Amazing, Amazing, Amazing

things are happening!

Where do I start? I mean, so much is happening that this is the reason you all have not seen me out here posting. I’m happily trying to keep up with the move of God. Oh…and btw…this means that this will be a long post…just catchin’ yall up on the wave.

Let’s see. Well…most of you don’t know that I got into Mary Kay. So let’s start with that. The lady that recruited me is a really nice sister that I know from church, who had just been admiring me for a good while. She always commented on how different as well as how nice I look, and how well I do my makeup. So she presented Mary Kay to me, and I was skeptical at first, but I figured that since I have a natural talent for style and makeup…it might be a good match.

My sister/shield did not like the idea. She thought that this would take me away from my purpose in God, and from my writing and ministry. I assured her that it wouldn’t, but we prayed about it. In fact, I was sitting at her house a few weeks ago, and she had fixed this killer split pea soup with ham in it…the bomb. Anyways, she was expecting some guys from our church thrift store to stop by and pick up some large items.

The guys did come by…I was snoozing when they arrived, as I needed a catnap, but I got up upon hearing them only to discover it was Mark with this guy Skip I didn’t know. So my sister/shield, Gail, invited them to have lunch with us, and it turned into this really joyful event.

At some point during the conversation, Skip started giving his testimony…or at least a portion of it. He had formerly been in ministry in another state, but something had happened that left him angry with God…I think it had much to do with that lack of a generous spirit in the majority of Christians in the church.

Anyways, as a result of this anger, he ended up with a drinking problem, and on the streets. That’s where he was when one of our missions teams traveled to another state…I think it was either GA or LA to assist with some disaster recovery. They found him and now he is in our Calvary House recovery program.

So anyways…Gail tells them that we were just praying for direction, and I told him that I was concerned with finances, because I really wanted to work for the Lord. Here I was, unemployed and now with the flexible hours I had asked for, yet with no certainty that this was the answer to my prayer about working for God. He told me not to worry about the money…give it all away. He said that when he was ministering, that was what he did, down to the last dime, and God always multiplied it so many times over…it was like he couldn’t give it away fast enough. I was blown away with that idea, because we are all taught about saving…and some of us were taught just about spending…on ourselves.

I told them that my goal was to work for God, so I wanted whichever business opportunity that allowed me to do that.

God didn’t answer me that day, but I had a fabulous day anyways. The next day, I was sitting on my couch, when the Lord gave me my answer. He told me to go with the Mary Kay. I know…sounds strange right. You might be thinking, “Why would God tell her Mary Kay?” I think for several reasons. First, my objective… to help other women. So He said to me…when you get into position to financially help another sister make a start in this…and she can’t afford the $100 start up fee…seed it in for her. This will demonstrate your faith in her, and will boost her faith in herself because someone believed in her enough to give like that so her life can change. Man…when I got that…my head just went back on the back of the couch and tears rolled down my face. He told me that He was going to use this company through me to bless others. I was so happy.

So here I go to the sister who recruited me to sign up, only to discover the other half to the half truths she told me about the company. When I started to question it, she glossed it over with, “Oh, but I know you’ll do well sister!I can see you driving that pink cadillac, girlfriend!” My response? “I may be driving a cadillac, but it won’t be a pink one. I don’t like pink.” She just didn’t hear me, because she kept repeating that at different times, always with the “girlfriend” thing. She kept telling me about the “gifts” and “prizes” I could win. I wasn’t impressed.

I told her straight up that if those gifts and prizes can’t be converted into money, I’m not interested. I don’t need any more “stuff.” I’ve got more than enough “stuff” and can’t get rid of it fast enough. Nevertheless, after she finally told me the whole truth, I signed up anyways because my agenda was God’s agenda, not hers.

So when I get the material…I start reading it, and I find more things that she only partially told me. I was disgusted and discouraged, and I started to just let this go, but God moved me to go to the Monday night training instead of the Tuesday night training with all the screaming cheerleaders. Not my style at all… and it so turned me off. So I went to the Monday session, and met the director after avoiding her calls for about 2 weeks. Not that I didn’t want to meet her, but I was so turned off by that time because of the half truths, and the screamers that I just didn’t want to hear more of that, and that’s what I thought she’d do. I had already been bombarded in my email by her…so I was really in my retreat mode.

But when I met her, she sensed that I was not (let’s say) pleased, and she sat me down and started talking to me to see what was going on. Her group was more settled and mature in how they handled the class and training, so I liked it better. After I explained, she told me that her job was to find out what I wanted out of Mary Kay, and help me to achieve it. Sounded good, right? I felt better, and I like her. She’s very nice.

Now…I have to go back a bit. After God had initially given me my mission on the couch about Mary Kay…He later elaborated on it. He told me I could go to the hospitals and visit patients that had cancer etc; and just be a blessing by pampering them…giving them free facials and makeovers. I was thrilled with that idea. We even discussed nursing homes and retirement homes and doing the same. So I call Gail and tell her what God showed me…and I’m ecstatic (spell checker please…). So I tell Gail….I don’t know how God will work this out, because I’m trying to figure how I’m going to get connected with people in these places to do this. So I tell her that if God works it out…I’m there.

Back to the director. While I’m sitting there telling her what’s going on, she asks me what I want to do with Mary Kay. So I told her that my goal was to help other women and if I cannot do that, I’m not interested. So she said that she would do what she could to help me, and I went on to tell her about the pampering at nursing homes, and for cancer patients etc; and what does she say? She says…”I am a cancer survivor, and I can get you in to do the makeup for a cancer fashion show.” I’m suddenly like Scooby Doo…”Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…”in utter surprise. I was like…”Yeah…I soooo want to do that.”So this past Monday…I did the makeup for a cancer fashion show. It was so cool.

First, I wasn’t sure what stage of recovery these women were in…if they had hair, wigs, turbans…whatever. So I decided to relate. I put my hair up and wore a turban and did my makeup. Well, guess what? I was mistaken for a model for the show!I thought it was amusing. Some of the women did have wigs…in fact it was kinda half and half. Most had grown their own hair, but also brought wigs for a different look. There was this one spunky little lady beside me….was so cool. An entertainer…definitely, and she was the first one on that stage. That lady got out there and shook her moneymaker all over that stage and just had a great time.

I did take pics on my brother’s digital camera. Trust me…an experience in and of itself, because I’ve never used a digital camera before. (Yeah, I know…I’m a bit behind the times, but not for long.)Anyways…I actually figured out how to work the video…and mind you, he did show me all of this, but about 3 days before. I couldn’t remember anything…not even how to turn it on. Someone had to do that for me. I know….its sad, but bygones. As soon as I can get the cord from him and figure out how to download the videos, I will post them.

Dillards supplied the clothes for the ladies, and they even had a raffle of about 30 gifts for the audience, which was really nice. My son won 4 tickets to Butterfly World. He was so thrilled.

The lady I went to this event with from Mary Kay, told me afterwards that we were supposed to be getting these cards filled out by the ladies with contact info. She said our director would probably be mad at her, but she didn’t feel it was appropriate, as the ladies were quite flustered backstage, and there wasn’t any real room…it was like a long narrow hallway with only room for one to pass due to the makeup tables along the walls.  I agreed with her. The director called me the next day to see how it went, and of course asked the question about contacts. I told her that the situation didn’t permit that, and aside from that, it was totally inappropriate, because if you go do something to be a blessing to someone, you don’t expect or try to receive anything…you just bless those you went to bless and that’s it.

She doesn’t get it. She still was trying to say that we could have gotten some referrals. I figure that if God wants that…the people who put the show together will call saying that some of the ladies asked about us. You know…its really hard for me to believe that as a cancer survivor…she doesn’t comprehend this…she doesn’t have more faith…she doesn’t understand true generosity. So it appears that part of my Mary Kay experience is to show her this. Last Sunday she did my orientation with me. So she’s doing this consultant profile with me, and she asks the question at the bottom of the page: “I am motivated by: circle one…” and the choices are 1. Financial Security; 2. Winning Prizes; 3. Career Advancement; 4. Reliable Bonus Structure.

Now, before I tell you how I answered her, I want you to bear in mind that Mary Kay’s actual philosophy was God first, family second, and business third. This is supposed to be a Christian based company…the operative words being “supposed to be.” This is why the whole cheerleader, screaming group turned me off so much. They were screaming and raving over trinkets. It was surreal for me. So anyways, she asks this question about what motivates me and my answer was, “None of the above.” She was like…”What?!?” She couldn’t believe my answer, so I explained again. “I got into this company to help other women, so that is my priority. If I cannot do that, then this company is not for me. None of this stuff really impresses me, but if I were to pick a second choice from the group, it would be #1. However, the ratio is maybe 70/30.”

She looks at me somewhat skeptically, and says can you live off of 30%? I said, “I’m not worried about it, because I don’t even need the 30%. God takes care of me. He always has.” So now, she’s shaking her head in disbelief. So of course… you know what I told God after I left, right? I said to Him, “You do realize that I just boasted on You, so You have to prove Yourself; cause this is a reflection on You not me…and she doesn’t believe my faith.”So I know that I’m definitely going to be a witness of sorts for her, because she follows the “program” and pushes the new people into buying product right away. The reason for this is of course, she gets a percentage of whatever the girls spend on inventory. She and the other directors don’t seem to be too concerned with the fact that alot of these women are struggling to make ends meet and cannot afford to by a bunch of inventory upfront, that they may never be able to move.

Several of the “red jackets” told me they have too much inventory, and they can’t move it. Their regular customers don’t purchase it, some has become obsolete with the company…and they are just stuck with it. This is a ludicrous practise. It helps no one but the directors, and ultimately, this practise will hurt them in the long run, as I met a director this weekend whose teaching was great, but I found out…is losing her “pink caddy.” Why? Well…one of her girls that I have become friendly with, told me that 12 girls came in with her under this director, but she’s the only one remaining. Again…the director pushed too much about inventory purchases…these girls could not move the product they purchased due to this pressure, and they got discouraged and quit. Not a good practise. Helps no one, but the directors do this because the company only promotes you based on inventory purchases, and maintaining a certain number of recruits downline. All I see is a lot of sweating. Not in my plans.

My approach to this issue will be very different, and I may not recruit as fast or “sell” as fast as they want; ie: purchase inventory as fast as they want, but again…different agenda. And whoever I bring in…will stick…will stay. God is hand picking them for me. There’s another objective at work…which really hasn’t much to do with busting butt to become a MK director. I may end up holding that title, but not because I worked myself to death, or pushed people to put themselves into a financial hole for my benefit. If I’m there to help…it will be genuine help. I think Mary Kay will be the training ground for me to select my team, but my team will be doing much bigger and greater things than MK.

Well…I’ve written a small book here…and I’ve just gotten started updating you. Greater things than this have already happened, but that’s for another post. Have a God filled day. Peace and blessings.