What I Love About Sunday

Encouragement From MeLinda Ann

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When Clarity Comes, Peace Follows.

Hello Friend, its so good to see you! Brrr, its chili today, but this sunshine is gorgeous!Today I want to talk about my journey to this clarity and peace that I have found.

When we are young, still in grade school, the question is first presented to us: What do you want to be when you grow up? Our answers are simple and full of wonder and possibility. In middle school the question is asked again: What do you want to be when you grow up? Our answers are a little more reserved and realistic. In high school, as reality sets in that we will be a “grown up” very soon, the question is asked again: What do you want to do when you grow up? By this time we have experienced the opinions of others as we answered this question before. Those who asked us the question, had their own let downs and set backs that created their doubt and disbelief in others. Their opinions were not personal, but it definitely felt personal. So now, we hesitate to answer. And often times our answers are what someone else told us to be. Someone told us what we would be good at. They told us a safe path to follow. This is what happened to me.

As a small child I don’t remember exactly what I wanted to be. In middle school I wanted to be a singer. My favorite singer was (still is) Reba McEntire. I dreamed of one day performing with her on stage. My first concert was one of hers. She was just a tiny dot under the lights, from where my mother and I sat singing every word to every song. I even started writing “songs”. I suppose it was more like poems since I had no music to the lyrics. My best friend was the only person who knew about this and she would encourage me. I was just an average singing voice. Nothing special about me. I loved to sing. I was in school choir and church choir every chance I got. I sang in the car, in my bedroom, and in the shower. I was always singing. No one criticized me. But no one encouraged me either. I was just an average girl with an average voice. My lyrics were childish and no one would listen to songs like that. In high school I discovered my talent for styling hair. And as silly as this sounds, my dream of singing with Reba turned into a dream to become her hairstylist.  I can’t help but laugh at this one. It’s silly. But it was very real to me. By the middle of my senior year, as every one tried to convince me to be a nurse, I had decided that I was going to be a hairstylist. I don’t have the tolerance for nursing. The sight of blood makes me woozy. But I knew that I was already good at hairstyling. But that wasn’t enough. I wanted to own a full service salon as well. Upon graduation (2003), I had a small amount of scholarship money. So, I used it on a business degree in community College. However, after my second semester I quickly realized that that was not the business degree that I wanted. I wanted a small business degree and that was more like corporations and huge companies. So I dropped out and started cosmetology school(2004). I worked a full time job and attended school full time in order to get my cosmetology license as quick as possible. I finished in just 14 months. About halfway through beauty school, I began dating the man who is now my husband. When we became serious about each other, I asked him if he would move to Hollywood or New York City for me to pursue my dream as a stylist. Long gone was the dream of being Reba’s stylist, now I just wanted to be in a thriving location, a stylist to anyone famous. I wanted to be known and to make a lot of money. Lol. He answered no, he wouldn’t follow me there. That was not a life that he wanted for himself. This took me by surprise. Up to this point he had pretty compliant. He would do anything for me. So I took a couple of weeks to think this over. I knew that if he was putting his foot down on this issue that it must be important to him. In the end I decided that I loved him more than that dream. So I chose him, and never looked back. As a hairstylist, I built my reputation and clientele while working for other people. When the babies came I had to step back for a little while. After a couple of years at home, I returned to the salon. Then I took on the adventure of renting a salon suite and then downsized to booth renting a chair at an established salon. After 20 years, I “retired”. At this point God had called me to other things and He led me to let go of this dream altogether. It wasn’t easy. After 20 years (2003-2023) as a hairstylist this was my identity. This is who I was. I didn’t know what God had planned for me next. All I knew was that I trusted Him.

In 2006, I was introduced to the world of Mary Kay Cosmetics. I loved the products and was invited to become a beauty consultant. I started my Mary Kay business thinking that it would give me some idea of what running a business would be like. It turns out that it wasn’t for me at that time. Fast forward about 10 years and I am once again introduced into the world of Mary Kay. By complete coincidence (divine intervention) I met the woman who has taught me so much about business, life, parenting, and a relationship with Jesus like I never knew before. I worked my business this time to the best of my ability. In 2017, at my first seminar, I caught the dream to become a National Sales Director in the company. But that’s all it was, a dream.  A dream that I put on the back burner as life became challenging for the next few years. In 2022, the dream was reignited. And I went all in, to the best of my ability. But I was limited and distracted. So when I felt God led me away from hairstyling, I thought He was giving me space to work on this new dream. But deep down I knew better. But I’m stubborn. And I can only give up on one thing at a time. 2021, was also the year that God had called me to preach. As I write this, and look back, I can see so clearly how God was moving the game pieces and removing the unnecessary things from my life.  But in the midst of it all, I was scared, I was anxious, I was confused, and I was breaking apart. It didn’t feel good. And so I put up a fight. I held onto things longer than I should have. I stayed in places longer than I was welcomed. I was at war with myself, who I wanted to be and who God created me to be. All my life, no one had really talked about becoming the person that God created me to be, not until I found myself right in the middle of this becoming. Then I could remember sermons and messages from the past. Reading scripture had new meaning. Everything had changed, as I was being called to change.

Now, today, I find myself ready to shed off another layer of who I thought I was. I have felt pulled in too many directions for too long. I have felt the peace that comes with walking in alignment to my calling. I want more of that. As difficult as it is to feel like Im letting people down when I shed these parts of me, it is much worse to continue this war inside of me. Another dream sacrificed on this alter, surrendered to God, in order to receive His incredible blessing for me and for those around me.

Our calling is not just for us. It is attached to others who are waiting for us to show up. Our calling is the way that God uses us to bless others. It’s different for everyone. We find our calling when we begin the journey to find it. Our purpose is to love God and to lead others to His saving grace. God gives us all specific gifts and talents to use in order to accomplish this purpose. Our calling is the how we use those gifts to accomplish the purpose. Knowing our gifts and talents and our strengths and weaknesses, helps us to figure out our calling.  As with my personal journey, sometimes we have to try many different things until we find the right one. As we walk along this path, and acknowledge that God is with us, guiding our every step, we can trust that the outcome will be better than anything we could ever dream or imagine. Let this journey be a time to grow closer to Him and to really truly understand who God is to you personally. Not religion. Not attending church. Not following all the rules. Im talking about a personal relationship with Him. How you pray just to talk with Him. How you read His word for yourself just to get to know Him. How your heart chooses to worship and praise Him. How your soul is consumed in His presence. Not because someone told you to, not because someone told you how to. But because you truly desire to know your Creator and Savior in an intimate way.

I’ve got some work to do in the next couple of days before I can announce my newest change. So, you’ll just have to wonder until then. My word for this year was Freedom, and I can’t help but feel set free in this moment of clarity and peace.

Go and be a blessing to those around you, they’re counting on you! 💜