INTRODUCTION

Hey there!

I’m Melissa—a mom to three little ones, a wife, owner and designer at Sweet Water Decor, and a daughter of the King .

Throughout my life, I have learned to lean on God and not on my own understanding . I’ve learned to fully trust in His plan for my life and say “yes!” to the callings He has for me . My plans were nothing compared to what He had in store for me, and the same goes for you too!

Do you ever dream up plans for your life and wonder when they’ll happen? As humans, we often tend to focus on our own plans and our own timelines, and when our plans don’t happen in our own timing, we can shy away from God or think He’s forgotten about us when, in reality, the opposite is taking place . Here, He’s working through it all and for us all, for every one of us from the beginning to the end of time— your friends, your neighbors, even those you will never meet .

When we start to surrender our plans to His and realize that the plans that God has for us are way better than we can ever imagine, then we can start to live with less stress, knowing that He is taking care of it all for us . His plans may not be exactly what we’ve dreamed of, but they are a part of His bigger plan not only for us but for everyone else too .

In this devotional, I walk through these everyday topics with you as we learn how to say “yes!” to the callings the Lord has for our lives and surrender the need to be in control . It can be scary to release control, but I’m here with you to share what I’ve learned as a follower of Jesus about how to lean on Him, relax, and listen!

In my devotional You Got This, I wrote about the purpose for your life . And here in Go For It, we will explore how to live out that purpose and step deeper into the plans God has for you!

I’m so excited you picked up this book—or maybe you were even gifted it . I can’t wait to help you deepen your faith, relax, and start living the life God has created just for you .

I hope you stay encouraged each day! Feel free to follow along and share your new devotional on Instagram and tag me:

@MELISSA_HORVATH_ Cheers!

HOW ARE YOU?

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

JOHN 15:11

It happens every day—maybe w hen you're chatting with the local coffee shop barista or when you pick up a phone call from a friend—the words “How are you?” are s ome of the first things you hear . “Good, how are you?” is most likely the answer . But really, how are you? Sometimes we can be hiding hurt and putting on a brave face just to avoid getting into all the nitty-gritty details of what’s making us sad . Or it could even be the o pposite: we could be on Cloud Nine and having an amazing day, but we don’t want to say “Amazing! How are you?” f or fear that the other person i sn't having a great day and w e'll come off as insensitive . Sometimes we can hide our happiness or even fake it .

But no matter the highs or the lows, God wants us to be happy . For some of us, this is hard to grasp through hard days, trials, and more . A good verse to recall is Philippians

4:12–13: “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound . In any and every circumstance, I have learned the 10 secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need . I can do all things through him who strengthens me . ”

The Him spoken of here is Jesus . We can find our strength in Him throughout the day, whether we’re having a good day or a not-so-good one . In this devotional, we’ll dive deep into how you can rely on His plans for your life so that you can boldly live out the life God has created for you!

The good news is that He’s always with you and always ready to hear your prayers . When you are weak, rely on Him to be your strength . When you are joyous, you are allowed to be . It’s okay to be happy!

GO FOR IT!

Can you be how you really are? Can you say you’re sad when you’re sad, amazing when you’re very happy, or okay when you’re just okay? Accepting how we really are feeling is hard sometimes. Just remember, we’ve all felt sad, happy, angry . . . and it is totally okay. Jesus wants to be our strength and wants us to be happy! Next time you’re asked, “How are you?” try answering honestly! You don’t have to go into all the details, but maybe when you ask, “And, how are you?” the other person will be real with you too.