How do you describe a season in your life when everything that is being placed before you has a common theme?  How do you explain it when it seems like you have some type of intuitive wisdom being breathed into your spiritual ear?  I can tell you that anything insightful, even remotely wise or forward-thinking has way less to do with my life experiences and more to do with me constantly asking God to keep me focused on the things that have eternal meaning.  I am humbled daily by the blessings he has granted me and try to wait in anticipation of what is around the next corner.

Back in February of this year, I did alot of research (unusual for me!) on a new desk for my office.  Long story short, I looked at hundreds of desks online until I found the perfect one that would fit in my office.  So I ordered it.  Simple, right?  Yeah, right up to the time that I found out it was “imported” and that it was delayed 5, yes 5, times before it finally shipped and I received it in July.  So at the busiest time possible in my job, I took delivery of my new desk and decided it was time to clean and organize my office.  I will mention that I had been feeling challenged with juggling alot of projects in the air and had almost decided that my life was meant to be chaotic this year.  As I called upon a few years of experience at realigning my own world and I waded through all the “stuff” currently on my plate, I asked myself if my world was crazy, who’s in charge of that?  If things were spinning out of control and I was struggling to get my legs beneath me, who controlled that?  Well, the answer was me.

I took a giant step back and assumed a high-level view of what I had on my plate, what areas I really needed to be involved in and what things I could shift to other, very capable Managers and started making a list.  I also thought about what dots could be connected for our company that would provide the biggest return for our customers and whether we were leveraging all of our resources towards helping our customers in the most ways possible.  What I soon realized was that by taking a deep breath and steadying myself in the fast-moving rapids of never-ending deadlines, problem solving and everyday issues I had enabled myself to gain some perspective that only a couple weeks before had been missing.  Had my work load changed?  Not really.  Had the deadlines moved?  Nope.  Was there fewer issues to deal with?  Not by a long shot.  However, the manner in which I approached those things had shifted.  I had prayed for God to provide wisdom and direction and to help me become “less busy” and to work smarter not harder and somehow that perspective had been gifted to me over a period of 10-14 days.

On the heels of that tremendous adjustment to how I had been approaching my job, I had been invited to attend a seminar at which Chester Elton, affectionately referred to as the Apostle of Appreciation, was going to speak.  He has co-written The Carrot Principle, The Orange Revolution and his newest book All In and if you have never heard him speak OR read one of his books, I would encourage you to do so.  It was one of the MOST amazing days I have spent at a seminar EVER!  Lots of down to earth ways to connect with people, both professionally and personally, artfully illustrated with stories, videos and resources that can be easily applied straight out of the gate.  And boy was I excited to share all I had learned that day!  I warned everybody that I might be a little hard to take for awhile. 

Then immediately following the seminar by Chester Elton, our church that I love with all my heart James River Assembly hosts a women’s conference each year Designed for Life and I attended a 3-day event there.  Priscilla Shirer, Dianne Wilson, Christine Caine and our own beloved Debbie Lindell all spoke at the conference and, as usual, it was LIFE-CHANGING!  And talk about layering over the top on the very things I had just spent the last couple of months reviewing and managing….everything just helped me gain even better footing in those rapids I was describing earlier and really solidified in my mind that I was on the right path and spending time on the things I was supposed to.  You know how sometimes we ask God if we are really committed to the things we’re supposed to be?  Well, I’ve had those moments too and this wasn’t one of them.  I knew exactly what I was supposed to be doing and where.

So, because I know I’m going to be a little hard to put up with over the next few months as I try and put in words all the things I have running around in my head, I’ll apologize now and get it over with.  And if you want to hear a truly remarkable story about a life that has been transformed, do some research on Brian “Head” Welch, former member of the heavy-metal band Korn.  His new website can be found by clicking here.

More to come!!!