Have you ever looked at the garbage in your life and felt sadness? Even deep sadness? Whether it’s the real, broken things at the curb, or the broken things in your heart that nobody sees, the pain is very real. Yeah, me, too. Which is why I was blown away by what happened to me this morning.
We all have trash and broken things.
As I rounded the corner to finish my morning walk, I saw the garbage there. A pile of extra trash was left to the curb from our most recent garage clean. There I saw the thing that made me saddest- the kids’ blow up shark pool laying in a heap. I wanted to cry. Not because it had to go. That I knew. A slow leak in one of the sides had slowly turned to a giant one. It could be propped up on one side by a chair for a while, but to decreasing success. The kids were still enamored with it regardless, but even they knew it has seen its better days. So I wasn’t sad so much that it had to go.
I was sad that because I remembered the last time we were in it. (Yes, I was, too. ) I was excited to “enjoy the moment”, as I knew it might be “the last”. But I was shot, over- touched or over- stimulated. I was not amused by the freezing cold squirts and splashes of water that css as me my way, even when I asked for them not to. I tried so hard to have fun. I tried to let go and be as silly as possible. But I just couldn’t seem to. My brain was muddled, my heart made feeble attempts but was otherwise overloaded. And as hard as I tried I couldn’t shake it, and I felt terrible about that.
I’m not sure my kids could tell or not, but internal dialogue was thick with self disappointment. “Can’t you just squeal with joy? Can’t you just not care about it being cold or feeling uncomfortable? Cant you just get over your goosebumps, get over yourself??” I felt so defeated. So human. So “mom”. So tired, maybe. So pandemic/2020 spent maybe. Giving it my best shot but falling flat.
Now, at the memory of it, I felt as deflated as the shark pool now sat by the curb. Like a failure of my own doing, lying there wrapped up in the trash at the curb.
Do you have any of those kind of memories? The “last ones“, the dropped passes, the “undone” things. The broken times and things that you can’t go back and fix??
Doesn’t everyone?
Then wait until what happened next. I kid you not, I remembered what I had seen at the beginning of my run. In the dark, propped up against a garbage can was a two and a half foot statue of Jesus. I couldn’t believe how unjust it felt seeing it there by the side if the road. Tossed out, set aside, left for garbage. I don’t love statues myself, but it just seemed wrong. I got really close to it and looked the statue Jesus in the eye. I considered if I should retrieve it? Save it?
“Don’t move it.” I heard inside my heart. The words were almost stern. The whole thing kind of made me uncomfortable, honestly. Do I left it there. I continued on with my run and I didn’t look back, except at the leaves that noisily followed me down the road. It’s okay, I told myself. Told the alive and real Jesus. “You’re still king of the universe.” He was unconcerned that the statue had been put by the curb.
I had put the thought of it out of my mind until I was there writing through my shark pool emotions. And then when I put two and two together – my trash and Jesus- I was overcome with emotion. I literally bawled.
He didn’t mind being in the trash today because he’s already been there, already IS there. He is in the trash, with my disappointments and my failures, with what I’ve broken or what life has broken for me. He’s right there. And He’s redeeming ALL THINGs.
Then I realized as I closed my eyes, that he wasn’t leaning against the garbage can. He was in front of the recycling. I laughed to myself. Of course! He is the ultimate “up-cycler”. He takes our broken things and he makes something better. He does not “fix“ everything here, in our homes, right now, they way we might like. But he redeems everything. It’s in his very nature. He makes all things NEW.
I won’t ever see that shark pool again. I won’t ever get those moments back to do them better. Those moments weren’t lost, and inspite of my limitations, I trust that something bigger and better than myself is working through my ordinary days. I don’t need to be perfect to have a perfect grace cover my days.
Same goes for your mistakes, your broken things, and your losses. They are being used to make something better going forward.
