Seriously. Somebody teach me how to dress. Oh, who am I kidding? I don’t want to LEARN how to dress, I just want someone to pick out my clothes for me. Jewelry too, please. And I already have a haircut scheduled for Thursday.
Okay. Got that out of the way. (I’m a woman, of course I’m going to critique my appearance first.)
I had an AMAZING opportunity to deliver the message at my church this weekend for all four services (for Women’s Sunday). LOVED IT! Absolutely LOVED IT! It was a rush, such a a mountaintop high, I’m still not back down on solid ground! SOOOOO much fun! I got to lead music at three of the services too. SO. MUCH. FUN. I’m praying about more opportunities to sing and speak. Here’s about 6 minutes from the 11:00 a.m. service:
Three of the services were videotaped, providing me ample opportunity to analyze myself. I need to identify the weaknesses and work on them. I asked FirstHusband what constructive criticism he had and he said, “I can’t think of anything.”
That’s a good husband. But seriously. Stop blowing rainbows and tell me what I need to fix.
“The grey jacket adds ten pounds and the blue suit is too masculine. You shouldn’t wear pants, you should wear skirts.”
Well, that’s a start.
ADDS ten pounds? That’s all I need. I’m already fighting a battle with my badonka donk butt. I have GOT to go shopping. I wear these suits when I work on client site, usually at law firms. And they are “fine.” But seeing them in this context, FirstHusband was telling the truth.
So, I’ll be fixing that. First I have to find a “hip” (and frugal) friend and beg them to be my personal stylist ask them to go shopping with me. I’ll buy lunch. And I’ll be following my own advice on alterations.
Now I need to objectively critique my delivery. After the services, I got a lot of positive feedback. It was really very affirming and when I said “thank you so much” and “I really enjoyed doing it” I sincerely meant it. But this is my home church, where “everybody knows your name” as the song goes. So there is a certain element of “polite.”
I think the feedback that meant the most to me were the people who approached me and told me how what I said specifically spoke to them. They told me stories about something in their life or some experience they had which, when I was speaking, was called to their mind. I LOVED hearing those stories. That’s where I got to see God work!
Overall, I’m feeling that maybe, just maybe, God is prompting me to pursue faith-based speaking more intensively. I’m praying and listening and paying attention to anything God brings into my path. I would love to pursue faith-based speaking, don’t get me wrong – BUT, it’s usually night and weekend work and I’m not willing to pursue it at the expense of my commitment to my family. Being there for my family is my top priority. They come first. I’m not saying I can’t EVER work nights or weekends, but, like everything else in life, I need balance. I’ll be making every decision to speak/sing based on whether it is in line with our family’s goals.
To expand on what I’m saying in the following clips, I’m praying that God expand my territory only as far as I can handle without the middle – the core – collapsing. I need a strong foundation in the middle. That’s God. And family.
Blessings Require Change (Part 1 of 3) 7:34 minutes (Evening Service)
Blessings Require Change (Part 2 of 3) 9:19 minutes (Evening Service)
Blessings Require Change (Part 3 of 3) 3:49 minutes (Evening Service)