Take a Seat

 In this holiday season that's approaching, there will be many opportunities to take a seat at different tables. At those tables, I can imagine sounds that fill the air, such as laughter, conversation, eating, and playing games 💜. As we take a seat more often in this season, I want us to think about three things when it comes to the "table of life": what table we sit at, what we're bringing to the table, and what we can take away. Life allows us to interact with lots of people and sit at different tables. When we sit at different tables, we need to listen closely to what is being said and what is not being said. We should watch closely the motives, attitudes, actions, and body language. We need to be observant in friendships, work and romantic relationships, churches, and communities 🙏. These, in a sense, are tables we can gather at. Tables that don't allow us to be ourselves and are constantly negative should be avoided. Tables that make us feel worse when we leave the table should be avoided. Tables where we don't feel like our voice matters and no one will listen to us should be avoided. Now, you might be thinking, sometimes we can't avoid negativity or poor leadership at a table we're at. That may be the case at times, but we can control our response and walk away as needed. We can observe what we bring to the table. Are we bringing confidence or doubt? Peace or confusion? Thankfulness or complaining? Positivity or negativity? Are we making things better or worse? Whenever we show up in our life, we are bringing something. We are bringing something in our words, actions, and attitude. Things can change for the good or bad when you show up. Things should be better when we show up. This year, I have the wonderful opportunity to take a seat at a new table in my career😊.  You may remember in a past blog post, "Mission Accomplished!" (go read if you haven't yet 😉) that I told you that I had one more surprise to share with  you. Well, here it is...I am a member of the Gifted Advisory Board for my middle school this year 💙💚!!! The opportunity was first presented in an email asking who wanted to be a representative for our school. I saw the email and thought to myself that would be great experience for me since I just recently finished my Gifted Education endorsement. I prayed and was going to reach out to the chairperson who sent the email to ask questions about what it would involve before I made the commitment. Before I could email her, she emailed me ! She said she thought about me because I had just finished my endorsement and thought I would be a good fit. I got my questions answered and then gave my yes 😄. We have met twice already this year, and it's been a good learning experience so far. I'm excited about the opportunity to have a new seat where I can learn and make a difference 💚💙. Today, you need to know your voice matters. Your actions matters. Perhaps you have taken a new seat in this season or in a seat that's been tough to stay in this season. Use wisdom, but stay at the table if that's where you know God wants you 🙏. If it's not a good table, move accordingly. As you continue to take the seat of life, bring kindness, love, wisdom, peace, and positivity to the table. Take away lessons you learn along the way. Share the lesson with others. Most importantly, show up as yourself every day and do your best always as you take a seat in this beautiful life God has given us ! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Love and blessings to all 💜!!