How Have I Grown?

I will never forget the day that I went into Habitué and someone that worked for me told me that the manager had walked out the door and left an envelope for me on the desk in the office. This was my third manager that I had hired hoping they could make things work and figure out what we needed for my business.

I went upstairs into the office and the keys were lying there along with an envelope with my name on it. Of course, without opening it I knew what it probably said. In tears I opened it and read it. As I sat there and prayed, I suddenly knew that I was supposed to be the manager and figure out all the details. I spent a few minutes trying to pull myself together and headed down the stairs. On my way down I met my dad coming up the stairs. I began to cry and told him what had just happened and that I knew I was supposed to do it. He hugged me and told me that it was going to be ok and that I could do it. I will never forget that moment.

I began that day on a journey that has changed my life. I have grown so much by choosing to step into my business and commit to learning how to run a business. I started my first day by going to the dish room and figuring out how to run the dishwasher and how to be a good dishwasher. I asked the person that did the dishes to teach me what they knew. I listened closely and took detailed notes. I heard things that concerned me and that me more curious. I found the manual and I realized by doing it -that it wasn’t going the best. It wasn’t their fault, it was mine.

The next job I wanted to do was bus tables in the dining room and clean the floors at the end of the day.  It’s important that everyone knows how to mop the floor and how to fill the mop bucket. So many details that mattered. It’s where I began to really learn that if we pay attention to the details that excellence will come. I caught on quickly that without a good, detailed plan and training it wasn’t going to be the best. I heard people say things like, “this is the way I do it.” That first day I knew what I needed to know to start. Then I began to write out instructions for a training manual for dishwashing and for other tasks in my store and I also made a checklist for each job. How to start and how to close it down. All the details that would set each one up for success. It took me a long time to learn it all. Front of the house and back of the house duties. Barista training and so much more. I had to learn the store and then I had to learn how to lead and how to manage it all. I  also had to learn how to set us up for success financially by learning how to look at what came in the back door and what it took to get it to the tables for our customers. So many memories.

I was just having a long overdue conversation with a dear friend I met through John Maxwell school that was first my coach about 10 years ago and is now my friend and ministry partner. I called her to get an update and see how she was doing, so I would know how to pray for her and be there for her. That’s what people do that are friends and that love one another. We both ended up sharing and we got to a point in the conversation where we were talking about growth and where we were at spiritually too. It was a such a good touchpoint for us both.  Most importantly, how have we grown in our leadership, with a huge emphasis on how we have grown spiritually.

The learning is still happening for me on many fronts. I have so many new things that I am doing in this season of leadership. Spiritually, I can feel depleted many days, but it was good to look back and to realize how far I have come with Jesus too. I am giving myself grace and receiving grace and mercy from God in the midst of many pressures and hardships. I’m so grateful for how Jesus has walked me through so much and that I see Him differently than I did 10 or even 5 years ago. In the last year and a half our lives changed so drastically when we sold Wells’ Enterprises, the family business. I felt like I got thrown into the deep end of the pool (and I don’t swim well) and we both began to work together doing what God has for us next. That’s another whole story for another time. I’m learning to trust God in this new place and see what my part is. That is growth in a new place and on a whole new level. Layers of learning and layers of healing. I see myself so differently and the lies I have believed are being brought into the light.

God takes us through the deep waters to grow our faith. It’s all because He knows what we don’t and He loves us enough to deepen our roots for the future.  The growing is happening.