It was a busy weekend so my weekly wrap up is a couple of days late, but I love capturing our week in these posts so I thought, “better late than never!” Our sweet Jackson, our second child, turned nine on Saturday. We celebrated with a family dinner on Friday night and a Clemson football game on Saturday. I’m so proud of the young man he is becoming. He is a friend to everyone, respectful, and loves his video games.

On Tuesday, I shared an Instagram post that spoke about how I’ve been shy to announce a new baby in the past because some people don’t understand why we’ve embraced the idea of having a large family. People were so supportive and I received so many encouraging messages. And yet, on Wednesday, I woke up feeling so discouraged. I knew it was spiritual warfare because my feelings just didn’t make sense. Sure, there had been a comment or two, but there was no reason to feel as down on myself as I did that morning.

I told Benjamin I just needed to get out of the house, pray, and talk to God. So, I did. And in my car, I spoke out truths like:

I’m not defined by a number of followers or likes on Instagram.

My identity is found in Christ.

Satan, you do not have a hold over me. Christ defeated you when He rose from the grave.

And as I spoke these words out loud, I felt the tension break. I finished running errands, came home, chatted with Benjamin, and then checked my phone. I had quite a lot of new followers suddenly. I realized my very best IG friend, Karlee @karleegailbowman, had unexpectedly shared my account to try to push me over that 40K mark.

At the beginning of 2019, I was sitting around 38K followers. I had a goal to reach 40K followers before my 40th birthday in April. But I was convicted early on that I needed to avoid giveaways to get there. I had to stop chasing numbers and accept that God would bring the followers who were supposed to be there…even if that meant I never reached that 40K milestone.

It’s difficult not to fall into the comparison game on social media. We compare our home and style to others. And as an influencer, it’s a battle to fight the comparison of numbers. But it’s a battle I want to win. I want my focus to be on encouraging people. I want to be able to connect with the people that engage with my account. I want to lift up other accounts in the decor community.

It’s no coincidence that the day I spoke out that I wouldn’t let numbers define me, I reached that 40K milestone. And you know what’s funny? The most exciting thing to me was that a friend had thought to share me. And then I received so many messages from new followers that said they connected with my faith and my family and were so glad to have found my account. And that I’d reached 40K organically. People were following my account because they wanted to be there.

If you follow me over on IG, thank you. I want you to know that connecting with each of you is far more important than the number beside my name. Thank you for messages and comments and your encouragement. You are my reason why! 🙂

I’m so glad you stopped by! Until next time, from my porch to yours!

XO,

Sharlie