Apr 24, 2019 | Be you , Becoming , Do The Hard Thing , Encouragement |
Be who you are,
right where you are.
Sure.
Just be me.
Its so much harder
then it seems it should be –
or than people
make it out to be.
No one else can be me,
true,
but there is work required
for me, to be me.
I have to excavate
out from under the
expectations that have
been heaped on top of me,
I have to pursue truth
and disempower lies.
I have to give grace,
and at the same time,
challenge what
I’ve always believed.
And then,
I have to take
steps forward into
my purpose,
possibilities,
and passion.
I must embrace my quirks,
eradicate misguided habits,
and pursue the essence
of who I am.
Who I’ve always been.
This takes work,
daily work,
and years of work.
Be who you are,
right where you are
is not something we
fall into,
it’s not a simple accomplishment.
Instead, I believe it is
a daily invitation
to pursue what we
are made for.
#PermissionGranted
What are some ways that you can pursue knowing yourself better?
Get to know the heart of God – he made you!
Take a personality quiz like Clifton Strengths.
Ask some friends about what they see in you.
Sit in who you are. What do you love? What would you like to make better?
Apr 18, 2019 | Becoming , Do The Hard Thing , Faith , Grow |
The mess on the counter.
The weeds that need pulled.
The dog that needs walked,
The kids that need fed.
The husband that will soon come home.
The broken outlet plate.
All things I can touch,
clean, fix, mend, love.
I can hold these things,
and take care of them,
Hug them, make it better.
I can clean off the counter
and walk away with things
as they should be.
It is, for the moment,
done.
I also deal with
invisible things.
Motivation,
gratefulness,
goals,
remorse,
God,
fear,
envy,
bravery.
I can’t cross these things
off my list.
I can’t hold these
in my hand;
touch them, grasp them, capture them.
We are dealing with invisible things.
I can’t fix these with an
hour’s focused work.
Every time I turn around
these things
are still there.
Even though I usually
ignore them.
My relationship with
most invisible things is
that I trip over them.
On my face again
and this conversation, again.
“Oh.
You’re still here.
I was hoping if I ignored you,
you would just disappear.”
Even when I give the attention
that the invisible things need,
I usually only last for so long.
It’s just too easy to go back to
imminent,
urgent,
tangible,
check-it-off the list
type of things.
The temptation is real to
only deal with visible.
But life is made of
invisible things, too.
When I ignore the invisible
I am living
a partial life,
with
partial joy,
partial growth,
partial peace.
I have to give myself
permission to see
and deal with
invisible things.
I’m learning that
a full, congruent life
includes integrating the invisible things
among the visible.
This way I run
instead of trip.
What invisible things are you tripping over? What needs your attention?
Are you living a whole life? You have permission to attend to the invisible things.
#PermissionGranted
Apr 10, 2019 | Do The Hard Thing , Grow |
I had to give myself permission this week.
I have been holding off on a next step.
It wasn’t a huge step,
but each step matters
and anyway,
what really matters
is that you take them.
But I was a bit stuck.
I wasn’t taking the step.
This next step sat in
a bag that I walked
around and moved
to different locations
in the house
for a few weeks.
I had not put eyes on it
since I had brought it
to its new home.
New home?
This belongs with me?
Really?
This is for me?
I am not sure that I deserve it
or that my work really warrants it…
and so it sat.
I just didn’t think that
what I do,
what I create,
was enough
to warrant this tool –
a brand new computer.
The one sitting in the bag
in different locations
around the house.
See, this computer represents
me taking up my space –
It means I am really doing
this work of writing –
this work of creating.
And so it sat as I rushed
past it each day
until I was more frustrated with
sitting on the edge, with the full
knowledge of what I needed to do,
than unnerved about just taking the next step.
Sometimes the obstacles,
the blocks,
that try to keep us
from what we are made for
don’t really make sense to
other people.
This fact doesn’t make the
obstacle any smaller.
It just makes it harder to
define, describe, and to find a
detour around it
or a way through it.
Also, this fact should
not deter us from sharing
about our obstacles!
I shared about this block
I had with some trusted friends
and just saying it out loud
made a big difference.
Be brave and attempt to
define your obstacle
knowing it may not make sense
to others but that
sharing about it
will weaken the
hold it has on you.
The encouragement
I received
helped me take
my next step.
This post is written
and posted from
my new computer.
#PermissionGranted
Name your obstacle. Define it. Share it. Link arms with trusted friends. Overcome it.
Mar 29, 2019 | Do The Hard Thing , Marriage , Uncategorized |
These pants sat in our closet next to the hamper for a couple of weeks. I assumed it was because my husband wanted them washed separately so that I didn’t put them in the dryer.
