Weekending: Dream a Little

 

“No matter what this week left you with or without, find time this weekend to leave it all behind for a simple moment being thankful. Ask yourself what you really want. Dream a little.” ~Megan Gilger, The Fresh Exchange

Have you asked yourself what you really want lately, given yourself the chance to dream just a little?

I’m making space for that this weekend, space to clear my head and my heart and see what the Lord places in that empty, open, ready-to-receive space.

Wishing you a dream-filled weekend of your own.

:: dream collage design and typography by me; images — 1. 2. ::

It’s Undiscovered

There comes a time when you realize
The past is over
There comes a time when you decide
That your life has just begun
There comes a time when you will say 
That it’s undiscovered

:: Graham Colton ::

Open Hearts & Hands

How’s everyone doing on this 31 Day journey to bigger belief? What’s the Lord been revealing to you, as you press in, get honest, and ask Him to build your belief?

This morning, He reminded me of this:

When I wholly commit my plans, dreams, and hopes to Him, He is faithful to align my heart with His will and establish my plans. (Proverbs 16:3)

Wow, was that a reminder that blessed my heart.

I also recently read this post about open hands (remember my motto last year??), and a few lines really tugged at my heart:

• “Stop clenching your fists so tightly leaving no room for God to move.”
• “How much of our lives do we actually hand over to God and let His will be done? How often do we find ourselves abandoning our plans-our rigid, outlined, down to the detail-plans, for what we believe God has called us to?”
• “It’s hard to ask for a gift from the Lord when your hands aren’t open to receive it.”

I want to live by faith, fully surrendered to the work He’s doing in my life. I want to dream with Him, plan with Him, and wholly commit every hope to Him with an open heart and open hands. It’s a daily practice, but every time I do, I believe it’s leading me somewhere good — somewhere closer to Him.

::For the month of October, I’m participating in The Nester’s #31Days blog writing challenge. My topic? Big BELIEF. For the next 31 days, I’ll be writing about three main things: 1. BELIEVING in His good plan for my life, 2. BELIEVING in the dreams He’s placed on my heart, and 3.BELIEVING in who He is and what He promises. So, what do you say? Will you join me? Will you open your heart to Him and allow Him to grow your belief over these next 31 days? You can read all my #31Days posts,here.::

 

 

To Tuesdays

I’m a little more than halfway through Emily Freeman’s new book A Million Little Ways.

Last night, as I was reading her words, I happened on a section about ordinary Tuesdays, about the life that happens on those Tuesdays and the freedom we can find to dream when we’re planted firmly in our ordinary days.

“As we begin to embrace our own sense of place and time in our Tuesdays, maybe we will be more open to considering our crazy ideas. With your feet planted firmly in the soil of home, allow yourself the freedom to dream a little,” Emily writes.

In the last year, the Lord has really changed my perspective on the ordinary and changed my perspective on the season I’m living in. He’s spoken value and purpose into my days, reminding me that He is doing good work and using us in ALL seasons. He’s building my belief that right where I am is right where I’m meant to be.  That’s actually why I wrote my book (but more on that soon in a future post).

Back to Tuesdays.

This post is dedicated to that ordinary day.

So, here’s to ordinary Tuesdays… to the waking up in the still-soft shades of sleep, to the familiar ritual of cooking oatmeal on the stove, and to the reading of a few promises from Him to carry with me throughout the day.

Here’s to the favorite blue mason jar that holds the usual — cranberry juice and green tea. And to the dark chocolate chips that sweeten up the morning.

Here’s to breathing a prayer of thanks for sunshine on my lunch break, and to the joy of evening frozen yogurt dates with good friends.

And maybe most of all, here’s to the unseen work He’s doing in my heart, to every crazy idea and dream He’s blessed me with, and to all of the questions that haven’t yet found their answers.

Tuesdays make a good home for those.

 

::For the month of October, I’m participating in The Nester’s #31Days blog writing challenge. My topic? Big BELIEF. For the next 31 days, I’ll be writing about three main things: 1. BELIEVING in His good plan for my life, 2. BELIEVING in the dreams He’s placed on my heart, and 3.BELIEVING in who He is and what He promises. So, what do you say? Will you join me? Will you open your heart to Him and allow Him to grow your belief over these next 31 days? You can read all my #31Days posts,here.::

 

We aren’t meant to believe alone.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of community, of being vulnerable, transparent, and really doing life with people.

When we’re in community, our belief can grow. It can be strengthened and nurtured and sharpened. Big dreams can be born out of solid community, and real change can occur.

Jon Acuff says that fear hates community. And as Lara Casey says, to name our fears is to destroy them. So, when we share our lives and our hearts with people we trust, intentionally creating community, we are destroying fears and encouraging fruitfulness.

It isn’t easy to create this kind of community. It takes risk and bravery and intentionality. It takes time and commitment and faithfulness. True community isn’t born overnight. It happens over many cups of coffee and text messages, over dinners, lunches, and brunches. It happens when we invite people into the messy parts of our lives, and they love us all the same. It happens when we pray, serve, and check in. When we learn how to speak truth in love, and when we learn how to receive hard truths with grace. It happens when we create safe places for people to grow and learn and just be.

