All posts tagged: plans

Plan BIG!: A Word on Vision Casting

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“When God is your partner, make your plans big!” ~ D.L MOODY Plan BIG! You’d think that that exhortation would make every person who heard it celebrate with a motivated fire for action when in reality it makes a lot of people shrink back in fear and hide under the heavy blankets of safety and mediocrity. Dreaming is not so much of an issue for most of us. But dreaming big . . . well, that has the power to not only knock the wind out of many of our sails but sink our boats completely. Like me, I suppose you are wondering why that is. If we are honest with ourselves we would have to admit that insecurity and the scrutiny of others are what holds us back. The old ‘what will people think?’ phrase acts as the perfect glitch in our plans of action. The very thought of failing in front of others, especially those who’ve minimalized our former dreams with the constant song of ‘you can’t,’ strikes us immobile. Them witnessing our …

Picture This!: Capturing 2020 with 20/20

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Twenty-nineteen is almost at its end. And if we are honest, we can say that this year has gone by with a flash! Like with years past, we prepare to tackle the holiday season with knives and forks as if this will be our last indulgence before the clock strikes midnight for the last time on this side of the calendar year. For then, then we must set our goals, put on our workout gear and run ourselves to the gym with the single purpose of being beach-ready several warm months from now. For those of us who are focused on pursuing our creative callings, our goals tend to involve a different kind of exercise with a completely different destination in mind. “Success is not one size fits all and therefore requires a unique pattern.” For me, the goals that I have in the crosshairs are goals that I have been striving toward for several years now. But as I set out to take hold of them this year I am doing so while letting …

Five Ways to Maintain Creative Joy

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Being a creative person is a gift, one that is inherent to us all. Whether you are a writer or an artist, an educator or a parent imagining a new way to get your kids to eat their broccoli, you are operating in your creative nature. For those us who want to take our creative passion to the next level and turn our hobbies into lucrative business ventures, we run the risk of facing burnout. This burnout isn’t just from working nonstop on something awesome. This burnout comes from being unprepared for the reality in the shift that we are making. When our passion becomes a business there is another level of accountability that we have to step into, a level that is not as ‘fun’ as creating itself but just as necessary if we are to be successful. With that in mind, I want to encourage you on ways to keep the glow of joy in your creating even as you stretch beyond your comfort zone and begin to make your passion available to …

Pursuit of Passion: Series Intro

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With the start of every new year, with all the hope and uncertainty ahead of us, there are two themes that we can count on hearing about or seeing in the lives of others and that is pursuit and passion, or the pursuit of passion. From the greatest to the least of us, we all hear the proverbial ‘starting bell’ of a new year and mentally reset our minds with the belief that the slate is washed clean and we are beginning from zero, the old is past and the new is just ahead of us. Maybe you have determined to leave the corporate world behind in pursuit of your passion for entrepreneurship with the hopes of a new career. Perhaps you have set your heart to leave the single life behind in pursuit of a new relationship and romantic passion. Maybe you just want to a new you and are setting your mind in that direction with a passionate pursuit of healthier living. No matter what your ‘new’ may be in actuality, the commonality …

This Year: Hope For 2019

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“Don’t remember the former things, and don’t consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” ~ISAIAH 43:18-19 The Apostle Paul said in (Philippians 3:13-14) that he had determined to forget what was behind him in order to obtain what was ahead of him, thus he pressed forward towards the goal of the high calling of his life. And if you are familiar with the life of Paul, then you know that he was responsible for many deaths and imprisonments of the first followers of Yeshua Jesus, only to be called into Christ’s glorious Light himself. Could you imagine what life would have been like had Paul allowed his past mistakes, failures, and disappointments to determine and even spoil his future? Think of all the humanitarians of the Faith who’ve come forward for good because Paul pressed forward leaving yesterday where it belongs…behind him. With the dawning of …

All Things Beautiful: Faith for the New Year

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“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.” ~ECCLESIASTIES 3:11 The Year 2019 is the start of a new season, a new day, a new year! As with most people, many of us are stepping forward into the newness of the unknown while leaving behind so much. Maybe you lost a loved one. Maybe a relationship ended. Maybe you didn’t lose those last five pounds that you planned to shed at the start of 2018. The good news is it is okay. Christ Jesus, the God of all creation, knows your heart, and He knows the steps you take. If you trust Him, no matter how frozen the world around you may seem, (or for those of you who live below the equator experiencing sweltering heat) soon and very soon you will see and feel the warmth of the Son (sun) breaking through the ice and revealing all the goodness of …

Falling Into A New Season: This Month at ICFTS

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Greetings, Fellow Creatives! October has fallen upon us with the promise of fiery coolers, crisp weather, and the sense of stillness, with Winter just a wind away. But I ask you, are we really stepping into a season of stillness as Autumn blankets us with fallen leaves and seals us in with the kiss of frost, and have we really ever? I would like to offer you another thought and view of this time of year. Fall, Autumn, is the time to bring in the harvest from seeds planted in prior months, but it is also a time to prepare the soil for the cycle of seasons to come. Although we joyfully celebrate what has been, we also lay the groundwork for the goodness that is to come, setting our eyes and hearts on the future that rest upon the horizon. This October at ICFTS, I (Candice) want to help you prepare your mind for the plans ahead. I want to help you renew your mind as you focus through the lens of Christ-centered faith …

The Call to Create: Taking the Steps to Walk in Your Vision

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*Although this article was written at the start of 2018, the points and wisdom here still hold merit for today, especially for those of us who use the Fall or Autumn months as our starting points for new projects and plans for the year to come. -Revised from February 5, 2018 I had the pleasure last month of seeing a meme on social media that said something like, “My 2018 begins in February. January was just the free-trial month.” I, like you, I am sure, smiled at the sentiment. No, we don’t really get to have free-trial periods for our civil new years, but we do get to take some time to plan out what we want to see in the months to come. For many around me, January came with a punch that was comparable to galeforce winds. Many had continuous battles with sicknesses passed from family member to family member as if they were sharing trading cards. Some felt defeated by the reminder of failed goals that seemed to follow behind them like …