Grow Where You Are Planted: A Recap of 2017

Dec 31, 2017

4 min read

It's that time of year again, where another year comes to a close and new one is about to begin. We all try to think of some new goals or resolutions that we plan for in the new year, some will stick to it and some will slowly start to loose focus on what their plans w

ere for the next year. Life happens people. But I'm very fortunate that my new years goal last you, actually got through the whole year. I started this project in January of last year and it was my goal to really build an authentic community as well as grow deeper in my relationships that I already had. It has been one amazing journey with Her Story this year, and we can't wait to share with you what we will be up to in 2018. There are some exciting things ahead, but we can't look towards the future without taking a look back to where this all started and where we've come from.

Emily and I have both grown so much since the start of this journey. Neither one of us really knew each other when we started down this road, but fortunately, we have grown to be each other's dear friends. We didn't think people would actually read these stories, but to our surprise they actually did and we got amazing feedback from you all, and we can't thank you enough for helping encourage us to keep the stories coming. I can't forget our first story we released because we had no idea how we were going to pull this off, but the Lord was faithful and always provided, even when I would be too tired to write three days before the last day of the month. We always got these stories out in its month. We not only got to have amazing conversations with women once a month, but we also got to do an end of the year celebration with some of these women as well as people who have supported this project at our Her Story Celebration. That night was beyond amazing as we got to sit at a table with some pretty incredible women and got to show everyone have these conversations go and the wisdom and encouragement that was shared each time we sat with these women. It made us realize that Her Story is far more than just sharing each others stories but is now its own unique community. We got to connect women with each other that don't know each other and be an encouragement to one another, even the women who shared their story. They got read other womens' stories and feel like they got to know each other without ever meeting. This has sparked some new plans for 2018, but we are both just so grateful for the amazing community that has been created with Her Story.

One of the biggest questions that Emily and I get asked is about when we will share our story, which we will some day but not today. We got to share a little bit when we were featured in B-Metro Magazine, which was really cool, but our heart has been to take ourselves out of it. But we did want to express how Her Story has helped us in our own personal struggles and journey. We want to practice what we preach about sharing your journey so we thought we will give you all a little bit of insight on our lives. Emily writes, "In years leading up to 2017 I struggled with my relationships with others. I kept them at a distance and never shared my heart or my struggles with them and through this year, with Her Story, I've learned that opening myself up to others allows us to bond over our struggles, differences, and victories. With each woman's story and allowing myself to enjoy the season of life that I'm in I came the to find that I'm not alone in this journey of life. As well as, coming to the realization that God is with me through the hills and the valleys and His Grace is overwhelming" For myself, I have really been struggling with sharing a part of my life with people, the journey of trying to have a baby and not having that happen yet and sharing the walk about learning about infertility and my place in that walk. Her Story really encouraged me to share my struggle and be someone who can use my voice to help encourage other women who may feel alone as I did for several months. But what pushed me to open up about it was what Her Story is all about, encouraging women through their stories. Emily and I will be continuing to learn how to handle our struggles in life, but we want to be vulnerable and let other women know you are not alone.

We are so excited to see what 2018 brings, but we are so happy that we got to do this project for a full year. We don't know how long we will continue this project but we do know that it has changed our lives for the better and we hope that this project has helped you in some way .We would love to know how Her Story has helped you this year, as well as if you have any goals for 2018 so we can come alongside you and encourage you in any way we can. Again, thanks for such an amazing year, and we will see you all next year.