June & Messed-up Priorities

The month of June in past years was a month that I put my life on hold.  I look back now and realize I traded a month of my life to strive for a goal.  You see, the Mary Kay year ends on June 30.  I would put everything else in my life on hold, except for my business.  We would never think of taking a vacation during the month of June.  I would never think of taking a day off during the month of June.  I would strive and strive to finish our goal, especially during these last two days of June.  Sleep would become unimportant, and my family took a back seat to my business.  Oh, how I had things messed up back then!

God really got my attention the summer that Mom became deathly ill.  She had her cardiac arrest, I believe on June 26 of 2006 (if I am remembering the day correctly).  When I got the call from my sister-in-law, telling me Mom was on the sidewalk in front of the local bank and first responders were performing CPR on her, God really showed me what was important…it wasn’t my goal, it wasn’t my business, it wasn’t “making Unit club,” it wasn’t earning another diamond ring…it was Mom.

Mom passed away December 16 of that year.  She became my focus for those last six months of her life.  Nothing else was important.  She came to live with us for awhile until she went into an assisted living home.  I visited her every day, without fail.  I would pick her up for Bible Study Fellowship on Wednesday mornings.  We spent Wednesdays together.  I cherish those times, and am thankful God woke me up out of my messed up priorities!

I thought of these things yesterday, as it is the last couple days of June.  I was sitting at a pool with my family yesterday…not putting in orders.  I was praying for my friends at Mission of Hope as I was getting ready to spend the evening out with my family on vacation…not making more phone calls for my business.  Mary Kay is a wonderful, blessed company…don’t get me wrong.  But I was so messed up…and I allowed my business to become the most important thing in my life…it even was more important to me than my relationship with Jesus during that time.

I glorified myself, my leadership and my unit.  I wasn’t glorifying God, even if I thought I was, and even if I was trying to justify my actions in saying I was putting God first.  After all, Mary Kay’s philosophy is to put God first, your family second and your career third.  Our family saw Cars 2 other other evening, and I was reminded what Doc Hudson said in the first movie regarding the Piston Cup trophies he won in races…”They are just empty cups.”  My diamond rings, the free cars–including the pink Cadillac, my plaques on my office wall showing the years our unit sold over $300,000, $350,000 and $400,000 in retail product are all empty.  God showed me these are good things if put in the right perspective, but they should never take priority over Him.

Putting my life in proper order has been the greatest blessing!  The things I’ve leared, God has used for where I’m at today and in what He’s called me to.  I still love my Mary Kay business, and my directorship.  I still love helping women live a life of joy, freedom and passion through this business.  And I also love loving the homeless, the hurting and those who are considered the least, the last and the lost through my calling at Mission of Hope.  Life is not about striving for “stuff.”  It’s about doing what God has called you to do and doing it to glorify Him, not yourself like I used to do.