Nov 6, 2019 | confidently, Do The Hard Thing, Speak up |
She prays, she studies, she writes.
She steps into what she is made for.
She leads others to pursue
the heart of God.
There may be some who
think she should not speak,
that she should go home,
but she doesn’t mind.
Let them talk.
She doesn’t answer to them.
She advocates, she speaks, she stands.
She steps into who she
is made to be.
She realizes her worth
and desires to educate others
about a system that still exists
to squelch her people.
There are some who
believe she is making
something out of nothing,
but she doesn’t mind.
Let them talk.
She doesn’t answer to them.
—
She teaches, she heals, she cares.
She pursues her passion
to help others who are sick.
She is wife, mom, and
a leader in her field.
There are some who
believe she should be home,
that she is in the wrong,
working outside her home,
but she doesn’t mind.
Let them talk.
She doesn’t answer to them.
—
She creates, she writes, she spits truth.
She rhymes sick lines
that seep from her heart
onto the page.
She speaks her mind and
she will not be contained.
There are some who believe
that her truth is too loud,
that she should go home,
but she doesn’t mind.
Let them talk.
She doesn’t answer to them.
—
Say what you want,
believe what you want,
truth will prevail and
your words
meant to hinder,
meant to restrain,
meant to demean
will be what we
step on as we pursue
who God made us to be.
We don’t mind.
We don’t answer to you.
We don’t mind –
but we do wish you would
consider what we could
accomplish if we
worked together.
#PermissionGranted
Oct 10, 2019 | Becoming, confidently, purpose |
Doubt won’t let me be great.
I have ideas
but doubt says they’re dumb.
Too often the ideas
stay nebulous
and never become
living, breathing entities.
You can blame doubt for that.
I walk into a room
full of peers and
question whether I belong,
wonder if there’s even
something I can offer.
I stick to the periphery
so that the opinion
I imagine others have of me
won’t collude with
my own doubt.
I’m just not sure I’ve
got the fortitude to take
all of it on.
Doubt won’t let me be great.
Some days I struggle with
purpose, passion, and possibilities –
is it really worth pursuing these?
Are these selfish pursuits?
Doubt always has a word.
Doubt is loud.
Doubt is persistent.
Doubt is strong.
Often I forget there are
other voices –
Doubt’s isn’t the only
voice I hear.
What if I
listen to the voice
that created me
and put purpose within me?
What happens if I
train my heart to hear
the voice that says
there’s work for me to do?
It’s not all doubt’s fault.
I choose what I listen to.
When doubt is loud
it is because I have
forgotten who I am.
Doubt distracts me from
what is most important
with slams and straight up lies.
But.
Truth has more to say.
Truth is louder than doubt.
Truth will persevere.
Truth is stronger.
I’m gonna listen to Truth.
#PermissionGranted
Jul 31, 2019 | Be you, Becoming, confidently |
There are days when I
check off all the boxes.
If you saw me in action
you might say,
“Get out of her way!
She’s got a list!”
On these days I am a
Professional
Mom/Wife/Writer/Organizer/Cleaner/Chef.
There are days that I
am a Professional
Facebooker.
There are days that
if I could get paid to daydream
I would make bank.
There are days that
nothing is accomplished
because I just can’t
do one more thing.
There are days that I
think I could tackle
anything I put my mind to
and days when I wonder
if I am capable of good things.
There are days when I try
something new,
like a treetop ropes course
and other days when I
fall into old patterns that
keep me stuck.
All of this is me.
I am not more me
on my tackle-it-all days
versus my Facebook pro days.
The essence of who I am
is on display when I daydream
and when I seek out
something new.
There’s a range to who I am.
I
am
not
a
robot
with a singular setting.
I am fully myself
when I give space
for all that I am.
#PermissionGranted
Jun 19, 2019 | Be you, confidently, Do The Hard Thing, purpose |
The pitch darkness
makes her stumble.
It doesn’t matter if her eyes are
open or closed –
the light is the same.
She keeps to herself,
keeps herself small
so that she doesn’t
end up with bumps and bruises.
she shuffles imperceptibly.
Her lack of confidence is
because she is
swaddled in uncertainty.
Her movement,
her thoughts,
are
stunted,
stagnant.
Her dreams –
vacant.
What ifs
keep her a prisoner
to what has always been.
She sits and waits for…
she doesn’t know.
She waits but
doesn’t know why…
an invitation perhaps?
An invitation to leave
the dark and
cross the threshold
into brave.
Will it ever arrive?
Whatever it is?
This waiting game
is draining life from her.
She crashes into the nightstand
and hears a
rolling in the drawer.
She grasps in the dark
and pulls open the drawer
and shuffles through madness.
Her hands find round, tapered.
Her heart skips a beat.
Is this what hope feels like?
Her hands flit around the item
and she knows, she just knows,
it is a candle.
She reaches into the drawer again,
in search of matches.
She finds a box.
She lights the candle.
Holds her breath.
And she can see.
And she remembers.
She remembers the invitation
sent long ago.
She remembers who she is.
Ahh, yes.
This is hope.
The small light gives her enough to see
and certainty takes root in her heart.
The small light is like a
spotlight on her soul.
It stirs dreams,
stokes hope,
and she believes that there’s
possibilities for her
beyond this smallness
that she has been relegated to.
The light reminds her
of her worth,
enables her to see
the door to the room
she has been shut in for so long.
She turns towards the door
with steps of purpose.
She turns the knob and
steps into brave –
taking the candle with her.
#PermissionGranted
Are you in the dark, friend?
Find truth, seek light, and remember that you were made on purpose, for a purpose.
Are you hiding in darkness?
Cling to light and step into brave.
Jun 12, 2019 | confidently, Do The Hard Thing, Speak up |
Some things just
need to be said.
They don’t need rehearsed –
there’s no time for that.
If the passion is now –
the time is now.
So often the space when
something needs to be said
is a small gap in time –
and once it has passed
the opportunity for maximum
impact has also passed.
If you wait –
it may be too late.
When we wait for
an invitation,
wait for more research to be done,
hope for the right time,
write draft after draft,
jockey for position,
for platform…
We miss the opportunity that
needed our voice –
It’s gone.
And those who may have gained
strength, peace, or freedom
through the impact of our words
will never receive the power
of our words.
When your heart feels
like it might burst,
when hope is blossoming,
when peace includes a fight,
when truth requires armor,
when fear and bravery hold hands,
when passion can’t be contained –
Speak.
#PermissionGranted
Are you holding back on speaking up, speaking out?
Are the words you keep within you blocking purpose, passion, and possibilities – for yourself or others?
Jun 5, 2019 | confidently, Do The Hard Thing, Encouragement, Grow |
Each time I stand on
the precipice of a gap –
between what I know –
and what I do not know –
I am surprised by
the question that
must be answered.
I thought I already
chose bravery?
Remember
last
time?
We’ve already been
through this.
So why, then, am I standing
here looking at this gap
and feeling queasy?
If I turn back to known
the nausea abates,
but I wither and bitter when
I stay in known
for too long.
And it has been too long.
Excuses disguised as
valid reasons cement
my feet to what I know.
The gap stares back,
demanding an answer,
taunting my hesitancy.
I lift my foot and
step forward and
the heaviness crumbles.
I choose the unknown,
again.
I choose bravery
and leave my excuses
in crumbles
at the edge of the gap.
#PermissionGranted
What decision are you facing today? Sit with it and realize you have a choice to make, a gap to face. Recognize the power of excuses. Name the excuses that are cementing you to the known.
You can do it. Again.
Choose bravery.
