On January 24, 2020 I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

No, I hadn’t found a lump in my breast because I hadn’t been looking for one. In my mind, breast cancer wasn’t something I needed to worry about until I turned 40. And besides, I already had lupus. There was no way God would let me have two life-threatening illnesses, right?

Wrong.

We're almost there. We've almost made it through the first week of 2017.

How did you do?

Did you tackle to-do lists like a boss? Did you go to the gym every day? Did you start working on your book?

If not, that's OK. Give yourself a bit of grace.

Grace -- that's my word for 2017.

A few years ago I had the honor of attending a lecture by renowned journalist Soledad O'Brien. During the Q&A period of O’Brien’s talk an audience member asked her a question often asked of highly successful women who juggle busy careers with motherhood: How do you balance it all?

O'Brien's answer was quite simple. "I don't," she said.

Photos by Brendon Pinola via StyleBlueprint Birmingham

1. God is Love and Love is Life. When it comes to faith, I have more questions than answers. Though I identify as Christian because I love Jesus, organized religion confuses me to no end. It always has. It probably always will. But I am sure that God is Love and Love is Life. My life should center on loving others and loving myself. I believe this is how we worship. This is why I consider my marriage a ministry and my feminism a divine calling. When I serve my husband, when I join hands with the women of my tribe to help them make their dreams come true, these are holy acts. When I share pillow talk with my husband, when my friends and I share secrets over a bottle wine (or two), this is communion.

image via

Trust in God; She will provide. -- Emmeline Pankhurst

Dear God,

I wish you were a woman

Because since I was a girl

I’ve pictured you as a white man

With white hair

Dressed in a long white robe.

And I am not a man

And my skin is a shade of deep chocolate brown.

So how can I believe that I was created in your image?

"I want a new testimony," I whispered to God. Then I suddenly realized that perhaps I don't have a new testimony because I haven't shared my "old" testimony enough.

When my husband and I moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 2009 it was so I could take a teaching job at my alma mater. My husband journeyed to the my hometown with me even though he didn't have a new job waiting for him. We were taking a leap of faith. Little did we know, God would soon ask us to leap again.

Because my husband didn't have a new job, we moved in with my parents when we relocated to Birmingham. The plan was that we'd get our own place once hubster got a new gig. But a month passed and despite my husband's relentless search for employment nothing worked out. Meanwhile, living in my parents' home became more and more challenging.

Then one day my husband and I went to a church service in Montgomery while visiting my cousin. The co-pastor gave a message about miracles. She talked about her mission trips to developing nations. She'd met children born with a missing arm or leg and seen those missing limbs restored through prayers of healing! I got goosebumps listening to her stories.

She said she believed that we hear more stories of miracles in developing nations than in countries like America because believers in developing nations have no Plan B. They truly and fully rely on God. She urged those of us listening to let go of our Plan B and to stop relying on our own wisdom, resources, or strength.  She urged us all to "Move on faith." She kept saying those words over and over again. "Move on faith!" she said. "Move on faith!"

While driving back to Birmingham from Montgomery I turned to my husband and said, "I think God wants us to move on faith -- literally. I think God wants us to move out of my parents' house." My husband confessed that he'd received the same message from the sermon.

We needed to move on faith; we needed to move into our own place before my husband found a new job to show that we really trusted God as much as we said we did.

And so the apartment hunting began. We found a new place and on October 15, 2009 we moved in. And on that day as we were carrying boxes into our new apartment my husband's cell phone kept ringing. Once we were all moved in my husband checked his voicemail: He had three job offers.

We looked at each other, smiled, and simply said: "Move on faith!"

Right now I'm praying prayers that are big and bold. I'm asking God for quite a lot. I'm asking God for a miracle. I'm asking for miraculous growth in my business and so much more. But lately I've been getting a bit discouraged. I've been doubting that I can actually make my dreams come true. And you know what I've realized? I can't make my dreams come true! At least not within my own wisdom, resources, or strength. It's time I stop worrying about Plan B. It's time for me to fully rely on God.

For a while I thought that maybe my dreams were too big, but then a friend of mine reminded me of something my pastor once said: "Let's live our lives so big that it couldn't possibly happen unless God shows up."

What testimony do you need to share?

Happy Valentine's Day, Writeous Babes!

