Give

No one will ever be able to convince me that a blog is not one of the most powerful ministry tools there is. For how you all blessed me yesterday with your insights, challenges, and wisdom was nothing short of beautiful.

Thank you.

Every comment was a treasure. Jesus used your words to speak to snap me out of my funk and get my eyes focused back where they need to be. (And I realize that last sentence has a dangling something or other but heavens I can't figure out how to write it any other way. Smiles.)

Anyhow.

I do have something else I feel compelled to share.

I wish I had a video of the very first planning meeting ever held about this pipe dream I had called She Speaks. Ten years ago, I sat around my kitchen table surrounded by a few wide eyed friends while toddlers and goldfish crackers danced about my kitchen.

I had not published a book.

I had very few speaking engagements.

I'm not sure I was even doing e-mail back then.

And a blog at the time was the sound my kids made when I attempted to cook homemade food.

But, I saw hints of possibility before me and I had a choice to make... was I going to get possessive with God's blessings or use them as tools to bless others? With every step of ministry success I felt challenged to share.

I remember my toddlers at the time had this awful habit of clutching what had been given to them and yelling, "Mine!" And it became such a visual of what I never wanted to be. We grown ups scold and correct this behavior in toddlers but never seem to recognize how prone we are to doing the very same thing.

And I think it breaks God's heart.

Oh I was tempted to keep things to myself- please know that.

It's not easy to share. It can make us feel threatened. What if we share an opportunity or connection with someone else and they suddenly are wanted more than me? Or become more successful than me? Or become more important then me? Or worst of all cause me to become forgotten or rejected?

But God's economy never works within the limited scope of the world's economy.

The world's opportunities are limited therefore promoting selfishness. With God's opportunities the only thing that limits us is our selfishness.

Therefore, to share is to succeed.

How do I try and live this out practically?

Whenever an opportunity comes my way, I challenge myself to first thank God and then quickly follow up with the question, "God, who else is supposed to be blessed by this connection or opportunity? Then in the midst of conversation about my opportunity I tell about others who should be considered as well."

I make the choice to set aside my fleshly tendency to clutch and cry, "Mine!"

And in doing so, I've been blessed. I've also been burned. But even those times became rich lessons that served to grow me. So, in the end, I've decided it's always best to live life with an open handed approach.

Walking into She Speaks Friday night with my little off beat, quirky dance moves, was a blessing I can't describe.

For I still see the very small beginnings.

I still feel the gold cracker crumbs crunching below my feet and how unofficial everything was.

And I can't help but remember how very much like a pipe dream it all should have been.

But God.

Everything I'd ever given away paled in comparison to what rushed back to me this past weekend.

And it only made me want to give a little more.