What is being brave for God, really? Is it doing big things in big places? Is it conjuring up some hidden self-empowerment to step out boldly and brashly? For the past few years, I’ve been listening to all the voices that shout “to achieve your dreams for God you need to build your platform. Be seen. Be heard. Be an influencer.” Certainly, God calls some of his followers to big platforms which require big bravery. But you know what? They started with being brave in the ordinary. Billy Graham first preached at small churches and on city street corners before ever reaching millions through radio and crusades. Elisabeth Elliot first ministered in the jungles of Ecuador before speaking and writing nationally. Mother Teresa left her order to live among the poorest of Continue Reading
How to Brave Your Worst-Case Scenario – Made For Brave
Do you have a worst-case scenario that claims unwelcome space in your thoughts and emotions...for more than a day? I think we all do because it's hard living in a world where we really have very little control of what goes on around us. I'm off the grid this weekend leading worship for a gathering, so I've invited Liz Giertz for #FreshMarketFriday Link-Up to share a bit of her Made For Brave story and offer encouragement for how to get a handle on the fears that drive us to focus and worry about what COULD go wrong to upset our lives so we can begin to experience freedom and peace of mind. It was like a scene from a cartoon when a car comes skidding to a halt or music suddenly stops with the screeching of grooved vinyl. My head spun around and my son had every Continue Reading
The Best Remedy for Your Worst Pity Party
I've lost count of how many pity parties I've thrown for myself through the years. It seems on any given day, I can easily create a mental list of things that didn't go right, problems I didn't deserve and blessings someone else received instead of me. It doesn't take much. When I'm vulnerable, emotional or tired. When I've been so busy spinning my wheels that I forget to slow down and breathe. Or when I'm stuck in the muck of comparison. My thoughts carry me to dark places before I even realize they're in control - instead of me. During these times, I'm not a good judge of all the good in my life. Because I've spent too much time focusing on all the "less than" in my life. And I have a feeling I'm not alone in this. Sometimes those "less than's" take up so much space in our Continue Reading
7 Perfect Fresh Start Scriptures to Reset Your Soul
Summer is the perfect time for fresh starts. Everything around us is spilling over in full life, and it’s the time my heart is most receptive to growth. I’m not striving to keep up. I’m not hustling to get to the finish line. My reset takes place during the slow, quiet exhale of summer. I feel it in the warm hugs of sunshine and in the cool rumbles of afternoon thunderstorms. It’s a soothing, open awareness of all that’s alive and new around me and in me. I think of summer as my seeding season. The time that aligns with my soul’s most natural active growth. I’m sure it stems from motherhood and intentionally protecting the summer for both myself and my kiddos to completely decompress. To hang loose and do whatever felt right at the time, We woke when the sun was higher on the horizon Continue Reading