Today’s Power Woman
What do you envision as a power woman? Do you imagine a woman in a power suit leading a major corporation? Or perhaps you envision a powerful female athlete performing at the top of her game. These are great images of powerful women. As a matter of fact they are absolutely wonderful. Both require hard work, perseverance, and dedication. Today, however, I want you to envision a different power woman; a woman that operates in the gifts and powers given to us innately. 1 Corinthians 12 teaches us of gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, prophecy, discernment, speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues. Each of us is given a spiritual gift according to God’s choice. Some may possess multiple gifts. Today’s power woman is the woman that operates in her spiritual power. Many of us are aware of the power we possess but we shy away from them because of fear. We fear we are not worthy of God’s choice. We fear what others think. We fear the unknown. Do not allow fear to keep you from your destiny. Reframe the fear into motivation and become the powerful woman God chose you to be.
For many years I knew of my spiritual gifts but I refused to operate in them. I am a dreamer since childhood, a gift I shared with my grandmother and still share with my sister and I have powerful discernment. As great as these gifts sound, they scared me more than anything.
As a young adult, I dreamed I was a teacher. It was clear in the dream I was in a spiritual center but I set out on a path to teach in a secular environment. Teaching for God carried great responsibility. I thought I was unworthy and incapable of handling such responsibility so I ignored what I knew to be true. I moved towards teaching but in a different direction. I chose to get a master’s degree in education so I could teach at a community college.
While on my educational journey the arthritis I had since my preteens advanced into debilitating chronic arthritis. Pain became part of every moment. Even while asleep, I was very aware of the pain I felt. The pain was unrelenting. It was at this time that I cried out to God with anger, 'You told me I was a teacher! How can I teach on a campus when I cannot walk across the room?' His response was, 'My dear, sweet child, I never said you were a college professor'. That was my moment of clarity. I was supposed to teach about the things I knew from my own experiences. I examined the lessons I learned through my struggles with pain, life, doubt and fear. Through those struggles I gained greater spirituality, perseverance, faith, hope, love and I learned more about arthritis and chronic pain than I ever wanted to know. That epiphany led me to become a life coach and blogger.
I learned many things on my journey to higher education but this was not the path God chose for me. My gift is to use my experiences (wisdom and knowledge) and discernment to teach those like me, pain suffers and women. It took years for me to accept the gifts I have and the role I play in God’s kingdom. Today, I am honored that God chose me for such an important task. Today I accept my role in God’s kingdom. I use my gift freely. I can literally feel pain (emotional and physical) vibrating from people when they show no outward signs of it. In those moments I offer them love, compassion, encouragement, empathy, sympathy, kind words and sometimes a shoulder to cry on.
It took many years to learn how to re-frame my fear. The fear and anxiety I once felt are greatly diminished now. There are moments when it does arise but instead of panicking and stopping my press forward; I pause, take a few deep breathes and remember that I trust God’s plan for me. Then I move forward. I had to learn to act even while fearful. Today I am bold and fierce. I am unstoppable. I am today’s power woman.
-Kimberly Dixon, M.Ed, CPC, CRCC
"There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all."
1 Corinthians 12:4
Ms. Kimberly Dixon