He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done. Proverbs 19:17
According to many people's standards I am poor... but I know better than that. I know that I am extremely rich and wealthy beyond measure. Most of the time people who are poor don't even notice until someone else, who has more than them, points it out. Anywho, this post isn't about being poor but it is about the courage and kindness I've encountered this year.
I've always been a dreamer... and boy do I have some good ones!!! They've never been small either! I'd dream of owning a huge company, traveling the world, blessing my entire family financially, giving away houses like they do on Extreme Makeover Home Edition, doing ministry in HUGE crowds of people, starting programs that will change lives, writing books, lots of things...Now that we've established that, let me tell you what I know... it takes a lot of courage to step and and follow those dreams. This is especially true when everyone tends to look at you as the "one who would make something of themselves". There are a thousand things on my list of big dreams and I pray that before I leave this earth I get to see many of them manifest. I know that's not going to happen with them just remaining on my little list in my head. I have to put a foot forward and make things happen (for some of them) or at least be open to trying some of those things.
I've been trying to write a book and work on having my own business... well it's been a tiny bit hard to focus with all that's been going on and the way God has shifted my life this year. I started writing this book at least 20 different times, but every time something just wasn't right. It wasn't coming together the way God wanted it so I put it down, prayed about it and left it alone for a while. In the mean time, my Pastor told me about a Holiday Bazaar and suggested I put my business out there and get a table.
So I did!!
I prepared everything to have a great public launch of C. Jaqis Personal & Home Image Consulting. I worked hard leading up to the event to make sure my table would look nice and I would have the presentation I wanted for potential customers. Well the day of the event I was really down in the dumps, I'd gotten some bad news, wasn't feeling well and just having an all around blah kind of day. I wasn't going to go. I had made up in my mind that I was staying home....until I thought about the lady who had worked so hard to put the event together and how it would make her look to have a big empty spot in my place.... So I pulled it together loaded up my car and headed out.
That Bazaar was one of the best things that could have ever happened to me! The ladies (and gentleman I already knew) I met there showered me with so much kindness, so much encouragement, and the love of Christ to the point that I couldn't stay down if I duck taped myself to the floor! I would have slapped myself for missing it! It turned out to be one of the best days I'd had in a very long time. The lady next to me, Miss June, was such an inspiration... I talked to so many great people that day! The ladies who owned the venue were so sweet and worked hard all day while everyone else was shopping and talking. I may not have gained a lot of customers that day but I met some pretty amazing people and was the recipient of much kindness! That day I was poor in spirit, but God had to smile down on a few of His children who were kind to me. On top of that, I took a major leap and put myself out there to take concrete steps towards my dream of owning my own business.
A month or so after the Bazaar, I sat down to look at the book again and I still had no idea what to write. I knew what it would be about, but I didn't know how to do it, how to put it together, what to call it, or even how to write it... until I heard God say tell the tale of love. So that's what I'm doing... it sounds simple but it means being transparent. It means telling about my ups and downs, my failures, my insecurities, and giving a very intimate piece of myself to the world. It means having courage!!
The caption on the picture above reads.... "Courage is not the absence of fear, rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear."
Helping someone else through telling this story is so much more important than fear!! So far, nothing in the book is finished except the title. I tend to write in memories and then pull it together at the end when I'm telling a story... This is a story of love, serving through love, learning to love and be loved....It is epic, and exciting, and sad, and redeeming, and soooo many things... I can't wait to share it with you...so look for it soon on a shelf in your local bookstore and the NY Times Bestseller List!!
This year I learned that courage and kindness go a long way when you're trying to get to greatness...
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