Created

This post goes out to the entrepreneurs and business owners out there. What a wild ride it is. As the bio says, I am an entrepreneur. Business ventures are my drug habit. I love hearing them. I love reading about them. I love dreaming big and seeing where God takes it. Did you know He actually loves when we dream with Him. He dreams big too. He's God; He can do all things. Why not whisper your impossible ideas to the One who can actually make them happen?

I started doing that nearly four years ago. After dipping my toes in the waters of event planning, I couldn't wait for the day I would own a company in this field. But it takes a while to work one's way up to the diving board. I was realistic in that aspect. I had a lot to learn (and still do)! However, that is when the meek whispers of thinking out loud to God started.

Let me back up to my collegiate background. I completed my undergraduate work at Gardner-Webb University to become a child and family counselor, minoring in different languages so I could work with families of all backgrounds. Since middle school, I wanted this career because I love kids and, even then, I could not imagine a career that did not serve to help others. This bachelors, of course, was just the foundation. Grad school is required before they set you loose with these families. It was in my senior year at GWU when I realized if I were to be a good mom one day, I would not have the energy and mental endurance to be both a mom and family counselor. I wanted (and still do) want a career that allows the flexibility to cook breakfast in the morning, cheer on my kids at soccer games and dance recitals, and be an attentive wife. Not that I will ever do any of those things perfectly, but I want time to be in my favor.

Now back to the past four years. Turns out God was listening the whole time. He listens even when I do not listen to Him. He works all things for my good. He works them for your good too. Unable to see the big pictures, God put me in positions that gave me event experiences - wedding coordination, corporate occasions, and even a certification program in meeting and event planning. He even started to intertwine marketing ventures with events. I made up some business cards and getting the word out by mouth, and sure enough, I booked a few weddings on the side of my full time job. I never knew how much I could fall in love with work.

Two years ago, after going my whole life without really listening to Him, He caught my attention. I was all ears to Him and no one else. He called me to stop messing around in the shallow end, and bring my swimmies on over to the deep waters. He called me to make the leap of faith to go full time with this "company" I had been talking about far too long. Yet He had intertwined events and marketing for a reason, and it was time to flex them both. He literally dropped that like a brick in the pit of my stomach one day in the middle of a meeting. I cannot imagine what my face looked like to the others sitting at that table. His message was so clear. It was terrifying. Yet I knew this was the career I wanted all those years ago without realizing it, so that I can help others and contribute peace as a mother and wife. I thought that dream was more realistic in my thirties or even forties. I bow down in gratitude that He has entrusted me with this incredible responsibility at such a young age. I love that He developed this wildly creative way to help others.

He is a creative God. He has been creating since day one of this planet we call home. Look around. Trees, oceans, mountains, the human body and all its systems - how much more creative does it get?! I love that we serve a God who is creative and calls us to join Him in it. Creativity is a whole new way to worship Him.

So here we stand in the midst of planning the ribbon cutting and grand opening of Pope Marketing & Events. A company my mom and I have partnered to start. A family all its own, made up of eleven mind-blowing members God has creatively and carefully pieced together. Our heartbeat is to praise Him in all that we do - from creativity, to the way we interact with anyone we encounter. My prayer is for this company to remain in a posture of pointing all credit to God.

Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. - 1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV)