So one day shortly after one of those conferences, I was wogging and thinking, "Gosh, I wish there was a business conference that combined Christian beliefs with business strategy. Because that is a conference I would sign up for."
And then I heard that still, small voice: "Tag, girl. You're it."
Listen, I quit wogging right then and there, because on the inside I freaked out. I hate public speaking. This is no secret. I love being part of conversations onstage. I love being on panels onstage. I love being interviewed onstage. But I don't like to speak with a 1995-style slideshow and microphone. Yuck.
But here was God telling me that He wanted me to have a conference.
I remembered my freshman year of college, when I decided to take the required speech class in the first semester of school just to get it out of the way. If I didn't, I knew I would be in the fetal position just thinking about that speech class until I graduated. And that kind of anxiety isn't worth it.
So I took speech class as a freshman and convinced myself that I would "never ever ever ever ever ever ever never ever have to speak in public again."
Famous last words.
For several years before the wogging conversation, the Lord had been having me speak at different churches and business events, and really stretching me outside my comfort zone. But hosting a conference was a whole new type of crazy. And I was not happy about it.
But I made the mistake of telling my project manager and my husband, and suddenly I found myself in meetings pondering questions like, "Well, if we were going to have a conference —I mean, I know we're not, but if we were —what season of the year would we have it in?"
And this is how I basically got tricked into having our first Equipped conference. It's all Jenna and Jason's fault.
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God stretched me sooooo far out of my comfort zone, and eternity was changed forever for those twelve women. And so when I say that you've got to get unstuck, hear the Lord, and walk in obedience to the things God is asking you to do despite your fears, it's because other people's very lives may depend onit.You may not need to speak to hundreds of people. God's plan for you to change the world may only involve reaching out to a neighbor, a friend, or your sister. I love the saying from Paul Shane Spear: "As one person I cannot change the world, but I can change the world of one person."
God determined your talents while you were still in utero, and I don't believe He chose what would make you uniquely you simply so that you can impress people or earn a ton of money.
No, friend, He gave you gifts so that you can help set people free.
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Your life affects everyone around you. Even your kids' teachers. Even the dressing room attendant at Target. Even those watching you on social media.
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If you are on social media, you are absolutely an influencer. Twenty years ago, if you did something like a marathon or went back to school or started a business, the only people who knew about it were the people in your immediate circle or those that you told on a wall phone with a cord. Well, and the people that your momma or your grandmother told.
But today, someone is always watching you, whether in real life or on the social life.
Every one of us has influence. Whether it's online like myself or with other moms in the carpool line. It may be the teenagers at church, your neighbor across the street, or your brother who's in the middle of a divorce —all these people are touched by your life and your story. You don't have to go viral and have a huge platform in order to be an example.
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Even if you're not on social media, you still have influence on all those around you. You have neighbors. You have extended family. You have friends and acquaintances. There may be people you talk to every day, or maybe not. Maybe they just watch you live your life. They see you making decisions and doing things, and they can tell that you're fighting for freedom in certain areas of your life, and without you preaching a thing, they are getting a lesson in courage. And.this.is.influence.
St. Francis of Assisi is reported to have famously said, "Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words."
Now listen, I know I need to be careful about making you feel pressured to perform for the applause of people. But really, this isn't about that. Instead, it's a belief that when we said yes to God, we also said yes to however He wants to use us. And He will always use us to encourage others in their struggles and their lives.
When we said yes to God, we gave up our right to demand things look a certain way. The Lord's Prayer says, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." It makes no mention of, "Thy Will be done, but only if I am in agreement, and only if I am comfortable and safe."
And you may or may not see the fruit of your labor on this side of Heaven. You may never know how something you said to a stranger affected them to their core. You may never know if your efforts and conversations are actually changing anything. But we don't do it for that. It's not about the applause, and people are not projects.
My friend, your effort and your success is like a breath of air to someone in your influence who is suffocating. Your powering through and doing it afraid is resuscitating someone who is "code blue" in their own life right now.
Will you do the hard things that scare you in order to help get them what they need?
You do have an audience —even if it's just your neighbor —who needs you to get unstuck and do it afraid and live free so that she has the courage to do the same. She needs you to conquer your own demons and then leave the ladder down for her. She's coming up right behind you.
Give her a good example, friend. The world desperately needs you.
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