Leaders Are Ready.
I want to preface by saying this is not a quality that I certainly thought about for a leader. I think of bold, courageous, servant-hearted, humble, prayers, but the quality of ready never pops up on my top 10 list. But looking back, I certainly see where this comes into play. Every time you are put in a situation, you have to have someone leading you, whether that be God or another person, and that leader has to not only be ready to steer others in the right direction, but also be ready to pick up a new hat or adapt to a change with every single step that is taken. Now, a personal story for me goes to CentriKid. (of course!) I interviewed, waited, and originally got wait-listed, and then in late March/early April I got a call from Meredith Teasley asking me if I wanted a job as a Team Leader for the summer. At first, I asked to get back with her so I could pray and I found out that I didn't have much time to make my decision. I talked with other people (shoutout to my mom, BJ, and Lindsey) and they all told me that this is what I had been praying for and that I was ready and I should take the job. Needless to say, I took the job and had the best (and hardest working) summer of my entire life.
That's the connection. My life up to that point had been priming me and making me ready to be a leader, and when I was presented for the opportunity to be a Team Leader for CentriKid my heart, mind, and spirit were ready for the job that lay ahead of me. Was it easy? Heavens no. Was it worth it? Heavens yes. My life experience's had also made me ready to minister to a girl that was (and is) going through something very similar to my life story.
One of my favorite stories to tell is one about a girl that lost her mom during the camp week. I broke the news to her and honestly thought that I was going to say my goodbye to her then, but she chose to stay and play OMC that morning and would leave after that. I didn't know that she had chosen to stay until I got a phone call and was told that she was requesting to talk to me one last time before she left.
I talked with her about her mom, listened to her stories, prayed for her and with her, and finally told her the verse that was given to me at CentriKid many years before then as I was going thru losing my brother, that verse was Romans 8:28. "For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." She lit up when I told her my life story about losing my brother in 2003 and my dad in 2007 and my great friend Marshall in January, and showed her how that verse gave me constant hope. But here's the part I will NEVER EVER forget, she looked up at me and said,"Miss Taylor, you know how we talked about Esther last night and how she was prepared to save her people?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"I think you were prepared for such a time as me."
I tear up every single time I think about this. She made the connection. (This picture was snapped right as she was telling me this.) That was what I was being primed and ready for. To lead that girl. Yes, I lead other people throughout the summer but my losing my brother, father, and friend was all for her and the people that came to camp that were going through or recently had gone through those experiences whenever other people on my team weren't able to relate.
Did I necessarily know that I was being made ready to be a CentriKid Team Leader? Nope. But I knew from Romans 8:28 that I was being made for something, and I just had to be ready and willing to lead when God allowed that opportunity to come.
Just because you don't understand why things are happening never means that it's happening without a purpose. Be ready to go whenever that purpose arises.
Live Today.
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