how to handle opportunity

new year, better me

i saw this saying the other day somewhere in social media land and it resonated with me a whole lot. it’s not a new me. it’s a better me. a stronger me, a me with better habits, a more faithful me, a more grounded me, a more surrendered me… a clearer vision, more boldness, more prayer, and more action.

what does a new year do for you? does it make you anxious? excited? does it spring you into action or hold you in place? does it pump you up or grieve you? do you find yourself looking forward or backward?

pro tip – as much as it’s possible, try not to look back. you’re not headed there. you have to find a way to get a forward-oriented direction.

this year, God gave me the word “go” as my 2025 “theme” so to speak. i had it on my to-do list to make a vision board. honestly, i made one for the first time last year and i’m not sure i’ll do it again. i do have a master plan i will be creating that guides me monthly and quarterly, but i’m not sure about the vision board concept. i know that might sound weird – i know they say visualization is key. we’ll see if i create one or not — check back with me in a week or so and ask me if i ever ended up doing it. haha

i was on a call with my mastermind group and we were talking about words for the year — when it came to be my turn, i honestly didn’t feel like i had a word at first, but i was encouraged to just let the first word the came to mind, come forward and have weight. it was “go.” when i said it out loud, my mentor said, “yes, Sarah. the word i felt and heard for you was ‘execute’.” that’s what “go” means for me this year – this is the year i take bold action, bolder than before, more grounded, steadfast, rooted action. this is the year that i move, create, and trust that i’ve got everything i need to create the visions and dreams placed inside of me. i’m lacking nothing. i need no permission, special skills, or special abilities. i’ve got what i need and it’s time to go.

if it serves you to think that a new year must mean a new you, then by all means, go with that, but i would also love to encourage you to not feel the need to buy into that. you don’t have to be a new you. maybe you just need to be a more focused you, a more disciplined you, a you with better habits than last year, a you that doesn’t listen to fear or that inner critic as much. a you that gives up the excuses and does the dang thing. a you that doesn’t listen to the judgments and nay-saying of others as much. a you that doesn’t put stock in your limiting beliefs and those thoughts that keep holding you back. maybe you just need a better morning routine. maybe you just need better friends. maybe it’s better boundaries. nothing inherently new – just better. don’t put so much pressure on yourself to be this new shiny creation – you were fearfully and wonderfully made. no need to reinvent the wheel. maybe just a couple improvements here or there is all that’s in your way.

i don’t know if that helps you at all today, but i hope it does. i don’t know who it’s for… maybe it’s you. maybe you just need permission to shed the weight of the expectations, whether outer or inner, and just be free to still be you, and maybe your 2.0 version isn’t as heavy as you’re making it. maybe what actually needs to happen is less… less expectations, less self-judgment, less demand to live up to this proverbial hype… and permission to just be. be exactly what and who you were created to be, not what you think will satisfy some undefined standard this world told you to try and live up to.

i wish you the best in everything. happiness, love, life, family, fulfillment… and oftentimes we think that means we need more, when really, we actually need less. maybe less is more is truly what makes more better.

♥

U-Turn

Story Time: i was in my car headed to Nashville on Tuesday morning. just like i do most Tuesday mornings because there’s a women’s bible study that i’ve been participating in since probably January or February.

my car needed gas because i would have never made it to Nashville on the 23 miles left in the tank, and as i pulled over in the right lane to turn into the gas station, i heard a Very Clear message in my mind, heart, soul, spirit…. “get gas and go home.”

what…? are you serious? but i’m going to bible study. isn’t that what i’m supposed to be doing? but it was so clear, i cannot even explain it.

