It’s the most wonderful time of year… so why would we try to talk over it?

A few years ago, we decided to get quiet as a ministry team on all of our social platforms the last 2 weeks of the year. We had no idea a simple social media break would teach us so much.

But it did.

We learned three big things in stepping back + getting quiet:

1. In our experience, when we get quieter, God gets louder.

Our team needs to hear from Him in order to do His work, which means we need to get quiet intentionally at least a few times a year so that we can intentionally open our ears and posture our hearts to hear from Him. (Yes, intention is very important!)

2. We’ve been given a platform to use for the glory of God and the good of others — so sometimes we need to go first.

We’re not going to lie. The first year we did this, there was a bit of anxiety that spread throughout SWHW as women in our community loved the idea of it but feared what the effect would be in their own online businesses. They watched as we stepped out in faith, trusting God to take care of us + our SWHW community while we laid down our growth strategies and asked Him to keep providing. Well, He did. Every year that we’ve stepped back, our loving Father has provided abundantly. Now, we no longer get quiet alone. More of you join us each year, and You experience His faithfulness too. It’s our favorite!

3. Doing what matters most requires time + energy + focus. Social media, if we’re not careful, can take everything you have in all of those areas.

We talk all the time about doing what matters most, and we realize that will look different for all of us. But what isn’t different is the human limitations that we all have. Many of us strive to be present in all the places + together with all our people while doting a gigantic Buddy the Elf smile during the Christmas season, and it’s impossible. Our inability to do it all and be it all seems to bother us even more during the very season we should be most at peace. You’ll never hear us success shame or tell you that you have to choose between your calling at work and your calling at home if God has called you to both, but we will remind you of your limits because sometimes, we need to acknowledge them before we can honor them. And of all the things to give up, social media should probably be the easiest. So during this season of Advent, that’s why we suggest you start there.

Your family loves you no matter what, but they will enjoy you most when you have something left for them at the end of the day.

So, if you need the break, please take it. More importantly, if God is asking you take the break, obey Him. He will blow you away with His faithfulness. And that’s a promise.

Merry Christmas from the SWHW team! We love you!