grab a hand

We had just passed mile 24 when she hit it.  Her steps faltered and veered toward the curb.  My running partner had slammed right into the dreaded runners’ wall.  Now she ran with her eyes closed, barely putting one foot in front of the other.  Mustering my remaining energy and strength I grabbed her hand and started talking, loudly and nonstop. 

Looking straight ahead I saw a tall building, one entire wall covered with an enormous picture advertising the re-release of the movie E.T.  I jabbered on about how I saw E.T. in the theater when it first came out, the theater so packed that people were sitting on the floor between the aisles.  I told silly stories about my one year old son.  Words poured out of me as my hand held hers and our feet covered the last 2.2 miles of our marathon journey.

We crossed the finish line together, clasped hands raised, big smiles on our faces. 

For eight months, my partner and I had run together four days a week.  There were countless days when her quiet knock on my front door was the only thing that wrenched me from my bed for those 5:30a.m. training runs.  I know that I could not have covered those 26.2 miles that day in March 2001 without her.

In every area of my life, my chances of succeeding and meeting my goals are drastically improved if I don’t try to go it alone. 

In my life of faith, I meet regularly with women who are mentors and friends.  We ask each other the hard questions, laugh heartily together and help carry one another’s burdens when life gets tough. 

As a homeschooling mom, a group of us who are educating our children at home gather together monthly.  We celebrate successes in our journeys, share resources and help each other over the bumps on the road.

In my desire to stay fit and active, I am a member of a gym where the other crazy people there at 5:30a.m. members I see regularly help encourage me to keep at it, even when it feels difficult or I don’t see the progress I would like.

Some days, being faithful with my writing feels just as hard as getting outside with my running shoes on and pounding the pavement.  My steps can start to veer toward the curb; I just want to sit down already!  So I am profoundly grateful for my God-Sized Dream sisters who, through their encouragement, inspiration, and the fact they keep showing up, take my hand and pull me along toward this God-Sized Dream in my heart.

Linking up at Holley's place today!

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Whose hand do you need to grab a hold of today?

saying no to fear and yes to Romans

I have been afraid of telling you about something I have decided to do.  Every time I think, “Maybe I should tell them,” another louder voice says, “NO!”.   The reason?  The road behind me is littered with things I’ve taken up to do, only to put them down again, sometimes rather quickly.  Goals I’ve set aside, plans I’ve failed to execute, there is quite a mess of failure back there!

But fear is a liar, and today I’m not listening…are you with me!  **I’m sure I can hear an Amen!!**

So here goes: I am spending 2013 memorizing Romans 1, 8 and 12, along with Ann Voskamp and lots of others.

A couple of years ago I printed out all of the Colossians materials Ann so graciously provided and I purposed to memorize it with my kids.  I think we got through the first chapter.

I never even considered memorizing the Sermon on the Mount with her last year.  Too afraid of failing again.

But when I read Ann's post about how memorizing the Sermon on the Mount affected her last year, it touched a deep place in me, that place of “yes” and “I know this is true” and “this is what I want”.

I have purposed to listen to those “yeses” this year, so I downloaded the materials and have taken some steps down the road.  One new resource I am using is ScriptureTyper, which, as Ann says, is seriously fun and very helpful in the memorization process.  I have also set up this journal, where I can paste the materials Ann provides and which gives me space to write the verses down.

I'm pasting the  memorization cards on one side,
leaving space for my own writ ing on the other side of the page.

During his temptation in the desert, Jesus said we live on the words of God, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

I study the Bible in many different contexts every week: sermon at church, personal study in the mornings, two focused small group studies.  

Memorization feels like a different kind of consuming, like turning the bread I have eaten into muscle, useful and strong. 

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What are you saying “yes” to today? 

Interested in memorizing Romans?  Click the button below to find all the information.  It’s not too late to jump in!

Five Minute Friday - Again

Linking up with Lisa-Jo over at her place where "a brave and beautiful bunch gather every week to find out what comes out when we all spend five minutes writing on the same topic".  

It is Five Minute Fridays...and it rocks!

Today's prompt is: AGAIN...here goes my five minutes:

“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon.” G. K. Chesterton

Oh, the monotony of life!  Laundry, dishes, the infernal dust that collects from who knows where, the never-ending needs of children for food, hugs, rides to practice.

Each morning, I rise from my bed to another day and often I feel like the grown-up person Chesterton describes, who does the things again “until he is nearly dead”.

