Taking a break from social media this summer was one of the best things I have ever done for myself. I cannot recommend it enough for anyone who feels like their creativity has slowed or faded or stopped altogether.
I spent time reading, watching movies, listening to music and podcasts. I joined a bible study that I was zero percent in charge of and was like none I had ever done before. I began learning how to verse map the bible and discovered how to find the original Greek and Hebrew recordings of God’s Word. I felt like a window to my soul had been reopened!
During my time away I journaled and wrote prayers and talked to God about things I had never spoken before; I shared thoughts and feelings I didn’t know I had. I prayed for him to connect dots, open doors, and show me clarity on dreams I had stuffed into tiny play purses when I was just a little girl.
I’ve been trying to put together mix and match pieces of a few hopes and dreams for years. I kept believing that God had a door for me to open and that it was hidden somewhere. I thought it was just around the next corner, around the next bend, over the next hill. It turns out, however, that the answer was inside my heart all along. I don’t have to stop doing what I love and I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. I will have to spend less time comparing myself and my life to other people out there in the world and on the web. And I will have to have faith that God, my Father, and Creator, will continue the good work he’s started in me.
I joined Mary Kay as an Independent Sales Representative. This is an extension of the dream started when I was a little girl and tagged along to a facial party with my mom. It was a dream that grew when my mom and I started making plans to open a salon together one day. The dream led to me going to cosmetology school and taking a special interest in cosmetics and helping women find confidence in their smile. I loved showing women how to accentuate what God had given them and to love their self. I still do.
That dream had to be put on the shelf when Mom died. It was in the back of my heart and had become all but silent until a couple of years ago when a dear friend started chasing a dream of her own. When she started building her photography business and asked me to start applying makeup to her models and clients, that old dream sparked. Adding Mary Kay to what I have already been doing in ministry with public speaking, teaching about recovery, and writing seemed like a natural progression. It’s one I would have missed had I not taken time for God to show me the next steps.
This means the ministry expands and the dream transforms. It means I now have more options and more opportunities to share God’s love and to talk to women about his healing. It means I can help women celebrate who God has created them to be.
What comes next? I started my business page on Facebook to promote public speaking, skincare, and makeup. I’m hoping to start a YouTube channel soon. I’m going to need help with that part because I am not so tech-savvy. I will keep studying God’s Word, praying for His guidance, and walking through the doors He opens. And I will continue writing and speaking and gluing on my eyelashes one strip at a time.