Faulkner Lifestyle April 2019~Anniversary Edition
As we celebrate our one year anniversary, we'd like to remind you of our mission. Faulkner Lifestyle’s mission is to entertain, inspire, educate and inform our community with a variety of articles that will provide something of interest for everyone. People, business, travel, food, home, wellness, spirituality, style, events, and the arts will be just a few of our featured topics. We have a strong online and social media presence. Not only are we distributed as a printed magazine in high-traffic retail and service locations, medical and dental offices, fitness facilities, boutiques, salons, coffee shops, and restaurants throughout our community; but also have live videos and regular interactions with our advertisers and our community in person and through social media. We will saturate the market on all levels so our advertisers will see direct results and our audience stays connected. Owners and publishers, Brandy Strain and Lori Quinn have over 14 years of invaluable experience in the magazine, marketing, and advertising industry that they will lend to this publication.
As we celebrate our one year anniversary, we'd like to remind you of our mission. Faulkner Lifestyle’s mission is to entertain, inspire, educate and inform our community with a variety of articles that will provide something of interest for everyone. People, business, travel, food, home, wellness, spirituality, style, events, and the arts will be just a few of our featured topics. We have a strong online and social media presence. Not only are we distributed as a printed magazine in high-traffic retail and service locations, medical and dental offices, fitness facilities, boutiques, salons, coffee shops, and restaurants throughout our community; but also have live videos and regular interactions with our advertisers and our community in person and through social media. We will saturate the market on all levels so our advertisers will see direct results and our audience stays connected. Owners and publishers, Brandy Strain and Lori Quinn have over 14 years of invaluable experience in the magazine, marketing, and advertising industry that they will lend to this publication.
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sets the fish back in the water. The same is<br />
true for us! We can’t work our way out of the<br />
snares, nets, and traps of life. We can try hard,<br />
but we don’t have the resources, abilities,<br />
experiences, or knowledge. We are limited by<br />
sin, flesh, circumstances, and the enemy. The<br />
only way out is to surrender to the ONE who<br />
can remove us from the net. When we do, we<br />
stop fighting and we start trusting. We accept<br />
the good plan God has for us, even if is it<br />
hard or confusing. We start asking the Lord,<br />
“How can this place in my life bring You<br />
glory?” When we do, freedom is ours in Jesus<br />
Christ and comparison is slayed because our<br />
eyes are ever on the LORD!<br />
Now, I want to share my comparison<br />
trap with you. At the end of this<br />
article, I am going to ask you to<br />
identify your comparison trap. The<br />
Lord has challenged me to go first!<br />
A few months ago if you asked me, “Andrea,<br />
what is your comparison struggle?” I probably<br />
would have given the answer: my weight,<br />
my gray hair, my (half) eyebrows, or other<br />
physical things. After walking through three<br />
months of personal evaluation, my answer<br />
is much different. It is much deeper. I share<br />
this struggle with so much transparency and<br />
a desire to proclaim Jesus over this area of my<br />
life. I also want you to know we all have hard<br />
places and struggles. It is so good for us to be<br />
real with ourselves and each other!<br />
Often, I find myself on a stage talking to<br />
or teaching women. And for the most part,<br />
I think people think I have it (somewhat)<br />
together. But what I want to share with you<br />
is that I often wake up in the morning and<br />
wonder, “How can God use a girl like me?”<br />
I come from a place of struggle as I look<br />
at others and wonder why God didn’t call<br />
someone stronger or more gifted or surer or<br />
better able to live out His plan. Before you<br />
think that is a noble or a humble thing, let<br />
me tell you it is not. Sin is at the heart of<br />
this thought because it leads to a constant<br />
comparison mindset as I look to others to<br />
determine if I am “enough” or “OK.”<br />
Here is how it plays out in my life. When I<br />
feel like I measure up to someone’s standard<br />
or level, I feel good about myself. I am<br />
confident and ready to serve. Conversely,<br />
when I think I am not up to a certain<br />
standard or level, I feel anxious and overly<br />
worried about everything like how I look,<br />
what I say, and how I am perceived. The<br />
entire time the reality of my life is that my<br />
eyes are ever on ME instead of the LORD.<br />
That is the deal with comparison. Our eyes<br />
are on ourselves, others, circumstances, and<br />
how the world defines success. This is such<br />
a trap because worldly success or acceptance<br />
is illusive and never the place where God<br />
created us to get our purpose or value.<br />
We can stop the comparison<br />
trap by refocusing on God.<br />
For me this means:<br />
More time in God’s Word. Not checking my<br />
quiet time off my list, but really digging in<br />
to the Bible every single day.<br />
More time in focused prayer. Thanking God<br />
for the struggle and asking Him to use the<br />
struggle to make us more like Jesus.<br />
More time in genuine worship. This is so<br />
important! Genuine worship paves the way<br />
for a change in our focus. Every day we<br />
should praise God, sing to Him, and pray to<br />
Him. This is a total game changer.<br />
More time in real conversations. It is time to<br />
move beyond the masks. We are not OK.<br />
We don’t have it all together. As a result, we<br />
need to engage in real conversations about<br />
real life. Take the chance. Be vulnerable.<br />
God’s GOT you!<br />
Now it is your turn to get<br />
real about comparison.<br />
Think about your comparison trap.<br />
Where do you struggle? What sets you off?<br />
How does the comparison trap<br />
impact your life?<br />
How does the comparison trap<br />
impact your view of God?<br />
What truth from Psalm 25:15 will help<br />
you fight the comparison trap?<br />
When we slay comparison, we avoid the<br />
extremes of we are enough, and we are<br />
not enough. We avoid the temptation of<br />
thinking we have to be someone God never<br />
created us to be because we know that Jesus<br />
is enough. We know who God created us to<br />
be and find joy in living a life of surrender<br />
to His plans and purposes. And there is<br />
peace, rest, hope, and comfort in the One<br />
who made us for Himself no matter how<br />
surprising or difficult life turns out to be.<br />
Andrea Lennon: An “on the go” kind of girl who loves Jesus, Andrea’s life<br />
calling is to teach women to know the truth, live the truth, and share the<br />
truth. Her passion is honest conversation about the topics that drive our<br />
lives and how we can weather the storms through the love and power of<br />
our Lord and His Word. Connect with Andrea at AndreaLennonMinistry.org.<br />
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