Here are the lessons I learned in this season of quiet. I pray they help you.

• Love is spelled TIME not w-o-r-k. God enjoys time with you. He is able to do the work and your burden will be light when God determines the timing.  However time is the hottest commodity we all have and the one that is dearest to part with. So sometimes it’s easy to get buried in work instead of taking the time to seek what is truly important.

• You are not called to every aspect of ministry. No one is. That’s why there is a five-fold ministry. People come along beside you who are better than you are in certain areas. You are called to fulfill your passion and calling.  For me that equates to teaching. I enjoy teaching TLC4Women. So I continued to walk in what I know I am called to do. I took my finger out of every other pie and focused on what I am called to do. It was fulfilling and beautiful. It made me happy. It was not a chore. I was never called to stop doing what I do for the Kingdom, I was only called to stop doing what others could do.

• Prepare those whom you mentor. I said to one, in this next season teach and worship. To another I gathered a team. To another I gave a big portion of my ministry duties that she was better at than I was. Then I prayed for them that they would walk further than I could take them in this season. Which leads me to the next point.

• When you don’t know where you are going, and you are feeling discouraged, don’t take an entourage. Jesus went off alone sometimes. So often we want to disgruntle a group and take them on our journey but in the end we leave them lost and lonely. This is a huge temptation and test at the same time.

• Take a day off. I had not truly enjoyed my home because I wasn’t there much. I decorated it but I never sat and just enjoyed it. I set boundaries which allowed me to spend time at home. TD Jakes said it best, “Your crisis doesn’t constitute my emergency.” In other words, not everything is critical in solving today. Emergency visits to the hospital yes. The couple  splitting up for the fifth time no.

• Get plenty of sleep. You’ll die one day with a to-do list. It can wait.

• Don’t be so concerned with doing. Be more concerned with being.

• The shortest distance between two points is a straight line but that only works in math. In life there is no such thing as a straight line no matter how much planning is involved.

• When you are discouraged it’s best to take it to the Lord or a leader.  My best girl friend in the church knows nothing about the struggle of this year. It was weight I could not put on her without making her walk unsteady.

• Don’t strike the rock in anger. When criticism came, my first instinct was to lash out, tell my husband, to tell all of my friends, instead for the most part, I let it come.  I say for the most part because I did tell my husband about my pain a few times. Luckily he was smart enough to tell me to suck it up because it comes with the territory.

When the dust settled and Jesus was being crucified there were a few with him. The rest were perplexed that it didn’t happen the way they thought it would. They had their own pain to deal with. The important part was I am happily married, I am enjoying a ministry for God that I LOVE, I have good, healthy, children, family whom I love, friends who are near and above all of that I have faith in One who sustained me. Who believes I am beautiful and who will never leave me nor forsake me. It counts for everything!

Bring on 2016! I am ready to run this race because I have learned it’s a marathon not a sprint. Blessings to you all!