Skincare & Personal Testimony

Sora Shimazaki · Photography (pexels.com)

Nothing is more encouraging than taking time to sit with a friend and talk through your current season.  I spent time with Christina Smith Amen, Founder of Super Mommy-n-Me, a community of resources, networking, and support for moms, entrepreneurs and local businesses building strong meaningful connections. Well, that's exactly what she and I set out to do with our meet today.

It's amazing all the tidbits of insight you can take away from just taking time to sit with someone and be present in the moment! This was an intentional meeting with connection being the goal and so much more developed out of it.

Today, I am inspired to share a part of what I shared about my walk and journey over the past year with overcoming depression and anxiety.

This past year had been a flood of all things new, yet too, some things unfavorable; marriage, blended family life, joblessness, financial voids (cut-off notices and cut-off's) and medical illness expenses to name a few.  In my lowest point I decided to get help for my depression and anxiety so that I could handle my new life and all the uncertainties the seemed to be before me.  In addition to this, I stayed connected with my church home/community and family and friends as much as possible.

It wasn't until Christina and I were on the subject of passion that another thought arose for me to share.  Even on the days when I struggled to show up and face the day, one of the things that kept me going was getting up in the morning to wash my face, and washing my face at night before bed.  Ok....this may sound strange but as I dug a little deeper into why I did this.  I realized that this was, at the time, the only self-care thing I could muster up the strength to do some days. It was out of the habit of wanting to take care of my skin that was created years ago that showed up in my time of need as means to get me out of bed.  It was my old dormant desire to be a makeup artist and own a business and realizing that "at least I had a side business with Mary Kay" whether I was doing anything with it in that moment or not, that made me feel that all was not lost.  It sounds pretty backwards, but it's the truth.

When I finally came up out of the pit of the valley of depression, I turned my attention back towards this aspiration. Something that originally started back in 2001, reentered the picture in 2012, and now in 2016. I finally made a decision that this would be the season for me and I would let it unfold as I was being prepared for this moment  for years.  Most importantly, this simple act could have been missed if I hadn't taken the time to connect and share my journey with someone else. This is why our testimonies are so important.  Not just so we can tell it, but in telling it we inspire someone else and also learn new things about our journey and encourage ourselves all over again.  It is a reminder that God is with us at all times just waiting for us to perceive Him and guide us in any and every season.  It further proves that nothing is wasted, and I think this is pretty amazing.

I will be washing my face tonight:)

Be Beautiful!

Nherie