blog.capturingcourage.org

What Anna Taught Me

2012-05-28T16:43:35Z

It has been a year. A year since my granddaughter Anna died in her sleep. She was four months old; had been bubbly and so alive, with a generous smile for everyone.

Anna's baby brother was born just a month ago. She never got to see him, never got to unwrap and 'inspect' this new little one as her Mamma did when her younger brother was born.

It is the little things we miss the most.

Yet in it all, there have been big things. So many big things.

Anna's life taught me so so much. I am a changed person because of her; because of both her life and somehow even more because of her death.

I will never forget one year ago today, waking in the morning, lying in my bed thinking about who was going to post on Facebook that Anna had died.

For those of you not on Facebook this may sound crazy, yet for those of us who fellowship there it will make perfect sense.

Any number of us had been posting and putting pictures and celebrating Anna ever since her birth. There was a joint community of delight around her, and now all of a sudden she was gone.

Who was going to give the news?

In my mind's eye I went through the list of family. Alexis and Manuel of course, my Mom, Sisters, Brothers, other kids... and in a moment's stunning clarity I realized that I was the one.

It rested on me to break the news. It was I who was to put a post that would say, 'Anna has died'.

Now through the years I've always shrunk back from leadership.

Challenged years ago by someone in regard to, 'who is the leader?'; pressing me to admit and to acknowledge that I was the leader; I never did admit it at the time, couldn't bring myself to it, refused to acknowledge.

Not till later while reading Isaiah 3:6-7 did I see that Leader and Healer is synonymous, that to lead is to heal, and to heal is to lead, and only then did I accept and embrace and become invested in leading. Invested in healing,

And there I was. My four-month old granddaughter had just died. We were all in shock, stunned, grief-stricken, and it was my role to lead the way through the labyrinth of grappling this alongside each other and before God.

It was one of those crystalline moments; where it seems that everything of one's life has been focused and prepared for this moment, this time.

That moment changed me.

It brought me into my own, into the influence I am to walk in every day.

Rather than an odd here or there moment of influence, I was to heal and lead as a manner of who I am. This had always been there, I just never wanted to admit it.

Until Anna came... and went,

An event so gargantuan in nature that there was nothing left to do but draw from the reserves planted deep within myself.

A week later standing on that stage at her memorial, speaking of Anna, speaking of God's presence through our week, speaking our declaration of the goodness of God in the midst of death, it all came together.

This is our strength, this is our declaration, God's finger in the movement of our lives cannot be discounted. Because of God and God alone, the sting is removed from our lives, and declaring this is the strength for which I was born.

Anna's death was the catalyst that solidified the strengths I am to bring to the world.

I've never been the same.

Anna brought out the best in me. Anna brought me to myself.

Sometimes I think she lived to make me strong, and died to make me stronger.

And I know she somehow did the same for others.

Thank-you Anna, thanks Lord.

Make You Feel My Love

2012-05-25T15:48:44Z

I've been taken by Sam Kelly's rendition of Make You Feel My Love. Watching closely we see the impact of his heart and words on the judges and those in the audience.

It is a beautiful thing to witness how his sincere rendition of this song cuts through the veneers and polish of our lives (could you feel it too?), to the heart of our matters.

Here are the lyrics:

"When the rain
Is blowing in your face
And the whole world
Is on your case
I could offer you
A warm embrace
To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows
And the stars appear
And there is no - one there
To dry your tears
I could hold you
For a million years
To make you feel my love

I know you
Haven't made
Your mind up yet
But I would never
Do you wrong
I've known it
From the moment
That we met
No doubt in my mind
Where you belong

I'd go hungry
I'd go black and blue
I'd go crawling
Down the avenue
Know there's nothing
That I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love

I could make you happy
Make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends
Of the Earth for you
To make you feel my love, To make you feel my love"

This - in a nutshell - is the heart of God for every single one of us.

It's for you and me.

The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is right here, embodied in this song, and in the manner of depth and heart by which this young man who sings it.

"For God so loved the world"

Listen again

And let it soak in,

God's love song to you

'Exception'al Living

2012-05-21T17:44:22Z

I dropped my phone in the paint tray. Never have I so willingly plunged my hands into paint. Never before have I run my phone towards water.

We have the ways by which we do life, and then we have the exceptions.

When it comes to phones, the rule is, Do NOT submerge in water.

"Stay away from the water"

But there I was, rushing my IPhone 4S to the water,

Rinsing, washing, rinsing, washing, and then rinsing and washing some more,

Literally aiming that stream of hot water INTO the phone's portals.

It was the strangest thing to find myself doing the exact thing we know we are NOT to be doing.

The exception of course: where said phone is nearly completely submerged in paint.

Half-way through the process I exclaimed, "I cannot believe I am running my phone under water!"

Inexplicable action, that saved my phone.

If I had stuck to the hard and fast rule - Stay Away From Water - my phone would now be encased in a hard coat of paint, never to recover again.

While rules present useful parameters and generally good ways to be doing life, they also generally fall short sooner or later.

Rules are static while life isn't.

A Police Chief said it well, "Rules are for fools while common sense is for people."

