Ecclesiastes 2 – Futility of Work

I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned. And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless! So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world. – Ecclesiastes 2:18‭-‬20 NLT

The Teacher has sought solace in work. Now, let’s be clear about this, work is a good thing. Work is a holy thing because God did it. This book is not telling you that work is bad because it’s not. What is bad is finding your life’s purpose only in work.

The Teacher has worked hard. He’s trying to create meaning and purpose in life from work alone, and now that he’s had his work accomplishments, he’s reflecting on how meaningless they are. After all his hard work, one day, he will die. After he’s dead, someone else will take over what he’s left behind. And the same is true for us.

One day, we will die. Perhaps we’ll leave a company or organization behind. Maybe, like me, you’ll leave a classroom behind. And we don’t know if our successors will be wise enough to manage the work or foolish enough to banish working and responsibility. When work is your only purpose, that is a scary thought. When you work out of your purpose, that is a freeing thought.

If your only purpose is to work, then there is nothing to leave behind and certainly nothing you can take with you. But if you find purpose in your work, you can begin to leave a legacy behind.

Why was work meaningless? Because work by itself can’t give you God’s eternal purpose for you.

Year in Review

I think it’s important to reflect on the past. You can learn from it, and you can celebrate growth because hopefully, there has been some. My 2023 Year in Review is below. Yes, this post is to motivate you to reflect as well, but it’s also a recap for me to remember to celebrate these wins.

1) The D.A.U.G.H.T.E.R.S. Conference finally happened. After much prayer, tears, and several years, it happened. I mean, let’s put it in perspective, I published a whole book two years before the conference actually happened. But IT HAPPENED! It was great.

2) I got to see my husband excited about his LLC for his business (The Creative Krew). He really is a skilled graphic designer, photographer, and videographer. So it’s cool seeing him in his element. I also think making lattes is his talent too, which I’ve witnessed and experienced first hand. 😀

3) We joined a small group for married couples at church. Community is important and healthy support systems breed healthier situations. Also, began several new friendships, which as an adult can be just as difficult to do as a child at times.

4) We officially moved my mom in. It was always a goal to have my parents live with us, and after my dad’s passing, that process was expedited. Yet, we celebrate the ability or opportunity to have a space for her.

5) We celebrate giving. Every year my goal is to give more than the year before. God has really put us on a path to do that because He’s patiently teaching us good stewardship. I love it.

There are several more things, job security, writing goals, etc., but I think it’s safe to stop here. In short, did everything go my way? No. Did everything follow my timeline? Absolutely not. Did heart break happen? Sure did. But, God.

God was and still is faithful. He will continue to allow me to grow for His glory, and it will likely not look like I thought. And as hard as that may be for me, it will continue to be OK.

Small Beginnings

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.” (The seven lamps represent the eyes of the Lord that search all around the world.) – Zechariah 4:10 NLT

Don’t despise small beginnings. Don’t look down on the start of something because it’s new or because it’s not what you thought it would look like. Remember:

1) Small beginnings were fun. They may not have been ideal, but they were fun and different. It was fun just dating, right? Starting the business was exciting wasn’t it? Having a fresh start was refreshing.

2) Beginning anything new is risky, but it’s different and new. Dare I say, you were brave enough to take the risk at the beginning? You were hopeful about the plan you were putting into place. Risks were real, but the impending reward was worth it. You could take calculated risks.

3) In the beginning you didn’t have a whole lot to lose. It was small and it was new so there wasn’t as much investment involved yet. But you were willing to get involved. You were willing to step out.

The Lord rejoices to see the work begin. When God sees you putting into place the goals and dreams He’s put into your heart, He’s happy for you. He’s rejoicing that you’re having fun and taking the risk. Guess what, when you’re beginning, all you’ve got is what you’re starting with. When you start with only God, you will hopefully continue and end knowing that God made it happen.

Don’t despise the small beginnings, God is in them too.

Health Tip 4: Focus on Being Healthy

Focus on being healthy.

I can’t stress that enough. It’s so easy to focus on the scale. I think it’s good to have a goal in mind to work towards. It motivates most of us, but it’s not the most important thing. Being healthy is the most important thing to concern yourself with.

Focus on being healthy, so that no matter what the scale says, you’ll know that’s taken care of. Yes, your doctor will likely give you a weight range that’s healthiest for you. That’s because there are certain weights for certain heights, likely because people tend to be healthier in that range so it’s been made a standard. That doesn’t mean you aren’t healthy if you’re a few pounds outside of that range. It also doesn’t mean you’re healthy because you weigh less than that range either.

At the end of the day, your body being healthy is all that matters. Having proper breathing and organ functioning is the goal. As long as you are focusing on those types of health goals, you’ll choose to change because you want what’s best for your body. Hopefully, you’ve started this, so keep up the good work!

Health Tip #3: Take Baby Steps

Health Tip #3

Take baby steps to permanent change.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. The body you want and most importantly the healthy body you want won’t happen in a day. Don’t be discouraged, be patient.

In fact, that’s another reason to be careful about working towards a number rather than healthiness. When you don’t reach that number you’re discouraged, when we really you should be celebrating any progress.

So take baby steps. If you know you have to lose weight to become healthier take small steps towards weight loss. Don’t starve yourself in order to lose 10 pounds in two weeks. Set a goal of maybe three pounds in two weeks. Then track your progress of that.

