How Do I Pick Someone?

Once you have determined that the issue is not what you need to do but rather who you need to LifeWalk with, there is a new question that arises, how do I select the right person to LifeWalk with? There are a lot of factors that need to go into this decision.

First of all, you need to determine what kind of LifeWalking partner you need. Are you in need of a mentor, a peer, or a person that you can mentor? If you are in a place where the wisdom of someone who is a little farther along in the journey of life would greatly benefit you and help you to move forward your life goals, then you need to look for a mentor. If you are in a place where you could just use some company for the road, someone who understands what it is like and someone who can get into the trenches with you, then you need to find a peer (a peer LifeWalking partner can be someone older, younger, or in a different life place, it is simply someone who you are choosing to walk with rather than glean from). Finally, if you are in a position in which the desire of your heart is to pour into someone else and share the value of your experience and the wisdom that you have gained, than you need to look for a person to mentor.

Once you determine what kind of LifeWalking relationship you need, it is time to find the right person to fulfill that role. Think about your life goals, are they related to career, relationships, spiritual issues, or personal growth; you need to find a person who will be a good support of the goals that you have. If you are looking for spiritual growth, find someone who has the same beliefs that you do. If you are working on career goals, find a person who is in the same field or at least has a good sense of business and what it takes to be successful in the job market. The person that you select doesn't have to be an expert and certainly does not need to have all of the answers, it should simply be a person who will be open to the kind of change that you are trying to make and be an asset in achieving your goals.

It may not be easy to come up with the perfect person. The perfect person probably does not exist. Remember, it can be a friend, an acquaintance or even a referral. You don't even have to know the person well before you begin LifeWalking. Once you begin LifeWalking whether your partner is an old friend or a new acquaintance, the power of walking together through life's biggest challenges will bond you in ways you can't even imagine.

Finally, you can and and should go to God. Pray that God will lead you to the right person. LifeWalking is a Godly pursuit and he will honor your desire to grow personally, spiritually and emotionally.

You really have nothing to fear. Everyone you meet is a potential LifeWalking partner; it is simply up to you to have the courage to ask.

It's not a "What" but a "Who"

So many times when we are looking to make a change in our lives we ask ourselves the question, "What should I do?" It is a logical place to start. What do I need to do to lose weight? What should I do to advance my career? What can I do to achieve a closer walk with God? While it is important to know "WHAT" to do, I have found that it is far more important to know "WHO" you need to contact in order to help you to achieve whatever goal you have set for yourself.

When you start with a "who", you greatly increase the chances that you have to actually be successful in whatever endeavor you pursue. We were designed to be in relationship and it is God's desire that we connect with one another and support each other in the pursuits that he has for us. If you begin each new challenge in life by asking God "Who can LifeWalk this with me?" you will find that He will open doors that you never imagined possible.

A few short months ago I was asking God what I should do with my life. I knew that there was so much more that He had for me but I wasn't sure what that was. I kept asking God "what" and he answered me with a "who" each time. He sent me to a close friend who was also wresting with some difficult life questions and He used that relationship to bring about His plan for each of our lives. Had I not listened when God gave me a "who", this blog would not exist and Journey Women would be a far off dream rather than an actively growing ministry.

If you are struggling with any area in your life right now and you want to find a way to move forward, start asking God "who"; He will not disappoint you.

I Want to Start LifeWalking...Now What?

Hopefully after last week's post you are beginning to think about having more intentional relationships in your life. Maybe you are struggling right now or maybe you just feel alone and could benefit from some company or maybe life is good but you know it could be better; whatever the case, now is the time to start thinking about your relationships and your life goals in a whole new way. It is not time for you to think about what you need to do to make your life better but rather who you need to ask to LifeWalk with you in order to achieve your goals.

I know that this is all a bit foreign and you don't understand all of the concepts or lingo yet but I promise if you commit to this journey with me and with others, it will all become clear in the coming weeks. For now, all you need is a desire to change your life is some way (big or small) and one person that you can ask to take this journey with you. It really is that simple. Today I will give you the basic outline and in the coming weeks I will give you more details and answer any questions that you might have. So for today, all you need to have is the desire to change, the rest will follow from that desire.

Three simple steps to start LifeWalking:
1) Ask someone to LifeWalk with you
2) Make a commitment
3) Focus on 2-3 things that you would like to work on in your life

That's it...Decide to start this journey today and your life will never be the same!

Start Living

It was a Monday afternoon not too long ago when it became very apparent to me that I needed to change the relationships that I had with women. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon and my 4 year old was whining again, my 1 year old was crying again, dinner was burning and I just lost it. As I looked around my house at the piles of laundry, paperwork, toys, etc. that needed tending to in one way or another, I realized that there had to be a better way. I was treading water just trying to stay afloat in my life but I was getting nowhere. Something needed to be done. I needed help to get me moving in my life again.



I realized that instead of just surviving, I needed to start living again. I needed to start moving in the direction that God had for my life. I had desires that had been on my heart for years that I had done nothing about. I had new passions stirring and I had no idea how to begin to pursue them. What I knew for sure was that I could not do this alone. There was no way that I would be able to push through the hard times and the struggles of my day to day life without someone pushing, encouraging, and guiding me as I embarked on the journey to my destiny.



I began to seek God in order to find an answer to my problem. I questioned my friends about their struggles and solutions that they had found. I looked for a way to make positive change in my life without having to make any drastic changes to it. What emerged was a plan for LifeWalking; a way of intentionally pursuing relationships with the purpose of accomplishing goals and pursing dreams with the support of one another.



I discovered that I already had everything that I needed in order to pursue God's plan for my life, I just needed a way to utilize those tools and put them into action. I had several friends and family who cared about me and wanted me to succeed, but I realized that I had not been using those relationships in order to enact real change in my life. I discovered that while women are great at having relationships, our relationships are rarely productive. We get together and chat, share struggles and dreams, gossip and complain but rarely take that information and encourage one another to do something constructive to enact real change in our lives. Furthermore, on the rare occasions when we would come up with a plan for constructive change, there usually lacked the follow through that would enable a change to actually take place.



Once I identified the problem, the question became how; how do I, the busy wife and mother of 2 find any time to add yet another task to my to do list? What I discovered was that LifeWalking does not have to take long, be complicated or difficult. In fact, LifeWalking became the one thing that I could not live without. It was my lifeline and it enabled me to survive all the other stresses in my life. It helped me to find ways to pursue the desires of my heart, balance the stress of my daily life, and have meaningful relationships that helped me to feel connected, supported, and good about myself all at the same time.



Over the coming weeks and months I will give you all of the tools that you will need to LifeWalk. Every Wednesday there will be a new post with a thought, tip, or tool that will aid you in getting your life moving again. Please feel free to be an active participant in this blog submitting questions, comments, successes, and failures. I will do my best to give you answers and guidance to help you on your journey. It is my hope that through this blog we can all help each other to become the people that we have always wanted to be, living the kind of lives that we have always dreamed of.