The strength to exalt in monotony is fin the ability of a child to be entirely and fully present, to have the complete lack of consciousness of themselves that they give themselves wholly to the delight of the very moment they are in.

The sun has risen here, to the delight of God it happened…again.

I am here writing, feeling the computer heavy on my lap, hearing the sound of my daughters waking to the day, tasting the warm coffee on my tongue.

The gift of the present is seeping into my grown-up soul, waking it to the joy of it all happening…again.

{Day 7} ~ "The Do What You Can Plan"

Today is Day 7 of my series on Holley Gerth's new ebook:

Would you like to join me on this journey?  Click on the graphic above to download your own copy.

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During a recent conversation with a friend, she told me about a door that had just closed in her life. As we talked about making decisions and seeking God’s will in our lives, I found myself saying things such as, “He will lead you as you keep moving forward,” and,  “You just need to keep taking small steps."

If you’ve been reading along this series with me, these things will sound very familiar!  I recognized that the truths my heart and mind have been steeped in are the very things that spilled out into our conversation.  I was able to counsel my friend, not only from my past experiences with God, but from what I am learning right now.

The truths tucked inside this 21-Day plan feel like gifts from God to guide and encourage me as I move forward with Him.  Do you know what I often do with gifts?  I put them on a shelf because they are new and precious.  I keep them there.  Safe.  And just for me. 

Through sharing what I am learning with my friend, I was reminded that God gives us good gifts, not so we can fill our shelves with them, but so we can share them.

At the end of Day 7, Holley asks us to think about one way we can seek God and one way we can work hard in our situation.  I am seeking God for more opportunities to share about what I am learning.  And I am working hard to figure out how to do this whole blog thing better!  At the suggestion of my buddy Kayse, I bought The No-Brainer Blog by Haley at The Tiny Twig.  It is a wonderful resource for a newbie blogger like me. Boy, do I have a lot to learn!

the gift of a new friend

I love making new friends.  I’m the crazy girl smiling at a stranger on the subway in the hopes that they will smile back and we can chat a bit.  Being connected to others is as necessary for me as breathing and food…I need it.  I find that God often works through my friendship and relational connections to teach me new things about Himself, lead me in a direction He wants me to go, or to highlight something I need to change in my life.   

Today I have the privilege of introducing you to a new friend of mine: Kayse Pratt.  As part of the God-Sized Dream Team, Holley encouraged us all to find a buddy on the team, someone we can connect with and cheer for specifically.  Kayse and I found each other, and I am so glad we did!    

There are many reasons I am excited that Kayse is my buddy:  she only lives about an hour away, so unlike my dreamer-friends who live on the East Coast, it is entirely possible that we will meet someday;  Kayse has stepped out in faith and is doing what I hope to do someday: she is writing a book!  I am grateful for a buddy who is farther down the road, who can be a mentor for me along this dreaming, goal-setting way.  During a facebook chat, she recently gave me some great tips on how to improve my blog (hers is delightful!); from reading her blog and being on facebook together, I know we share many things in common from which a friendship is likely to grow.

If you have a few minutes to spend online today, you would enjoy paying a visit to Kayse's place.  From faith to cooking to family, you will find great writing and a very real and relatable person.  And these stuffed peppers?  Yum!!

I am grateful to God that in the midst of the small steps I am taking toward more of His work in my life, He has blessed me with the good gift of a new friend.

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Five Minute Friday: Cherished

It's Friday!  Time for my very favorite link-up:

Click on the graphic above to visit Lisa-Jo's blog and see what Five Minute Fridays are all about.

Oh, what a word she has picked for us today!

CHERISHED

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My son found me at the table yesterday writing on my laptop, stood next to me and hugged me with all of his twelve-year old might. 

Lying down at night between my girls all snuggled in for bed, my nine-year old daughter drapes her arm over me, pulling herself close, running her fingers through my hair and sighing big. 

My seven-year old wraps her arms around my waist, face turned up to mine as I help her brush her teeth, and she squeezes hard, eyes sparkling in her freckled face.

A good hug makes the tension between my shoulder blades slide right away, and leaves me feeling cherished.

{Day 6} ~ "The Do What You Can Plan"

Today is Day 6 of my series on Holley Gerth's new ebook:

Would you like to join me on this journey?  Click on the graphic above to download your own copy.

