Hustle Hustle Hustle

 Hey Loves 

I hope you're all holding up well and taking advantage of the warm weather, but also staying safe and hydrated as we enter the heatwave. 

As always a huge thank you and shout out to those who support the blogs, the encouragement helps me to keep going and stay consistent with the content. Though they are sometimes late, please know that there will always be content, the delay on this blog is simply due to my health throughout the last stages of the pregnancy.

Not long left guys, currently, I have just over a week left and though anxious, we are so excited to meet our newest Royal Ford. 

As my regular readers already know, I have a list of content that God has me working through, I am going to spend this time before the baby is born trying to pre-write a few blogs in hopes to have content to post for a few weeks after the baby is born, mama's you know how it is trying to settle in a new little one, especially into a family this big. 

If there are any topics that you guys want me to address, feel free to comment or send me some suggestions, I'm interested to see some topics that my readers suggest for me. 

So this week seems to be career week in our home as our eldest twins are currently doing work experience, so the talk of dreams, goals, jobs, careers and hustles has been a heavy topic. 

It took me back to being their age 14/15 years old and the choices I struggled to make regarding my passions. To be honest, at the time I had no clue what I wanted at this age my focus during this period was maintaining my relationship with my boyfriend (Lord help) Lol.

Watching and supporting the kids through their process makes me both proud and reflective. The kids are so driven and though they may not be 100% sure what their pursuit in life is yet, they are aware of their options and they are having fun figuring it out. 

It's so important to us, especially that our kids, get started early on identifying their direction, not at all saying they have to have it all worked out but at least get a head start on thinking about it. 

This is something I did not do, thus me being in my 30's only just working it all out now. Is this a bad thing? Not at all but my preference for myself would have to have been more solid in the idea of my purpose a little while back. By no means do I regret my life, it's just those little preferences. 

I don't know about anyone else but when I was in my teens, there were a lot of careers I wanted to pursue and none of them was my idea; most of the time it was what others felt I would be good at or would enjoy. Being a people pleaser at the time and crazy indecisive, I just went with the flow. 

What I thought I wanted to do ranged from being a midwife, barrister, holiday rep, fashion designer, make-up artist, hairdresser, or flight attendant, I'm pretty sure I left some stuff out but you get my point. 

I found quickly that a lot of these directions were certainly not for me. 

I failed in textiles and hated it, could have something to do with the teacher but who knows? either way, it was not for me (My grandma would be so disappointed lol). 

Not everything was a bust, for a while I had a small side hustle in the make-up industry which I enjoyed, but I quickly realised that direction was for a period, that I tended to prefer doing on myself, it certainly was not a passion, but more a hobby, however, I would never knock the fact that it bought food into the home and paid the bills, whilst it was booming. The beauty of this gift is that make-up is a growing trend and there is always a gap in the industry to pick it back up. 

Going through these stages with my children, makes me want so much more certainty for them, at no point do I want them to have any regrets regarding their childhood, their hopes and their dreams, it's important that they know they are limitless. Stability, security and smart investments are key in our home. 

The first investment is faith, investing your faith into God's ability to see you through life and get you to his desired destiny and purpose for you, is the firmest foundation you could build any dream on. 

Most of the time we tend to over-complicate working out our direction, often because we are either focused on what other people are doing that we miss our window of opportunity and get left behind or we opt to follow suit, only to find that road was never ours to take (back to square one). 

We can also spend way too much time not paying attention to the things we are good at, the things we are drawn to. A way to identify these key elements is to zone in on what you watch, what you listen to, and what can take up most of the hours in your day without you even realising. 

In this day and age, we spend more time watching people live our dreams, rather than being bold enough to live them for ourselves, I am 100% guilty of this. 

My passion became my children and that indirectly lead me to my purpose. There were things I wanted to understand about my kids, I watched how different my twins were from one another, and I became driven to understand the make-up of their minds, coupled with wanting a better life for them. Trying to reflect on what I was also good at is what led me to do my degree, I noticed I was a natural helper. 

I wanted to support everyone through their struggles, to my mum's dismay, I often would bring friends home to stay who were kicked out or ran away from their homes, though mum wasn't always thrilled she never turned them away, which just fuelled my desire to help more, (Technically this is your fault mum, lol). 