How do I know? I’ve had my share of brokenness, too. Child of divorce, loss, a miscarriage, all have touched my life, to name a few. God knows how to redeem all of it. I’ve seen him do it, and he still is doing it. That’s how God works. He takes our trash and He uses it to create a legacy of hope and eternal redemption. Your brokenness is not the end of the story. It’s just a beginning. Let God be there with it. And let him do something with it. He’s not afraid or bothered by any of it, and you shouldn’t be either.
You might even call him Jesus: “The Patron Saint of our brokenness.” ❤️
The national discussion about fear the past few days has been enlightening, to say the least. But not really in a good way. More than any one issue or politician or side, this has me so saddened and, frankly, a bit worried about the state and the soul of our country. I can’t stand by and say nothing. So here goes.
(Let me first say this. Though sparked by a political discussion, this post is actually going to be as a-political possible. This is a gleaning from across the board, learning through personal development, working on mindset, reading books, listening to talks, podcasts, sermons, and seminars. (Personally I’ve pressed into my faith, but that’s just my choice.) This is not a religious thing, this is not a left/right thing or a politics thing. This is a human thing.Leaders across the board and from various disciplines seem to agree about this topic. Entrepreneurs, Democrats, Republicans, people of faith in God, faith in the universe, or just plain faith in the human spirit, and those who create great change, and often help others do it, too, all agree.
Fear is not your friend.
photo courtesy @norwood via unsplash
Yes, fear is a very real part of being human. So this is not to dismiss your feelings or the realities you might be facing. It’s more about understanding that fear shouldn’t dictate your life, dominate your thoughts, or call all of the shots.
Yes, fear packs a strong punch. It places a heavy burden on your shoulders, and if you’re not careful, is a strong undertow that will pull you under.
So, yes, fear of course is real. But it shouldn’t take the headlines.
Speaking of headlines, our president – love him, hate him, or indifferent (I fall toward the last, though many think it impossible) -told us not to fear something. And we’re up in arms.
How insensitive, disrespectful, misguided! These pronouncements were made by the hundreds of thousands. Anger and indignation. Even mainstream news was outraged. “President downplays the threat” read the news headline. (Now, is that actually considered news or does that fall into the op/ed category?? But that another story for another day.)
It’s interesting, because what I heard him say was “don’t be afraid of ‘it’ and don’t let it dominate your life.” That’s not the same as saying “it’s not a risk” or “it’s not real”. Rather, it’s saying don’t let fear be in charge.
“Don’t be afraid” is NOT the same as
Don’t take action
Don’t care
Don’t be informed
Don’t be wise
In fact, it’s all of those things and more. It’s feeling an emotion, like the one of being scared, but choosing appropriate action instead.
Bravery is an important and powerful part of our human story. It’s an important strength and characteristic that needs to be grown and exercised and strengthened. We don’t need less of it, we need more. Which means we need to lose the fear, every chance we get. On repeat.
Tell me, without bravery, how will we lead our children? How will we care for others? How will we lead even ourselves, if we cannot be brave? If we cannot even be told to not be afraid without taking offense, or becomes entangled in anger at the mere suggestion.
Do we remember the words of Winston Churchill, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” They were during a dark time in history when we were sending our young man across the ocean to storm the beaches and parachute behind enemy lines. To fight a very real evil and a horrible enemy that was killing people by the millions? It’s not that there wasn’t anything to fear. There was plenty. Yet we were told not to fear, which happens to be some of the sagest advice ever.
We didn’t collectively balk and defend our right to fear, pointing out all of the reasons why we should or could or must fear. We buckled down and we did what was necessary. To see our country through to the other side. We didn’t demand empathy for the widows or the mothers. Perhaps because we realized that those things are not mutually exclusive. We can have empathy and STILL do what needs to be done, to get through tough times. We can have problems and difficulties and STILL have the fortitude to get through them. We can care so deeply and understand our inadequacies and weaknesses and STILL yet rise to the challenge.