I hadn't planned to blog today. In fact, I'm breaking a personal rule by writing this because today is my day off. Today there was to be no writing, no grading papers, no brainstorming for my business; today was to be just about spending time with my husband. But he's still tucked in bed and I woke up with a message on my heart that I just had to share.

This has been quite a week for me. On Monday I celebrated my 34th birthday by meeting my hero Melissa Harris-Perry of MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry Show. The Birmingham Business Journal announced its Top 40 Under 40 class for 2015 and I am honored and proud to say I am among those recognized. On Thursday I announced that I'd be doing a blogging boot camp for 5 participants and the $100 tickets sold out in a day. And last week I was featured on the blogs BalancedBabe.com and Twenties Unscripted (which allows us old folks to be interviewed, too).

2015 didn't start the way I had hoped. January was a pretty mediocre month for me and I felt very discouraged. This month, though, I've been on fire! So this morning I asked myself what was different and it hit me:  This month I have believed that I am loved and that I deserve success. Last month, my relationship with God felt rocky and so I'd convinced myself I did't actually deserve to have my prayers answered or even heard. But, fortunately, I left that attitude in January.

I am loved. I am loved by my God who is blessing me with the desires of my heart.

I am loved. I am loved by my students who surprised me with a Beyonce album cover themed birthday cake.

I am loved. I am loved by my husband who arranged for me to meet Melissa Harris-Perry.

I am loved. I am loved by the women of Birmingham and See Jane Write who nominated me for the Birmingham Business Journal award.

Image via Birmingham Business Journal

On this Valentine's Day I want you to think of and even write down all the ways you are loved. Don't think Valentine's Day is just a day for romantic love and couples. In fact, some of the best Valentine's Day celebrations I've ever had were with my girls!

And on this Valentine's Day I also want you to focus on loving yourself. You see, I was loved by my God, my husband, my students, and my friends in January, too. But the difference between this month and last is that in February I have loved myself. In February I believed I deserved to be loved and deserved to be blessed.

So my Valentine's Day gift for you is this little mantra: "I am loved. I love myself. I deserve the desires of my heart."  Repeat it, believe it, and just watch what happens next!

Dear God,

I thank you for 34 years on this crazy, beautiful planet you have created.

Today I commit the next year of my life and all my endeavors to you.

I commit my marriage to you. I thank you for my husband's love. I pray that you will bless our marriage and help me be the wife that my wonderful husband deserves. I pray that our marriage will be an inspiration to other couples.

I commit all my relationships to you. I thank you for my family and friends. I pray that you will help me be a better daughter, sister, cousin, and friend. Bless my loved ones and show me how I can be a blessing to them.

I commit to you all material possessions and desires. I thank you for being the Ultimate Provider. Please wash me clean of any desires I have that are not in line with your will for my life. I declare that what you have for me is for me and will be mine. I pray that you will use my material possessions to have a spiritual impact.

I commit to you all my career aspirations. I thank you for my gifts, talents, and opportunities. I pray that See Jane Write will prosper and grow and that the women of the group will receive the desires of their hearts. Show me how I can be a blessing to those women. From magazine articles to personal essays to blog posts, please anoint the words that I write so they will change lives. Help me be a better role model and teacher. Bless my students and show me how to be a blessing to them.

I commit to you my body. I thank you for the strength and ability of my body and for allowing me to triumph over sickness and disease. I pray that this will continue to be my story. I pray that you will bless my running endeavors and help me remember you and thank you with every step of every race.

I pray that my life and all my life's endeavors will bring glory and love to you.

And so it is.

Lamentations 3:22-23 reads: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

That Scripture certainly rang true this morning. There's something about turning the calendar to a new month that makes me feel as if I have a fresh start. I guess that's why I love New Year's Eve and New Year's Day so much, too.

This morning I hit the reset button. For me, January was a pretty mediocre month. I didn't work toward my goals with true gumption and grit. Don't get me wrong, plenty of great stuff happened last month. I hosted two successful See Jane Write events, launched my e-course How to Write and Have a Life, and my blog landed me a spot on a local television show. I also spent quality time with many of my best girlfriends, including a girls weekend in at Atlanta where I participated in the Hot Chocolate 5K.

Will run for chocolate!

But there's so much on January my to-do list that remains undone. I slacked on my morning ritual, I slacked on exercise, I slacked on cleaning, I slacked on blogging, and I slacked on building my business. Also, I didn't spend time as much time with my family or my husband as I would have liked.

But this new month brings new mercies. I get to try again. We all do.

