Be A Make It Happen Woman

Our topic for today is all about making things happen.

Taking a passive approach to living is equivalent to riding a bicycle with your hands in your pockets. There is no way it will work! The decision to live the life you envision rests solely with you. It's important to be proactive and make things happen instead of waiting for things to happen.  You will always have God's support and guidance, but he cannot work unless you work too.

"Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth". Proverbs 10:4

Transcript

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Ladies, your natural instinct is to worry. You worry about your children, your health, your relationships, and everything else under the sun. It's a classic case of worrywart syndrome. If you tend to worry needlessly, you are not alone. Welcome to the She Strives with Faith podcast with Berthena Jackson. Berthena is a two time divorcee, a single mother and war veteran who suffered from anxiety. But learned to let go and let God. Berthena will share captivating and down to earth conversations on how to strive by faith. Here's your host, Berthena Jackson. Hello beautiful sisters. Welcome back to the She Strives with Faith podcast. Whatever your location, my prayer is that after listening to this episode, you will be pushed into your greatness. I appreciate you taking the time to listen, girl, I know you're busy. You've got a lot going on. Since I know you've got a lot going on. I'm going to start now before you switch to another podcast. Let's get this podcast poppin. You know, I consider myself to be an open and honest woman. I'm not afraid to speak my mind. And I'm confident in my opinions. I always strive for clarity and understanding in my conversations. And I hope you find that in this podcast. I'm here to share my story and I'm sure you'll relate to it in some way. I've been single for more than a decade. Over the years I've been waiting for a godly man to propose marriage to me. Unfortunately, I'm still single after 15 years. But it's not like I didn't do all that I needed to do to attract my husband. Because I'm a make it happen woman. I take action. But I do believe that everything is in God's timing. Also, in the past few years, I've invested a lot of time and money into my entrepreneurial dream. When Mary Kay and Avon didn't work for me. I got pulled into starting an MLM business called Organo gold, and I invested hundreds of dollars. Unfortunately, it was a waste of time and money. But after recovering from the loss, I worked with the Small Business Administration to develop a business plan for a life coach company. I had experienced rebounding from disappointments, setbacks, and heartbreaks, it occurred to me that I knew a great deal about overcoming obstacles. So I thought why not contribute my knowledge to the benefit of other women? Well, here's the problem. I was still working full time and raising a family at the same time. So as a result, I had little time to complete the business plan. In my mind, I failed to complete another project. So as I watched others succeed as writers, bloggers, influencers and motivational speakers on the internet and social media, I became depressed because I couldn't understand why I wasn't experiencing the same level of success. Frustrated and defeated. I gave up on my dream of becoming an entrepreneur. Even though I hated working a nine to five, I had no choice. I had to do what I had to do until I could figure out how to become my own boss. Then several years later, now I would say maybe about 10 years later, my decision to leave the government came to fruition. Now, today, I'm creating online courses to empower women as part of my dream of starting an Empowered Women Academy. And while I'm not there yet, I am believing God for success. The point I'm trying to make is this. We often see other people accomplishing what we wish we could, such as buying a home, starting a business, entering into relationships, and we feel jealous that they are smarter or more capable than us. How are they able to achieve we have not? It makes us wonder. But unknown to us is that those people had a plan. Sure we work hard like they did, but they worked smarter. They followed a plan. And despite what they've accomplished, we don't see what sacrifices they made. Despite what may seem like easy accomplishments, accomplishments, from the outside, the inside may reveal a much more complicated picture. Let me give you another example. My parents taught me that home ownership is one of the paths to wealth. So I did some research, put together a plan and prepared myself for success. My first home buying experience was based on a plan. Now, my credit wasn't great, and I had limited resources. But I had a plan. And I planned to execute that plan. At my local bank, I started building relationships with people. I'm still a member of Navy Federal Credit Union today, and I still have good rapport with that bank. But anyway, as much as I could, I sacrificed and saved to reduce my debt. And in order to make the next move I wanted to make I did everything in my power to align myself with my goal, with my dream of buying a home. Eventually, it happened for me, all of my efforts