Humanity was inherently created to connect. There are all kinds of connections we can make, some good, some bad, some life changing and impactful for generations to come.
In a home where everyone including the dog is male ( that would be my home), it is really wonderful to get out and spend some time with a beautiful group of women of all ages and a chance to get a great estrogen fix on Mother’s Day weekend!
What does this have to do with ROC Paper Scissors?
In this case, everything, because relationships are everything
Do you guys remember this paper portrait I made years ago for a customer who wanted to honor her parents 60th Anniversary?
Their portrait was also featured on our youtube video sharing our story.
The beauty about this business is the relationships you develop throughout the years. In this case, the sweet customer who had ordered this portrait contacted me to speak at a very special Mother’s Day tea for women of all ages at the church where she is part of the pastoral staff. She wanted to know if I’d share maybe about my business, life, family etc…
Come Mother’s Day weekend I made my way over to the event to share. I finally got to meet the honoree of years back and see the legacy this sweet woman has with her generation of women . It is always so beautiful to see the love, respect and impact someone older can have on a younger generation. It was even clearer WHY this customer had come to me initially to honor her mom with a special portrait. The way a person carries themselves without saying a word, sometimes says so much more. It’s about the influence they have been in a life evidenced by the way those that she has influenced, comport themselves.
I loved the vision this group had about the older women loving on and speaking into the younger generations.
Titus 2:2-5a says:
“Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers.[a] Instead, they should teach others what is good. 4 These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, 5 to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes,[b] to do good…”
See, the bottom line, we all need each other.
Guards need to be let down but people need to feel comfortable enough for that.Cliques won’t cut it, meaningful connections will. We have to stop showing up to events dressed in our best and then forget to connect. Communication needs to be impactful and helpful to the younger generations. For the the older generations, well, they need to be reminded how VALUABLE their wisdom, love and experience really can be. We need to example transparency, genuineness, vulnerability first before God, so we can be efficient examples to a younger generation that desperately need to know WHO and what true love really looks like. Be it for the social media addicted millennial, the attention starved fashionista, the single mom, the hurting divorcee, the heartbroken, the lonely empty nester or the low income mom who can’t overindulge in great luxuries, everyone needs to feel validated but validation needs to be done for the right reasons and the motive should never be self serving. We live in a world where the selfishness, superficial and external appearance sadly reigns. The only language that will stand the test of time is not the one of exterior appearances but that one of love. People will always remembered if they genuinely loved and only God through us, can make that kind of unforgettable impact on a life.
The heart of the women at this place truly set the example of blurring the generational lines with unconditional love and a spirit of unity ( all the while rocking their fashion sense ).
So I shared on” 7 things God has taught me in Half a century”. There was something for the girls, the single women, the married women, business women, the mothers and the grand ma’s. There are some truths that will stand the test of time and if they can be delivered in a personal application form, you can creatively paint a canvas before your listeners and leave them with a picture in their hearts that goes way beyond self-critical the perceptions many have of themselves. Their hearts can walk away with images of hope and encouragement inked profoundly in their hearts. Those pictures created when we speak life to others, create a safe haven for faith, refreshment and healing to come.
We are all artists and creative makers in a manner of speaking, our instrument may be scissors, a glue gun, other times a paint brush.Even if you have never crafted in your life your tool of preference may be your voice, hospitality, computer, photography or kitchen skills or the amazing and generous ability to help those in need. The key to having unforgettable impact in your business, home, family, ministry and community boils down to one thing…… always make it about others.
Leave all self promoting, selfish motives tossed quickly into the closest furnace you can find.
Pretty amazing how this all started because someone needed a paper portrait . God can use anything to bring lives together. Nothing is ever coincidence.
Let your gifts, your talents, your business, your work, your family life and everything that makes you, who you have become, an instrument in the hands if your creator and allow it to become His masterpiece. Life should never be about us, but let us be about others. Take the extra moment to make valuable investments in the relationships that every day can bring your way.
Love conquers all. You can still be professional… and loving. God’s wisdom, discernment and guidance to be truly effective is really needed for this part. We need to get real with Him first in order to TRULY succeed. Anyone can be another statistic of success according the world’s standards I know allot of successful,wealthy, empty,unhappy, lonely, people like that. I’m sure you may know a few as well. They are so miserable they want to make everyone around them just as miserable. Make sure the lives “you change” in the process were on a positive note… for them.
So let me encourage you to pick up the tools God’s given you. Be instrumental in changing a life becuse in those interactions, in the economy of God , God changes something in you .
Go and see opportunities as blank canvases just waiting to be painted on.
The world needs more “artists” like you!
Till the next time!
~Rosa
Special Thanks to the wonderful photog I was privileged to meet that day and her generosity and grace in sharing her work. Check out her website @Photo credits: Ileana Peterson @ Ileana Peterson Photography