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“Pushing past discomfort and fear will be one of the most important things you do on this journey. Look at both of them as resistance that will make you stronger.”

I am familiar with resistance and not just because I am a parent (all toddlers and teenagers must choose resistance as their word for the year). I use resistance to my advantage regularly at the gym.  I know that when I create more resistance for myself during exercise, I will eventually find a new baseline, a new normal.

After reading Day 6, I wondered if Holley had been secretly hanging out in my head today listening to my thoughts full fears and doubts and lethargy.  Today I battled my fear of being in this community of women with their gifts and abilities and accomplishments; my fear of articulating my dream to others because for so long it has stayed in the hidden dark of my own heart; my fear that if I start to write wholeheartedly, I will find out I don’t really have a story at all.

At this point in the journey, writing everyday and believing in God's call and the story He gave me still feel more like a Herculean physical feat than something that is normal for me.

But here I am, and these 21 days of following "The Do What You Can Plan" are part of continuing to confront and push past the fear.  To do some writing that is not just for myself, but is something I can send out with the hopes and desire that it will a blessing and a conduit to give glory to God.

“Think of fear as a hill that you have to go up and over. You have what it takes to do so, or God would not have brought you on this journey. Rather than turning around and coasting back to comfort, lean in and push hard.”

I remember a song my marathon-training partner and I used to sing as we ran up a hill, “The hill is my friend, it makes my legs STRONG, it makes my tummy FLAT, IT MAKES ME LOOK GOOD!!” 

We chanted like drill sergeants, flinging the words out before us loud and clear.  They pulled us up the hill with their bravado and strength.

The day is coming to a close, and I am taking Holley’s advice from Day 6 and celebrating (chocolate!) because the challenges I faced today mean “that you’re working toward real change in your life and making progress that you may not even see now but will bring you big benefits later. Make fear work for you.”

Tomorrow is a new day.  And a new opportunity to conquer the hill of fear.

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How are you dealing with fear and resistance as you pursue your goals and dreams?  How do you celebrate your little victories along the way?  

{Day 5} ~ "The Do What You Can Plan"

Today is Day 5 of my series on Holley Gerth's new ebook:

Would you like to join me on this journey?  Click on the graphic above to download your own copy. 

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My standard excuses for not starting something sound something like this: What if I really get into a good groove with writing, and then the adoption goes through?  Well then, maybe I shouldn’t write; Or what if my husband’s schedule changes and I can no longer get to the gym five days a week?  Well then, maybe I shouldn’t even start.  Or, or, or…the excuses rain on and on.

In Day 5, Holley shares an epiphany moment to help us combat this thought process “…I resolved in that moment to begin making small changes now rather than waiting for the perfect time later. Guess what? The perfect time doesn’t exist. There will always be a complication, a crisis, or what looks like a legitimate reason to wait.”

Along with Holley, I resolve to believe in the small steps, in the minutes set aside, in the few stitches stitched, the couple of sentences written.  A bucket is filled one drop at a time, a book is written one word at a time, and any time we are doing what we are supposed to do, what gives us life, what we are called to do, then it is a good thing…even if it is only a few minutes a day!

small steps

Although my goal is to write every day (and I have been…yay!), I have learned something:  my small steps have not just looked like sitting down at the computer tapping on the keys. 

Instead, they have looked like being diligent with the housework so that, instead of running around for the hour before dinner dealing with chaos of the day, I can use that hour to write.

Or they have looked like going to bed early, very shortly after the kiddos, because then I am able to get up early to write in the quiet dark.

I am moved by this profound truth, that the small, ordinary, trusting steps we take in our everyday lives can be moving us toward more of what God has for us, our God-Sized Dream. 

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I am linking up with the God-Sized Dreaming community over at Holley's to share the small steps we are taking today toward our dreams.  Come on over to celebrate the steps others are taking today.  

{Day 4} ~ "The Do What You Can Plan"

Today is Day 4 of my series on Holley Gerth's new ebook:

Would you like to join me on this journey?  Click on the graphic above to download your own copy. 

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On a recent morning, as we were doing the delicate dance around one another which is the two of us trying to get ready in our tiny bathroom simultaneously, my husband startled me by saying, “What if you publish your book before me?”

Some background for you, my husband is an academic, a professor.  He has written and published so many things I’ve long lost count, and he is, in fact, currently working on completing the manuscript for his first book. 

