"And those who walk in pride he is able to humble." Dan. 4:37b

The life of Nebuchadnezzar has intrigued me of late. His was the lot of being the king to destory Jerusalem. He lived during the time of Jeremiah and Daniel. He was the one who built the huge statue that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednago would not bow down to. He was the one who was brought low enough to be eating grass like a cow and being kicked out of his position for insanity. And yet, with all of these accomplishments and with all of his fame, he was brought to a position of humility. His is a story of a non-Hebrew who worshipped the Lord God. He is a man who was brought into a position of bringing justice to nations like Israel and Egypt. What power! What great humility to choose to tell the world about his fall from sanity! What a humble spirit and worshipful attitude to give God the glory for all of his accomplishments! Ah, but the questions his story raises too. If an outsider was giving the Lord glory, then he was saying that all of the horrible things he did as conquering power must have been ordained by God. While I don't have all the answers for a question like that, I must admit the whole situation intrigues me. Nebuchadnezzar was right when he said, "All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?" (Dan. 4:36) We think we're so great, but God is the one in control. This should bring complete humility, gratitude, and worship.

Getting started...

There are some things in life that always feel like they are in the "getting started" phase. Like laundry...I'm just starting to get caught up on it - again. Then there's parenting. I feel like I'm just getting started in this world of babies and toddlers even though I know that it'll soon be at an end and I'll be gettting started on parenting school-aged kids. The area that I'm most concerned about in this discussion, however, is more business related.

I have been selling Avon on and off for about four years. When the kids were born, I took a break or two as needed so that I didn't go crazy. Taking the breaks I did made me constantly feel like I was just beginning on this journey of owning a business. And I still feel like I'm there. I have so much yet to learn and so little that I feel completely confident about when it comes to running a home-based business. It doesn't help that I was just beginning to feel my feet under me, really pumped about upcoming opportunities only to find out that one of my support lines, our district manager, has been fired.

All that being said, I really feel confident that I am learning good things by running my own enterprise. I'm slowly learning that talking to people doesn' t have to be scary. I'm coming to the realization that being rejected in a prospecting opportunity doesn't mean I'm rejected as a person. I'm also learning to depend on the right kinds of resources and not only on myself or one or two individuals. If this is going to work, I need to be independent and smart in my independence. That means choosing my important goals carefully and sticking to them, knowing that some will fall away as becoming unimportant at times. I know that I don't need to be discouraged if I am doing my best. All God asks is that I serve Him and do my best in the place He has put me in. Right now, I'm here and I choose to do my best at being an Avon representative.

Now, all I need to do is figure out what being the best looks like for me.... :) Another thing to do to get me started!