I never gave it too much thought, I figured I would get to it eventually. Eventually was today.
I picked them up today to wash them and discovered they were covered in flour and cocoa powder – from when he made my birthday cake. The pants needed to be treated with the stain stick and that is why they were set aside.
He made my birthday cake.
*
We misunderstand each other a lot.
Stress doesn’t bring out the best in us.
We are often in different books, let alone not on the same page.
We struggle to ‘see’ the evidence of each other’s love.
The details and burdens of daily life with home, work, three kids, a dog and a cat cloud what is present…
Obscure what is…
Seemingly negate the mundane expressions of love that are there but blend into the background of 18 years of marriage.
I sat down in the kitchen where the sun poured through the windows and held the pants.
I mean, I throughly enjoyed the cake, but I somehow missed unwrapping the gift of him making the cake for me.
But here I sit holding the pants that he wore late at night and bear the evidence of love and a commitment to celebrating my birthday.
He’s messy in the kitchen.
I’ve never been thankful for that before, but today I was.
I was hesitant to wash the pants, unwilling to get rid of this evidence, but I decided he might like to wear his pants again – sans cocoa and flour.
So I took a picture of his pants.
And then I treated the spots on the pants, just in case they were stubborn and I let the pants sit to be sure the treatment had time to work. I put them in the wash and made a mental note to be sure to not put them in the dryer…
because love is in the details,
in the mundane moments that
we sometimes forget to look for.
*
Permission granted to look harder than you think you should have to. Give grace and sit in the sun and relish the evidence you find.
#PermissionGranted
Mar 27, 2019 | Community , confidently , Do The Hard Thing , Encouragement |
She tentatively steps into her own.
She wades into her space,
seeking to understand that
it is actually hers,
unsure that she even has
enough within her to fill the space.
Her eyes flit across the blank,
white walls and cavernous space and
her heart starts stuttering a bit.
“I don’t possess what this space needs.
I don’t know how to
put this all together
or how to juggle all of the pieces.”
Her uncertainty and fear
threaten to derail
her plans to move in,
to take up her space –
she edges towards the exit.
Perhaps you’ve been there –
on the edge of the unknown
trying to determine if
the purpose that calls to you
is enough to make you brave –
maybe you’ve made the leap.
You remember that look –
the one where you look fear
in the eye and just keep going.
When you see someone on the edge,
doubting herself,
her calling,
her passion, purpose
and all her possibilities;
doubting whether she
can or should step into
the space she’s been given –
meet her there.
Help her take the next step.
Remind her of truth.
Help her determine what it
looks like to fill up her space.
Lend her your resources.
Tell her how you did it.
Collaborate with her,
encourage her,
pray for her,
send her chocolate,
and remind her how brave she is.
And if you’re on
the edge right now
doubting yourself –
Permission Granted, brave girl,
Let’s take the next steps together.
You’re not alone.
Is there someone who could use some encouragement from you? What is one way that you could walk beside her as she steps into the space she’s been given. Are you tempted to back away from possibility, purpose, and passion? What is the obstacle you are facing? Take one step towards your purpose. And don’t be afraid to reach out for support, for help, for chocolate. #PermissionGranted
Mar 14, 2019 | Do The Hard Thing , Grow |
Women.
We are gatherers.
It’s our default setting.
It’s been that way for a long time.
This way of being
has allowed us to provide
for our families and our communities.
We are beasts when it
comes to gathering
memories, groceries, friends, fun, and knowledge.
We round up legos, hope, craft supplies,
library books, and others around a cause
because it’s a skill we’ve honed.
We keep an arsenal of encouragement,
peacemaking, and perseverance
in storage.
Our hands are full.
Our hearts are full.
Our lives are full.
We are gatherers.
However,
a shift is needed.
Our world needs us in
different ways now.
We need to use our voices more.
We must pursue ways for our
unique strengths to be utilized
because without them,
there’s a great lack.
We have to step into the space
that we’ve been given
or create our own –
and not apologize for it.
Why would we apologize
for the talents and skills we’ve
been given and have developed?
We must pursue our passions
so that our full potential is met.
In order to do that
we might have to
put some things down.
We are going to have to let go
of the way things have always been.
We can’t carry the expectations
that others have of us.
We need to lighten our load
and release the roles that we no
longer need to own
so that we can soldier on
with what is most important.
Put it down –
whatever is unnecessary,
whatever encumbers,
whatever threatens to strangle
our hope and our passion to
see our world thrive.
Lighten your load
so that you can carry
the joy of purpose,
possibility,
and passion.
Step into what you
were made for.
No apologies.
No extra baggage.
Gather only
what fuels you.
Permission Granted.
Are you carrying something that is keeping you from carrying your passion to your full potential? Name it. Is it something that you must carry?
