I remember telling one of my children that there would be groceries by the time they got home from school that day. This is what happened...I had to humble myself and place calls for assistance. I was directed to a local church that had a church pantry. An emergency request was placed for me that day. I had to humble myself and put pride aside and walk into this local church to receive the emergency care package for groceries. That was really hard for me to do that. I knew people in this community and I did not know who would see me entering and leaving the church pantry that day. I got over it and I learned about humility that very day. At least one round of that. There were more lessons on humility throughout the years and I am sure there will still be more to come as long as I live on this earth. Humility is not a bad thing. It can be hard at times but looking back those times strengthen you to advance forward. They really do. Do not run from exercises in humility but learn to embrace them.
I was overwhelmed with what they gathered grocery wise for me to take home that day. I was going to put everything away until Holy Spirit said to leave it on the kitchen counter for the children to see what The Lord did for them in the form of a miracle. I only put away frozen items and showed them that from the freezer. You want to know God's sense of humor? My dear friend/spiritual mother liked I think it was butter pecan flavored cake and in one of the bag of groceries guess what was there? You guessed right, the butter pecan cake mix and of course I blessed her with it.
I will never forget the kindness of this local church. If I recollect I down the road blessed them with a financial donation for their pantry. If my memory serves me correctly I may have even donated a turkey to them at one time also for the pantry.
Was it hard, for me absolutely it was that day but the greater gift in that day was that the words I spoke as they left for school were fulfilled by the time they came home from school. God is faithful in every way.
I also learned at another time in my life about humility again. When I was married I was the giver of gifts. One day a boss/friend of mine and I went to lunch. She then proceeded to try and bless me with $50.00 and of course, my pride said no. She then got very real with me and shared this with me. She told me that if I refused the monetary blessing that I would be stopping her blessing. I looked at her with a look that probably said further explanation to make sense. She told me that Holy Spirit spoke to her to bless me with the money and if I did not accept the money I was then blocking the blessing God would be giving to her in obedience to His nudging her to give it to me. When It was explained to me like that I accepted the gift. I try to remember to not not accept a gift if one is trying to bless me from that point forward. Do not let pride get in the way of receiving a blessing and not stopping a blessing for the giver of the gift.
In due time I was able to be the giver of gifts again. Patience coupled with God's timing is the place to be, definitely the place to be. I hope you do not mind me sharing my heart with you because that is what I do. My lessons learned or mistakes made and then corrected will hopefully stop you from falling into the same rut so to speak.
Extra tidbit. I worked at one time for Estee Lauder and I loved that job. I was not so much for the skin care as I was enthralled with the color portion of cosmetics. When we would get the seasonal color displays in the store I was like a kid in a candy store. I just loved seeing what was trending in color and cosmetics. Do you know how I was hired? I was an avid and interested customer that always inquired about the latest looks in cosmetics with Estee Lauder. The rep then suggested I apply and come work part-time at the cosmetic counter. I did and was hired. This same cosmetic mentor then moved to a much larger store with a much higher volume of sales for Estee Lauder and I then followed them there. When I first started working for Estee Lauder (back when Mrs. Estee Lauder still ran the company) we had beauty advisor week. Each day we received a gift in thanks from the company. I was touched by this gesture and went to a specialty stationary store and purchased fine quality paper and sent a thank you note to Mrs. Lauder. Guess what I received in the mail? A personal note from Mrs. Estee Lauder signed by her in blue ink pen. I keep it with my portfolio in the event I interview for a sales position. Do you know why it worked for me working at Estee Lauder, because I was a customer that first believed in the products. Let me share with you the body of the note if I may: "As we go on in life, we understand that heartfelt thanks are among the most priceless gifts we can receive. Your beautiful letter of appreciation was very touching, and I do thank you.(the last four words were in bold print) I hope that you continue to shine and grow both personally and professionally at Estee Lauder. But this is not only my hope(bold print hope). It is my belief. (bold print belief) then she signed it Warmly, and her signature.
Never tire of sending a hand written note of thanks to someone for you just never know if and when it will touch their heart.
When I transferred to the larger counter there was a national contest in which the only way you could achieve this prize was working towards it as a team. We had to go above and beyond as a counter to achieve a minimum 105% of our sales goal. We did and each team member received two round trip airline tickets. That challenge was titled "Simply The Best Write Your Own Ticket" I am going to search for the song by Tina Turner that may have been the theme song for this if I remember correctly. I received another letter from the President CEO of Estee Lauder recognizing consumer comments about me that praised the quality of service given by me. On another occasion I sent a thank you to the Senior Vice President Training & Education in thanks for allowing us to win the airline tickets. I also received a note from this person too. I guess I cannot stress enough the value of having a grateful heart and expressing it in a note sent to someone. Never let the art of writing hand written notes die off and go away. To take the time to hand write a note is more precious and valuable to the receiver of the note then silver or gold. A side note, my all time favorite fragrance of Estee Lauder is "Knowing." I am a little disheartened that they did away with some of the ancillary products in the line though (scented soap and bath/shower gel and solid perfume.) When I sold fragrance I would share with the customer the best way to wear a fragrance is to layer it. Start with the fragrance soap or shower gel. Then body lotion or whipped body cream ( the cream is a little more rich than a lotion form) then a dusting of the fragranced powder (the Knowing powder actually has a white, ever so delicate glisten when applied to your skin.) Then finish it off with a light spritz of the fragrance. I like to spray it in the air and then I walk into the mist of the fragrance spray and catch just a hint of the fragrance. Where did that come from? I guess I tend to teach because I was trained by the best, simply the best, Estee Lauder.
One final piece of information to share. The very person that encouraged me to come and work for Estee Lauder was the very person that blessed me with the $50.00 gift of money and most importantly, introduced me to the book by Benny Hinn, "Good Morning Holy Spirit." In which I read it and one day in the food court with tears in my eyes gave my heart to Jesus by responding to a prayer of salvation in that very book. I later then purchased a copy of that book and donated it to our local community library. See God always has a plan for your life. Do not fight it just go with the flow of it and you will be glad you did.
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