My first reaction was, “Don’t DO that!”  Because even though HE is not afraid to speak my dreams aloud,  I don’t tend to go around just SAYING things like that.  Out loud.  About my dreams. 

After my initial flare of emotion, I simmered down and was able to hear the cheerleader coming through in his words.  “I believe in you, Amy,” his words said.  “I am taking your dream seriously.”  And oh, that felt really, really good.

In Day 4 of the “Do What You Can Plan” by Holley Gerth, she encourages us to share our goal with someone today.  My husband immediately came to my mind.  He is, as I’ve said, my greatest cheerleader.  He’s also my best friend, closest confidante, and a darn good editor (SO helpful to have an English professor as a spouse!).

He is the one I first opened my heart to about this dream.

He is the one who sat down with me to talk about blog titles.

He is supports me taking the time to write instead of doing some other domestic chores.  Thankfully, he is not fussy about the house being perfect, although dinner on the table is much appreciated! 

The encouragement from Holley to share our goals with others comes on a perfect day for me, actually, because I am meeting with a friend and fellow writer tonight for coffee.  I am eagerly looking forward to hearing about her current projects and goals, and to sharing my mustard seed goal with her as well.

As Holley says, “If you let others into your journey and cheer them on as well, you’ll not only go further but find much more joy all along the way.”

This journey so far has been exhilarating and scary and fun, and if it can be joyful too?  Well, that’s all the better!

I’d love to hear who your cheerleaders are, and whom you are cheering on as well!       

{Day 3} ~ "The Do What You Can Plan"

Happy Monday, friends!  Today is Day 3 of my series on Holley Gerth's new ebook:

Would you like to join me on this journey?  Click on the graphic above to download your own copy!  

And a warm welcome to anyone visiting from Holley's blog today.  I feel shy and humbled (excited too!) to be a part of this group of God-Sized Dreamers she has so graciously gathered.

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When my eyes picked up the words “Proverbs 31 woman” on Day 3 of Holley’s ebook, my first thought was, “Oh no, I never measure up to that lady!”  As I kept reading, I began to see why she is such an excellent example for all of us God-Sized Dreamers.  Holley helps us pull back the curtain on one of the secrets of her godly success:

“She is a woman of action. Even in the small things, she is always taking the next step.”

I am easily overwhelmed by a large task and will often give up before I even start because I can’t see my way through to the end.  Our God-Sized Dreams, no matter their actual “size”, are definitely big inside of our hearts.  Now that we have taken the time to write down specific mustard seed goals, the bright lights of our dreams shining in our eyes may make us feel like a deer caught in the headlights, unsure of what to do next. 

Holley meets us right there when she writes, “Simply doing the next thing is often the godliest choice we can make. When you think of the goal you wrote down, what is the next thing?”  She instructs that our next step should be “the simpler, smaller, and more ordinary, the better.”

The mustard seed goal I wrote down is to write every day.  My simple, ordinary next step, after publishing this post :), will be to pull out my Bible study lesson and work on my homework for the week.

Those things may not seem linked at all, but it is clear from the life of the woman in Proverbs that taking care of the good and God-given tasks and responsibilities in our lives is essential as we pursue our dreams and goals.  In Holley’s words, “What seems most clear in the description of the Proverbs 31 woman is that we’re to be faithful in the small, immediate, everyday things before us.”

Daily time with Jesus studying His Word and praying is an important part of each day for me (please don’t read this and assume I do this perfectly…I don’t! J ).  It is a deep desire of my heart to walk closely with Jesus as I pursue this God-Sized Dream.  I know that continuing to set aside time to be in the Word is one of the best next steps I can take.

What about you?  What simple, ordinary next step will you take toward your mustard seed goal today?  Remember this truth tucked in at the end of Day 3:

“And obedience is about doing, not just believing.

Do the next thing.

It may not seem like it at the time, but looking back someday, that could just be what changed everything.”

Five Minute Fridays: Dive

Yesterday supposed to be Day 3 of the “Do What You Can Plan”, and instead I spent the day in bed after coming down with the stomach flu Thursday night.  My husband, son and I just returned from Boston on Sunday where the mayor had declared a health emergency because of the terrible flu sweeping their city. Apparently we brought home more than just books and t-shirits as souvenirs! 