Even though it’s hard to come by, and even harder to build, we have to fight for this kind of community. We have to make it a priority to fill our lives with people who build us up, challenge us, and walk beside us. We have to make it a priority to invest in others and allow them to invest in us.

Because eventually, these are the people who know our stories — the good and the bad. The people who can see the potential we carry inside — and who will push us to never stop growing. These are the people who will celebrate with us, cry with us, and act silly with us. The people who believe in our hopes and our dreams — even when we don’t.

These are the people who teach us how to love better and believe bigger.

 

::For the month of October, I’m participating in The Nester’s #31Days blog writing challenge. My topic? Big BELIEF. For the next 31 days, I’ll be writing about three main things: 1. BELIEVING in His good plan for my life, 2. BELIEVING in the dreams He’s placed on my heart, and 3.BELIEVING in who He is and what He promises. So, what do you say? Will you join me? Will you open your heart to Him and allow Him to grow your belief over these next 31 days? You can read all my #31Days posts,here.::

 

Belief & Prayer

Yesterday, I read Sarah Sandel’s beautiful three-part series on prayer.

And I just sunk into her words.

Because yesterday was a day I fought discouragement and discontent, a day I felt tender and more than a little uncertain about the plan God is weaving in my life.

He has been faithful to teach me how to handle those days, though, how to press into Him, pour out my heart, and refocus.

And yesterday, He brought such refreshment through Sarah’s words, reminding me of the beautiful power of sharing our stories and experiences. Because while we can’t (and shouldn’t) compare the plans He’s writing for each of our lives, we can relate and understand and share.

In one of her posts, Sarah encouraged me with these questions about prayer:

When I pray, am I…

• believing that God can move on my behalf? (Matt 21:22, Jas 5:15)
• praying for things consistent with the will of God? (1 John 5:14)
• asking with a pure heart? (James 4:3, Jas 5:16, Ps 66:18, Jn 15:7, Matthew 6:14-15) 
• being persistent in petitioning Him? (Luke 11:5-8, Col 4:2, Romans 12:12)

After reading those, the first one in particular stayed with me. All day, I kept thinking: God can move in MIGHTY ways. Which got me thinking … am I TRULY believing that? Am I surrendering all those questions I wrestle with, all the unanswered prayers, hopes, and dreams I sometimes hold too tightly to? Am I surrendering them, BELIEVING that God can and WILL move on my behalf?

Sometimes, I think we’re too afraid to fully surrender, because we want to control those things we hold closest to our hearts. We think we know best, and we worry that if we give up control, He will do something with them that we don’t want or like. So, we clutch onto them, feeling stuck and frustrated and wondering why God isn’t moving.

But you know what? He probably WILL do something unexpected, but it will be the kind of unexpected that opens up new doors, the kind of unexpected that changes us and grows us and takes us to a deeper place in our faith.

This morning, I read one of my favorite promises He gives us:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,
 and He will make your paths straight.

I also like The Message translation:

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
 don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
 Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; 
He’s the one who will keep you on track.

We can trust Him with our deepest dreams, friends.

Because He is a God who moves mightily on our behalf.

 

::For the month of October, I’m participating in The Nester’s #31Days blog writing challenge. My topic? Big BELIEF. For the next 31 days, I’ll be writing about three main things: 1. BELIEVING in His good plan for my life, 2. BELIEVING in the dreams He’s placed on my heart, and 3.BELIEVING in who He is and what He promises. So, what do you say? Will you join me? Will you open your heart to Him and allow Him to grow your belief over these next 31 days? You can read all my #31Days posts,here.::

 

Blessed by Belief

Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her! (Luke 1:45)

Our belief changes us.

It opens us up to His way, breaks down our doubts, and fills our heart with all that’s possible.

When we have big belief, we’re free — not stuck or bound by our own limitations, fears, or insecurities.

We’re blessed by the knowledge that He is present and working in all things and that we can trust what He is doing, even when — especially when — we don’t understand it.

Over the next few days, I want to unpack this verse a little bit, reflecting on my own journey to believe and the ebb and flow of that in my life.

Part of the reason I chose this topic for my 31 Days challenge is I wanted to see Him grow and strengthen my belief. I wanted to see what would happen after 31 days of writing about belief, asking Him about belief, and praying about belief.

The truth is this challenge is hard. Harder than I initially thought it would be. I can’t always find the words, and I worry and wonder if all of my rambling and reflecting will somehow come together and make any sense at all.

But I’m not writing this to tell you HOW to believe. I’m writing this because I’m right next to you on the journey…learning with you, praying with you, growing with you — believing WITH you.

So, thanks for sticking with me.

 

::For the month of October, I’m participating in The Nester’s #31Days blog writing challenge. My topic? Big BELIEF. For the next 31 days, I’ll be writing about three main things: 1. BELIEVING in His good plan for my life, 2. BELIEVING in the dreams He’s placed on my heart, and 3. BELIEVING in who He is and what He promises. So, what do you say? Will you join me? Will you open your heart to Him and allow Him to grow your belief over these next 31 days? You can read all my #31Days posts, here.::

 

 

 

Clear October (Clearing the Way for Bigger Belief)

I’ve been writing my daily posts the evening before, or sometimes, even a few days before, but last night, with the week wearing on me, I decided to come home, make a pot of homemade butternut squash carrot ginger soup, and curl up to watch a movie.

