Jul 24, 2019 | Community , Encouragement |
I was recently the recipient
of community in action.
I had questions about
trying something new
and after a few phone calls,
too many not-quite-right
Youtube videos and
articles I found
the right person.
She patiently listened to my questions,
filled in my gaps,
and then went the extra mile
to help me get over the
obstacle that was before me.
I had never met this person
before but that didn’t matter
to her because she is
committed to community.
How do I know this?
Well, it turns out she was
the owner of the establishment
and their website says
they are ‘committed to
community before anything else’.
She helped me before
she knew I had a different
skin color than she did,
she didn’t ask my
religious affiliation,
and she didn’t ask my
stances on political issues –
she just knew she had
the answer –
she knew she was the
right person to help me.
This was not a life-changing
moment for me –
meaning her assistance
was not helping me get access
to safety or food,
but it did help me
make progress on
a goal that I was thinking
I was going to have to
let go of.
Pursuing community –
just for the sake of community
can have a huge impact
in someone’s life.
It’s likely happened for
you in either big or small ways…
the right person
stepped up for you.
Being the right person
and showing up
can save lives
and it allows us to be
agents of God’s kingdom.
Being the right person
doesn’t necessarily mean
you possess all the right answers,
have the most money,
or are the most eloquent.
It simply means you see a need
and you meet it.
#PermissionGranted
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.
May 29, 2019 | Becoming , Do The Hard Thing , Encouragement |
It’s always been there –
on the shelf –
hiding in the dark.
It’s never seen the sky
or felt the tension
on the other end of the string
as it rose
through the sky.
The kite has sat,
still in plastic,
the pricetag faded.
Here’s the truth.
I’m scared to fly it.
Afraid I will
make a mistake
and break it.
Afraid I will ask it
to do more than it can
and then we will
crash and burn
and look silly.
And so the vibrant colors
stay hidden in the closet.
The kite on the shelf
is full of purpose
but no one really
knows it is there.
It’s not meant to
sit
on
a
shelf.
And neither am I.
And neither are you.
We are meant to fly,
we are supposed to
be boisterous with our
purpose, passion, and possibilities.
We are to be color and joy
and we are to feel the tension
as we let the wind drive us
where we are supposed to go
while we are held,
tethered to the one
who created us to fly.
Storms will come.
We are tethered.
Questions will pelt us.
We are tethered.
The sun will shine.
We are tethered.
Mistakes will happen.
We are tethered.
Go ahead.
Chase the wind.
Chase your purpose.
It’s what you are made for.
#PermissionGranted
Is your kite on a shelf, friend?
If you are facing storms…be encouraged, you are tethered. You’re in good hands.
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?
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 20, 2019 | Community , Encouragement |
We must put down what we
should not carry –
gather only what fuels us.
This way our hands and hearts
are free to embrace
our purpose, passion,
and possibility.
What we don’t need –
What we can’t afford –
What we can’t pick up –
is competition with each other.
There’s no place for it.
As women, we should be
each other’s biggest cheerleaders.
When you feel tempted to
knock someone down a level
with gossip
or when we are tempted to
judge a decision
a fellow warrior makes,
or when it’s really hard
to not be envious and
question the good things
that have come her way –
Don’t do it.
Walk away.
Don’t pick it up.
Competition will never fuel you –
it will only steal from you.
Link arms with those who are pursuing
alongside of you –
simply because you have
this pursuit in common.
This is the only
commonality
that is necessary –
let’s be in the same fight,
on the same team.
We are better
when we support
and encourage
and leave competition
on the ground to pave
the way towards
a vibrant future
where women
take up all the
space they need to.
We have no room
no time,
no need,
for competition.
I won’t pick it up.
How can you support other women who are alongside you in the pursuit of possibility, passion, and purpose?
