If you are an avid follower of my blog, you know that the last year, I have been learning so much about My God. If you aren't, know this, the story is amazing!!! I have learned how God truly is in ALL the details. Not just some of them, but every little one.
I am going to share some of my day today with you to see what I mean when I say this. I wish I could share and blog about all my God Moments...but I have to make a living and currently, my blog is not that. It is a resource to be used in my life and journey, but it is not a form of income, so I can't blog about them all...plus, you would probably be overwhelmed by trying to read them all!
When I did the Beth Moore Bible Study last September - December with some ladies called Breaking Free, Beth Moore talked about how God gave her a message, or God spoke to her, or God revealed himself to her.
I didn't get it. I was used to this being what I had been told all my life as to how "religious people" acted.
As my journey continued, I begin to see God. In a way I had never seen him. I begin to feel him, in a way I had never felt him. I begin to know him, in a way I had never known him. I begin to understand what Beth Moore meant by what she said God had talked to her. I began a journey to be amazed at My God. It is now a daily experience...and I continue to be blown away.
I got in last night at 12.30am...a very late night as I left a clients office at 11pm. I was beat and my heart was not into my day. I jumped in the car and began the trip in prayer, asking God to give me strength to face my day. I didn't feel emotionally ready, and in some ways with the lack of sleep, I didn't feel mentally ready either. The sore throat I have been dealing with since Monday raging out to the tip of my ear. I felt like crud. I wanted to stay home. But I had a fully packed day of appointments and meetings with clients. I then put on some worship music to get me in gear. It did the job. I was soaring! Even at 3 mph through downtown Fort Worth waiting to inch past an accident, I was in the zone.
I began the day at 9am by meeting a client at the bank in Watauga, near the clients office in North Richland Hills. Let me back up, this client and I are night and day opposites. We joke about it because it is so evident. In every way I am classy, he is not. In every way I am calm, he is all over the map. In every way I stay focused, he is searching for a tangent. We are complete opposites, yet we appreciate the skills each of us have. We appreciate the things we each bring to the relationship that help shape the other individual.
We were meeting with the banker to establish a new business relationship and move banking from one big entity to another. My clients hates the issue of finances. Give him money to spend, he is good. Let him be able to provide for his family and he is happy. Tell him something needs to be done, he will go sell more sales, but make him track income and expenses? Get him to stick to a budget? Get him to tend to TWC Notices? IRS Letters? File Franchise Tax Reports? Get data ready for Corporate Taxes? Stay on top of filing? Pay bills timely? Respond to a lawsuit before the deadline? Understand and complete the necessary forms to fill out for a new employee? Ummmmm no, he will procrastinate. This is why he needs me. Or as he says, he desperately needs me.
As we sit with the banker, I decided I wanted a cup of coffee to help my throat since I had not gotten up enough earlier to have a leisurely cup of hot tea. I am 5 feet from my client and the banker, when another banking representative asks him, so is this your better half? My client was not prepared for this. He was speechless and fumbles at a response, actively shaking his head no, finally says no, no she isn't. He was embarrassed. Why? Probably because I am all dressed up and he is not, so the little slur by this well meaning employee made him feel degraded. I let them know he had "a better half" but that it wasn't me. I was his accountant and we were a team. The employee raised their eyebrows at me. Oh? I said, we wouldn't be able to be "halfs", we would drive each other crazy. I let her know we work well together and have for over a year now, but that relationship would never work [even though he is married and has two daughters and isn't single, I was trying to make a point to this person]. My client then said something that made me realize how much he truly appreciates me and to the depth that he feels he desperately needs me. He said, "Misty supports me in more ways than you could imagine with regards to my business, even emotionally with the business. She gives to me more than I could ever ask for. I can't do it without her."
I was not prepared for this. It isn't that my client can't give me a compliment, he never has given me one to this specific line. He does say thanks, in his rough way, maybe buy me a Starbucks drink, but at that moment, I realized meeting him at the bankers office was a very huge deal to him. When he had called me Monday asking me to come to the meeting with him, I had asked what I needed to have ready for the appointment...he said, nothing. I took him at his word. I wasn't even sure why he was having me come if "data wasn't needed".
I know knew why he had me come, beyond the fact that I had to access the Dropbox app on my phone to supply the banker with the necessary information that he had not brought to the meeting, I was his emotional support in this encounter. He gets nervous discussing finances. He doesn't know how to give them gross vs net numbers. He doesn't understand these things. He gets frustrated at the questions. At one point he tried to answer, the banker wasn't understanding, I jumped in and provided the answer. He was agitated, and replied that's what I said, how come when she answers it you take her answer? What did I say differently? He kept asking me why this was taking so freaking long. We were there two hours and he felt this was a complete waste of time. He was irritated. He was ready to walk out before we were even half done. This is why he needed me. This is why he desperately needs me.
God allowed the events today for me to understand three lessons:
- Each of us have unique abilities. We are different, vastly different, but God uses us all on this journey...and he will use us more significantly when we surrender every little bit of us to him.
- He wanted me to see clearly my abilities, the role I play with clients, and give me the message that what I am doing is just his plan and that I am good enough. It is part of the process I am going through right now learning more about me, why I am who I am, and how my strengths and personality display itself.