“don’t go. get gas and go home.”

so that’s what i did. that’s exactly what i did. i didn’t fight it. i didn’t understand it – i did NOT understand it. i still don’t. sitting here on my front porch writing this, i still am not quite sure that i understand what the heck it was all about, but i really feel like i’m getting to a place where i don’t have to understand it.

i don’t have to understand why He’s leading me in the way that He is, but i’m not gonna stay in the business of asking why. it’s very human to want to understand the plan, know the path, know where it’s leading… but we’re not promised that. we were never told that He was going to reveal the goal to us – matter of fact, people that claim to know exACTly where they’re ultimately going are usually deceived.

here’s something scary to write: i have no idea where i am going. and i can feel Him shifting. moving. inspiring. introducing new possibilities. opening my eyes to a BUNCH of things. and a lot of it makes Absolutely Zero Sense.

and that HAS to be ok. that has GOT to be ok.

the more i fight it, the more upset i get… because guess what?! He’s not gonna quit moving in His way. He’s not gonna change His mind. He will just keep shifting me, refining me, sharpening me, until me “want to” aligns with the “want to” He has for me.

so i made the U-Turn. i got gas. i got in my car. and i went back home. i couldn’t explain it – it was a really weird re-entry into the house after i had just told Matthew i would see him in a few hours. but oh well. i just… listened. that’s all. it was that simple.

i died to myself. a lot of me wanted to push through and still go to the bible study. but for reasons i may never be able to articulate, my spirit wasn’t signing off on that. and it wasn’t budging. i asked “what?” like… eight times. no change. no budge. no sway. just kept saying “don’t go.”

and what happened after that? was i worried about what people were gonna think? no. i wasn’t. i had this overwhelming PEACE and all i had to do was LISTEN. all i had to do was just NOT DO WHATEVER I WANTED and listen to my soul gently telling me to reconsider.

that’s what i’m after. i’m relentlessly pursuing that peace. that’s how i know i’m on the right track. inner peace. outer conflict, sure, whatever, but the inner peace is undeniable.

try it. i’m dying to know what you think and how you feel when you listen to that still small voice, whether it makes sense or not.

i also wanna know – are you one of those people that HAS to have stuff make sense? how are you working to break out of that need? i’m working on it, too.

engaged!

holy. crap. what a week!! something i have prayed for, hoped for, longed for happened and i am just… so grateful and ecstatic about it all.

taking it back back back… when you get divorced… rather… when i got divorced… i was stuck in this time space continuum of “well. what a waste that was. wonder if it’ll ever happen again…?” because we’ve got this weird relationship with “opportunity.” we’ve gotta catch it while it’s here because sometimes it just doesn’t come around twice.

i think that’s a load of crap.

when the opportunity came around this time, it was easy, effortless, light, and it was better. so i wanna just say… feel free to dump all your thoughts about the scarcity of opportunities straight in the toilet where they belong. and use the big flush. the one for #2.

he planned the cutest, most perfect engagement maybe ever. if you haven’t seen the video, go check it out on my social media pages. we were literally making homemade pizza that night. and then i was told we were going on a coffee date because our friend Collin had a gig, and i love Collin’s music, Collin as a human, and i love coffee dates with my babe.

i didn’t know that Collin’s gig was staged. i didn’t know that everyone in the shop knew what was about to happen. i had no clue that in the pocket of Matthew’s jacket was the most beautiful engagement ring i would ever see in my whole life. i just had no idea. which is probably why i showed up in a Canadian Tuxedo…

maybe one of the most perfect parts of the night, which was not planned whatsoever, was the undeniable God wink… the baristas write bible verses on the cardboard cup surround thingys at the beginning of the week. and they’re all different and randomly distributed. on this night, mine said , “Matthew 11:28” which reads, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” the week had been heavy with expectations on myself, music dreams, business dreams, etc… and in this moment, i was nearly on my face with gratitude for a Lord that loves us in this gentle, kind way.

and about 23 minutes later, i was grateful in a whole new way for the man that asked me to spend forever with him… how fitting that the book of Matthew would be so present in my hemisphere these last few weeks, and even on the night that he would propose.

there’s a lot of little winks like that in life if you’re not too in a hurry to notice them. have you had one lately?

♥, SF