I Dare You To

Hey, You… Pssst...over here.

I am the little voice of your little heart that is dry and brittle.  The part of your heart that is whispering....shhhhh!  

I know what you've been thinking .....that awful defeating 

"it will never happen to me" .  

Yeah...that's exactly what I thought.

Am I am the only one....that feels like starting

the New Year over again?

Oh discouragement, how I want to swat you away like a pesky mosquito. 

Are you wanting to give up those resolutions you made just a few days ago?
  

Okay...here it comes.....

                                                  lean in and let me whisper this hard truth... 

The riskiest thing is not to dream. 

The only way you will fail is to do nothing– 

and that’s the biggest failure of all… 

 What have you got to lose... except the possibility of your dream become a reality?

The only way to avoid being hurt is to never love– 

and you risk being alone where your hearts hurts the deepest.  

The things that help us feel safe are the same ones that can put us at greatest risk. 

The things we clutch... 

the close-to-our-heart things.

You are braver, stronger, more capable than you know. 

And the God you serve is greater than you’ve yet experienced. 

Dream, yes, you....out there.....reading this right now......you.can.do.it. 

Dream today. Dream tomorrow. 

Dream until you can't dream another dream, then starting living them.

It's possible. 

Except when you don't try or try again.

And when you discover that you’ve done what matters most–you’ve really lived. 

Discover God's possible, God's possiblities.

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream.  C.S.Lewis

That's Normal

Nothing like camping out in a hospital room that makes you want to crash for the normal parts of your life.    


It's the disruption of the normal schedule that can throw you off the most.  


Not normal makes you forget where you were going, you have to stop and realize who you belong to. 

Could it be that this sometimes happens to you too?

The things that are not normal can wear one out.  All I can do is lean in close and share a prayer.   

I need to feel the soft touch of my Savior.   

In the middle of all those unsettling things that happen and I need some close whispers…

You are not alone.  

I know more than you,

 I can see deeper than you, 

Don't be afraid to dream.  

I have to understand that the not-normal days are still a part of a greater plan.  And God still has the days numbered even when it's more than I can see right now. 

Some how we make it through, even on the weak and very not-normal days.  Some how we make it.  

When life gets hard .....when life gets loud and not normal.

In the middle of all the noise, there is only One who is true.

Especially when it been one of those not normal weeks.

Music Monday [Remind Me Who I Am]

Who Am I?

Jason Gray is a talented songwriter who has overcome a lot of hurdles in his life.  Did you know that he struggles with stuttering?  That is a little known fact that he shared one time when we had him in the studio.  These lyrics hit a nerve with me too.

When I lose My way,

And I forget my name,
Remind me who I am.
In the mirror all I see,
Is who I don't wanna be,
Remind me who I am.
In the loneliest places,
When I can't remember what grace is.

Chorus:
Tell me once again who I am to you.
Who I am to you.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to you.
That I belong to you.
To you.

When my heart is like a stone,
And I'm running far from home,
Remind me who I am.
When I can't receive your love,
Afraid I'll never be enough,

Remind me who I am.
If I'm your beloved,
Can you help me believe it.

Bridge:
I'm the one you love,
I'm the one you love,
That will be enough,
I'm the one you love.


Tell me once again who I am to you.
Who I am to you.
Tell me lest I forget who I am to you.
That I belong to you, Woh.
To you.

Sometimes in life we need a reminder of our identity in Christ.  I'll be honest with you, I need this more than I would like to admit.  I often joke with myself that I suffer from an identity crisis.  Maybe you do too.  There is an allure of the world that coerces us into thinking that we can't be accepted the way God created us.  We spend a lot of time trying to cover up or pretending that we are someone who we are not.  

Lately I have been trying to focus on being still and listening to God more.  In the stillness, my thoughts creep in... shouting.  There are a lot of good adjectives that come to mind like loved, forgiven, trusted, faithful, daughter, and maybe-someday-at-the-end-of-a-rainbow-writer. Those qualities are easy to write, but it's another to live up to each one.  There are a lot of not-so-good adjectives that come to mind also.  As I go deeper with Christ into his Word, I am recovering exactly who I am.... 

...not what the mirror reflects

...not what the scale measures

...not what Satan whispers   

...there is one thing that I hear loud and clear.....I am His.  

Dear God, who am I again?  Yours.  

P.S.  Here's a video of Jason singing this song.