Happy Monday, friends! I hope your February is off to a wonderful start! I’ve been thinking for a long time that I’d like to start a fun series on the blog… trying to add a little consistency & and excitement around these parts! So, I’m thrilled to share post number one of “looking back + forward” with y’all! (I’m awfully creative with blogpost titles!)

On the first Monday (or Tuesday! Hah) of each month, I’ll be sharing a recap of the previous month – what I’ve been up to, favorite things, random adventures, posts I love, etc! And I’ll be saying HELLO to the brand new month with things I’m looking forward to & monthly goals – and you guys get to keep me accountable. ;) I’m pumped!

January was a very full, busy month! As I sat down and began to think about the upcoming year, God really opened my heart to what He wanted me to work on. Thinking over 2013 and everything that happened was refreshing. Attending the Delight Retreat was absolutely the highlight of my year and a huge game changer for me. The retreat opened up doors that I never could have dreamed of… just goes to show that God really does do abundantly MORE than we can ever ask or imagine!! Yet looking back, one thing that God laid on my heart is that I wasn’t as faithful as I could have been. An entire year went by of me not faithfully memorizing Scripture. I could have memorized 52 verses and I didn’t. An entire year went by where I could have gotten up at 6am each morning to have some peace and quiet before the craziness of the day began, but that was infrequent.

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13

God is faithful, regardless of how I act. My biggest aspiration in 2014 is to be faithful in the everyday. A good and faithful servant isn’t just faithful in the big things that God calls her to do – she doesn’t just go on one mission trip and call it good for the year – or clean the house from top to bottom once and not do a single thing the rest of the time – a good and faithful servant is good and faithful everyday. So this is my goal for 2014. Be faithful in the midst of chaos. Be faithful in the mundane… be faithful whether I want to or not because that is my calling as a Daughter of the King!

And I honestly think God is testing me because January was seriously a whirlwind! :) Here is a quick recap for y’all!

My wonderful Minnesotan friend Brittney came at the beginning of January! (A day late, I must add! Boo Delta for cancelled flights!) However, we very much enjoyed the time we had together making memories and going on crazy, unexpected adventures, as always! She was my rad second shooter for Allie & Ethan’s wedding in Springfield!

Missouri decided to dump some snow on us for the trip home… at least McDonald’s comes to the rescue when everything else is closed! :)

The three of us have been buds since the good ole middle school days and it was so awesome having Madi here for a week… love spending time with these two!

Madi, Chris, and I headed to Atlanta for Passion 2014! Oh goodness, it so was incredible. Loved all the speakers and times of worship… so refreshing and real. You bet I’ll be there next year!

A few Saturdays ago I had the pleasure of meeting Amelia and second shooting a wedding for her! So fun! I love connecting and making new friends. :)

And that was my January! :) I have to say that I am constantly astounded by the blessings that God has and continues to give… He is so good all the time!

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February Goals!! Hooray! Here are some things that I would like to accomplish + am very excited about!

– Launch my new website! I am so pumped about this. A fresh new look is coming to the site, and I can’t wait to share. February 10th, y’all! Be excited.

– Attend the Deeper Retreat this weekend… oh, and meet Hannah Elise!! Try not to be too jealous… some good times will be going down. You can definitely expect a bucketload of pictures!

– Stick to a consistent daily schedule. I’m not good at saying no to anything and I just “make it work.” Aka, squeeze it in and let other things slide. I want to prioritize and follow through with even the smallest things.

– Stick to my budget! I’m taking the Financial Peace course with Chris and it’s so interesting and exciting to have a better understanding of how to handle money. I really want to stay glued to my budget for this month.

– Start booking spring sessions! I’m really looking forward to getting sessions on the calendar and shooting consistently again. We just got dumped on with snow today… definitely feeling “springy” around here. ;)

– Put more effort into small group + relationships with friends and family. It’s so important to invest in the people around you and love people like Jesus does. My desire is to be intentional with my relationships and be impactful with my time.

– Spend devoted time on my knees with Jesus everyday. There is just NO way for me to be productive & impactful without Him. Instead of thinking there isn’t time…my heart should yearn to spend time with Jesus because I can’t accomplish what He’s given me without Him!

So there you have it! I applaud you if you made it through this long post! Be on the lookout for some images & portraits from our trip Atlanta coming soon!!

Much love,
Jessica Lauren