Refocused Yet Prepared

Refocused Yet Prepared

I appreciate and love music PERIOD. I love music because I can dance to it, eat to it, drive to it, listen to it, tap my feet to the beat of it, and connect with others with it. Most of all I love music especially Gospel or Christian music because I am able to leave this earthly dwelling and be in heaven for a moment. I am able to connect with God, be with God, love on God, and receive the LOVE of GOD.  While in church last Sunday at OG (Orange Groove, Durham, NC) Korwind Stokes the minister of music there along with the praise team began to minister a favorite: IM CHASING AFTER YOU… let me pause and share the lyrics:

I’m chasing after you, no matter what I have to do

Cause, I need you more and more…

More and more…

I’m chasing after you

I’m praising my way through

Just to be closer to you

I’m chasing after you…

Now for my fellow Christians out there (#PRAISE HIM rt!!!!) you may identify with me, being unemployed and needing a job, you can find yourself chasing. Chasing people trying to network, chasing job after job, lead after lead, chasing websites, all the while God is saying:

HELLO I can open doors that no man can shut,

HELLO have you ever seen the righteous begging for bread (Psalm 37:25),

HELLO I provide food and shelter for the birds of the air why would I not do anything less for you? (Matthew 6:26)

…darling stop chasing everything else, seek me first and all other things will be added unto you. (Matt 6:33)

Well, while the tears began to stream down my face, because I could hear the Holy Spirit speaking so clearly, Jhaniqua began to rise... conversation went a little something like this:

Well Lord, like, that’s great to seek you, but it’s hard to seek you when a way is not made.  It’s hard to feel like you are providing when I feel like I am begging, on all sides. I know I’m supposed to be chasing you, but God do you not see the heartache, shame that’s taking place?

Yes, I know the saints love to shout off of IF HE DOESN’T DO ANOTHER THING HE HAS DONE ENOUGH, howeva (neck roll) saints let’s be REAL. If you lost your job, family, money, shelter, and was begging, you too would have questions for the Almighty God. Many of us are like Job’s friends or even Job’s wife; we too are sitting by the brook in ashes wondering what the HECK IS NEXT. Now I’m not saying that this would take away from God’s Goodness, Sovereignty, because whether I’m poor or rich God is still God.

As I tried to deny myself to be able to receive what the Holy Spirit wanted to impart in me, speak to me and share divinely with me; the Holy Spirit kept ministering to me, yes its great to learn, its amazing to connect with people, you need to have a well written resume, you need these things, but I’m here to help you refocus. Turn your focus back on your purpose, your love for God, and your passion for God’s people. I know darling it’s hard but seek God, love God, and everything will fall into place.

Ladies & Gent’s I promise it all clicked in my head at that moment. Yes, its sooo true. All my prayers for the past few months have been nothing but touching the garment of Jehovah Jireh. Jesus please provide in this way, please pay this bills, please do this and do that. The love was kinda put on the back burner. Sorry JESUS!!! J I do love U, but it’s hard to really focus on love when your phone is being bombarded by 1888-I-WANT MY MONEY!!!!! Lol…

But its true, when you seek God just to love Him, and He loves on you, its just like calling my husband just so that he knows I’m thinking about him. Same concept. If I kept asking Sean to just do stuff but never expressed my love to him whether the task was completed in 5 minutes or the next day, I KNOW he would get agitated very quickly… SHOOT I WOULD TOO!!!

Lesson learned: I am refocusing. I’m now gazed on God. Waiting, listening, reading my word, praying and just spending time in worship. Does this allow me to negate all the information I have learned, or that I will stop attending classes, or stop perfecting my resume, NOPE!!! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!

So where does this put me… back to resume writing…lol

Resume 101: Basics

·      Your resume is like your golden ticket. It introduces you before you are seen. It must be innovative, captivating, clear, concise, and quickly but descriptively describe your past work.

·      Each resume MUST be tailored to the specific job. WHY? I know its aggravating and time consuming but…

o   Each position and each job needs something different. Hiring managers for electrical engineers and pastoral hiring committee will look for two different things. This is not to say that a pastor can not be an electrical engineer or vice versa, but the wording, and your past job duties will need to be tailored differently.

o   Your describing words will change.

o   Your duties will need to be tailored. Applying for an administrative position you will need strong organizational skills and computer skills. So your previous work experience must reflect that. Applying for a director position, your previous work experience must reflect previous managerial experience.

·      Keep things centered: Sometimes hiring managers get hundreds of resumes. They may only have 6-10 seconds to look at each one. If your information is not centered or if its not laid out well, you will quickly be looked over.

·      Education: Once I graduated from Duke University, I felt like that was the best asset on my resume WRONG. For some people it was a turn off because they did not like Duke or because I was applying for something that having a graduate degree was not beneficial. Place education at the bottom, nothing too big but or too fancy for example:

            Masters of Education, Duke University

Verses

MASTERS DEGREE IN EDUCATION

DUKE UNIVERSITY

Don’t laugh at me, I know I am not the only one out there…lol… a little over kill but you get the point.

Resumes are very important. If it is sloppy has lots of spelling mistakes, does not make sense, more than likely your potential employer will feel like this is a reflection of you. Therefore, DON’T BE SLOPPY & Let someone look over your resume!!!

MOMENT OF FRIES:

I was able to spend some wonderful quality time with my best friend Regine!!! HEY BOO!!! She blessed me and took me out to eat at Outback Steakhouse in Cary, NC!!! & You’ll know what I ordered: FRENCH FRIES!!! OMG they were AMAZING!!!!

They were fully cooked to perfection, CRISP, and well seasoned. They came out hot and fresh!!! Fist Pumps to the chef!!!

Even if God opens doors, make sure that you are a good representative. Make yourself, your employer, and make GOD PROUD!!! Even though the Holy Spirit has ministered to me to stay focused it is still my responsibility to be prepared and wait in expectation to walk through the door, with my head held HIGH, Stilettos on my feet, pearls on my neck, lip gloss on my lips, and resume in hand!!!

I am still waiting for God to open that door but I’m sure its coming!!!!

Peace, Blessings, and ENJOY FRIES WITH LIFE!!!!