August 9, 2013

#KingdomWoman... Confirmation

One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite gospel artists is 'Your Steps Are Ordered' by Fred Hammond. That song comes to mind strongly as I read and write this today. This is a long one so bear with me!

One thing I never do is claim to know the mind of God and I don't lean to my own understanding about His plans. What I do understand is The Lord nudges us all in different ways and provides us with simple guideposts and 'signs', if you will, to direct our paths. He does amazing things to get us where He wants us to go. We just have to be aligned with what He wants for us and ready to receive when He presents opportunities and blessings.

Since Wednesday, my days have literally been a nonstop roller coaster ride. I decided to volunteer for a women's business conference for an organization I've been following since 2005. It's my 'model' organization and one reason I created NBWEN. However, unlike the founder of this particular organization, I allowed life with all it's distractions and discouragement, to take me off track and slowly, my desire to inspire has tapered off and not gone in its intended direction. But that's another story for another day.

When I choose to volunteer, it's two-fold. First and foremost, I love to serve, I love to help, and I love to encourage. So once I got the volunteer bug, there was no stopping it. I took a sabbatical from serving only because I got married and my focus has been on our new family dynamics for the past few years. My home is my first ministry and if that's not right, I literally can't function in any other capacity. It's like my brain puts on the brakes. So now that things are 'smoother' at home this year, I've decided to get back into the swing of things. One blessing is that my marriage allows me more freedom in some ways to do more than I could before. It also helps that my kids are older, too, so I don't have to be 'anxious and worried' about them all the time (I should've anyway!).

The second reason I volunteer is because I like meeting people, not just for business, but just getting to know folks from different walks of life and to share ideas, encouragement, and support outside my usual circle of influence. I've had the opportunity to meet some fantastic people through volunteering. I've been inspired and I hope I've inspired others I've come in contact with as well. If I just planted one seed of encouragement for someone that can sprout and grow, I'm happy and I feel I succeeded in sharing my gift.

In this instance, however, the opportunity to serve allowed ME to be blessed in more ways than I can mention in one short blog. The fact that I was able to listen to inspirational speakers who boldly spoke about their faith in Jesus Christ to overcome adversity was awe-inspiring. I've left everyday with my head in the clouds! But the one person who I was really drawn to has really got me thinking and I can't wait to work with her.

On Thursday, my assignment was to 'check on the vendors' and make sure everyone was doing well. Who told them to do that? An opportunity to freely NETWORK while serving?!! I don't know about anyone else, but this is where I felt God's hand moving for me. Now, I brought three business cards with me because I came to work, not network, and I gave those cards to the ladies I was serving with! I didn't even bring my purse because I just knew I would be running around WORKING, not networking! Lol So here I am, a businesswoman networking with no business cards and not even an option to get any from my purse... What was I thinking? I should always, always be prepared, and usually I am, but this time was different...

I proceeded to my assignment. I picked up information from various vendors, saw some business owners I'm linked to on LinkedIn or Facebook, but when I got to this one vendor booth near the end of my trek, a smiling face ushered me in... Her words echoed a conversation me and my husband had the night before. Not only that, she dug even deeper into some things I'd only spoken to the Lord about. It was like she had been a fly on the wall of my life and I had to sit down before I fainted. I cannot even explain the overwhelming feeling I had when this woman spoke to me in biblical terms about what is going on in my life at this moment. All I could do is be still and listen to her pour into me. 

Now, I don't know why this happened and I'm not questioning God... But I actually did ask Him a few questions... Some things have happened in the past few weeks that would probably drive other people insane but all I asked is for The Lord to show me what is happening spiritually that's affecting me physically... and He gave me an answer through this lady and her words. Not only did He speak a word through her on Thursday but I ran into her AGAIN today and she had more to share with me.  I do believe the Lord gave me very specific confirmation on some things and all I can say is thank you, Lord. I'm listening and I believe I'm on the right track!

Have you ever had that 'aha' moment when the Lord has confirmed something deep inside of you?

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