We're Moving!

Based on the title of this post, you may be thinking that there is some change going on around here. If so, you would be thinking right! As you may have known (if you are a follower from the beginning), this little site has experienced quite the change since I first published it back in the summer of 2025. There have been many ups and downs, highs and lows, since I started this blog over half a year ago, and there were a few times where I wondered if I would ever be able to find my "writing voice" again. Writer's block had hit me hard but only affecting my non-fiction writing.

I poured myself into two short stories I was hoping to submit to an anthology, meanwhile attempting to work on a blog post here and there, but utterly failing in my efforts. The grueling actions of deleting, restarting, deleting, and restarting articles began to take its toll on me. I wondered if I just wasn't cut out for running a blog and I felt myself falling farther down into the comparison trap and sin of jealousy. I saw my friends posting articles--- beautiful, long, immaculate articles--- regularly, and I began to doubt my abilities and writing skills. Was this really what God wanted me to do? And if so, why was He letting me struggle with it so hard and making life so difficult for me at the time?

One day I came across Ecclesiastes 3 while flipping through my Bible and the words, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven...", stuck out to me and prompted me to read further. I had often gone to Ecclesiastes on several different occasions, but this time I was noticing things differently. I read through all the different "times" that Solomon lists in verses 2-8 and was filled with a peace and comfort in the fact that God has appointed seasons and times for everything under heaven.

Sometimes we will go through seasons of trial and testing and there will be times to weep and times to step back from things, but we may be comforted by the words of James in James 1:2-4, which are,

 ^"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

There will be seasons when the Lord causes various trials to come upon us, and often times the Lord uses these seasons to grow us closer to Him, just as He used all the struggles in my life last year to strengthen my faith and teach me to look to Him for strength rather than looking to myself or others. He knew that I couldn't handle the pressure of running a blog or posting regularly in the Fall and first part of Winter, which maybe that's why I had hit a dry well of creativity and ability to think in non-fiction. The Winter months showed me a lot about myself and what is best for me and what isn't best for me to hold onto. The Lord's timing is truly perfect, and in His own time He showed me that I can't handle not having a routine and sometimes I will need a break from certain things, which is totally okay.

Sometimes I will miss some posts, but that's my life and I'm not going to stress over getting a blog post out by a certain time/date every month, because for me it isn't worth it to stress and feel the pressure of posting regularly, for what I have learned about myself is that when I am stressed or miss a deadline I have put on myself, then I feel like a failure and like I've let everyone down, which isn't true. My life takes priority over my blog and my writing and if I can't get a post out because something comes up or I simply don't have the time because of other priorities, then that's okay.

Another thing the Lord has shown me about myself this past Winter is that I very easily can fall into the trap of comparison (as, I would imagine, many other girls do as well) and when I am so fixated on how many views my blog posts have gotten, or how many likes, or how many subscribers I have (which so far are very few) and when I begin to look at other blogs and see how many views and likes their posts have, well, making a long story short, it really affects my mental health. In a society where our worth is found in how many people like our content or how many views we get, it can be very easy to become depressed or feel like a failure when you don't get as many as you would like or as many as another person is getting, when in all reality, some of the best things aren't going to be the most popular (take a look at the gospels and see how unpopular Jesus' teachings were). Because of this realization, I have decided to use a website platform where I can't see how many views my blog posts are getting and folks cannot like or comment on it. That being said, if you want to let me know how much you liked a post or if you have any questions regarding it or anything along those lines, you can just fill out a contact form at the bottom of the page, and I will respond to it if I have the time.

Now, all of this to say (sorry, I can ramble!), yes, Like Lilies has moved! I'm very happy with the new look and layout of the new website and so far, I am very much enjoying using Hostinger to run my blog and website! You can find the new website by looking up likelilies.com and subscribe to the newsletter over there as it is different from the newsletter you signed up to over here! There is going to be some new content over there and I hope you will read through the welcome section on the main page, which will then lead you to a "roadmap" for navigating the blog!

Can't wait to see you there!

With much love and prayer,

~Jaycee