Achieve the Impossible

My husband is a football coach and loves the game. Don’t tell him, but his love of the game has rubbed off on me a little bit. Last week the Titans played the Chargers. If you missed it, the Titans were winning most of the game until the end. (Seems to be a trend). This time in the last 30 seconds of the game, the Chargers were on the verge of making a touchdown. Play after play, the Titans held the line, literally 1 yard from a touchdown. Most of the Titans fans had given up. Many left the game. A win seemed completely impossible at this point. On the last play of the night, the Titans overcame and won the game. The Titans never gave up and did not focus on the odds; instead, they focused on winning.

Overcoming odds, making the impossible - possible…also seems to be a theme in the Bible. David and Goliath. Jonah in the whale. Sarah having a baby as a elderly woman. Noah overcoming the flood. Paul in jail. Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego in the fire. Daniel in the lion’s den. Moses and the Red Sea. Battle of Jericho. God shows His glory through these situations. In all of them there is a common requirement, they must be completely dependent on God, pray to Him, and have trust and faith that He will come through.

My “motto” in life verse is Luke 1:38. I don’t think it is a “popular” verse, but it was transformative for me. When Mary, a virgin, was told by the Angel that she was pregnant with Jesus, this verse was her answer back to God. “I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.

Have you ever felt you did not belong? I have a million times and still do often today. I have felt I was not smart enough, bold enough, eloquent enough, executive enough, nurturing enough, political enough, savvy enough, and just not enough. Especially in my career, I have been shocked where God has taken me, but He really threw me for a loop about 9 months ago. That is when this verse became my “motto.” For some reason, I knew it was important, so much that I wrote it on my white board at work and had it imprinted in gold lettering on my Bible. I kept praying that God would lead me. I had trusted God in my past and He had proven faithful. I would never had been a leader on my own even at St Mary’s North years ago. He kept setting me up for the next opportunity and opening doors or closing doors when the time was right beyond my imagination. Eventually in 2010 I was called to Sarah Cannon. It was awesome. I had my security blanket, focusing on cancer, but was definitely called in a leadership position beyond my current experience. I am thankful that I was surrounded by excellence and was taught how to lead. I was also given the freedom to dream and create. Then 9 months ago, I knew change was coming. I asked God to show me where He wanted me to go, and where He led me really shocked me. Although I have a minor focus on oncology, my oncology security blanket was basically ripped from my grasp. I had been given opportunities to dabble in other disease sites, and now I think that was so I would be more comfortable for what God had in store. I really thought I was being called deeper into leading Care Management programs, but that was not the door being opened. In fact, that door closed, at least for now.

A completely different door was opened leading consulting teams and clinical services for HealthTrust. I questioned this decision a ton. Although I could tell this was where I was supposed to go, I was scared. It did not make sense to me. I felt like I had been working in one direction for years and everything changed. This is going to sound so “braggy”, but I had literally become nationally known for care management through care coordination and navigation. I even got to lead the development of AI technology to support this program. I built an amazing team that was/is thriving. I had recruited nurses who looked up to me and I knew how to encourage them to dream. I literally cried as I told them I was leaving. (so embarrassing). As I look back, I truly believe I started to depend less on God and more on me. God always loves to show His glory through His children and He can’t do that when it is about us.

The verse, Luke 1: 38 kept jumping into my mind. God was leading to this new position. So…I leaped. It felt, terrifying, risky, lonely, but definitely right. Basically, I am in a position again where God must lead. My success is His glory. I have stepped out of my comfort zone and it is exciting. I feel the closeness of God in every step and every decision. I am not afraid, I am excited. I know my team and I are going to do great things together with God leading us every step of the way. If he is for us, no one can be against us. God tells us that in Romans 8:31.

31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He did not even spare his own Son but offered him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?

Let’s go slay this week!

Love,

Crystal