Once I was in a plane that we all thought was likely going to crash. I watched someone tell another passenger not to worry about it, “Don’t be afraid.” Was that suggestion reckless, ruthless and cruel? I honestly questioned at the time. Meanwhile, my hands were clammy with fear, my heart was beating like a drum, and I literally thought I would never see my family again. Graciously we landed and my worst fears were not realized. I didn’t regret those emotions I had—they were so real. Though I actively tried keep them at bay, they were quite vivid. But I didn’t think afterwards that I should have feared more. What exactly would greater panic have accomplished??
Did I take action when I was in what felt like a burning plane? You better believe I did! I prayed and did what I could to prepare to meet my maker, quite honestly. Did my actual fear save me or guide me to a safe landing? No. Because fear doesn’t save you from anything. Taking appropriate actions, even with the fear, and sometimes with measured risks, however, does. Which translates to bravery.
Did I think another person’s words saying not to worry were unkind? No way. They were gracious. Because there was little good that would have been accomplished by causing that person to worry more about something over which they had literally no control.
I know that many feel that we are in a burning plane, going down, politically and maybe even as a nation. Yet, whether that us the case or not there are still many choices we DO have. There are many ways we can be safe and wise, even in the middle of the pandemic. So take them. Even if, God forbid, you were to get sick, you don’t also need to be sick in your soul and your mind, riddled with fear. You still can find your bravery.
Don’t we need more courage, boldness and bravery? Don’t we want to lead our families well, teach our kids well, forge new paths of goodness for our country, for our neighbors, our streets and our towns?
Courage is doing something in spite of fear. Courage and fear often coexist and wrestle with one another for the chance to call the shots. Which one will you let win? Of course we all have fears. Don’t let fear dominate you.
Submitting to fears instead of living life with intention and joy and courage is an incredible loss. For all of us, but most of all for you.
So instead of taking offense if someone tells us not to be afraid, maybe we should listen. Instead of clinging more tightly to our right to be afraid, or even to the fears themselves, let us cling to hope. Because Hope IS audacious, and it is needed, perhaps now more than ever. In fact, another president wrote those very words. And we weren’t offended then. Because we never should be offended when we’re reminded of our potential for bravery, our hope for better days. Those are the very things we cling to in life, the ideas that help them come.
And even you’re facing something real and you wonder if it’s the devil himself whispering to you not to be afraid- tell him to go to hell and then take appropriate, brave action, though maybe for very different reasons. The truth is that you don’t have to be afraid. You can choose brave.
(For the record, fear thrives in darkness and darkness hates the light. However, light shines into darkness, changes it, and tells you not to be afraid. Tuck that tidbit in your hat; it makes an excellent measuring stick, should you ever need it.)
So don’t be so afraid of anything but being afraid. ❤️
First question: Do you believe in things you can’t see? Wind, feeling, some kind of presence? Have you ever felt an incredible sense of peace in shivasana at the end of yoga? Or in a church pew? Or a warmth from some kind of sun you can’t see? Or do would you wish that you could? Keep reading.
Are you feeling anxiety or fear or intense longing or loneliness currently? Then definitely keep reading.
If not, no worries. Keep on rollin’ by.
Hi there, friends, still reading. Even if you passed “go”, I realize that some of you still might think I’m a little wacky when I share next. But it’s not wacky. It is incredibly personal, but also much too beautiful to keep to myself. Because I also believe this can be your story too.
I had a visitor yesterday. Someone came and sat with me in the front room. That sounds crazy even to my ears. (And Don’t worry, I told my husband.)
It wasn’t any man. It was one I’ve known my whole lifelong, really. One that defies one word alone to explain Him. Friend. Helper. Savior. Jesus.
Before I could even think it through, I was not alone. There was such a strong knowing that He was next to me, and I cannot begin to even explain how beautiful it was or even what exactly it felt like. But to say that I knew it was real and I could feel Jesus sitting right beside me. Maybe first I should back up and tell you why.
See, I came to sit, and to pray. I came because I was desperate. I came With these shreds of hope that I held in my hands. With scraps of doubt and fear that had become so tangled up with the faith I held on to. I couldn’t unravel them. The ache and the weight on my chest was crushing.
