What a Difference a Year Makes… Pt. 2

Happy 2016!

It’s been many MANY months since I’ve blogged.  Honestly, “LIFE happened” in more ways than one in 2015.

Last year this time, I was teaching at the aerial yoga studio that I co-owned with two business partners in Plano, TX.  I was also busy getting the second semester of my daughter’s homeschooling academic year started with lots of wonderful homeschool activities and co-ops.  My schedule was extremely packed with church, family, homeschool, my studio and yoga. Everything (including sleep time and short breaks) were scheduled into my life. I had a full life, living life to the full… or was I?

I strive to live an authentic life, a life that reflects who I was created to be since the beginning of time. In 2015, I felt that although I was living my dreams, but something wasn’t right. I felt unsettled in my heart, and I began to wonder if the path (of life) that I was trying to create for myself was truly the path that I was supposed to be on.

“Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of
who we think we’re supposed to be and
embracing who we are.”
– Brené Brown

After feeling unsettled in my heart for the first half of 2015, I began to meditate in prayer, asking God to reveal who I am to Him. Without talking to anyone about it, I started this meditative prayer journey, seeking clarity of my spirit. During this time, my business partners and I received word from our landlord informing us that he has sold his business and the new owner did not want to renew our lease (as he wanted to use our space for his own business). We diligently searched for a new location (even after we had to close the doors to our studio in Plano, TX) without success. Then one Saturday during my meditative prayer times, I felt a sense of peace come over me as I decided to let go of the studio and not re-open (My business partners had the same revelation on the same day), Up until that point, I resisted the thought of not re-opening. I thought to myself, “Finally, I have arrived at my authentic path!” What I was about to find out was that this was only the beginning.

“Once you get out of your own way,
the speed of finding your authenticity will accelerate.”
– Jheni Solis

To my surprise, I continued to feel unsettled… So I continued my meditative prayer times and searching for clarity through God’s word. During this time, I saw on Facebook that my husband Shawn’s and my good friends, Tim and Brooke, were moving to Boone, NC to start a church there. That same week, I noticed in the Bible how a lot of God’s people moved around a lot. I thought about the possibility of moving for a split second but then dismissed it since we had just bought our house a year ago. We had our lives planned out and that plan included retiring in our home in Garland, TX. But each time I prayed, I couldn’t shake that feeling of unsettled-ness and how our lives became too comfortable/predictable. So one night when Shawn got home from work, I decided to bring it up to him to see what he would say.

“I’ve been feeling quite unsettled myself,” was Shawn’s reply.

So we started to pray about the possibility of moving (still not taking it too seriously). To put our prayer into action, we decided to list our house and told God that if it sold it one week, we will know He wants us to move. Our house sold in exactly SEVEN DAYS!

Fast-forwarding many more bold (answered) prayers and seeking spiritual input from our trusted godly friends, I am now writing this in my rented home in Charlotte, NC. I get to wake up every morning and make breakfast for my daughter (that I still homeschool) and my husband who now works from home. I teach traditional and aerial yoga at a wonderful studio in Cornelius called Gotta Yoga Studio where I also teach my aerial yoga teacher training certification workshops. I also choreograph and dance with the dance ministry at The Charlotte Church.

When people ask me what brought me and my family to Charlotte, I smile and reply, “God.”

A lot can happen in one year. A lot can happen in 2016.
Are you ready?