So, with pumpkin candle glowing, a hot bowl of soup between my hands, and a buttered english muffin for dunking, I sat down and forgot about every single thing on my to-do list. I cleared my evening and made way for rest and nourishment and quiet.

It proved to be exactly what my body and soul needed.

Are you all familiar with Lara Casey’s #ClearOctober?

I came across it a little into this month, but decided to participate anyway. And while today’s post might seem a little off the Big Belief topic, I don’t really feel that it is, considering that I hope the things on my Clear October list will draw me nearer to Him. And I hope that in my drawing nearer and clearing away distractions, doubts, lies, and discouragements, I’ll be making room in my heart for more of Him and more of a bigger belief.

As I mentioned in my 30 Things list, there’s some restlessness in my heart that I’m learning to sit with and surrender, and I think he’s doing something with that this month, something new and transforming and good.

So, here are my intentions for Clear October. If you’re participating, leave me a link to your list. I’d love to read it and pray with you.

-I want to be intentionally transparent in my writing and in my friendships/close community – and by doing so courageously, invite others to do the same. Sharing our stories is POWERFUL!
-I want to keep an open heart to what He’s doing in my life now and what He has planned for the future. I want to live every moment fully, experiencing all of my favorite parts of my favorite season — FALL!
-I want to grow in wisdom and discernment through MORE TIME with Him.
– I want to be free from doubt and certain that He is working all things for good in my life…even when He seems silent. I want to be confident in His plan and purpose for this season — and all seasons of my life.
– I want to find freedom from a few unresolved issues in my life; and to quote Lara’s lovely words: “I want to settle loose ends… or just let them go.”
– I want to make a clear path for His Words and His Will in my heart and my life.
-I want to be ready to jump into my next adventure with Him and go wherever He calls!
-And to quote Lara one more time (because I love this so much): “I want to be bright and not darkened. I want to be a light to others and that takes me letting the light in first.”

What do you need to clear from your life/heart today to make room for bigger belief?

 

::For the month of October, I’m participating in The Nester’s #31Days blog writing challenge. My topic? Big BELIEF. For the next 31 days, I’ll be writing about three main things: 1. BELIEVING in His good plan for my life, 2. BELIEVING in the dreams He’s placed on my heart, and 3. BELIEVING in who He is and what He promises. So, what do you say? Will you join me? Will you open your heart to Him and allow Him to grow your belief over these next 31 days? You can read all my #31Days posts, here.::

 

Believing in His Love

This week, I thought I’d write mostly about believing in the gifts and dreams He’s blessed you with — valuing them and using them for His glory.

But I guess He had a different idea, because yesterday morning, as I read through YouVersion on my phone, something else captured my heart.

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.”

I read those words, and then I read them again — the words know and rely really sticking with me.

And I thought: How amazing is it that not only can we know such a love —  we can rely on it!?

As I mentioned, I’ve been reading Jeff Goins’ new book The In-Between. There’s s a section on marriage that really inspired me.  In it, Jeff writes that he learned it wasn’t about finding a perfect love story, but rather the kind of love story that endures.

While I pray to find that kind of love story one day myself, I couldn’t help but think of the way God’s love for us endures. It’s constant; it never changes…not through our mess-ups, our doubts or unbelief, our frustrations, or our fears. No matter where we are at, or what we are feeling, His love ENDURES.

I hope that today you’ll hold onto that, believing that such a truth has the power to bring freedom to dark and doubting hearts.

We can know and rely on His love.

Let’s lean into that, my friends.

 

::For the month of October, I’m participating in The Nester’s #31Days blog writing challenge. My topic? Big BELIEF. For the next 31 days, I’ll be writing about three main things: 1. BELIEVING in His good plan for my life, 2. BELIEVING in the dreams He’s placed on my heart, and 3. BELIEVING in who He is and what He promises. So, what do you say? Will you join me? Will you open your heart to Him and allow Him to grow your belief over these next 31 days? You can read all my #31Days posts, here.::

 

A Gentle Reminder for You

I don’t have a lot of words today, and I’d like to leave you with a little space for quiet. Space to seek, space to reflect. But first, I’d like to leave you with this gentle and freeing reminder.

What do these words mean for you? What parts of your heart needed to hear them? In what ways are you shying away from being who you were created to be? Do you believe in the gifts He’s given you?

::For the month of October, I’m participating in The Nester’s #31Days blog writing challenge. My topic? Big BELIEF. For the next 31 days, I’ll be writing about three main things: 1. BELIEVING in His good plan for my life, 2. BELIEVING in the dreams He’s placed on my heart, and 3. BELIEVING in who He is and what He promises. So, what do you say? Will you join me? Will you open your heart to Him and allow Him to grow your belief over these next 31 days? You can read all my #31Days posts, here.::

::art::