But I came. I sat With my uncomfortable. (So uncomfortable.)
And I put my hands out in front of me in …well, exhaustion. (Are you familiar with that, too?)
The world can feel so heavy sometimes. Even for a hopeful person like me.
I know God is good and I ‘know’ he is trustworthy. But yet, there was a part of me that couldn’t believe it. It was this part of me was really really scared. And I sat on the same couch I where I sit often. Where I sat a few months ago.
And I attempted a whisper, again. A whisper of truth, or trying to be true. What I believed and was trying to hold on to, but was having trouble with. I attempted to say “I trust you.”
But even I wasn’t buying it. I couldn’t say it. The fears had swelled too big for my trust to match, or overpower. So instead, I told the truth.
“Why am I such a scared little girl still?” And then I bawled.
And that’s when I felt His presence right beside me, Actually holding me. His arms around me. It was so strong and so overwhelming, I could almost see it. I titled my head to the side and I bawled on a shoulder that I couldn’t see with my eyes but I could feel with every other fiber of my being. I can’t even describe how beautiful and strong it was except to say that I was thoroughly good. I was HELD. By the One who had been there all along. In that moment, I had a deepening knowing. A knowing if what I know to be true, but I knew it better in that moment. That’s he’s always. Been. There. Even in the places I hadn’t let go of or even realized the pain I was holding on to yet. He has always been right there beside me, holding me, caring for me. Since I was a little girl. A hundred thoughts and moments seem to come all at once. Evidence. Of love. This knowing dug in, deeper than the fears that had been simmering under the surface, covered, Deep and quiet. You know those deep places that remain covered mostly, under polite, normal life. Until things get shaken up, and you find that little girl who’s trying to be brave or the young man who knows that he’s not supposed to cry. And then you cry.
A deep unearthing, wells of tears. Tears upon tears poured out from somewhere deep in my soul.
Yeah, that was me.
But here, with that presence beside me, it was not the kind of tears that ring hollow and felt hopeless. They were tears of a different kind. Tears that come from pain, but also wash it clean as they pass through. Like an uncovering of a painful wounds and a flushing out at the same time.
Tears of the very best kind.
Of being made more whole.
It’s Like the pain cannot help but be healed by the presence of the Love that sat at my side and held me.
The difference was Him. His presence. It was not any of my great believing that brought this. That was just a sliver. A side salad of faith with a great big heaping garbage plate Of fear. And I brought it to Jesus. And he took it.
I should tell you, this experience doesn’t feel the same every time. But every time I sit and I give my scraps, I trade in some of the weight and come away lighter. I open up more to that incredible Love, and it truly transformative.
Today I felt so much better than I have in weeks. I was exponentially calmer and lighter and less anxious. My heart was different. I slept better. I woke better.
And I know it’s because I sat with Him and He with me. I’m not special. This isn’t just for me. It’s for you too.
He’s not intimidated by your lack or your garbage or your doubts. He’s not intimidated by any part of you.
What have you got to loose. Maybe you try, again, or for the first time, offering up whatever it is you’re holding in your hands. Even when it feels like garbage. Faith or fear. Anxiety and Hope. Perhaps a very strange mixture of it all.
And may the almighty, all-knowing, all encompassing arms of a loving loving Jesus be around you. May you know more deeply A Love that is greater than any of your fears.
And when those weeds shoot up overnight, always faster to return than the flowers of beauty, I will return there. And he’ll help unearth the doubts and place love there deeper. Because this love is healing. And there’s always deeper to go with that kind of knowing ❤️🙏🏻
“Arise, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord shines upon you!”
Our most creative, abundant God who loves us immeasurably said “I came that you might have life and life more abundantly.” I feel in my heart it’s a time, a call for a new awakening . A new level. We’ve been dwelling in the shadows of burial and death for too long. I think it might be time to shed our grave clothes and arise.
