have a problem is the first step," saying?

Well it's true.

Next, we can give our troubles to God and know that He will wipe them clean; giving us a fresh start and new perspective.

And finally, we have to determine to take our lives back. If we keep allowing things to spiral out of control, they'll only get worse until we can't tell up from down.

The best part is, once we give the situation over to God, we can trust that He will heal us and make us new again, giving us the strength to accomplish all we need in our day, week, and for the rest of our lives.

Have a glorious Monday my loves!!

Marriage Series: How to make your marriage work

With the eruptions of new weddings occuring the past few seasons, I thought it would be important to dig into the Virtue archives and re-feature the marriage series.

So . . . Here it is!

There's truly nothing more exciting than experiencing your wedding day and celebrating with those you love. 

You walk down the aisle, recite your vows, party the night away and then what?

Set the World on Fire

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This past weekend I had the privilege of seeing the artist Britt Nicole in concert.

If you've never seen or heard of her, I suggest you look her up. Not only is her music AH-mazing, the message she sends goes straight to the heart and challenges its listener to DO and BE better.

As I sang track after track, the words began to take on new life for me. Yeah I'd heard the songs regulary, sang the lyrics daily, and blasted her music until my eardrums hurt but there was more that God wanted me to get out of that concert. 

Take the Leap!

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Happy Fall my fellow Virtue readers!

Since my last article, I've conquered motherhood (sort of), went back to working full-time, started re-editing my novel, enrolled in graduate work, and have been trying to catch up on sleep. Nevertheless, I'm more than excited to be back. After a plethora of "Where the heck are you?" tweets, emails, and facebook messages . . . Here I am. : )

As I contemplated my next article, the idea of taking a leap kept coming to mind. 

I know usually these types of inspirational articles are reserved for New Years resolutions, but I decided to share a little inspiration anyway.

So many times in life, we're so afraid to take the next step. To start that new adventure, business, club, or maybe even career. No matter how qualified we may actually be, (or even unqualified) we psyche ourselves out before we really ever give anything a try. 

Becoming a mom has really pushed me to my limits; daring me to do things I would have never thought I could do. But with all those sleepless nights, spit-up stained blouses, and piles of dirty bottles, it's pushed me to want to do more. To step out of my comfort zone and take the leap into something new.

If not for myself, than for my son and my husband.

You see when fear stops us in our tracks, we just need to find that one thing that will be our motivating factor.

Take some time and make a list of the things you would like to accomplish. After you've accomplished that, write down what's stopping you from taking the leap to get there. Most of the time the answer will be ourselves.

Now's the time to stop holding yourself back.

Come join me in this new season!

Take a leap!!