Here are my intentions for February:

• Better promote my e-course through blogging, social media, television appearances, features on popular websites, networking and speaking engagements.
• Write in my prayer journal daily.
• Streamline and strengthen my online presence
• See Melissa Harris-Perry on my birthday. (Yes, that's actually going to happen!)
• Improve my eating habits.
• Walk/run 100 miles.
• Clean up my hard drive. 
• Buy a new phone and more iCloud storage (The struggle is real).
• Clean and wash my car (It's so gross).
• File my taxes (Taxes are gross, too). 
• Recycle 2014 magazines. 
• Organize my closet, drawers, journals, makeup and toiletries. 
• Have a girls day out with my mom. 
• Have a great Valentine's Day weekend with my husband. 
• Attend TEDxBirmingham as an senior educator fellow.

What are your goals for February? 

"How do you do it all?"

I'm asked this question often despite the fact that I don't have kids and that this is a question usually asked of women juggling motherhood and a career.

But I do have a lot on my plate. I teach full-time at a local high school for gifted and artistic teens. I blog. I freelance for several local and national media outlets. I run See Jane Write, a network for women writers, bloggers and entrepreneurs. I exercise every day. I'm a wife, sister, daughter, and friend and I'm active in my community and my church. 

So how do I do it all? With little sleep and lots of prayer. 

This past week has been especially busy. It was my first week back at school. And this year, I'm not only teaching but also handling my school's social media. I've been blogging for Birmingham Restaurant Week. And I was on deadline for two freelance stories. Meanwhile, there's a laundry list of things I need to do regarding See Jane Write that I've been putting off for several days. 

So tonight I'm pulling an all-nighter. My husband's out of town and so I'm going to pretend I'm back in college and stay up all night working -- blogging, catching up on emails, handling paperwork, and working on revamping the See Jane Write websites. I'm even going to order pizza and listen to Sade like I used to do during my days at the University of Alabama (although, I'll probably throw some Beyonce in the mix, too, when I start feeling sleepy). 

Now, I know that not getting enough sleep is really bad for me. And I'm really trying to work on this. But until I figure out a solution, my "late night, early morning" lifestyle will have to remain.

My secret to success -- little sleep, lots of prayer, and lots of pizza

Despite how busy I've been this week, I've been sure to start every morning with God. Before I do anything, I spend time writing in my prayer journal and reading Scripture, searching for the verse that's going to give me the encouragement I need for the day. When I started to feel stressed and overwhelmed a few days ago I turned to Psalm 16:8, which reads, "I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken." Most days I share these verses on Facebook in hopes that they'll give my pals some encouragement too. 

I suppose I should add planning to my list of secrets too. I keep detailed to-do lists and plan nearly every minute of every day. 

At the heart of the question of how I do it all, however, is something deeper. I think what people really want to know is how on earth I find the energy to do all that I do, especially since I suffer from a connective tissue disease that makes every move I make a little tougher than it would be for the average 33-year-old. My strength comes from my God and my goals. I have a dream that I'm pushing toward, a dream that I am confident God placed in my heart. And I decided a few months ago that I'm either going to make that dream come true or die trying. It's just that simple. 

Today I return to the daily grind. 

Summer is over and it's back to school for me and my colleagues. And our students return next week. 

I had a great summer.  I saw Beyonce and Jay-Z perform live. I went to BlogHer '14 where I saw Kerry Washington, partied with Rev. Run of Run DMC, and met Arianna Huffington. And I even hosted a blogging conference of my own. 

But still there was so much I wanted to do but didn't. 

I didn't spend enough quality time with my family and friends. I didn't go to New Orleans with my husband. I didn't work on landing new freelance writing gigs or on building this blog. I didn't truly enjoy my city the way I wanted to and I didn't read all the books on my summer reading list.

The other day while looking over my list of summer intentions I said to myself, "Oh well, there's always next summer."

Then I stopped myself. 

Why do I keep acting as if life ends when school starts?! 

Sure, it's easier to write, build my business, and hang out with loved ones when I don't have to be at work 8 hours a day and spend my evenings grading papers. But this doesn't mean that I can only have a life two months a year. 

Plus, I really like my job! Teaching the gifted and amazingly talented students at my school is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. It's my mission to inspire my students, but they have no idea how much they inspire me. 

So this school year I'm going to use all that energy and inspiration that I get from my students and pour it into all the work I do both inside of the classroom and outside. 

