For the most part, I would say that I’ve always been a genuinely positive person. When I was younger, my sisters said that if they wanted to, they could’ve thrown me down the stairs and I would’ve still came back to them singing and smiling. 

Johnaé Elease is #FearfullyFashioned. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of online community, The Happy Joy. As a servant, singer, and writer, she uses her gifts and talents to win souls for the Kingdom. She credits God as the primary reason for her joy, happiness, and success.

These days, I hardly listen to music. I have entered into a stage of life where I want to be constantly in a state of flourishing, meaning that I want nothing more than to be in a state of constant growth. Personal and spiritual growth is woven into every fiber of my being, hence why my personal motto is to "always be growing and in pursuit of purpose." 

Fat. Ugly. Weird. Misunderstood. Understood. Undesirable. These are the words that defined my self-talk. These words weren’t in my original vocabulary. They were the words given to me by the devil and his lies.

My whole entire life I’ve always craved some form of stability. I crafted my plans to support a life of comfort and what I thought to be safe and sound living. How many of us go about life striving to do the same - to create a life of comfort and tradition?  I would base my plans on what I could see and know to be “wise” or "true," but of course God was calling me to everything but that.

Due to an unexpected seasonal cold and the intense preparation of midterms, I had intentionally avoided doing work for Fearfully Fashioned during these past few weeks. Every time I saw an email, I politely filed it away because I knew that I didn’t have the energy to answer it gracefully. 

I never knew the importance of having an emergency fun until several months back when I lost my job. I was approaching the last few months of my lease and preparing for a huge move. I immediately thought, “How am I going to pay the rest of my bills on top of moving to another state?!” Then I had calmly remembered that I had extra money to fall back on in my emergency fund account. 

For the longest, I always thought being a good steward only applied to personal finances. I grew up hearing the Parable of the Talents, and because the example directly discussed money and investment, I knew that I always had to take care of money wisely.  Little did I know that stewardship goes beyond finances. It applies to every area of your life. 

If you caught my last post on How to Become A Morning Person, you would know that I’m a morning person to the core. Now, I don’t want to reiterate how much I love the mornings (because I do)! This time around I wanted to share with you the morning routine that has enabled me to enjoy the mornings as much as I do.