I learned more about a vision of abundance and how it could be displayed on earth after entering the business world than I did in the church. It’s quite possible the problem was with my own interpretation. Maybe it was how it was taught, heavy on humility and suffering. Those are not wrong concepts, I should point out. I mean, Sacrifice and suffering can definitely be a part of life, on some or maybe even many levels.
But maybe we forgot to circle back around to the abundant part. And what it might mean to fully live out your purpose. To be blessed, to be a blessing to other. There might be more talk about the Abundance and provision and beauty that is available to us. After all, Jesus did say, “Life More Abundantly!!“
In church, I learned a lot of incredible things about the love of God and His character. But I learned more theory about it than what it might actually look like on earth for every day people. What would it look like to live here and now without limits. It was when I began to work in business and personal development that I learned the difference between a lack mindset and an abundance mindset. As in, there are no limitations on your life except the ones that you put there.
We limit our thoughts of greatness -and wealth and making a difference and abundance- because we doubt or fear or just plain don’t realize that it is available to us.
Don’t get me wrong. There is beauty in brokenness. There’s a work of the cross in our lives. There’s a dying to ourselves and taking up our cross and following him. But Jesus also said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
If you think abundance is only mean for the business world but not for anyone else, then you are mistaken. Why all of the focus on the struggle or the sin or darkness? This kind of focus often keeps us trapped, under what we perceive as the cross. As opposed to rising above it all, even the challenges of the world, the way God intended.
I ask this question: Did Jesus not die already? Did he not take our sin and suffering and pain? Why can’t we then live like it yet? Because we have held on to it as if it is our cross to bear.
The working out of our salvation. But maybe that’s not what Paul was really talking about.
Maybe God wants us to work out our salvation from the place beyond the cross. Beyond the grave. The place where Jesus actually left off. With the Holy Spirit having defeated death and sin and darkness already. Having ascended to heaven, His work finished, completed.
Not that we won’t have trouble. We will. We do. But why do we cling to trouble like it’s our job when that was Jesus’ job all along. One that He completed.
We are no longer supposed to be slaves to anything, let alone fear. We are children of God. “He whom the son sets free is free indeed.” If the power of the One who raised Jesus from the dead lives in me, I no longer live but Christ lives in me.
What maybe we’ve been misinterpreting this, too. We’ve taken it as self-flagellation. Die to self. Die to flesh. Be safe. Be submissive. Be careful. Be good. Don’t be big. Big is selfish.
Maybe it’s not. Maybe “I no longer live” means my worry, my doubt, my fears.
But CHRIST lives in me.
Maybe it’s time for the resurrection power of Jesus. Not I who lives, small and shy and afraid. But Christ who lives in me. Boldly, shining like stars in the heavens, loving and gracious, for the whole earth to see.
We’ve been playing small, church. In our backyards, debating with the flashlights, hidden inside our cloaks of righteousness, limitations, lacks, and fears of getting it wrong. Maybe it wasn’t about taking up a cloak to cover ourselves and live in humility. Or maybe it was before. But maybe it’s not time for that anymore.
Maybe now is time for a coat check. To leave behind all of the things that have held us back. Maybe it’s time to let go of what has limited us, and realize, not only do we have the permission to shine, but also now, the mandate.
Maybe now is the express, inspired time TO play BIG.
Because I no longer live, But Christ lives in me.
Instead of debating the inches and measures of rightness and righteousness maybe we need to allow ourselves to push our feet off the ground and really fly!
What is bigger and bolder than Love from heaven come to earth, shattering the spiritual realm, upturning religious piety and status quo and rule following that wants to ensure our own security. Love that comes in order to bring true freedom and peace.
Among those promises was your destiny.
I don’t know who shines brighter than the sun?? Imagine imagine if every one of us stopped being polite and worrying and holding back and fear of getting it wrong Or better yet, stopped talking with one another and debating about what it means to get it right.
Imagine if we shed our self limitation and unshackled, allowed ourselves to shine the way God wanted us to all along
Boldly. Brightly. Fully.