Of course, my teaching career is my priority August through May, but I'm still going to make an effort to spend more time working on my business and freelance writing career. And I'm going to make an effort spend more time with family and friends and my husband, too. 

You may not be a teacher, but chances are you can relate to this story. Is there something you want to do, but you keep putting it off until the right time? I have news for you: there is no right time. That's what this summer taught me. I was sure that I'd be able to accomplish all my summer goals because I'd have a copious free time. But each day that time was eaten up by something -- cleaning, cooking, laundry, sickness, laziness, moodiness, etc. 

The New Living Translation of Ecclesiates 11:4 reads: "Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest."

And this isn't just a verse for those working in agriculture, y'all. 

There is no perfect time to start pursuing your passion. Start right now. Work with whatever is in front of you and with whatever time you have. Do one small thing each day to move you closer to bringing your dream to fruition. Sow the seeds. Otherwise you will never enjoy a harvest. 

Last year when renowned journalist Soledad O'Brien gave a lecture at Birmingham's Alys Stephens Center one audience member asked her a question often asked of highly successful women who juggle busy careers with motherhood: How do you balance it all?

O'Brien's answer was quite simple. "I don't," she said.

O'Brien went on to explain that sometimes she has to pour her whole self into her work and at those times she's probably a crappy mom. But at other times she puts work on hold so she can focus solely on her family, even if that makes her a bad journalist in the eyes of others. She said she realized she can't always be great at all her roles in this world and that's OK.

Her words reminded me of a profound statement I'd heard a month or so previously, also spoken by a woman juggling a career with motherhood. During a panel discussion at the 2013 Blogalicious conference Aliah Davis McHenry -- a blogger, PR pro, wife and mother -- was asked the key to balance. She leaned into the microphone and said, "Balance is a unicorn."

The crowd erupted into laughter and applause.

I found both O'Brien and McHenry's words quite comforting. Even though I am not a mom I am a wife, daughter, sister and friend and I often feel as if I'm failing the people in my life because I'm so busy building my business, writing and teaching career. And when I do spend time with family and friends I often feel I'm slacking on my professional life. So with their words I let myself off the hook.

But then I started to wonder if this was a godly approach to life. Philippians 4:13 says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, right? So doesn't this mean I should be able to achieve balance?

Maybe not.

This summer I've been co-leading a small group of women through the book Restless by Jennie Allen, a book all about discovering and walking in purpose. And this book has revealed to me that when you're walking in your purpose things can get messy.

In a section written by Allen's husband Zac, he writes, "God never promises balance."

God promises us that if we are walking in our true purpose we will have peace, but this doesn't mean life will always be orderly and neat.

Zac explains that what you, what I, what we have been calling balance was really a determined effort to control our lives at all costs. But God is in control. And, again, God never promises balance.

This life we're living now that we are pursuing our passions, this life that feels chaotic, is likely a symptom of a person attempting to follow God, a person attempting to run after her dreams.

In the first chapter of her book Jesus Feminist, Sarah Bessey declares, "Jesus made a feminist out of me." 

Later she defines Jesus feminist for anyone left perplexed by the term: "I call myself a Jesus feminist because to me, the qualifier meant I am a feminist precisely because of my life-long commitment to Jesus and his Way." 

I am not a Jesus feminist, but I want to be. 

I am a Christian and I am a feminist, but I am not a Jesus feminist, at least not according to this definition. I am not a feminist because I am a Christian. In fact, I've spent the past decade declaring that I am a feminist despite the fact that I am a Christian, or vice versa. I've spent the past decade wrestling like Jacob with the angel trying to reconcile these two belief systems that are at the center of almost all that I do. 

But I am tired of the battle. 

And this battle is a silly one. 

Jesus is my favorite feminist. Reading the Gospels, it's clear that Christ saw women as people. He didn't treat us differently from men. As Bessey writes:

We weren't too precious for words, dainty like fine china. We received no free pass or delicate worries about our ability to understand or contribute or work. Women were not too sweet or weak for the conviction of the Holy Spirit, or too manipulative and prone to jealousy, insecurity, and deception to push back the kingdom of darkness. Jesus did not patronize, and he did not condescend. 

Bessey, a Canadian, didn't grow up with many of the ideas about gender roles that prevail in America, especially in the Southeast where I live. She didn't face these issues until later in her Christian life.