I will pick up with Day 3 on Monday.  This morning, sitting in my sunny living room on my bright red couch before my kids stir on this Saturday morning, I am linking up a day late with Lisa-Jo for the writing “shot-in-the-arm” that is Five-Minute Fridays:

The prompt this week is: DIVE

I walk to the edge of the diving board, adjust my bathing suit, swim cap, goggles.  One foot goes to the edge, toes gripping the side of the board. The other foot anchors me, my leg bent and ready to spring.  My arms reach forward, hands gripping the edge of the diving board.  My body feels strong, taut, pulled up into this moment and ready to jump forward into a perfect arc.  My mind is clear and focused on the task before me.

I am waiting to dive; the crack of the gun will come any minute now and the moment will be here…

But it doesn’t come.  At least, it hasn’t yet.

This is what the waiting time for our adoption feels like to me.  Our family is ready.  My husband and I have prepared our minds and hearts.  Our children are ready to welcome a new sibling.  In my mind, from my perspective, we stand at the edge of the board, ready to dive right in. 

I know that He holds the starting gun, and will sound it when it is time.

Then, we will dive.

{Day 2} ~ "The Do What You Can Plan"

Here's the second post in a 21-Day long series on Holley Gerth's new ebook:

Would you like to join me on this journey?  Click on the graphic above to download your own copy and come along for the ride!  I would love to hear from you in the comments!

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“Putting words to the desires of your heart is a uniquely human capability that’s more powerful than we often realize.”

This sentence leapt off the page at me as I read Day 2 of Holley Gerth's “Do What You Can Plan”.  I admit, it is hard for me to articulate my dreams, to say them out loud where others can hear.  Honestly, until I filled out the form to apply for the God-Sized Dream Team, I had not even said the words aloud: I want to write a book.  And I am not even sure I want to write a “hold-in-your-hand” book, but I do know I definitely want to write down my cohesive story with the goal of bringing glory to the One who is writing it. 

“But it turns out that goals can be helpful tools along the way and can actually serve as reminders of the bigger missions God has called us to pursue in life.”

I usually think of goals in my life as a finish line to cross or as something I must accomplish at all costs.  Instead, Holley encourages us to see our goals as a reminder of what God has called us to pursue. She says, “Goals aren’t just about a destination. Instead they are more about focus.”

This is such a game-changer for me!  Setting goals has been scary for me because to do so carried the weight of crossing that finish line.  Often when I have looked at the distance between where I stood and the goal I have set, I have simply given up because the distance was too great.

Holley’s encouragement to see my goals as a focus, to let them set my direction is something that resonates with the way life really seems to work.  So often I set out going one way and then life twists and turns and I find myself doing something that has nothing to do with the goal we set out to achieve. 

It is truly a light bulb moment for me to realize that I am not a loser or failure or slacker if my path has shifted along the way and my goals have changed. 

I am going to repeat that to myself many, many times. 

So, my mustard seed goal is to make space in my life for writing every day.  To help me know if I have completed this goal, I am going to keep a log to see if I really do get writing in every day for the next 21 days. 

I truly find this invigorating, to respond to that yes deep inside…Yes!

Here we go! Intro and Day 1 of 21

This is the first post in a 21-Day long series on Holley Gerth's new ebook:

Would you like to join me on this journey?  Click on the graphic above to download your own copy and come along for the ride!  I would love to hear from you in the comments!

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Can you hear it deep inside, quiet, humming, true? It is the “yes” Holley talks about:  “No matter what you’ve already tried or been through, there’s a “yes” still being spoken somewhere deep inside you”.  Do you believe this?  The truth is, days can slip by busy and full without my ever stopping to listen to that deep, inward, “yes” from God.

For these next 21 days, I am committing to listen hard to that “yes”, and to respond.

Yesterday I wrote about my God-Sized Dream, which is to write, to share my story, to give God the glory for what He has done in my life.  The question is, how do I get from hearing that “yes” and voicing my dream to doing anything about it? 

Day 1 contained something so startling; I had to read it twice.  Start small, it said.  But wait, I thought, aren’t these God-Sized Dreams we are talking about here?  Aren’t those, by definition, BIG?  Shouldn’t we shoot for the moon and have the most grandiose dream imaginable?

This definition from Holley’s blog helped: 

God-sized Dream = A desire in your heart for more of what God has for you.

We don’t need another grand plan to set us up for a grand failure.  We need encouragement to take small steps toward the dream we are cherishing.  As Holley says, “God can handle the big. When you start out, it’s okay for your part to simply be the small.”

So today I am focusing on one small goal, my mustard seed goal: WRITE EVERY DAY.

