The First Rays of Chasing the Dawn

The attire at a wedding and a chancellor's business breakfast are remarkably similar upon first glance. At least, all the men wear suits or tuxedos (I can't tell the difference). The women's fancy blouses and pencil skirts distinguish the two types of events, such that I was glad I'd changed out of my light flowery skirt into a nicer knee-length dress and professional jacket before coming this morning. Imposter syndrome struck immediately as I told the greeter my name and she tried to find me on the college student attendees list.

"Oh! No, I'm a business," I told her. But that was the wrong way to put it. I'm a person, not a business, but before I could correct myself, she found my name and checked me in. I made sure to write my business name below my own name on the badge they gave us: "Lauren Sergeant / Guardian Safety"

I've never been to a business breakfast. The Dean of the College of Business at a local university had invited me to this event a few weeks prior, right after he invited me to join the Advisory Board working with his department. I was honored by both invitations and accepted. Now I was among a bunch of business people all talking like they knew each other or at least like they knew a language I had yet to learn. I commented on the parfait bar and chatted with a woman about the tea selection before sitting down at Table #9 (they assigned tables!).

At the table, I started talking to a few employees from the local university. One in particular, a warm, kind-hearted woman, caught my interest with her stories of international adventures. "Always for work," she told me, but then she talked about the beauty of the Arabic language, about a walking tour she took between Portugal and Spain, and about how she gave away her complimentary Disney tickets when she worked at Disney in Shanghai because the park was still being built.

I mentioned my for-profit business in safety business process consulting, but when I reached to give her my business card, I pulled from the wrong pocket. Chasing the Dawn's card came out instead. So I pulled from the other pocket and gave her both cards. I then explained how I'm creating a non-profit to bring together the Church and the mental health community. She was uniquely interested! She asked good probing questions to help me sort through some details, and by the end of the business breakfast, I was "Lauren Sergeant / Chasing the Dawn."

I didn't rewrite my nametag. However, I gave nothing but a brief description of Guardian Safety to the other business people at the table. I spoke almost exclusively about this dream of a non-profit I have that is coming closer and closer to being birthed. I realized that Chasing the Dawn is where my heart is, and while God can most certainly use me in the automotive manufacturing industry to influence company culture through safety initiatives, He can also use me in this non-profit, Chasing the Dawn. And He will. I am certain of it now.

I think the suits (or tuxedos?) at the Business Breakfast were actually quite fitting. A wedding signals a new life, a new beginning, where the old comes along but becomes imbued with something entirely new, a relationship. And so, this Breakfast was a new beginning, where my old self comes along but imbued with new purpose. Maybe God was preparing my heart to understand the gravity of this event and its effect on my life. This was no tank top and flip flops type of realization I had. It was much more formal and professionally impactful. It's probably a good thing I added that business jacket to my outfit last minute, too. God was preparing me to receive something, even if I didn't know it. A sacred moment, right in the middle of a business seminar.