You know that thing when I tell people I love to start things and then get bored and quit? I mentioned this fun little personality quirk in my recent conversation with Angie Elkins if you wonder more about it. Anyway ... I had this fleeting thought recently (or maybe it was almost every day for the past month) — Can I quit this book launch thing? Not because it's not fun anymore (which is the normal reason I want to quit things) but because of something far more ominous for overachievers ... [Read More]
Hope Does Not Disappoint
Welcome to day 27 of STAND OUT: 7 traits of a counter cultural life. You can find every post in this series indexed here. Have you ever been disappointed? I know, right ... of course. We have all experienced those moments when something we expected didn't happen or, sometimes even worse, it didn't happen the way we had planned or desired. This week I received the "official" notification that another book proposal has been rejected by a publisher. I knew it was coming but it stung anyway. ... [Read More]
I Want to Go Back to Before
I keep thinking it wasn't real. The whole thing was just a dream. I didn't really have a heart attack. I want it to not be real. I want to go back to before ... Before when my weight and cholesterol and blood pressure were numbers that looked good and gave me confidence in my health. Before when 42 was really way too young for anything scary like a heart attack. Before when I drank my coffee and ate my bagel and didn't have a handful of pills to go with my breakfast. We all have a ... [Read More]
What is God Daring You to Do?
Oh y'all ... in case you missed it, my dear friend Kate Battistelli was here {like at my house!!} a week and a half ago. {And, this is shocking, but we did not take a single picture of the two of us. Too busy talking and basking in the joy of being together, I suppose.} She graciously agreed to speak at our church's ladies conference and, oh. my. word. did she bring a powerful and encouraging message to us! As most of you know, I was a part of Holley Gerth's God-Sized Dream Team last year. ... [Read More]
Dear Fear, You Lose. {a God-sized dreams post}
Dear Chihuahua of Fear, I have some things I’d like to say to you. I say them because your yippy little voice echoes through my heart and my head. Your annoying yapping has caused me to let go of my hopes and dreams more times than I care to admit. So today, I'm calling you out. And here is what I'm saying: You don't win! In fact, you don't even get to play the game. Perfect love casts out fear. {1 John 4:18} And so, while my love isn't perfect. I know the One whose love is. He says ... [Read More]
Living Our Fears or Living Our Dreams {a God-sized dreams post}
I've been living my fears. I've been hiding in the cocoon of comfortable. It's been very safe here ... and I'd almost forgotten I burrowed in here for all the wrong reasons. Being a part of Holley's God-sized dream team is killing me, y'all! I've had to face down so many fears. I've had to admit all the ways I've settled for what I could do and what was safe ... I've been living my fears. Two weeks ago I had a phone call that shook me up. It wasn't a family emergency or ... [Read More]