There are so many reasons for me not to write.  I find it strange to put “time to write” on my to-do list next to cleaning, cooking and caring for my family (I mean, it doesn’t even start with a “c”! J ).  I wonder, where should writing fall in my priorities?  Saying “yes” to the dream God has placed inside me means believing that writing DOES have a place on my daily list, strange as it may feel at first. 

Holley reminds us that research says it takes 21 days to form a habit.  Writing is a habit I want to form.  I know some days it will be 15 minutes in the car on the back of a napkin while I am waiting for kids to finish one thing or another, and on other days it will luxurious hours spent tapping away in a coffee shop or at my kitchen table.

Take some time today to listen, to hear the “yes” deep inside of you, and to answer it with your mustard seed of faith.  Remember, our faith may be small, but He is the author of our God-Sized dreams…and He can bring them to fruition, one small step at a time.

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If you need some encouragement as you ponder your dreams, visit Holley's blog to read her post for today.  There is a prayer there that was just what I needed to pray this morning! 

My God-Sized Dream...

As a science experiment, my kids and I put seeds and damp paper towels in baggies.  One baggie went in the refrigerator, one we taped on a sunny window, and one we placed in our dark hall closet.  Studying Botany, we learned that within each tiny seed is the food that seed will need to begin to grow.  Yet, I was still surprised when we pulled the baggie out of the hall closet to find a little plant growing, though it had been hidden away in the darkness.

For so many of us, our dreams lie like that seed, in the darkness, quietly growing, fed on our hopes and prayers and wishes, but perhaps this is the year they need to come out into the light?

I remember the day I first gave voice to my God-Sized Dream, when I put into words the seed of desire planted in my heart. 

“I feel like God has given me a story to tell,” I told my husband.  It was New Year’s Eve, 2006 and there we sat in our jammies at 9pm.  I was hugely pregnant with our fourth child, the due date just one week away.   We talked about the New Year approaching, the new life inside on its way, and new desires growing in me to share the with others the lessons I had learned about faith through the journey I had been on with God.  I was hearing that still, small whisper saying, “This is something I have for you, pay attention.”

As I have written, the days and months ahead turned out nothing like I was expecting.  And while the past six years have afforded me a number of opportunities to share my story, I know there is more.

The little seed in my heart that has been flourishing in the dark these past six years, my God-Sized Dream, is to write.  To write about His work in my life, and of His all-sufficient, good, good grace.  To chronicle the journey of faith He has led me on, the lessons I have learned and am learning day by day knowing there are others who may benefit from hearing.  Beginning this blog has been a first step, but I have a specific dream to submit my writing to (in)courage or another Christian website (I need to do some more research...suggestions gladly welcomed!).

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Tomorrow I am starting a series following Holley Gerth’s “Do What You Can Plan: 21 Days toMaking Any Area of Your Life Better.”  I’m journaling my way through the ebook here on my blog, using the next 21 days to take steps toward my God-Sized Dream…won’t you join me?  

Meet me here for the next 21 days and let’s encourage one another to bring these dream-seeds of ours out into the Light…

Five Minute Friday: Opportunity

Yay!  Five Minute Friday is back.  I have missed this writing prompt exercise, missed gathering with this flash mob of writers in all its glory.  So grateful to Lisa-Jo for hosting all this goodness!

So here goes my first Five-Minute Friday of 2013:

Opportunity

Today I took the opportunity to show my 12-year old son, Stephen, one of my favorite places on earth: the Public Garden in Boston.  We are here accompanying my husband on a business trip.  After an enjoyable afternoon at Harvard, we took the subway (known here as the “T”) to Park Station and emerged onto the cold, bustling sidewalk. 

Having been here twice before, I knew to head through the Commons to get to the Public Garden.  We walked by the Frog Pond and watched the ice skaters.  Then we continued along the path to Charles St., crossed over, and there we were: Boston Public Garden.

Memorial Day weekend in May of 2007 I came to Boston for the first time with my husband on a similar business trip.  On that trip, I fell in love with the middle-of-the- city beauty of the Public Garden, and I spent as much time there as I could, eating lunch on a bench in the shade, reading a book or journaling. 

The Garden in winter is so different, but I loved it all the same, the way I could see the bones of the trees, the grass covered in its blanket of white.  Following the paths, my cheeks stinging with the cold, my boy bundled up and walking beside me, I experienced true joy.