Reality Check
5 Areas to Rethink at an Emerged Age
As proven in past posts the last two years, the subject matter for my blog is varied and inspired by my personal and professional life.
I appreciate my readership and how you allow me to share my thoughts. By creating this blog post, I am not making a statement; I’m being an obedient servant to my God’s instructions. Jesus tells me that “if I won’t be ashamed of him before people that He won’t be ashamed of me before His Father in Heaven.” You have a choice to continue reading or not. However, I would ask that you please refrain from sharing hurtful opinions against this post or me.
My professional and personal stories continue to intersect and interweave. I have spent the past 31 years in business to business roles (if you count the years in college where I worked three part-time jobs concurrently while carrying a full load.) In that time, I have learned that politics and spirituality are two off-limit topics, so I have steered clear of both.
I still choose to remain silent regarding my political opinions. However, it has been placed upon my heart that I need to document my God Journey. By the way, this is not a commentary to promote or impress my spiritual beliefs on others. I am open-minded to respect my fellow human beings in their views as I would want them to appreciate mine.
With that out of the way, here is my testimony:
I am a non-denominational Christian.
I am a seeker of God’s Word and the Gospel gives me encouragement to traverse each day.
I have witnessed God’s Grace at work in my life.
I am self-aware enough to realize that there is no way I could have imagined the beautiful
experiences that God has planned out for me.
Memorial stones are measures of our lives when we can reflect and know that, but for the Grace of God, we would not have made it through that storm. In the Bible, Samuel used stones as a memorial when God’s people wanted to remember His goodness and faithfulness.
First Samuel 7:12 says that when God enabled the Israelites to defeat the Philistines, the Prophet Samuel “took a stone and …named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far has the Lord helped us.”
I love the idea of physically doing this as a visual to remind us when we get stuck.
These are a few of my personal memorial stones:
God’s guidance and protection throughout each step of my life — from the personal struggles due to my own destructive, bad choices in my late teens and 20’s, to the joys of recent years’ successes and everything in between.
20+ years of a beautiful, loving and respect-filled relationship with my husband.
My husband’s complete healing from Stage 4 Cancer and continued remission the past 10 years.
My ever-expanding and evolving company, Authentizity, and the ability to serve others in the advancement of their businesses, professions and organizational health.
And most of all, my continued walk with our Almighty Father, Lord Jesus and Holy Spirit.
I have faith that God has a beautiful future planned for me and I know that just as He has provided Divine Connections and guarded me away from hazards previously, that He will again in the future. I endeavor to live a life in which I stand in:
Forgiveness
C.S. Lewis said that “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” This is never easy, especially when you are called to forgive someone closest to you, who was supposed to love you unconditionally since your birth. Trust me; I know because I made the choice to forgive my Dad over 20 years ago. And when I did, I became free.
Surrender
Living a life surrendered to whatever is put before you that day is the antithesis of the superimposed, strategic planning of Corporate America. However, I have found that this radical trust is far more fulfilling and I really do accomplish more. I’ve lived with the mantra that 90% of the things that I worry about never even happen, so why should I try to plan it all out anyway? Things will likely not transpire in any manner that I can conjure up in my head — it will all be better if I take my hands off the wheel! I adopted this philosophy from Exodus 16:4 in the Bible in which God promised Moses that He will rain down manna for that day. God gives us provision for each day, one day at a
time; it’s our test in trusting Him each day.
Servitude
When my husband was enduring the fight for his life against cancer 10 years ago, I started a morning ritual that before my feet hit the floor I ask: “God, who can I serve today.” We are to serve as best we can, starting in the morning and then thank Him at the end of the day. I find that my days are a lot happier when I take my ego out of the equation and live to serve. Tying this into Authentizity’s mission, I try to live by the Scripture that I work for God; not for man or for me.
Here is the Bible verse that is at this foundation: Colossians: 3:23-24 (NIV) – Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
There are many days when I get it all wrong and am off-course. I know that I am an incredibly imperfect human being. However, I wake up each morning with a sincere heart to try and be better today than I was yesterday, last week, month and year.
As proven in past posts the last two years, the subject matter for my blog is varied and inspired by my personal and professional life. I appreciate my readership and how you allow me to share my thoughts. I’d welcome an opportunity to discuss and learn from you. Please contact me at dlandry@authentizity.com.
