POLISHED POPE | STYLES

mission

1. a body of persons sent to perform a service or carry on an activity.

Can you believe that it's been six months since I began my journey as a Fashion Blogger. With your continued love and support, you have allowed me to open up and share my creative space with you. Thank you!

I remember daily busting my brain daily thinking that this journey was impossible because of a lack of time or financial resources, and self doubt. I wrote out my mission in December of 2016, and ever since God has guided me every step of the way. Every resource that I needed throughout this journey has been provided. I have received business coaching, website design, photography, journalism, counseling, new friendships, partnerships you name it!

So, let's talk about mission. As a owner, creative director, blogger, and designer, I can truly say that I am working on my mission. I am confident enough to say that no matter what you know, how much time you have or how much money you need anything is possible.

2 Corinthians 5:2-10 says, "2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

6 So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. 7 For we live by believing and not by seeing. 8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. 10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body."

Six months ago, I made a conscious decision to do something different. I decided to use my talents as a service to provide to others no matter the personal gains or return. I knew that I had to begin to obey God in order to feel fulfilled in life. What started out as a survival skill and a way to adjust socially became something that has inspired others around me. That's most rewarding.

From my personal experience, when you lean on your own understanding you can talk yourself out of the mission that God has planned for you. You might talk yourself out of the most brilliant ideas because of what someone else may say or think. You might talk yourself out of executing a project because you do not think that you have enough time to dedicate to it. You might even talk yourself out attending an event because of the lack of money, but your first paid client might be there waiting for you to arrive.

We have to stop leaning on our own understandings. When we do that we are looking at the evidence of things that we have seen. This includes past failures, our parents past, our spouses past, and those situations become a repetitive cycle that we find ourselves never releasing. In order for us to move forward we must have an intentional mission to forget what we know about our past expriences, focus on the present so that we can get to the future that God has promised.

When I chose to embark on my personally curated mission despite what I thought it would be like, God took the lead and has sent me on quite a journey. I have encountered unanticipated partnerships, clients and projects came falling right into my lap. This Faith-filled Mission has allowed me to be more confident in my decisions. I have better self esteem. Despite the resources that I thought I would be without, God has continued to provide them in every area.

No matter your background, family structure or income, please understand that when you take one leaps of faith God will be right there to catch and guide you to the next leap. Write out that mission, make it plain, take those baby steps and you will be walking into your destiny.

Check out the outfit details below and see how my featured piece, a Floral Printed Rain Jacket went perfectly with the theme for this Spring segment. I paired it with a simple white button down shirt and Bermuda jean shorts because that jacket deserves a spotlight of its own. Of course I added pops of color in my accessories, including the shoes I have had for ages. Remixed them into the look to give them new life and that went perfectly. Can you believe that I found this jewel of a rain jacket new with tags?!

Outfit Details:

Jacket: Isle By Melisa Kozan; Goodwill

Shirt: H&M

Shorts: GAP, Goodwill

Purse: Forever21; Goodwill

Shoes: Unisa

Watch: Michael Kors

Bracelets: JCREW; JCREW + Goodwill

Sunglasses: Target

Photo Credit: hypebeast_d