WOMEN'S WEDNESDAY

A SUCCESSFUL WOMAN: Michelle Obama

In spite of how you might feel about Michelle Obama personally or politically I believe that we can agree that Michelle Obama is a picture of a successful woman. I remember watching her speak at the 2008 Democratic National Convention where her husband Senator Barack Obama was nominated to be the Democrat's choice to run for president. That night Michelle shared her story. The story of a girl growing up in a loving home in Chicago where her parents taught her the principles that would guide her to make many successful decisions in her life.

As First Lady Michelle has reached out to many encouraging and inspiring people all over the world. Just last week she visited South Africa and met with the legendary world figure Nelson Mandela. As I viewed the pictures of that iconic meeting I thought about the journey that brought Michelle Obama to that moment. And I wondered what principles could women take from Michelle to find success for themselves. These are the principles that I see operating In Michelle Obama's life. I hope that they help you find success as well. I believe with all my heart that is God's will for every woman to succeed. 

1. Sacrifice: During the early years of her marriage to Barack Obama Michelle made many sacrifices. Barack aspired to public office and ran for a seat in the Illinois State Assembly. His statewide campaigning meant that he would be away from home for many days in a row. After he won the election he and Michelle decided that their family should stay in Chicago while he lived in Springfield coming home on the weekends. Michelle sacrificed the comforts of having her husband home to be with her and their children. She was willing to give up her personal comfort and desire so that her husband could pursue something that they both thought was greater.  Successful people are willing to make sacrifices today for something greater tomorrow. Sacrifices never comes without a price but they always create great rewards . Michelle paid the price to allow Barack to pursue his ambition and today she is experiencing the rewards from those sacrifices.

2. Support: When the man Adam was living in the garden God made this pronouncement that is recorded in Genesis 2:18, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper that is comparable to him." God created the woman to help Adam the man. Now that may sound demeaning to some women but the word helper is very important in terms of understanding the principle of support. A helper is someone who aids someone else to get where they need to be. Jesus called the Holy Spirit a Helper. If you are a believer the Holy Spirit is in your life to help you be who you need to be and to help you get to the destiny that God has for you. 

Michelle Obama supports her husband because she understand the power of two which is recognizing that the two can do more than. I'm not sure how far Barack Obama would have gotten without Michelle's support but I do see how far he has gotten with Michelle's support. Her intelligence complements his. Her strengths complements his and together they make a successful team. A person doesn't reach success alone, he reaches it because he has support in his life. Michelle supports her husband and together they are succeeding in life.      

3. Service: Michelle's work with addressing childhood obesity and helping the families of our military has demonstrated her heart to serve America. Michelle is a successful woman not just because of who she is married to or not because of her position but because of what she has done with her position. She uses her voice to help others. Her actions are benefiting many people. When a woman serves others she is making herself successful because she's giving to others the gifts that God has given to her. I read this quote on another blog, "The world estimates your importance by how many people are serving you. God estimates your importance by how many people you are serving." (http://hereIblog.com )     

This is my word to you. I hope that you are pursuing success and being a successful woman. Maybe you have some principles that you would like to share on this blog on what makes a successful woman. I would be glad to read what you have to say.

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