- To remember that once again, what presents itself is not the whole picture. There is always more going on behind the scene then you can see. In this situation, he helped me see the reason why some people feel desperate and to keep that in mind as they ask for help.
From there, I met my friend Keith for lunch. I don't think I blogged about the last lunch I had with him July...I should have, but probably didn't because I didn't write down anything in our time together. In fact, I had left my notebook in the car...this time, I fixed that!
I met Keith in 2010. We served on a Networking Board for over a year together. He is married and has two kids, is a Christian and loves to share his faith. Keith was a huge supporter in my life during my hard time of business and physical issues. He would call just to check in. He would call to pray with me. He is a joker. He is light hearted but cares deeply about all the people he meets. He knows life is hard. As a guy, he doesn't walk away if you cry. He gives everyone a hug. He is a true friend. Last time we met for lunch, I got to share my story and we finally had to part ways after 3.5 hours talking about God!!! The nugget from sharing my story with him was when he said, "Misty, you have always been an amazing person, but you truly seemed to have blossomed, and really, that word doesn't even describe you! You are absolutely amazing!!! What you are allowing God to do in your life is a true testimony of His Love." Keith's words have stuck with me.
Today, he told me "If I could have just a little bit of your faith Misty, I want it. You are truly an inspiration to so many. You have faced some incredible tragedy and you have allowed God to take you outside the box." Me have more faith than my friend Keith? Not possible. But from his view, I do. At least right now.
This was his comment on Facebook under my post when I checked us in at the Mexican Restaurant:
Lovin' me some Misty time, pure inspiration!
Keith may think I have lots of faith, but the faith I have has only come by exercising it daily. My making God my absolute everything. And when I say that, that is not a cliche comment. God.is.my.everything. I have nothing else. By removing all the lies and anything "in the box" to "outside the box" he has become completely, my everything. Yes literally, everything. Nothing else but God matters to me.
Keith doesn't realize that he is teaching me things to. I am learning to have some close relationships with guys. Guys that put God first like I do. Guys that understand we are all messes. We all feel as a burden. I am learning to share my story. God is teaching me lessons and in this process, I am seeing him in the details, ALL THE DETAILS!
I left that meeting to head to another client's office, get an allergy shot, swing by to pray with a girlfriend, and then get my weekly dose of heaven: some acupuncture.
Jennifer had texted me Thursday asking if I was going to do the Beth Moore Simulcast Living Proof on Saturday. I responded that I hadn't heard about it and wanted more details. When I got home tonight, I checked the email and details and was trying to decide if I should go. I have work that needs to be done and I was scheduled to work the day with Ashley. Part of me didn't want to go by myself. Why? I donno, I do everything by myself and truly have no problem being alone. Why was I feeling this? Another part God was involved in. He wanted me to reach out and email Ashley and asked if she would want to join me. She texted me and said it sounded fun. I made plans to cancel work and do this with her, and went and bought the tickets.
In the midst of all this, I hadn't been home but an hour when I got this text:
Hey Chica, are you able to make the Roadtrip event in Cincy?
[I didn't know who this was. I didn't have this person in my phone. I knew what the Roadtrip Event was, but who knew I wanted to go?]
The response was:
Who is this?
I got: Hahaha. CLo
[Awwwhhhhhhh. This is my Life Plan Coach, Chris LoCurto. Ever have that feeling when you go from hesitation to pure elation? Yah, it was one of those moments. Chris is another anchor in my life. Another guy teaching me lessons. Another friend.]
ME: LOL. I didn't have your number. :) I never bought a ticket. I was hoping to be a blog winner. LOL
CLO: Guess what
ME: What? Other than I owe you an email!!!!!!! [He emailed me a week after coaching and I still haven't responded, and its now been 2.5 weeks.]
CLO: you won the Gold baby!!!
I won a Gold Ticket to this three day Roadtrip Event??? I was pretty sure he was messing with me. Nope. He was for reals. June 19, 2013 he had posted a post on his blog in which he announced he would pick a winner. Gold Ticket status includes a three night hotel stay, a gift card for food or the bookstore, and one ticket to the event.
The blog said they were going to pick a winner on the 24th. Did they and that person cancel and so they had to pick a new winner? Did they just get so busy and forget and were just now getting to it and I was the true real winner? Did they have more entries than they had counted on? Did they have so many good ones that it made choosing hard? Donno. I promote Chris a bunch because I am a fan. I support him. I want him to succeed. He has changed my world, both in 2009 and now again in 2013.
Regardless of how I won the ticket, I know who wants me to be there. God does. I know who planned this. God did. It gives me chill bumps. It makes me stand back and be in awe at my amazing God!!! Amazing.
The old Misty would have thought this "just happened" to me, it was "pure chance" that I was the winner. It's not. It's God working out all the details. It's God showing up and telling me where to go, what to do, how to live. It's God directing my unique journey. It's God who loves me. It is God who is out to amaze me. It is God!
Do you see him? Can I encourage you to start looking for him in your day? He is there! He is in everything. Literally. If you don't see him, you aren't looking. He is not going to hide even if you don't see him, but if you are looking, he will be watching your face. He will be waiting to smile back at you. He will be waiting to give you a hug. But you have to be looking for him. He isn't going to beat you over the head with his presence. He is your friend and he is for you! A cheerleader fully supporting you on your journey.
Do you see God?
