Travel the Ages: PIECES OF YOU

Thursday, January 2, 2025

PIECES OF YOU

PIECES OF YOU

April Farlow

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GENRE: Christian Living

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BLURB:

Knowing who you are has always been challenging, and in today’s world, more and more voices are coming from more and more places telling us who we should be. The result? A broken sense of identity that we’re struggling to put back together.

In Pieces of You, April Farlow shares how she discovered her identity is formed by the God who made her. Along the way, she’s learned that if we want to put the pieces of who we are together in a real, lasting way, we have to look to Whose we are for help.

It’s time to take a look at the unique pieces that make up who you are …

The pieces you compare …

The pieces informed by the father figure in your life …

The painful pieces …

The pieces of your relationships …

The pieces on which you’ve built your beliefs …

The pieces that give you rules and boundaries …

The pieces that show what you value …

The pieces that give you purpose …

The pieces that help you build a vision for what’s to come.

As we work to put those pieces together, we’ll look to the God who made us, knows us, and loves us to guide us. Because when you take all your pieces—the good, the bad, the broken, and the beautiful—and place them in your Heavenly Father’s hands, there, you’ll find peace. There, you’ll find security. There, you’ll find a real sense of who you are and Whose you are.

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Excerpt:

As it turns out, relationships are complex, wonderful, and constantly changing. Whether it’s a relationship with a spouse or significant other, a family member, a coworker, a friend, or just a neighbor we cross paths with occasionally, we don’t always appreciate the complexity or influence these relationships have on the pieces of who we are. We don’t always see how they shape not just how we see who we are but how we see who others are, too.

Relationships are complex. They’re made up of people who are flawed and imperfect, and we will inevitably get it wrong a time or two. And that means they likely deserve way more work and attention than we give them. After all, relationships can influence who we become. They leave a permanent tattoo on our skin, our personality, and our ability to have other relationships. They’re strong enough to give us a common bond yet powerful enough to tear us apart.

But you don’t need me to tell you this, do you? You experience the complexity of relationships in your life regularly.

I mean, even science is backing us up here. Social psychologists have claimed that our identity is often shaped by what we think other people think of us. If the people we’re in relationship with label us as beautiful, we believe it. We hold on to that if they say we’re smart, personable, or athletic. We think it about ourselves. We let it become a piece of who we are.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

April Farlow has spent the last 20 years motivating audiences to get out of their comfort zone, speak up, and represent their values. In corporate environments, one piece is missed—the ability to talk about forming your identity in God. Today, as a speaker, author, coach, and non-profit leader, April is changing this by sharing her faith journey and helping others do the same with clarity and conviction.

In 2017, after speaking to a group of foster youth, April founded Lydia’s Place, a ministry serving young adults who have experienced foster care or homelessness. April and her husband have four girls and live on a mini-farm outside of Athens, Georgia.

http://www.aprilfarlow.com

http://www.instagram.com/aprilwfarlow

~~~~~~~~~~~~~It’s a New Year: How to set a clear vision for 2025

When I was one year into writing, “Pieces of You” which is largely inspired by wisdom from my dad – he passed away. On my father’s death bed, I whispered, “I will finish the book.” Had I not said it out loud, I promise you I would not be promoting a finished book today. I learned so much from his simple truths that I wanted to share a bit of his wisdom with you about setting a clear vision for 2025!

When I was fourteen, my dad walked through the garage door wearing a fancy suit, He was crying and carrying a dozen red roses. All of this got my attention because my dad rarely dressed that nicely and while he did bring my mom flowers frequently, I had only seen him cry once before that day. I had no idea this had been an important day. He gave my mom the roses alongside a check from the sale of his company. Then he gave Richard and I both a pack of index cards. (Good thing we didn’t know his company was for sale, or we would have wished for more than index cards!)

Unbeknownst to us, my dad had a vision to one day sell his company. The vision was so clear that he wrote the amount he wanted to make when he sold it on an index card. He carried that card around for more than a decade. Every time he put his hand in his pocket, the index card would remind him of his goal. That day, he presented Mom with a check for an amount that exceeded what was written on the car. My dad never lost sight of his vision, and he wanted to instill in my brother and me the chance to see the same thing come to fruition.

He wanted us to write down our vision with confidence. And that’s exactly what I want you to do too. Get an index card and put words to the dream in your heart. Write it down and say it out loud: Is this the year you are going to finish your book, start your own blog, get published, record the podcast, run the marathon, travel the world? It is easy to shrink back when you aren’t very clear with where you are planning to go. When you write it down, it gives you clarity. When you say it out loud you get accountability.

One you write it down, jump in! Here are a few other things my dad taught me along the way:

Row your own boat: As a child, my dad sang, “Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream.” Of course we had fun as we sang, but he always added a lesson with the tune. He would say, “April, get so focused on rowing your own boat that you don’t have time to look at someone else’s. Then he would add, “When you are gentle on yourself, you will float merrily down the stream.”

Imagin the freedom to focus on rowing your boat rather than spending so much time watching the boats row by. Instead of giving so much attention to the lives of others, what if you focused on your path forward?

The toughies are your teachers: This is another of my dad’s many mantras in life. In any hardship, he would remind me, “April, the toughies are our teachers.” It can hurt to hear, but it is true.

Learn from the hard knocks. The rejections. The pain.

Learn you can handle much more than you thought.

Learn you are stronger when you endure.

You have to ask yourself: what can I do with the cards I have been dealt? What am I willing to learn from this tough circumstance? The toughies really can be our teacher when we allow hard knocks to make you better rather than bitter.

Boundaries are for your benefit: My dad repeatedly told me about a study done on school playgrounds. Researchers made an interesting discovery about how children play, depending on whether there is a fence around the playground. If the playground had a fence around it, the kids would play in the entire space. But with no fence, the children played much closer to the playground equipment rather than exploring the school yard with as much freedom.

And so it goes with adults. Setting boundaries so that you can achieve your dream is both healthy and necessary. Do you need to block time so that you have time to be creative. Do you need to say no to some commitments so that you can say yes to your purpose and your dream? Do you need to set up accountability for yourself so that you can make progress toward your future. Understand that boundaries can be more than restrictive – instead they are rewarding. They don’t necessarily kill joy- they can bring delight. They are not hurting - they’re helping.

So, let’s make 2025 your year. Dream BIG, write it down and say it out loud, row your own boat, learn from the toughies and set some boundaries to make sure you reach what is written on your index card.