Blue Moon Edition: Part 1

Welcome and welcome back! I'm so excited you are here. Thank you for joining me. It's been a few weeks. As usual I have so much on my mind. BUT this is different because it's On Fire Friday, not a Motivating Monday. Here's what I've got to talk about

*Motherhood and Management

*Living the Parable of the Exceptional Samaritan

*The K.I.S.S. and H.U.G. Club

*Relaunch

Let's get started!

MOTHERHOOD AND MANAGEMENT

L.U.V. and I participated in The Small Business School Challenge two weekends ago. To say I am VERY excited about all the information I received to help L.U.V. grow is a HUGE understatement. What is also an understatement is how VERY overwhelmed I am considering how to accomplish it alone. 

But God... He granted me a short hiatus to get clear about where He wanted me to go. That played out to look like me not doing anything in two weeks! No Motivating Mondays. No L.U.V. Notes. No Facebook/Instagram posts since the competition. 

Now, if I was flying solo I would have just gone to work and got it done. But I've been having this internal battle with the mom in me. Everyday I was missing out on time with my son when I was attempting to focus on business. There are plenty of moms who have waged this battle and won but I'm still in the midst of mine, knowing what to do but not really knowing how to do it.

Wisdom (my son's name for those of you who don't know) was not appreciating my lack of attention if he not engaged in videos. I was not appreciating this constant campaign to become a video junkie. That was the last thing I was raising him to be. 

And yet, he seemed to definitely be heading down that path. This was making me frustrated because Wisdom LOVES to learn and many of the videos he was watching, in my mind, were too young for him. He was enjoying though while I was getting work done. To me it was not a win-win.

Don't get it twisted. I use things he's watched as a teaching tool ALL the time. Some shows I've been able to watch with him and some he has told me about, I mean the full storyline. He really enjoys sharing with me what he's seen. It makes for great teaching moments. But that's some of what he's seen, not everything.

Recently God gave me some time to just focus on us. We read books every night. He worked on sight words. He practiced writing his letters and numbers. And we played and enjoyed each other's company. The child I spent years cultivating was still there beneath what I thought was a budding video junkie. 

As he worked on different things he didn't ask about watching anything. Instead he created interactive experiences between us. For instance he has dry erase books to practice writing his letters and numbers. He also has a set of colorful dry erase markers to use when he practices. 

In this one particular instance, each time he went to trace his numbers he would ask me, "Mommy what color(s) am I using?" The number book goes up to 30. So he asked this question of me before he ever traced the number. Yup! Thirty times. It took forever to write those numbers but we interacted and he had so much fun having me guess. And honestly I was able to work while he did that without him asking to watch videos. It was a HUGE learning moment for me.

There were three BIG things I learned: 

1. My son doesn't see learning as work. He enjoys it as much as he does playing. 

2. I can work while he does. Sure there's some distraction but it's not impossible. 

3. It's time to get the help I need to accomplish all that's in store for L.U.V. so I can be the mom and the C.B.B. God created me to be.

I'm ready to take the next steps to be the mom I want to be and launch L.U.V. the way it should by introducing and implementing the NEW Emancipation Proclamation. Please continue and I'll tell you how.

LIVING THE PARABLE OF
THE EXCEPTIONAL SAMARITAN

If you've been on this journey with me for a while you know how much the Parable of the Exceptional Samaritan means to me. I have a whole playlist dedicated to it AND an updated version too. I will probably do another version simply because I continue to learn so much from it as God reveals more to me.

I should be clear that it is not just the parable alone that moves me. It's the whole account of the conversation Jesus had with the lawyer that leads up to this incredible teaching moment. During my hiatus I realized that God was walking me through this parable, playing every part. 

I've been the lawyer, questioning God on who is to receive the NEW Emancipation Proclamation. Definitely a version of "who is my neighbor?" I've been that certain man, wounded on the road receiving the compassion of the Samaritan. In many ways I still am wounded. I'm still in need of Samaritans, exceptional ones. Despite being wounded, I have graduated into my journey to become the host of the inn. That's humbling.

I bet most people don't even pay attention to this character. But, if you know anything about the parable, the host plays an extremely important part to the health and wellbeing of the certain man. We don't know what the host does though because Jesus ends the parable with this short interaction between the host and the Samaritan before He resumes speaking to the lawyer, "And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. (Luke 10:35)"

Do you know how much two pence is? I once looked it up and one reference said it was equivalent to two days pay. I can't even imagine what that looked like in that day and time. Yet the Samaritan freely gave. 

Now I know it is very possible you are wondering "if she wrote 'we don't know what the host does' then how does she know she is this character?" Well the simple answer is "because God told me". 

The more complex answer is even though I don't know how this host acted I can speculate on the following since the Samaritan brought the wounded man to this particular inn to care for him knowing he only had one night to do so:

1. The Samaritan brought the certain man to a place where he probably knew the host and trusted them to continue the care he began.

2. The Samaritan trusted the host to leave money for the certain man's care.

3. The host trusted the Samaritan when he said he would pay more money on his return. I'm sure you noticed there's two different things he trusted the Samaritan for. One is he will return. Two is there will be more money to pay for expenses.

4. The host would have to engage others to help care for the certain man. Clearly being the host of an inn, you've got work to do. So whether it be family or friends, there was going to be a community of people involved in the certain man's complete healing.

The Samaritan and the host trusted one another all for the benefit of the certain man. They both were investors in his wellbeing: one investing time to care for his physical, the other investing the finances to make sure the care was given and complete. Both are incredibly important. 

Now here I sit, as the host of the inn with my own twist to the story. Instead of being the Samaritan asking the host for help, I'm the host asking for Samaritans. God has directed me to compile a comprehensive plan to move individuals and families from poverty to prosperity by breaking free from the shackles of the pregnancy to prison pipeline. This plan is the NEW Emancipation Proclamation.

It's time for me to find those Exceptional Samaritans who want to become investors and partner with me to see those who are wounded heal. This is your personal invitation to join The K.I.S.S. and H.U.G. Club! Please check out Blue Moon Edition: Part 2 for details.