Blog 6
At the end of January, a friend of mine who is a vendor that sells ladies clothing and fashionable items at sorority conferences and different church groups throughout the United States asked me to assist her on two events she was booked for. One to Arizona at the beginning of February and another to a trade show in Las Vegas at the end of February. I have assisted her past and had a nice time while earning some extra cash. And I responded, “yes of course.” We booked the airfare for the trip to Las Vegas and later decided to drive to Arizona. Suddenly, I remembered, and said “OMG” I didn’t ask the Holy Spirit. In January I told the Holy Spirit I would check with Him before accepting any future commitments (but I really wanted to go).
Pray
I ended up calling her back and explaining to her my dilemma. She’s a Christian and said she totally understood. I sent her back the money for the Las Vegas ticket. Also, I told her as soon as I got a response from Holy Spirit, I would let her know. (I sent the money back as a act on faith to let Holy Spirit know that I wanted to do His will for my life.) So I hung up speaking with her and prayed. The next day Holy Spirit gave me the okay to go. I called her back and said I would go. She sent me the money back for the airfare to Las Vegas and now the trip was “on.” We left on February 1st driving to Arizona
Clarity
This time around when we arrived in Arizona, instead of going to a hotel I found out that she had a niece living in Arizona and that we would stay with the niece for the first night. Well…. the niece lived in a one-bedroom apartment and she was not giving up her room, which meant one of us would have to sleep on the sofa, and another on an air mattress. So, I thought to myself “this is a little different.” I chose the air mattress which was very uncomfortable to say the least. That night as I layed down I thought to myself “so this is what you were practically begging Holy Spirit to let you experience.
Normally when I go with her on trips, she reserves a room at the hotel where the event is being held. We check in, unload our personal luggage and then peruse the hotel to get the lay of the land so to speak. We set up in a room specifically reserved for vendors. Once completely setup, if time permits, we’ll rest or have a bite to eat. The days are pretty long and there is a lot of sitting around and waiting for break time for those attending the conference., when they usually come to the vendors area (for me the trick is while waiting not to spend all my earnings at the other vendor tables because they really have cute stuff) Holy Spirit is still working on/in me. LOL
The next morning, we drove to the conference location which was either the Hyatt Hotel or the Marriott Hotel to begin our final setup for the day’s event. We checked in the hotel and unloaded our luggage as well as the clothing, jewelry and other items to be sold at the conference. We now have a few hours before the Delta’s begin their evening convention. This gives us time either to go to our room, settle down, have lunch or just relax. We definitely took advantage of this break before the sales began. It all went very well the entire weekend. We left Los Angeles on a Thursday and checked out of the hotel on Sunday morning.
Transparency
Upon returning to Los Angeles, it was raining hard, surprisingly, we stopped to get something to drink (to go) but there was an issue with her not being able to pay for her drink. So I paid for it. Normally after an event, she would give me cash, or Zella me. She has always been fair and honest with me so I wasn’t concerned or alarmed. However, this time when we got back to LA after working four and half days with her and three of those days were 24-hour days, she sent me $380, cancelled the trip to Las Vegas and told me I could keep the ticket to Las Vegas and get a refund, that she and her father were going to Las Vegas together and have some family bonding time. I was in ‘SHOCK’ felt misused and disappointed.
Then the Holy Spirit reminds me, you asked, and I allowed you to go. This is what you wanted to do. So, my response to the Holy Spirit was…. okay Holy Spirit LESSON LEARNED!
Gratitude 
In February my son works for a company that distributes supplies to restaurants. He could order me mason jars at cost ($1.00 per jar). Amazon’s cost is $2.66 per jar. I then ordered 10 cases of jars and my son’s boss gave them to me at cost. (PTL)! Now I’m back to paint-pouring again. When I was in Arizona vending, I met a lady who told me about a website called “Fiver.” It’s a company that makes logos that can cost as little as $5.00. You can submit your ideas and select the appropriate designer to create your logo. I decided to follow through and get a logo made for Mason Jars Ministry. In the meantime, I ordered the jars and tops. Soon thereafter the jars and lids arrived at my home, and I began to paint again. My painting and pouring lasted the almost the month of February.
Trusting Him and Waiting on Him
Keeping it ‘real’ by now I thought the Lord would have given me a financial blessing since I was a financial blessing to a lady in January, but He didn’t. Nonetheless, the Holy Spirit ministered to me with His Word (His Scriptures). Matthew 6:5, Amos 9:13, Ephesians 15:28. Now I’m accepting and relying on God’s Word. In other words, I’m good. And then March comes along and I’m painting and talking to the Holy Spirit and again I’m saying to the Holy Spirit I’m not getting a return on the $3000. I don’t see a harvest from it. Then I say to myself a harvest can take longer so be faithful. As a Foot note I want to say I feel so out of my comfort zone blogging, I’m totally relying on God to make me not look foolish or crazy to myself as well as others. To Be Continued
