'All of God's children need travelling shoes' - Guest Post by Zanny Davis
TODAY AS WE CONTINUE OUR SERIES OF GUEST POSTS FROM CHRISTIAN FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS BASED ALL OVER THE WORLD, I'M DELIGHTED TO INTRODUCE YOU TO, ZANNY DAVIS FROM ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES ...
“All of God’s children need travelling shoes”
This was the title of a book by world renowned African American writer Maya Angelou. I love to read her work. She is real, she is honest and she is a woman. When I saw the title of this particular book, I was struck by how true that statement is to me and what I want to achieve in my own life. My desire is to be all that God have has created me to be, to walk in his purpose and in what he has destined for me. When I come face to face with him I want Him to be proud of pleased with what I have done in his name and with the talents and abilities he has gifted me with.
“The ‘Parable of the Talents’ Matthew 25: 14- 30 tells the story of master going on a journey and before leaving he entrusted his property to his servants…
“To one he gave five talents, to another he gave two and yet to another he gave one. He went away and returned to settle his accounts, those he gave five and two brought back additional talents but the one he gave one talent brought back nothing. The master said ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.’ So he took the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The ending of this story may seem harsh but it goes to show that God wants us to be bold, take risks and achieve more from with our lives here on earth. We are not meant to accept things as they are and definitely not to settle for mediocrity in our lives.
My three main loves in my life apart from my husband and my family, of course are - Travel, Food and Fashion in that order. From an early age my parents took my sisters and I travelling, to nearby Caribbean islands, visiting family and I got the travel bug. I loved it! Visiting somewhere new, experiencing something different and feeling extremely blessed for the opportunity to do so. As I got older I knew I wanted to have my own business and I wanted it to involve travel. I loved the way travelling made me feel, I was alive, I felt grateful, I felt extremely blessed by God and I wanted other people to feel the same way. The more I travelled the more I wanted to see more, do more, and experience more.
Every destination I visit, I take something with me. Different people will take different things it depends entirely on your outlook on life and the way that you perceive things. I take a souvenir shot glass from each country for my collection (I DO NOT use them to take shots haha!) and I also take an experience to influence my life.
My most recent and most enlightening trip was to India. In the summer my husband and I ventured to this far away in your dreams destination just because you always hear about this place but you can’t ever imagine being able to go there or at least, I couldn’t have. India was an experience like no other. The sights, the sounds, the people, and their lifestyle makes you look reflectively on your own life. How can a group of people, living in such difficult circumstances be so hard working, so resilient, so determined! The environment and the surroundings that I experienced made me think how extremely blessed I was and extremely grateful for all that God has given to me in my life. It made me think about how much more I need to be all that God has created me to be.
Maya Angelou’s book title got me thinking about why it is so important for all of God’s children to NEED traveling shoes, not just to WANT them. In The Bible Jesus was a traveller, he walked the ends of the earth gathering his disciples and spreading the good news and he also challenged his disciples to do the same. He didn’t stay in one place and be naive about the world around him and this is not what he wants of his children either. God wants us to enjoy our lives but while we do that we must strive to understand each other, to communicate with each other, to love and to live at peace with each other. All of this can be experienced through travel. Through travel we learn more about ourselves, some say we even find ourselves as we figure out our main calling in this life. My own personal experience would say that this is indeed true. Travelling has brought me even closer to God, I hear him in the voices of his different people, I see him in the beauty of different surroundings and I feel him in the elements that make up our beautiful seasons here on earth. It’s for us to enjoy and more than anything else to give him thanks and praise for all that he has provided and will provide even more.
For the woman out there who feels lost, who feels like she isn’t wanted, unloved and alone. I want to encourage you today to try travelling and while doing it, open your mind and your heart to hear from God. Travelling cannot fix all of your problems but it sure will give you the strength and the courage to try your very best to fix and make the most of them. It gives you the skills needed to turn lemons into lemonade, to turn your pain into joy and allows you to give of yourself in order to find yourself.
To be a part of Zanny's journey and to find your own, visit her website www.zanurtours.com.
Follow her on social media... Facebook and Instagram @zanurtours and Twitter @tabitabyron.