What could ever stop that kind of love, what could dim down this light? Only ourselves with our fears or our doubts. “The darkness will be as light to you, your brightness like the noon day sun.”
What if we stopped talking about how dark it was getting and we set aside those sins that so easily beset us (self-righteousness, envy, doubt, fear) and we allowed the light of Christ really shine through us? What would that look like? How would the world shine then?
“Arise shine for your light has come.”
Those days of forgetting and waiting are passing. Have past.
MY LOVE WILL GIVE YOU STRENGTH. HIS POWER IS MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS.
NOW love. Jesus loved by the well, in the river, in the shade of a tree, in the byways, on the hills, in the boats and houses and walkways, afternoon tables and gatherings. He forwent tradition and inviting all to his banquet. Invitations to all. Welcome all, you are loved. Love that is limitless. And because it is, so are you.
Sing and fill this earth with the truth of His love! Do not be shy. Sing and speak of the truth that IS LOVE. Love that breaks chains, overturns tables, disrupts the status quo. Do not be silent or sit in fear.
“Arise shine for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.“
It’s time to let the Love that is Jesus shine brighter, friends. Feel that light, know that light, Be that light, shine that light. The world needs it now more than ever in our lifetime.
I see stones piled up. Some rightly, on both sides. And then I see Jesus over to there, kneeling in the dirt.
There’s a lot of dirt.
Remember that story about Jesus kneeling in the dirt? A bunch of men had a pile of stones and arguments, where broken justice needed to be served. Jesus sat scribbling and writing in the dirt. They asked Him, what did He have to say.
“Let him without sin cast the first stone.”
There are a lot of stones.
I hear outcries and outrage and I get it. It’s horrifying to hear about wrongs, when you want so much to get it right. It’s upsetting in so many ways.
There is so much wrong, you want to grab your drums and beat your chest and cry out for vindication, demand justice. So many of us feel that way. There is pain and anger. There’s plenty of logical and true arguments to be made.
I’ve always been pretty good at taking sides. Of course, what I see as the right ones. Defend those who need it. But maybe we’ve all been so obsessed about taking the right side, that we’re missing some of the point. It’s not just that people don’t need defending or speaking up for. They often, most certainly do.
But are we missing something?
When we pick up drums, are we also picking up stones? Words and actions, thrown in rebuttal. Not incorrect or wrong all together, but used it a way that makes them, so wrong.
Maybe part of the problem is, while we’re busy so speaking up for those that we see need it, we’re throwing stones in their defense and then hitting another neighbor. When in fact, we were supposed to be setting them all free.
Maybe instead of being so quick to come to a defense or to take a position on the offensive, there’s the Truth laying somewhere in the middle, over to the side.
Maybe it’s not about taking sides really, at at all. Maybe it’s more about keeping an open heart. To all people- regardless of color or creed or race or religion. Regardless of which country flags one waves. We are all humans, and are we holding on to hope and building with it, or picking up stones and resentment, only to throw them, again. It’s time for an open mind- to all dimensions of what’s happening. On all sides, with both our mind and heart open enough to let the light in.
My mom used to say don’t be so open minded that your head falls out. (Don’t worry mom, I’m still listening to this sage advice.) I think you need your head right now more than ever. To think, to seek to understand.
But there’s one more thing.
Those things there, on either side of your head? Those ears that you have? We need two of them. To listen to what is all around us. To put our ear to the ground. The hear a heartbeat. Of people. Of a nation, of an earth that takes witness. Of a God who sees and knows everything, too.
Because, what is right? But,
“To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.”
When we match hatred with counter hatred, are we helping to heal anything? Does justice alone bring redemption? Does anger heal wounds? Can a city be rebuilt with outcries of blood for blood?
Maybe there’s something missing. Like a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
It’s not judgement alone that we need. Maybe we all need a little mercy and understanding, too. Or a lot.
Maybe this doesn’t have to be about picking up the stones. It could be about laying them down. Seeing all sides, not just taking one. Showing mercy instead of throwing stones at our neighbors.
