Sometime after my divorce, I took a much needed sabbatical from my event planning business. I no longer had the passion or desire to plan and coordinate specials events. A few months prior, I also quit my part-time job. I was tired of working in a toxic environment that was negatively affecting my health. I was both emotionally and physically drained. The passion I had for entrepreneurship was gone. I wasn’t myself anymore.
During this transition, I found myself applying to jobs I really didn’t care for, but at least they were something. I had bills to pay and a son to care for. Even with spousal support and income I received as an independent contractor, it still wasn’t enough to pay all of my bills on time. Week after week, I sent out my resume or completed online applications. I was frustrated and discouraged because I wasn’t getting called for any interviews. I began to think I must have done something wrong in the eyes of God because no doors were opening.
I was sick and tired of sending out my resume and getting no response. My faith was shaken. I was a single mom with a college education who felt rejected and unwanted. Going on social media didn’t help either. I would always read posts of young adults sharing the successes of their businesses or how God opened doors for them.
I must admit I became a little bitter. I felt overlooked. I thought God forgot about me.
I didn’t know what to do…I began crying out to God asking him to show me the way. I needed Him to intervene on my behalf. God began to put visions and dreams in my heart for both my event planning business and a professional service company I wasn’t sure I wanted to start. In addition to planning and coordinating events, I have experience working with startup businesses and nonprofit organizations. However, fear of failing caused me to constantly go back and forth with the idea of starting this business. I would always make excuses as to why I couldn’t start, such as, “I don’t have enough money.” “I don’t have enough experience.” “I don’t have office space.” The list went on and on.
Fear of failure hinders us from noticing how God is already answering our prayer. <<Click to Tweet
During this time of exploring career possibilities, and even before that, I people reached out to me to pick my brain and seek advice on how to start their business. I never thought anything of it but now I see God was preparing me. EVERY TIME I had doubt in mind about helping people with nonprofit startups, God used my friend Marline to send me texts about people who could use my help in that area.
After a while, I noticed that I frequently talked to people about this idea of starting a professional service company. God was strategically placing people in my life that needed exactly the kind of services I could offer, BUT fear had a hold on me. I could hear it in my friends’ voices and see it on their faces - they were tired of me talking about it and not taking the necessary steps to make things happen. I was even tired of hearing myself!
When I took the faith steps to relaunch my event planning business and start my professional service company, God put a fire in my heart for entrepreneurship like never before. My passion for event planning came back and the desire to help others with their startups grew. The fact that I had come up against so many closed doors with no interviews in sight began to make sense. While I was waiting on God to do something, He was actually waiting on me to trust him enough to step out in faith. The favor of God has been upon me ever since. The thought of how everything has come together brings tears to my eyes. My steps have been ordered by God. HE IS FAITHFUL!
This month I officially launched my personal website. Yay!
It took prayer, courage, determination, and sleepless nights for this dream to become a reality. God aligned me with the people and resources I needed to prepare me for this new season as an entrepreneur. I’m thankful for who God has placed in my life to push me towards greatness. I know this is just the beginning. The best is yet to come! I’ll let you know my progress…
Has God planted a dream in your heart, but you fear you’re going to fail? I challenge you to surrender that dream to Him, trust He will be with you every step of the way, and take the faith steps that will lead to your dreams becoming a reality.
Wodline is a mompreneur, wedding planner and savvy startup specialist who loves the Lord. She is passionate about empowering people to follow their dreams. She loves writing in her journal and hopes that in sharing her testimony young women will be inspired, uplifted and encouraged by her story.