paid off, and I was able to secure a loan and purchase my first home. I'm still living in that home today. This was in 2010. It was a great accomplishment. And I knew it was only possible because of number one God, because of number two, planning and number three, dedication. And even though it was a difficult journey, it wasn't easy. I was proud of myself for committing to the goal and making it a reality. Here's something else. Have you ever watched TV or read a magazine or newspaper and thought that was my idea? Listen my sister, ideas only become reality when we take them out of our heads. People who develop the product or wrote the screenplay you came up with first, developed the business plan, or took screenwriting classes, or took any of the other steps needed to bring an idea to life. Girl, this is what you have to do to make your dream a reality. The problem is most of us take a passive approach to living, turning over the responsibility of living to our parents, doctors, spouses, or whoever else we consider responsible. Taking a passive approach to living is like trying to ride a bike with your hands in your pockets. It just won't work. Girl, it's up to you and only you to live the life you envision. God is always with you, offering support and guidance. But listen, He can't work unless you work as well. Now I believe you and I can make it happen sister. Our excuses and procrastination are no longer acceptable. Now is the time to take action and make our vision a reality. We must take ownership of our lives and stop relying on others to make us happy to make decisions for us. We can't do that. We can't do that any longer. So come on, let's go after our dreams together. Because when we have faith, trust and courage to take action, nothing can stand in our way. Now, this episode wouldn't be complete without sharing one final story. You see my go to source for stories that apply to today is the Bible. Yeah, I've got a whole bunch of other books on my shelf that I can pull information out of but I just love the Bible for some reason. But anyway, consider the man lying near the healing waters of Bethesda in John chapter five, verses five through fifteen. In this story, the man asked Jesus to help him to the water so he could be healed. But Jesus questioned his faith. Now Jesus is not being dismissive or uncaring. But he wants the man to understand that he has everything he needs within him to walk again. And rather than waiting for someone to help him, the man should have planned how to get better. Now here's how we apply this to our life. Today we all worry about what might happen if we fail. Now you've heard the old saying that it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. You can apply this principle to other aspects of your life too. You see, if you never take a chance and go after what you really want, you can be certain you'll never achieve it. I believe failure is a really good teacher. I failed many times as I shared with the Mary Kay and the Avon and the Organo Gold. However, we must make a plan, work our plan. If it fails, figure out why and come up with a revised plan. and work it again. You see a"Make It Happen Woman" is a planner and a doer. She don't give up. A make it happen woman takes risks. Making mistakes and learning from them is the key to success. So even if you fail, you can still take away valuable lessons that will help you on your next attempt. So I encourage you, develop a plan and have the courage to take action. Because when you do, you can make your dreams come true. All you have to do is put in the effort. Be a"Make It Happen Woman". Okay, ladies, it's time to pray for salvation. Romans chapter 10, verse nine says that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Beloved, this is your opportunity to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. If you are ready, I want you to say this prayer with me. Dear Lord, I am a sinner. I repent of my sins and need your forgiveness. I believe you died in my place and rose from the grave to make me a new person. I believe you prepared me to live in your presence forever. Jesus, I want you to come into my life and take control. I ask you to forgive me of my sins and save me. I place my trust in you alone for my salvation and accept your free gift of eternal life. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Beloved sister, even though you recited this prayer, prayer alone cannot save you. Embrace his death as a sufficient sacrifice for your sins, and completely rely on Him alone as your Savior. My sincere thanks to all of you who have listened to the She Strives with Faith podcast. I hope you'll tune in again for another episode. If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it with your friends and family. Wishing you love and blessings. Until next time, keep striving with faith. We'll chat again soon. Bye for now. Thank you for listening to the She Strives with Faith podcast. To hear more about how you can tap into the power of striving with faith, join her next week. If you found value in the episode, give her a rating or tell a friend about the show. Follow Berthena on Facebook and Instagram for a more personal chat. Until next time, strive to keep faith alive