When Jesus was over there kneeling on the ground, dragging the stick through the dirt, I don’t know if He actually wrote anything the sand. If perhaps, he wrote anything that made the men think of their own sins. I only know that after a while, they laid down their stones, and left.
The woman wasn’t stoned.
I think that maybe that’s where Jesus is again. Asking if we might lay down our stones, too. Spare a life.
For mercy. Just this once?
To let my heart find the hatred that it has held onto, and to lay it down, finally and maybe, too, again?
For the least of these? For others? And for greatest thing of all, for that which remains. You know, for LOVE.
I know there are many of us that won’t put down their stones. The question is, then, will you? Will I? And how many of us will? God is waiting to see.
“If My people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and I will heal their land.”
Listen, I don’t have all the answers. We don’t have to know exactly what it will look like to start. We are all still listening and trying to figure it out, too. I just ask if you might sit for a minute again, and again, and listen to what Love has to say. Listen with your heart and your mind open and your ear to the ground for a while. Open to heaven, too. Asking, “What is going on here?”
It’s bigger than our own brief human histories or our own justice systems or our groups or our ideas or the “side” we were born into or our own countries (which we can love fiercely and want to see it flourish.) We want to see people thrive. But it doesn’t have to be one for another, or one over another.
Maybe that’s why this is bigger. This is about listening to a heartbeat of LOVE and mercy in our lifetime. (Please God let it be so!)
Ask yourself then. What does it look like to be there in the dirt, putting down stones, and giving mercy. What does it look like to take the only side that wins: LOVE and hope. To stand with Him, who scribbled in the dirt and loves and forgives us all. Be prepared to get uncomfortable. Because it’s uncomfortable in the dirt sometimes. It’s uncomfortable to see what you’re holding on to, and to stand instead with Love, to really reject hatred. It’s uncomfortable to put down stones when we’re so used to throwing them. It doesn’t make any sense sometimes to Love.
To stand against evil and hatred, wherever it comes from. Even if I’m used to it.
To reject darkness and all of the ways that it destroys us. To side instead, with healing Love.
But that’s where Jesus is. So that’s where I’d rather be, too.
Hey, I'm Courtney, a pretty ordinary girl who thinks we've all been called to an extraordinary life and love story with God. I'm passionate about family, faith, motherhood, and the adventure of every day. I write lots of words, mostly because I can’t help it- and I think it's one of the things I was born to do. I hope that something I write encourages you, to walk in your own unique purpose and calling, set free to love and give it away, starting wherever you are today. That's what Courting the Extraordinary is all about. Finding the good all around you, and giving it away. Finding, too, the God of all goodness who wants to walk with you.
I love quiet mornings, coffee, prayer and “work” before sunrise. Quality time with my family is my jam. I can be found grinning ear to ear when we're out on an adventure. Whether that's in our own backyard or exploring someplace new all-together, I’ll for sure note something beautiful about nature aloud-and maybe repeatedly, ha!. Life is a beautiful, precious gift, and an adventurous path to travel! We might as well learn how to love.
Hey, I'm Courtney, a pretty ordinary girl who thinks we've all been called to an extraordinary life and love story with God. I'm passionate about family, faith, motherhood, and the adventure of every day. I write lots of words, mostly because I can’t help it- and I think it's one of the things I was born to do. I hope that something I write encourages you, to walk in your own unique purpose and calling, set free to love and give it away, starting wherever you are today. That's what Courting the Extraordinary is all about. Finding the good all around you, and giving it away. Finding, too, the God of all goodness who wants to walk with you.
I love quiet mornings, coffee, prayer and “work” before sunrise. Quality time with my family is my jam. I can be found grinning ear to ear when we're out on an adventure. Whether that's in our own backyard or exploring someplace new all-together, I’ll for sure note something beautiful about nature aloud-and maybe repeatedly, ha!. Life is a beautiful, precious gift, and an adventurous path to travel! We might as well learn how to love. 