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
Who God Says You Are!
This week on Fresh Market Friday, I'm celebrating YOU! It's been a wonderful week, with 57 people joining the link-up, and I'm so happy to see the community is growing. As much as I want to inspire you in this space, it is you who inspire me each and every week. Each week, you show up here and share your stories. Little pieces of your journey through this life. You weave beautiful lessons through the lines of joy and heartbreak. With every word, your heart reaches out to make the journey of one more a little bit easier. Because no one should walk through this life alone. So today, let me simply say Thank You! Thank you for showing up here each week. For filling this space with compassion and encouragement. For stepping into each other's life and spending a few minutes Continue Reading
When Illness Threatens Our Identity : Made for Brave Sisterhood
Our identity is a fragile thing, easily pliable, manipulated and wrongly defined by the challenges and difficult circumstances of life, including illness. Learning to lean into the truth of who God says we are is a choice to step into brave. It's a choice to reclaim and protect our identity. I've invited Lois McKiernan to share her Made for Brave story and how she battles the identity lies lurking behind the very thing we have no control over - chronic illness. I'm sure you'll find encouragement and hope in her journey of brave faith. Different. Pathetic. Useless. Just a few of the labels that have been flung at me throughout my life. Labels that stuck, that wrapped themselves around my heart without me even realizing. Every single one of them a lie straight Continue Reading