God In Me, Is Me, As Me

Yesterday I had the honor and privilege of attending the Women of Prince George’s County Second Annual Women’s Conference themed, “Connecting the Dots Around the Beltway”.

I intentionally approached this event with no expectations so that I could allow God to enrich me in the best, most purposeful way.

And enriched I was indeed.

You see, I have stubbornly clung to this erroneous belief that I am in no way an entrepreneur because I am such a softy. I had a tough time imagining myself as a cold, hard business woman, especially when I would survey the accomplishments of so many women-owned businesses that are thriving in what can be a rough-and-tumble, male-dominated world.

But yesterday confirmed that there isn’t a vast difference between me and these women and what we do every day.

I learned that these ladies simply took a dream, passion or opportunity and made their way by putting one bold foot in front of the other. Every day they are confronted with the same challenges and obstacles I face; wrestle with making the same choices that I make; and move forward one bold step at a time, just like I do.

They are me and I am them and God is in us all as who we gloriously are.

I think we as women are learning to embrace our natural inclination to come together and nurture and uplift one another in the spirit of collaboration, a vastly different concept than networking.

We seem less inclined to fear one another and have, instead, realized that keeping it real by candidly sharing our triumphs and our failures empowers us to learn and to grow.

I like that.

Interestingly enough, as I was writing this week’s post, the idea that stood out the most was how much is really in me – in all of us – and how God gently yet persistently coaxes it out of us through our life experiences.

Like how in The Wiz, Glenda the Good Witch pointed out to Dorothy that she had the power to go home (bring herself back to herself) right under her nose all along.

Sometimes we have to take the scenic route in order to realize that what we want we already have within. And sometimes all we need is a good coach to nudge us out of our shell.

It brought to mind my current job, where I was hired by the best manager I have ever had – a woman who was an expert at mentoring as well as collaboration. She would ask for my input, actually listen to it, and incorporate it into our processes, all while sharing the load. This, of course, is a very different approach from the traditional top-down management model that is slowly (thankfully) becoming a thing of the past.

With her headquartered 3,000 miles away in our home office, I didn’t want to imagine navigating this distant, rocky terrain without her expert guidance. However, I would be forced to do just that soon enough

She moved on to bigger and better things just six months after hiring me but I soon realized that this was God’s way of saying, “You’ve had a great start – now it’s time for you to do you.”

God has always been like that with me: I only get to have my hand held for so long when, just like a baby bird, I get booted out of the nest so I can fly in my own glorious way.

I used to panic when these natural progressions would occur. But now I no longer view them as pass-fail tests of my mettle but a revealing of a self I may be tempted to hide if I was always standing in someone else’s shadow.

I learned that like a watchful loving parent, God is me, in me, as me and that He / She delights in watching me come into my own.

He / She also refuses to let me play small.

I have come to see that a big part of this life journey involves God reminding me Who I Am and honoring my true identity, much in the same way I insist on knowing the real name of all of the wonderful Asian brothers and sisters who take such good care of my hands, feet, and eyebrows. It may seem like a small thing but I always say to them, “I know your name is not Tracy/Mike/Tina – tell me who you really are.”

So yesterday’s event gave me the opportunity to enjoy the company of like-minded sisters who honor their voice as well as their gifts and talents by refusing to play small and encouraging us all to do the same. I learned that, at one time or another, we all have the same questions, doubts, and palpitating heart but we feel the proverbial fear and do it anyway.

And should we stumble and fall along the way, we have God in us and others around us to remind us to just do what the old song says:

Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again J