As we step into this new year, I wanted to share a personal story that I believe will resonate with many of you. Let's call it a story of redemption, faith, and the power of reclaiming what is rightfully yours.
Months passed, and I began searching for ways to make extra money from home to be able to fund this project which to me has been like the baby Hannah prayed for that she just couldn't let go. Hannah's story is found in 1 Samuel 1. Hannah had everything any woman could ever ask for except a son. I have everything any woman could ever ask for, but I needed a purpose. I have experienced purpose filled seasons, but this one project would allow me to share God's goodness in my life with the world and influence others for purpose to live with faith filled intention but I digress to the story.
We want to encourage you to let that be the beginning or recommitment of your life with Jesus. Don't give what is yours, or His I should say, your purpose to whoever or whatever doesn't deserve it. If you've given it away, reclaim it and dedicate it to God like Hannah dedicated her son. Our Creator, God, is the original source of our lives, dreams, and bodies anyways and He desires to fill us with His Spirit and guide us into our divine purpose in Him.
It's His purpose that will truly satisfy us and allow us to walk in His freedom! But it's up to us, to you, to take the necessary steps with determination, perseverance and faith.
Take them and make this season and this year one with faith filled intention in Him, His word and His ways and let God bless your day!
A few years ago, I purchased a domain name for my website, excited to share about God's story of redemption in my life with the world. I had originally attached to Blogger.com so that I could share blogs with the vision that one day Brett and I would have a proper platform. As time went on and my vision began to unfold, the awaited time came when I needed to explore other platforms and update the website. Eager to cut costs, I tried building it on my own. I sought two different free options since we were very new, only to find it frustratingly complicated. I reached a point where I had to let go and trust that either the right person, which I was hoping would be Brett, or the necessary resources would come my way. Yes, I did look for the cost of outsourcing the job but because we're in such early stages of the digital sphere, it didn't make sense to pay however much it would cost.
In the midst of my prayerful search for a way to earn extra income without sacrificing family time, a friend shared a 15-day business builder challenge for affiliate marketing and high-ticket sales. I had already looked in and had become an affiliate to Amazon so I was intrigued. I shared it with my husband, hoping he could verify its legitimacy.
Little did I know that this challenge would lead us to a journey of learning, empowerment and the way to build a platform for Influence For Purpose.
Through this course, we discovered the simplicity of honing new skills to build just about any platform, not just for affiliate marketing . It felt like a glimpse of God's guiding hand in our lives, reminding us of Jeremiah 29:11, where He promises plans to give us hope and a future.
But here's where it gets interesting. In my attempts to build the website on my own, I had unknowingly migrated the rights of my domain name to another platform. When I realized this, I desperately sought to regain control, only to find dead ends and frustration. I was on the verge of losing what was rightfully mine – the domain name my platforms where named after.
Finally, I reached out to the original source, who informed me they no longer had control over the domain and couldn't help me. They directed me to the platform where it was registered in my feeble attempts to build this website, but no phone number was available for contact. I was instructed that I needed an authorization code in order to bring it back to the original source and to be able to use it as we pleased.
Feeling lost and overwhelmed, I contacted a broker, who said he couldn't guarantee to retrieve my domain even if I paid them. It was a painful realization – I might have to relinquish the name, and potentially change what I had worked so hard to create under the name. I did consider what other names I might rename it all to if for a brief moment but was overcome with an anxiety appeased only by prompt to not cave in but to persist, no matter what it took, to get the name back.
At the prompt to persevere, I was determined and through tears and countless digital communications, I discovered that the platform itself didn't fully own the domain; it belonged to Google. I have no idea how it got there, but with a newfound sense of hope, I finally found a phone number and reached out to Google, explaining my predicament.
They immediately understood and at my request, provided me with the authorization code. In a matter of minutes, I regained control of my domain, but not without a cost. I had to pay a transfer fee even though I had already bought it and that it was mine all along. The frustration was immense, but I was willing to pay the price to reclaim what was rightfully mine.
Now, you may be thinking, "How does this apply to me?" Well, consider the areas of your life where you've unknowingly given away your rights away – your thoughts, dreams, fears, and even your physical body. Perhaps worry, fear, addiction, or seeking love in the wrong places have taken control of your life and
I've personally experience giving my self away to the wrong people and things. I had to pay a high price to get my life back plus, these decisions left me empty and without hope. When I was determined to get my name back, my tears weren't just about the frustration of the probability of not getting my name back but about how I had to purpose in my heart to take my life back from everything that wasn't God and how in Jesus I was redeemed through faith in His life, death and resurrection and the power of His blood.
I"d tried to give my life to God my way, trying to cut costs, but as much as I tried on my own I wasn't fully free. I had no idea that I needed THE authorization code.
The word of God says that no one can come to God, except through Jesus (John 14:6) because He is THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE and when He sets us free in His way and His truth, we can indeed live a life of freedom from anything that may try to bind us.
Do you have to take action to reclaim what is yours?
The book of Romans chapter 10: 9-11 says this: "you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
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