Ladylikeness 5: it's a very good place to start

"Ladies welcome humble beginnings." 

Real success is one million Instagram followers. 

Kelly Wright, the Fox & Friends Weekend Host at the time and our event emcee, stood on a stage in front of a crowd of 500 in a room built for 5,000. 

The National Prayer Event had been organized for months and sponsored by the magazine where I worked. We planned on reaching thousands. We didn't come close. 

Knowing the turnout was a disappointment for us, Kelly, a gracious  and wise emcee, started the evening with a note of encouragement, "Despise not humble beginnings." (Zechariah 4:10)

That piece of advice has followed me through every failure, restart, failure, restart, failure, restart, you get the idea, of my life. There have been many. And will be many more. For me, beginning humbly yet again often comes down to this question:  

If doing what's in my heart will only impact a few, am I still willing to do it? 

Culture says success brings fame and recognition. In fact, culture says fame and recognition is success. Ladies say otherwise.

For them, success means living with your whole heart. Not holding back. Being obedient to do what's in their path that needs doing, whether it's glamorous or mundane. Putting all their talents, ideas, and passion into every endeavor no matter the outcome. 

We have one life. One chance to give it everything we've got. Start humbly, if we must, but let's never fail to start. 
 

How To Put This Truth Into Action

My mentor has asked me these questions many times, so now I'm going to ask you:
 

What would you do if you weren't responsible for the outcome? If you were only responsible for being obedient to what God is directing you to do, how would you live differently?  

Then he usually follows my blank expression (because I'm writing the list of things in my head) with a, "Freeing, isn't it?"

Whatever God has placed on your heart to do, He is the one that knows why and determines the outcome. What we may think is small or irrelevant, unimportant or ordinary, could be the one thing that changes a life, changes a heart, or changes our world. 

You know what? Small starts don't seem so small anymore.