Best Year Yet!

As we say "farewell" to 2015, I just wanted to document how great of a year it was.  I can say with complete honesty that this year was different than any other in how I viewed it.  Y'all know I am a "Mary Kay girl," but what you probably don't realize is how many valuable life lessons and faith lessons I have learned through that business.  It is not all face wash and lipstick, peeps. 

Last December, I sprinted full-out toward a big goal of becoming a Sales Director in Mary Kay.  While I was doing the work necessary to reach that goal, I often felt a little "mommy guilt" creeping in.  It would cause me to question my decision to leave the house in the evening or on the weekend to go hold a party or appointment.  Was I doing the right thing?  Was this "sacrifice" going to be worth it?  Were my priorities out of line, putting my business first?  I kept thinking about a story my Senior National Sales Director had told about one of her kids, which wrapped up with the lesson that sometimes (just sometimes) putting your business first is putting your family first.  So I wrapped up last December counting on it to be one of those cases.  Operating in faith.

As I sit here today and reflect, I am so incredibly glad I made the decision I made last year.  I'm so glad I pushed that guilt aside because without a doubt, putting my business first then did turn out to be a decision that allowed me to put my family first every single moment of this year.  My business not only provided a significant income source for our family every month, allowing multiple vacations and "treats" we otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford, not to mention a FREE CAR, but it has also greatly strengthened my faith, my resolve, my confidence, and my joy, which has allowed me to be a better person - a better mom, wife, and friend.  It has taught me to trust God for the big stuff, as well as the small stuff.  It has taught me to listen for His whispers and to obey them.  It has taught me that scripture applies to everything all the time, no matter what you're going through.  It has helped me to recognize every single blessing bestowed upon me - big or small.  And it has helped me to recognize when God is using me to do something so much bigger in someone else.  To me, this is so much more than a skincare company - it's a ministry.  It's my way of sharing love and making other women realize how strong and beautiful they are - how valuable they are.  It's my way of showing others how God is at work in my life and in theirs.  We can't all be in ministry careers, but we can all figure out how the career we are in can be a ministry and that is an important lesson I learned this year.  It's an important lesson I have been able to teach my kids.  And it all stemmed from that difficult decision I made last year to put my business first for just a short time.  So sometimes, putting your business first is putting your family first.

I know 2016 will be even better and will allow me to continue to share this blessing with others.  I love my life!