At different points in our business I have made the statement that one of the things I enjoy about working for myself and with women specifically is that it’s not necessarily linear. But what does that mean really? I have enough corporate experience in my background that I cringe slightly when I say it. A part of me thinks, “so how do you get anything done?” A meeting a few weeks ago was a perfect example and so I thought I’d share a thumbprint for those of you who would like a bit of clarification.
It had been awhile since Gale, Kathy, and I had gotten together. Kathy is often traveling with her husband and Gale is in the final stretch of planning a wedding for her beautiful daughter. It has made it difficult to meet regularly. But yesterday (10/31/11), we met. The plan was to work on our business and spend some time helping Gale address over 400 invitations. I have spearheaded a few of our projects and I had a lot to tell them.
In terms of some background on this, it’s important to note that although I hadn’t told either of them yet, I had been struggling with a recent project. We are a team, but Kathy and Gale have not had the time to devote to it that I have. I wondered if I should just plan on doing it on my own. That didn’t sit well with me and I was also struggling with motivation when wrestling with some of these issues by myself. It seemed overwhelming. I went into the meeting hoping that we could sort some of this out.
When I got to Gale’s house we decided to start with prayer especially after realizing that both Kathy and I had felt impressed to fast for the day. I do not like fasting so the impression had to be pretty strong for me to follow through. It started with thinking about a client who had endured satanic ritual abuse and really struggles on Halloween. Every time I felt hungry yesterday I prayed for her and for all others who have been harmed or impacted in a negative way by the holiday. I shared that with Gale and Kathy and what ended up happening was prayer time that lasted several hours. There were moments where the “linear” side of me popped up and I wondered how we were ever going to get this project launched if all we do is pray when we get together.
But here’s the thing. All those concerns I had about the business, all the concerns I had about my future, the doubts and fears, the things I hadn’t even shared out loud yet. God addressed them directly in our prayer time. Gale felt impressed to share some things with me that spoke to things I hadn’t even voiced. Kathy felt impressed to pray specifically for my physical body. I had been struggling with some physical discomfort and struggling with my diet. Gale had just gotten a large order of Mannatech supplements and felt impressed to give me some that I hadn’t tried yet.
We had approximately an hour to address invitations and go over the business items. We had planned to take all morning. But you know what? I said everything I needed to say in approximately 10 minutes. We spoke about the time needed for our project and Gale admitted that she won’t have any extra time until after the wedding. Kathy committed to certain aspects, and Gale talked about her impression that part of the reason things are moving slow is that God is waiting to line certain items up. That when we do this launch we need to have time and organization available to follow up and support our team. I walked away realizing that every single concern I had about the business was answered AND I had been ministered to in areas completely separate from the business.
This is what we mean when we say the business is Spiritual and doesn’t have to be linear. Kathy is famous for saying, “When we work, we work. When we pray, God works.” This is the belief of our team and I’m grateful for a God who gently reminds me when I forget.
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