Development........

Hello Everyone!!

I know it has been a while since I have posted last and I apologize. God has taken me to some different levels in my life, and while going through these various stages, I felt it best to be quiet because my words would be much more effective once I came into a better understanding. So, here I am.............

This brings me to the subject I chose for this entry. Development.This word is a lot more powerful than it sounds because if we let this happen in our lives, we can go places we have only dreamed about. (As I write this, my hands are shaking and stomach is turning flips.) This is where I feel I am in my life. God is developing me into all the things I have asked him to make me. Webster's definition of development is: "To lay open or unfold by degrees or in detail; disclose; reveal. 2. TO OPEN UP AND EXPAND THE POSSIBILITIES OF."
Did yall catch that last part? Really? To open up and expand the possibilities of!!!!!!!!! That gave me chills!!! Lets explore this a little deeper:

The development of a baby to adulthood
When a baby is born, he cannot feed himself, he cannot clothe himself, he doesn't even look like what he will become! The baby has to go through several transitions before he becomes an adult. He has to be taught, he has to grow, his food changes from milk to meat, his body changes, his mind changes, his face changes, his heart is broken.......but one day, he is a man! Are these transitions easy? No! But he becomes a man!

The development of a caterpillar to a butterfly
The caterpillar starts off as a (yuck) worm (with a bizillion legs). But, it at some point, builds a cocoon, stores itself away in it for two weeks (sometimes longer) and comes out as a beautiful colorful butterfly!

The development of a architectural drawing, into an actual building
The architect has an idea, sketches it out, sometimes dozens of times until he is satisfied, he builds a small model of the structure and then presents it to the client(s), after given the okay, a building team has to be hired to make the architect's model a reality. After months and months of building, inspections, weather delays, etc, the structure is finally complete!

I gave these examples to say that development is a process. It is not something that happens overnight and it is never easy!! Look at your development from childhood to adulthood. Was it easy? The body changes, the heart breaks, the feelings of inadequacy, dealing with your parents!!!!! But what? You are now a beautiful adult! Yes, you are still developing but, the childhood thing is over and now you are on to bigger and better ventures in life. Development is actually a process that continues even after success is reached! And if you continue to open yourself to development, you will break boundary after boundary. Thats the thing I love about development, as long as we allow ourselves to be developed, we can only grow and improve. We can only get better!We will not fall into the trap of mediocrity, constantly finding ourselves falling into the same trap over and over again. The key is allowing yourself to develop.As I stated earlier, development is not easy. In order to get better, sometimes you have to do some things you do not want to do. Sometimes, you have to humble yourself and put yourself in a position to serve, learn and follow. If you cannot do these things, you will never be a successful leader. I enjoy using Sean Combs (P. Diddy) as an example of this. He started out working for free at New York's Uptown Records so that he could learn the business of marketing and music promotion. His job as an intern began with running lunch errands, getting coffee and the like. He didnt come right in marketing and planning huge events. But through hard work, dedication and allowing himself to be developed, he soon became one the top executives of uptown! And I think we all know his stats today. But he first had to put himself in a position to be developed. Need less to say, the person with big dreams and aspirations must own the quality of humility. This has to be recognized and put into effect before anything can be accomplished.

In my closing of this entry, I want to say that I am so thankful to see this happening in my life and I am also thankful to God for helping me to realize whats going on. Many of you are going through the same thing. Youre wondering why your dreams are taking so long to be realized. Youre wondering why everything you do seems to fail. Youre wondering why you feel as though you are at a standstill. My advice? Keep praying! Keep dreaming your dreams and desiring your desires! Stay humble and keep your faith. Last but not least, keep God first in your life and make Him your top priority. Psalms 37:4 says to "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."Because the caterpillar allowed himself to develop in his cocoon, he no longer has to crawl around on the ground, now he can fly!!!!!


I hope this helps someone!!