Standing in my power… with help from Julie & John!

Trigger alert: I’m about to talk about three things I learned that nice girls never talked about. (Well, maybe four, but we’ll get to that one after a bit.)

Yep, those three things are Money, Sex, and Power. And it turns out that some of the folks I’ve known would say that those rules were at least as true for wanna-be preachers as they were for nice girls.

It all started, at least in reference to this blog post, about noon today. There was an invitation in one of the Facebook places I hang out to join a webinar, hosted by my friend and teacher Julie Steelman. The title was listed as Unlock The 3 Secrets to Creating a Financial Breakthrough for Mission-Driven Fempreneurs.

I’m guessing you were counting. The big three, right there.

First, I did the time math. I had a little less than an hour to get the dogs out and back in, eat lunch, and finish checking in on my peeps in www land. There were other webinar time options, but only the first one worked for me. And Julie is awesome! So, despite the voices deep inside me, I clicked yes and signed up.

While I started my rounds from door/deck to kitchen to door/deck, etc., this blog post began rumbling in my head. Along with the little right angle brackets I learned as symbols for context. It’s amazing what kind of inspiration can happen while you’re rinsing slime out of the water bowl and doing the large volume of clean water thing, skinning an avocado, and selecting the appropriate 88% cacao chocolate bar from the pantry.

News is often a big chunk of context. More now than ever, I suspect, for most of us. And, in this moment, with the news comes racism. It’s not that it wasn’t there before. It’s that more of us are talking about it. In fact, racism was probably the fourth thing we nice girls learned not to talk about, though it was such a big thing that, at least in the world where I grew up, nobody even said not to talk about race. It just wasn’t done.

But time passes and now I have new friends. And we’re talking about all of those unmentionables. I’d add domestic violence to the list. And gender issues of many sorts. Please add your thoughts as well.

And then, just as the webinar was starting to roll, I got an email from Congressman John Lewis (D GA-05). Rep. Lewis was on a bit of a rant about hatred and oppression and violence and, well, politics. And he was asking for help in working together to end those things.

That’s when the tears and chills began. Two signs in my world, when they happen together, of truth.

… skipping ahead a bit to after the webinar and emails…

Today, I am standing in the power of my truth. I won’t be dis-empowered anymore. I will speak as I feel led about money and sex and power and inequalities of race and gender, no matter who is listening. And especially when my girls are listening!

More, even, than speaking, I vow to listen. To my family and neighbors. To those I learn with and from. And those who learn from me. And I will claim, anew, the sacred stories of my calling. Stories of healing and equality. Of empowerment and service. Of welcoming those who have known marginalization. Of feeding those who do not have enough and setting the captives free.

They’re not photo-op stories. Just the kind that are in the book.

ps… Some of those stories are about to be re-framed and illustrated just a bit for our littles and for the rest of us. You see, I am called to Super Power Self Portraits. Stay tuned!