Ironically, even though I'm a Southern girl I didn't grow up with gender stereotypes either. My parents always taught me I could be whatever I wanted to be. Period. But I'll never forget the day when, excited by a sermon I'd just heard, I remarked that the preacher got me so interested in the Bible that it made me want to go to Bible college and be a preacher one day myself. I was quickly corrected by a well-meaning elder: "Now, you know women can't be preachers." 

Disillusion and disappointment have marked much of my church life due to attitudes regarding gender, race, sexuality, class and more. I've even gone through periods where I've stopped going to church altogether. 

But as Bessey writes, quoting Sara Miles, "You can't be a Christian by yourself." 

So as I continue to re-read Jesus Feminist I will continue to deal with my doubts, my questions, and my hurts. I will continue to, as Bessey suggests, lean into the pain, trusting that there is a balm in Gilead. 

If you are reading Jesus Feminist along with me, please leave your thoughts on chapters 1-3 in the comments section. 

Ani DiFranco

“We need to stop turning people into icons” – that’s a statement a friend of mine made on Facebook recently with regard to the outrage and disbelief experienced by many Ani DiFranco fans after the feminist folk singer announced that she’d be hosting her upcoming feminist songwriting retreat in Louisiana on the grounds of what was once a cotton plantation.

DiFranco has since canceled the retreat.

My friend didn’t elaborate much on her statement about icons, but her words reminded me of the importance of not elevating a person to an idol-like status.  Humans are imperfect. They will screw up and when they do you could become disillusioned with everything they represent.  This happens in churches all the time when parishioners begin to idolize their pastors. The pastor cheats on his wife and then young members of the congregation turn their backs on Christianity.

I am a huge Ani DiFranco fan. She's even part of the inspiration for the name of this blog. I started calling myself “Writeous Babe” not only as a play on the old phrase “That’s one righteous babe” but also as a nod to DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records. Ani’s lyrics have helped me define my feminism. But I can honestly say I've never elevated her to any sort of idol status. I disagree with her on plenty of issues ranging from makeup to religion. But I've mastered the art of being able to accept and even admire something or someone in spite of disagreements. I had to -- I'm a black liberal Christian feminist who lives in (and loves) the South. 

Nonetheless, I was one of those people disappointed by Ani. I initially gave her the benefit of doubt. I live in the South and I know that down here it's pretty difficult to find a building that wasn't built on the backs of black folks. Also, I've visited plantations as a teenager and the groups with which I took these trips managed to transform the visits into an opportunity to honor the slaves who had once lived there. We did research on the black people who worked those very grounds and paid homage to them. I remember one moment standing in silence in a wooded area surrounding a plantation and thinking about how terrifying it would be to run away into the unknown and how brave the men and women who did that had to have been. These experiences brought me to tears and made me appreciate my freedom in a way that no history class ever could. 

Unfortunately, Ani's released statement revealed that there were no formal plans to acknowledge the history of Nottoway Plantation. She just hoped the conversations would "emerge organically."

So, yes, as an Ani fan, I am very disappointed. But I'm not disillusioned with feminism because while I admire Ani she's not my feminist icon. 

Thinking about this I began to wonder -- do I have a feminist icon? 

I realized I do not. At least not yet. 

I'm currently in the process of making Jesus my feminist icon. Let me explain. 

I’ve identified as a Christian nearly all my life and for the past decade I’ve identified as a feminist as well. And for the past ten years reconciling these two parts of myself has been a constant struggle. And I’m tired. Sarah Bessey, author of the book Jesus Feminist, says Jesus made a feminist out of her. I can make no such claims, but I wish I could. No longer do I want to be a feminist in spite of my Christianity, I want to be a feminist because of my faith.

I said that Ani was part of the inspiration for the name of this blog. But I also decided to play on the word righteous because of the dictionary definition of the term – “morally good; following religious or moral laws.”

I don’t just want to be “writeous,” I want to be righteous too. I want my actions and my words to be pleasing in God’s sight.

I want to be a Jesus feminist.

No, we shouldn’t make people our icons because they will mess up. But we can put our trust in God.

And if you’re not sure why Jesus should be a feminist icon, I leave you with these words by Dorothy Day:

Perhaps it is no wonder that the women were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. They had never known a man like this Man – there has never been another. A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronies; who never made arch jokes about them, never treated them as “The women, God help us!” or “The ladies, God bless them!”; who rebuked without querulousness and praised without condescension; who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend; who took them as he found them and was completely unselfconscious. There is no act, no sermon, no parable in the whole Gospel that borrows its pungency from female perversity; nobody could guess from the words and deeds of Jesus that there was anything “funny” about woman’s nature.

