As I sit
here licking my wounds from yet another betrayal, from yet another friend, God
brings peace and joy in the midst of it.
The more I focus on Him, the more the hurts hurt less. The more I trust Him, the more I know I have
so much to learn to walk in His steps.
The more I walk in His steps, the better my life is. So many thoughts swirling through my mind as
I process His goodness.
This July, and only God
knows why and how, I bit on a carrot from my long ago past. A friend, Leslie, has sold Pampered Chef for
23 years. For 23 years, I never even
held a party, sad I know. 23 years ago,
I had to start the process of a divorce, devasting I know. And about 23 years ago I had my feelings
hurt with my church and left it for the Baptist Church
So let’s fast forward to 3
months ago. The carrot I bit was
“playing” a game Leslie had on her fb page.
I ‘won’ an ice cream cake pan. I still
wonder if I really won, or if she even knew God was using her. Before I could blink, she had me doing what
you call an Online Party. And by the
last day of the party, I was signing up to be a consultant. Why? I
don’t know. I have no clue. I really don’t. I do know that my hubby prayed, I prayed, and
friends prayed about the decision. And I had the distinct vision of Leslie just
sitting on the sidelines watching; and me wondering does she know what she is watching? I was not looking or ready
to, and I didn't want to start down yet another path. But, as
all things in prayer do, it became clear it was the right thing to do. At least for this time and for this season of
lessons I need to learn, it is.
As in anything with sales,
there are goals and challenges. I have
never in 30+ years of dabbling in sales jobs (and I’ve tried a LOT of different
venues), ever met one, exceeded one, or enjoyed one. Then along came this... “This” was:
sell $xxx within 30 days and get a, wait for it, a FREE Ice Cream
Maker. Know me? Know me don’t do dairy
then! I can’t, don’t, won’t eat anything
dairy. Period. My body does not process it or respond
nicely to it. So why would I work so
hard for it? Again, I don’t know. I just know God is in the middle of this
whirlwind, the eye of my current storm, and I am along for the ride. Instead of boarding up the windows to my
soul, cramming all my hurts into my heart, I’m stocking up on more of Him to
ride it out. Trying to trust Him for
every sale, every contact; after all, if He is the one that got me into it,
“it” will only be successful if I keep Him centered in it. I did fairly well for me in the trust
department. It was a battle of wills the whole last day when the on-going party
that had the most active participates (15 playing games) and least spenders
($130 in sales) and I needed $488.
Trust, trust, trust. He
whispered. I shouted. I whispered.
I tried. And I tried. And I
really tried not to pout, mope, spend a lot of my own money, and at the same
time still the constant calculating my brain was performing to hit the goal. Hindsight I’d say I got to about 80% of truly
trusting He would send me the last amounts.
Sad to admit, I know. Because
they trickled in all day, and I do mean trickled. Painfully slow trickle. I won’t bore you will every excruciating
detail of the day, but I did learn a lot.
Like, if I had just trusted Him fully, I wouldn’t have spent my whole
day trying to figure it all out and I wouldn’t have raised my anxiety level to
a painful level either. I could have
rested, played the piano, sewn, written my Sunday School lesson…
Lessons… Why do we make them so hard to learn? As parents we expect our kids to learn them
quickly or pay a price. God lessons are
no different. Every time I think I’ve
learned that; he peels back another layer and the process begins once
again. But I still love Him, I’ll still
follow Him anywhere, and I’ll still keep trying!
So what started this
Rambling Riting?? Leslie’s simple post
this morning, that she probably has no clue what it did for me, was just 18
words and 12 exclamation points long, but dropped me to my knees in tears as I
began to understand the 1st lesson -
“Wahooo Cheryl, so proud of you - you set goals, worked hard and it paid
off!!! Way to go!!!!!!!!!”
It’s not like I haven’t been
told those words before. But that’s not
the point, it’s what God whispered to me as I went to write this “reply” to her
message: “haha you dangled a carrot in
front of me and without you and Ms Bev I couldn’t have done it. You see, Ms Bev was the last order placed to reach the goal! You 2 are like bookends on a period of my
life that needs to be buried.” Wait!, What?, Where did that last
thought come from??
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost....As it was in the beginning; is now and ever
shall be….. ~~~
~And this my friends, is just another day, another lesson, in
Life With Cheryl~
and I'd be remiss if I also didn't include my website, now wouldn't I? lol
https://pamperedchef.com/pws/lifewithcheryl
and I'd be remiss if I also didn't include my website, now wouldn't I? lol
https://pamperedchef.com/pws/lifewithcheryl
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