I enrolled on many courses, such as business because I wanted to give my family stability, I thought having a business would leave them an inheritance, and though this direction was not entirely right, it was not entirely wrong either, I also tried my hand at becoming a counsellor, though I did achieve certification, I just knew I wanted more and needed to go deeper.

It took a few trials and errors before landing the AH-HA moments, God lead me to a course I was not even looking for. 

Guys il be honest with you, your girl didn't finish college, so the idea of ever going to university was not even a thought in my mind, but you know when God has a plan, and you are willing, no doors will stay closed on you. 

So with the encouragement of my family, I stepped out in boldness and applied for a Psychology degree in faith due to my lack of qualifications, because guys not only did I not finish college but my GCSEs were a straight embarrassment. 

As I expected my application was denied. A little while later I got an invitation for an interview at Croydon college university centre, in all truth and honesty, I do not even remember applying here as I had no clue Croydon had a university centre which is under the awarding body of Sussex University. 

I went to the interview only to be asked to write an essay there and then on a case study, and truthfully I had no clue what an essay was (Embarrassing). 

I have never prayed so hard for God to come through for me, my simple prayer was "God if this is your will for me, help me write this essay".

Long story short, I was the last one to be interviewed about an hour after my arrival, the lecturer read my essay and simply thanked me for such a beautiful piece of writing and offered me an unconditional offer for the course. Now I want you to see God, I did not apply for this course or this uni, I had no qualification to get onto the course, I did not know what an essay was, I had previously been denied onto a psychology course, yet I was sitting here with an unconditional offer onto a Psychology, criminology and social justice course... WWWWHHHAAAATTT!!!!!!! 

I wanted to share this testimony to show you, how God works when we trust him with the trajectory of our lives and when we pay attention to the things that capture our attention and won't leave us alone, the things we cannot stop thinking about, the things we often say to ourselves " I wish I could". Hello, You can. 

I'm learning age is nothing but a number, where there is life there is hope, there is a possibility and plenty of opportunities. 

I am living proof, I have my degree, and we have started our first business, which is simply birthed from a hobby, God showed us business opportunities in things we did daily for fun, I also contract in educational institutions with troubled and SEN youth.

The bible says " A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men. (Proverbs 18:16).

In Matthew 25:14-30, we are taught about the parable of the three servants... and what they chose to do with the bags of silver their master entrusted them with; let's say the man who did nothing with his but bury it in fear of losing it, was stripped of his silver and cursed. 

If we took some time out and reflect on what we enjoy, what we are drawn to, and what we are naturally good at, we may find that's the direction in which God has purposed us for. Yes, it's always good to expand on your knowledge and wisdom in areas of interest through academic pursuits, but we have to remember that God has the first and final say. 

Many of us feel like we may have missed out on our calling in life, many may feel like it's too late for us or they can't afford to start their small business to make it big business. 

But please let me assure you all the above is untrue. If you are reading this blog then you have every chance of making it, Age does not dictate your purpose. 

I had my first children a week after my 18th birthday, and I'm still growing my beautiful family to this day. Children could be seen as a reason to not fight for your place in this world, or they could be the very drive that forces you to get up and get started. 

Where to start???? Well, what do you currently have in your hands? Can you braid some hair like no one you know? That's where you start, invite some friends around, braid a few for free, take pictures, advertise using social media (Free) and get your business off the ground, Go to hair and beauty networking events.

This is just one example as this blog is already lengthy, but I will do a blog on starting a small business and how to turn your hobbies into money. 

The legalities, The fun and creative side of identifying what is a business opportunity, recognising the gap in an over-saturated market and how you can fill it, all from your home, despite a busy lifestyle and managing a household.

Even if you are a busy mum or dad, there are money-making natural talents we have that we can do with a baby on the hip. What I am trying to say is, that there is always a way to live your dreams. 

It may take some longer and some may be fortunate enough to start earlier, either way, the goal is to start. 

I hope you enjoyed this read and that you are somewhat encouraged. 

Please share with anyone you may feel will benefit from reading my mind lol. 

Love to all x 

James 1:17 

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 

Romans 12:6 - 8

6, In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if you have the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 

7, If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well.

8, If your gift is encouraging others, be encouraging, if it's giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. 

Colossians 3:23

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than people.