Sarah Bessey

I have a new girl crush, y'all.

Meet Sarah Bessey. She's the author of the new book Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible's View of Women. The book is all about the process of reconciling one's Christian faith with feminist ideals -- something I've wrestled with for a decade since I started identifying as a feminist in my early 20s. 







I haven't had a chance to read the book yet, but you can be sure this is how I'll be spending most of my weekend. 

So how am I crushing so hard on this Jesus Feminist when I haven't even read her book? Well, it's all thanks to Bessey's interview with The Hairpin. In her interview she had this to say: 

For me, I was in my early 20s when I began to self-identify as a feminist. I loved having women pastors, seeing women on church boards, seeing women pursuing any life they wanted. So it became a natural thing for me to say I'm a feminist. But then, in the church, when I said it, people would be surprised, and ask these questions—“Do you not want to be a wife and a mom? Do you hate men?”—and they’d ask me what “kind” of feminist I was. I just sort of cheekily started saying that I was a Jesus feminist, a feminist because I love Jesus. It's from my faith that I treat people with equal value, not the other way around.

Amen! 

So if you're wondering how to be a Jesus Feminist or wondering how a woman can be both Christian and feminist, I believe Bessey has summed it up quite nicely and flipped the question: How you can a woman be Christian and not be a feminist? Jesus teaches us to treat people with equal value and that's what feminism, at its core, is all about. Period. 

And this notion of equality applies to marriage too. In the interview Bessey remarked:

With marriage, of course, everyone does it differently, and finds what works for them. But we believe in something called mutual submission, where we submit to each other, and Jesus is the head of our household. 

That statement by Bessey made me want to cry and do a praise dance and kiss my sweet husband who yesterday wrote an article for AL.com about our "nontraditional" marriage, a marriage in which my goals and dreams are just as important as his, a marriage in which I'm not considered a bad wife because I don't have dinner waiting for him as soon as he walks in from work.

So I'm thinking of doing something crazy. I'm thinking of coming out as a Jesus Feminist at church. If you read this blog regularly or know me IRL you're probably well aware that my feminism practically oozing from my pores. But my feminism isn't something I talk about much around my church community, especially since feminists had been criticized in sermons on more than one occasion.

But I have this idea: Next year I want to lead a church-based small group for women during which we will read and discuss Bessey's book. I'll need to read the book before deciding if this is something I really want to do, but leading a Christian feminist small group would be a dream come true!


Are you a Jesus Feminist?

I believe in a God who is Love. 

I believe in women. 
I believe in feminism. 

I believe in sisterhood.


I believe in marrying your best friend; and I believe in the freedom to choose not to get married at all. 

I believe in blogging. 

I believe in books. 
I believe journalism will never die. 

I believe in Birmingham. 

I believe in lists. 

I believe in big dreams and big hair. 

I believe in the color pink. 

I believe in lip gloss, eye shadow, and Essie nail color. 

I believe in denim, blazers, and trendy flats. 

I believe in pencil skirts and dresses that flirt. 

I believe cute running gear makes a difference in your stride. 

I believe in Jillian Michaels. 

I believe I can be a feminist and be a feminine, fit, fashionable woman of faith. 

I believe that "blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her," (Luke 1:45 NIV).

What do you believe in?  

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.

-- Helen Keller

On Tuesday morning I'll be a guest on the morning lifestyles show known as Talk of Alabama. I'm excited and nervous and I've tried on about 10 outfits trying to figure out what to wear. I'll be on the show discussing See Jane Write Magazine and our upcoming launch party. 

I'm sure during the interview I'll tell the story of how See Jane Write Birmingham began. 

What I probably won't have time to talk about is the fact that when I started See Jane Write Birmingham in 2011 I had no plans for it to grow into what it has become. Back then I was instead focused on becoming a blogging superstar. I spent hours each day blogging and doing research on blogging.

I wanted my personal blog to be my ticket to all the conferences and festivals I longed to attend but couldn't afford. I wanted to win blogging awards and be featured in best blogs and "Bloggers You Should Know" lists. I wanted my blog to help me land a book deal.

But none of that happened. 

