This is how I begin each day. 

Oftentimes when things are difficult, when things don't work out the way we had hoped or planned we
Christians tend to believe that this is God punishing us or giving us a sign we should just give up on our goal. Or maybe it's just me and you never have this problem. Either way, hear me out.

When life led me away from my career in journalism and back to my hometown to a new career in education, I thought this meant God wanted me to give up writing. When the print media industry tanked I thought this meant God wanted me to abandon my dream of starting a magazine. And when my blog didn't become the overnight success I just I knew it would be, I thought this was God's way of saying, "Javacia, blogging just isn't for you."

But I was wrong.

And I began to realize how wrong I was when I discovered SheReadsTruth.com.

Not only did I grow closer to God and begin to understand his will more from the devotionals that I read on this site, but through She Reads Truth I saw a perfect example of how blogging could be used to serve God. I saw that blogging was about people, not pageviews.

Then, after I began to focus my writing more and more on serving others instead of serving myself, I was blessed with opportunities to write exciting stories and compelling essays for a number of publications. And these were opportunities I wouldn't have been able to pursue or take advantage of had I still been working as a full-time reporter.

Furthermore, my blogging helped me build an amazing community of women writers that have given me the support and encouragement to start an online magazine. And I truly believe this couldn't have happened the way it did in any city other than my hometown of Birmingham, Ala.

God has truly shown me that his ways are not my ways and that's a good thing.

I now know that challenges and obstacles aren't a stop sign; they're simply a speed bump.

And I know that when God takes me down a road that seems to be leading to the middle of nowhere I need to just trust him. He will always lead me right where I belong.

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Back in January I gave up blogging and all forms of social media for three weeks for a time of prayer and fasting my church calls "21 Days of Prayer." I didn't even allow myself read blogs during this time.

I decided to do this because my obsession with blogging had become just that -- an obsession -- and I had begun to neglect more important things like spending time in prayer and studying Scripture.

When I launched #bloglikecrazy this month, I feared this would happen again and for about a week it did. I began to wonder if God wanted me to blog at all. Then in the most roundabout way I happened upon She Reads Truth, a blog and online community that seems just perfect for young women who love God and social media. She Reads Truth offers daily devotions through the blog and the bible app You Version. There's online discussion on the blog and Twitter.

Currently we're reading through the book of Colossians. Here is the verse that stood out to me the most this week:  

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. -- Colossians 3:17

This reminds me that blogging and social media shouldn't be something that takes me away from God. I should instead use it as a way to thank God and as a way to carry out the work that I believe the Creator placed me on this planet to do -- empowering women and girls through the written word.