“We Desperately Need Jesus”
- Apr 3
- 4 min read
By Carmen K. Maendel
Introduction: Nice Girl or Mean Girl?
Hello friend. I am Carmen Maendel and I am a child of God, a wife, and a mother. I am far from perfect! Jesus is the only one that is PERFECT! I make all kinds of mistakes in life and find myself asking for forgiveness on a regular basis. I am very quick to give forgiveness, mercy, and grace to someone because I know how quickly those tables can turn, and then I would be the one requesting forgiveness, mercy, or grace from someone else. I would love to tell you that I am a nice girl through and through, however that would be breaking the ninth commandment, “Thou shalt not lie.” Exodus 20:16. I can tell you that I try very hard to emulate Christ every day in everything I think, say, or do. I also can tell you that I fall short one hundred percent of the time, however I will never stop trying. We all desperately need Jesus and the Holy Spirit guiding every second of our lives. I am what I like to call “flaw-some.” I am full of flaws and awesome at the same time. I am perfectly imperfect, and exactly how God created me to be in His image. I love to uplift, encourage, bond at a deep level with, walk along side both women and men, and experience life with them as God intended us to do. My husband, Nate Maendel, is my closest and deepest soul-friendship connection and understands me like no one else on this earth.
The Middle School Debacle
In my Chapter, “We Desperately Need Jesus” of the Book: She Wins: Nice Girls Finish First, I talk about some of the ins and outs and ups and downs during this period of my life. I share how this time in my life has truly shaped me, and helped me grow stronger and more resilient in preparation for my future. I developed coping strategies for myself, and a unique God given passion and gifting of encouraging and lifting up both women and men. I share one strategy I used when things became too much to handle as I was navigating my way through my formative years, especially middle school. I share very openly some of the struggles and adversity that I faced during that time in my life, and how I was able to rise above it all. I discovered that when I placed the focus off of myself and redirected it toward others, things seemed to improve immensely in my life. This was the beginning to me being able to feel empowered and confident in a multitude of different areas and disciplines.
Discovery of the Fruits of the Spirit
College and the entrance to corporate America presented itself with its own set of unique and precarious challenges. I experienced power struggles with both men and women, and I was also learning how to appreciate people’s individual differences and ideologies of life, simultaneously. I was becoming introduced to the Fruits of the Spirit and how they apply to every day life, before I even understood what they meant in the Bible. God would open doors and present opportunities that I would be able to use all the Fruits of the Spirit during various times in my life. I share in my Chapter, “We Desperately Need Jesus” an experience I had working at a bank, and how God used that episode in my life to humble me and open my eyes to the materialism and greed that was brewing in my heart. I share about being somewhat of a mean girl and the grace and mercy God shows me through the various actions of others. My life as a “highfalutin” stock broker was about to come to an end after a very successful financial career of eight years in that field. I also talk about the beautiful occurrence that happened several years later when God showed up and created beauty out of those ashes left behind. God took that negative situation and years later brought peace and reconciliation. God gets all the credit here, not me.
I also share how God gives me the opportunity to exercise all of the Fruits of the Spirit again when I founded my gym and spa company, Maendel Fitness. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control. He gave me the opportunity to learn patience and kindness toward my fitness and nutrition clients. I discuss the various ways God shows me grace, and in turn I show that grace to my clients. I contribute all the success of my clients directly to my obedience to God and following the plan He laid our for me and them to follow. I was deeply connected to God and my clients, and praying for guidance and direction help my fitness and nutrition clients break through all types of barriers. I spent those eight years deepening my relationship with God and my clients, simultaneously. I always encouraged them to not compare themselves to others, and to simply, “Aim at being a better version of yourself today than you were yesterday.”
Nate’s Property Maintenance LLC provides a variety of outlets for both Nate and I to use all the Fruits of the Spirit in various scenarios we come across in both our personal and business life together. In my Chapter, “We Desperately Need Jesus” I discuss different ways and strategies that Nate and I approach each other, our NPM Team, and our clients. I do believe that God has a sense of humor and will give us opportunities to learn from the same “Fruit” until we get it. Nice girls really do finish first and you can accomplish so much more when we encourage and empower others (especially women) and follow the plan Jesus has laid out for our lives.
Nice Girl Attributes and Characteristics (28 Things I Have Learned in My Life)
(Included in full Chapter, “We Desperately Need Jesus” in the Book: She Wins: Nice Girls Finish First)
Connect With Carmen
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