So I decided that I'd just take all the things I'd learned from all those years of writing, reading, and studying blogs and pass them on to other women. Though I continued to blog I decided to stop worrying about my blog's success. I decided instead to focus on helping other women create and expand their blogs. 

That's when See Jane Write started to get media attention. That's when I started to get invitations to speak at conferences. That's when people started to introduce me as "Blogging Superstar Javacia Harris Bowser." 

I'm still far from a true blogging star, but I can say with confidence that See Jane Write has been a successful venture thus far and it's been successful because I didn't make it about me. See Jane Write is all about serving others. 

We may have been told that the key to success is to "look out for number one" but I disagree. The key to success is to have a servant's heart.

To whom much is given, much is required. 

We are blessed so that we can be a blessing. 

My life verse

When you hang around Christians one thing that may come up frequently is the concept of having a life verse. A life verse is a piece of Scripture that you commit to memory and share with others. A life verse is one that has some significant meaning for you and helps guide you many life situations.

For years I never had a life verse. In college, when someone would ask me mine I'd just say "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, Philippians 4:13." But I only picked that verse because it was the only one I knew by heart.

These days, though, things have changed. I have a life verse (and a very long story as to why it was chosen as such). My life verse is: "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you," which is Joshua 3:5.

Perhaps this verse has never meant more to me than it does today on the eve of the launch of my new online magazine.

But how shall I consecrate myself? What does that even mean?

To consecrate something is to set it apart, to dedicate it to a particular service or goal. So today, on the eve of what I pray will be an amazing thing, I dedicate myself to God's service. My prayer is that this new website and all the projects related to it will somehow help others because we serve God by serving people.

I also want this blog to help even more people which is why instead of posting less after the magazine launches, I'll be posting more.

You can check my new editorial calendar here.

Let's enjoy the amazing blessings of God together.

Don't leave your writing success to chance. Pray about it!
(And, yes, I do have Hello Kitty fuzzy dice in my car.)

Do you pray before you write?

I don't.

I pray before I travel, I pray before I teach, and I always pray before I run a 5K or half-marathon. But I don't pray before I write. 

I don't pray before I write because I'm cocky. While I recognize that my writing talent is a gift from God, because writing is so natural to me I tend to think I don't need any extra help. I feel as if God has given me the gift of writing so I can take it from here. But I couldn't be more wrong. 

I may be a good writer, but I'm not a great one, and I could certainly use some supernatural assistance to get me there. Plus, there's so much even beyond the quality of work that a writer should pray about when it comes to her craft. We need to pray for inspiration and we need to pray that our writing will somehow touch the lives of others. 

Chances are, however, you're not the arrogant jerk that I am. Chances are, you don't pray before you write because you feel as if you shouldn't bother God with such things. You believe that prayers of supplication should be reserved for times of dire need or times when you're concerned about the well-being of a loved one. But we are told over and over in Scripture to go to God about everything. 

This is something I've struggled with myself and, believe it or not, God used my car bumper to teach me to pray about all things. Less than one week after I bought the car I'm currently driving I hit a huge gas container that was sitting in the middle of the highway. The result was an unsightly dent in my fender. For weeks I terribly upset about this. I knew it was silly to be so distraught. I should have been happy that no serious damage had been done and thankful to have a car at all. So I prayed and simply asked God to help me get over it. Ironically, I was driving when I decided to pray this prayer and as soon as I said "Amen" Francesca Battistelli's song "Free To Be Me" came on the radio. In case you're unfamiliar with the song, check out the chorus:

'Cause I got a couple dents in my fender 

Got a couple rips in my jeans 

Try to fit the pieces together 

But perfection is my enemy 

On my own I'm so clumsy 

But on your shoulders I can see 

I'm free to be me

As the song played all I could do was laugh. I think I was even wearing ripped jeans that day. Needless to say, I got over the dent in my fender. In fact, I completely forgot it was there. But imagine my surprise (and the one-woman praise party that ensued) when one day later that summer I was washing my car and discovered the dent was gone! 

If God cares about a stupid dent in the bumper of my Mazda 3, certainly He cares about your writing, certainly He cares about you effectively using the gifts He gave you. 

1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to "pray continually." 

Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And in John 14:14 Jesus told his disciples, "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." 

So before you write your next blog post, your next article, your next short story or poem, or the next section of your book, pray about the words you will write and pray for the people who will read them. 

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.