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My Dream Business: Church Lady Seminars and Counseling Services
by: Tami Bailiff
Seminars and Counseling Services Dreams, everyone has them, but, when asked about them or write about them, not everyone is willing to do that. In fact, when I’m asked I usually answer very vaguely, but not today. I have a dream that I’m excited about and want everyone to know about. It’s one that will involve God as my partner and it’s the reason I made the decision to come back to school as an adult learner. My dream is to start my own business as a counseling consultant working mainly with women’s groups and shelters, to give them guidance, to raise their self-esteem and help them find their spirituality and how to grow in it. I envision working with a group of women at several sessions that teach them about themselves, give them encouragement, knowledge, self-esteem, that will allow them to grow, dream and obtain their dreams. I see too many young women not living their lives for themselves and seeing their self esteem as very low. I would like to help them change. I have had this dream for many years, but never really thought I would do much with it. Mainly, because my walk with God was not a strong, steady walk, but over the years my walk has become more solid and I decided over 3 years ago to do something about my dream. I have created a name for my business and have even started to think about and write out seminar plans. The name of my future business will be “Church Lady Seminars and Counseling Services”. Yes, there is a story behind the name. As my walk with God became stronger, I started attending church on a regular basis and got involved in many activities, especially with the women’s ministry. As some of my unbeliever friends watch me through this change, one of them began to call me the “Church Lady” more as a negative name. When people would hear this name being used, they would look at me strangely and tell me that I don’t look like a church lady to them, that I don’t look old, or have gray hair or carry a large purse with a bible. Instead, I look like I’m 30 something, wear blue jeans, t-shirts and tennis shoes, have a great sense of humor and enjoy life. This got me thinking that instead of the name having a negative light, I could give it a positive light and decided to use it as part of my dream business. Church Lady Seminars and Counseling Services would offer a 3 day course to encourage and lift one’s self esteem. I would begin with discovering who we are, where we came from, what our families are like and what our dreams are. This first session would be based on Genesis Chapter 1 to illustrate the beginning and why knowing our past is important. It would cover our childhood through early adult life. It will discuss each woman’s path and how and why they chose that path. It would end with teaching how to change that path and letting the women know that even “Church Ladies” have struggles and pasts, but in believing in God, all things are possible. The second session would consist of the women starting to think about themselves in a positive way. Letting them know that they are beautiful in their own way, that they are smart, they can learn, and most importantly that they can have dreams and can reach their dreams. This session would include brainstorming to come up with dreams, no matter how outlandish or simple they may be. To let them know that their thoughts and opinions do matter. It would also include a session on beauty and a total makeover with cosmetics. I currently sell Mary Kay Cosmetics and I would use my knowledge of the products to teach them to take care of their skin and how to apply make-up and experiment with different looks. This session would be used to lift their self-esteem. The last session would be to review from the other two sessions and have the women begin to decide what direction they want their lives to take. We would talk about how to set goals both large and small and the steps and processes to achieving their goals. Discussion about their spiritual path and how to improve it would be held and if they belonged to a church, I would encourage them to continue or go back and get involved. I would also have resources available to help them in their future journey and offer individual sessions to assist them further in whatever interest or issues the person wants assistance with. My dream is becoming more reachable with every class I complete. I am an Adult Student taking all my classes on-line because I live in Iowa. Oklahoma Wesleyan University is giving me the knowledge to obtain a degree in General Ministry with its on-line program, and helping me to grow spiritually by learning more about God, the Scriptures and how to use that knowledge in my daily live. I enjoy and learn so much more about God and myself with the weekly devotionals in each class. With these devotionals, I find myself looking and thinking about issues, people and myself in a different light. My professors and classmates have been very understanding and supportive which has given me more encouragement and determination to continue my education and reach my dream. I have made friends with many of my classmates and look forward to continuing classes with them. I have also discovered that research and writing is one of my strengths and something that I enjoy doing and these skills are going to be needed in my future endeavors. I look forward to continuing my journey at Oklahoma Wesleyan University and reaching my dream.
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