If you lose more than three pounds, celebrate your hard work. If you lose three celebrate and intentionally think about what worked for you during those two weeks. If you lose two pounds, do the same.

Take small steps and focus on healthy habits and consistency. Celebrate the small victories that add up to the overall win.

Physical Health – Be Realistic

Tip 2: Be realistic about what you’ll give up.

You’ll find that whenever I talk about goals I always talk about the importance of being realistic. Fitness or health goals are the same. Be realistic about what you’re willing to give up.

Honestly, I love ice cream and I love Chick-fil-A. It is not a realistic goal for me to cut them out. I know that I can live without them. I just don’t want to. I don’t even want to try. However, I can cut back. I can cut back to having ice cream once a week instead of three or four times, and I can cut back on Chick-fil-A. After all, Chick-fil-A has amazing salads too so I could ease off the fried nuggets.

I also know that those things are upwards 500 calories. So if in my reality I’m not going to give them up then I need to understand what has to happen to maintain a proper caloric intake/outtake. So maybe I modify my breakfast and/or lunch that day because I’m having a high calorie dinner or dessert. I also know I need to burn a few hundred calories to balance out my intake for that day.

So if I can have 1500 calories a day, my combined breakfast and lunch need to only be about 1000 calories for my Chick-fil-A dinner. Or I can workout and burn 300 calories which would allow an intake of 1800 calories for that day.

Again, I don’t want to get so deep into a game of numbers because this is more about creating healthy habits than that. But, if you’re starting off, having some numbers to work with helps. My system isn’t perfect and I know it can be healthier, but it’s my system that worked for me as far as creating a healthy habit. Now, the hard part is balancing the correct daily nutrients which I haven’t gotten to yet, but someday perhaps.

In short, be realistic. People fail because an unrealistic goal didn’t work and they gave up. Set yourself up for what you can accomplish. Celebrate it when you do and build on that. Realistically what can you give up or cut back on? Do that. It doesn’t just happen in a day but it can happen in daily consistency.

Daughters Podcast – Conference

Tune in to hear how the first D.A.U.G.H.T.E.R.S Conference went this summer!

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1806754/11058655-daughters-conference-2022

2022 D.A.U.G.H.T.E.R.S. Conference Podcast

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1806754

The 2022 D.A.U.G.H.T.E.R.S. Conference for young women is this summer, June 25, in Cumming, Georgia for rising 7th – 12th grade girls. The overall goal for this is to prepare and encourage young ladies in their next steps in life. We will do so in the following simple, practical ways with breakout sessions.

***A Note for Parents

We will have a Coffee Corner, which is a dedicated space for parents to socialize during the conference while the girls are in their breakout sessions. There will be coffee, lights snacks, and more.

· Breakout Session 1: Goal Setting

· Breakout Session 2: Healthy Relationships

· Breakout Session 3: Therapeutic Painting

· Breakout Session 4: Journaling and Intimacy with God

· Large Group Session: Identity

We’ll also have food, games, raffle giveaways, goodie bags and more!

Register today to reserve your spot!

For more information about the host of this event, visit www.achanelmoore.com/registration.

D.A.U.G.H.T.E.R.S. Conference

The 2022 D.A.U.G.H.T.E.R.S. Conference for young women is this summer, June 25, in Cumming, Georgia for rising 7th – 12th grade girls. The overall goal for this is to prepare and encourage young ladies in their next steps in life. We will do so in the following simple, practical ways with breakout sessions.

***A Note for Parents

We will have a Coffee Corner, which is a dedicated space for parents to socialize during the conference while the girls are in their breakout sessions. There will be coffee, lights snacks, and more.

· Breakout Session 1: Goal Setting

· Breakout Session 2: Healthy Relationships

· Breakout Session 3: Therapeutic Painting

· Breakout Session 4: Journaling and Intimacy with God

· Large Group Session: Identity

We’ll also have food, games, raffle giveaways, goodie bags and more!

Register today to reserve your spot!

For more information about the host of this event, visit www.achanelmoore.com/registration.

Writing Tip 3: Don’t Rule Out Writing

Tip 3: Don’t Rule Out Writing

Today’s tip will actually touch on something I mentioned last week. So last week the challenge was to set a goal to write. In that, I mentioned that just because it isn’t a public piece doesn’t disqualify it from your goal. So today, don’t rule anything out.

If today you wrote in a personal journal and invested time into doing so, why shouldn’t it count? You used your time and energy to write so does it matter that you didn’t post it?

Also, don’t only post when it’s perfect. Make the effort to post your best work, but certainly don’t limit your writing to only what you think is best. You may never share anything if you do that.

I don’t think I write the best thing in the world every time. But when I do write something that’s pretty good, I’m pretty proud, and even then I still don’t think it’s perfect. A year later I can go to the same post and see errors or mistakes that I overlooked, but the message really stays the same. If I only posted anything when I felt it was just right I’d have nothing to refer to. I’d have nothing to grow from, and well, I’d have nothing in terms of writing.

Don’t rule out your writing. Don’t rule out journaling as a part of your writing goal just because we won’t see it. With the exception of not writing or posting anything offensive, you have creative liberty. You don’t have to wait until it’s perfect to post. However, if you care that much, ask someone to edit it or look over it. As always with this topic, I’ll end with this: write something. 🙂