I am reminded that the art of life isn't in the rules, its in the exceptions.

'Exception'al living is about knowing when to break the rules.

It's about knowing the bigger picture and serving that, orienting to that.

Rule-living can be pretty small and petty, increasingly narrow and small-minded.

While rule keeping is predictable and controlled, its far too easy to become encased in hard, judgmental paint-like veneers.

Life on the other hand, to be served well, must expand and reach, to stretch and find new grace and fresh manner of being.

Rules will never do this.

After its very hot and thorough washing, my phone went to live in a bucket of rice.

We didn't know if it would recover or not. Would it work?

Taking a full 48 hours for all the water to be absorbed by the rice and removed from the phone, I am happy to report that all appears A-Okay.

And while the goal will never be to plunge a phone into paint ever again,

I am very glad that exceptions are available to us at any time.

Exceptions will always be counter-intuitive,

But by them we are stronger, and life has more give.

A Rock and a Hard Place

2012-05-19T15:46:10Z

Between a rock and a hard spot.

I'm thinking it's the best place to be.

I'm sitting on Mayne Island at our family home. The sun is shining, the house is still quiet, I've got my cup of tea and my little computer, my Bible and journal with a pen in hand and all is well and fine with the world.

It's that moment in time, that day or hour or week, the now, where everything stops for a touch of time.

The needs and the demands and the opportunities are all on hold, standing back.

Into this space I received an email this morning.

In it a reminder that there are ten Ugandan churches eagerly waiting for me to come back their way once more (I'll add those to the other nine invitations from five different countries).

It also contained a plea to help fix a difficulty (I'll add it to the other twenty-plus pleas for help).

All of which are soon-as-possible please.

Now I get this ASAP place, I've a few as-soon-as-possible things laid out before God myself.

And in my younger years I was the ultimate as-soon-as-possible person. In fact, if you asked me when I wanted something done, I would reply, "Yesterday please."

A mover and a shaker I've always been about speed and efficiency and action.

Thank the good Lord above, I've actually been cured of much of this.

(I can hear a few of you laughing)

The thing is, I've found that between a rock and a hard place is that space where we don't have to fix a thing.

Between a rock and a hard place can have us thrashing and rushing and solving,

Or it can be that warm (in coastal BC it would be relished as the one warm place), and cozy and tucked away out of the wind, kind of place,

Where nothing has to be fixed and nothing has be solved.

Where the why's and the how's are held in open hands, but released at the same time.

We don't have to have all the answers, and we don't have to see our way clear of the problem at this time.

Deep into my bones this settled back about fifteen years ago. It was during a particularly rough patch of life. We had little to no food, I had five young children and I had personally gone down to eating one small bit of food a day so that my kids could eat.

This difficulty lasted in varying degrees for more than a years time. I got very used to our fridge being empty. If a friend would happen by and see into our fridge they were shocked... at what I had become very used to.

I tell this story because somewhere during that time I was cured of needing to have things fixed; of rushing to make things better.

(And I've never had to have my fridge or cupboards full ever since)

It settled deep into my psyche that despite the difficulty we were okay.

Was it a difficult time, for sure. Did we survive, yes. Was the way out of that time what I thought it would be, no.

I learned to reconcile the rock and the hard place.

Today, I see others rock-and-hard-places, and I am deeply glad for them. Delighted in an odd way, because I know the growth and faith and the many, many good things that will come out of that place.

Maturity is not something to be taken lightly. Spiritually, emotionally, psychologically we all need growth and stamina and guts, and there is nothing like the hard spots of life to grow these things.

Once we've traversed our own rock-and-hard-places, nothing is scary anymore.

Nothing.

And on top of all this, the rock and hard place is where God lives.

And it is where we can settle; cozy up, entering into 'now' like never before.

That place where pleas and opportunities and questions abound, but not a one of them must be answered at this time.

Between the rock and the hard place is the hardest place to be and the best place to be.

I wouldn't rob anyone of the opportunity to have their own.

Difficulty Joy Trust

2012-05-17T17:06:39Z

I take the time every morning in introspection and prayer. Quieting my heart and mind, centering my runaway emotions and fears and confusions, finding that inexplicable peace from God that quite simply puts a welcome sign on each day.

Today I am meditating on three words: Difficulty, Joy, Trust

Those three, all together like that.

Difficulty Joy Trust

DifficultyJoyTrust

Like they are meant to go together, meant to inspire the other and as though each would be incomplete on their own.

Now, the Joy and the Trust we like, it is the Difficulty that often gets us and that we shy away from.

Today though, I completely get it, really feel it in my gut, that 'Yes!', these three are bosom buddies.

Of course!

"Welcome DifficultyJoyTrust, thank-you for gracing my life."

Throughout the years we have our fair share of difficulty. You have, I have, we all have.

There is not anything any one of us have gone through that there hasn't been someone else who has gone through the same.

Troubles abound

And yet...

In the midst of difficulties the very fibers of our stamina is increased, the muscles of our hearts are strengthened, the capacity for breath in our lungs is expanded.

Difficulty paves the way for Joy to be that much sweeter,

For Trust to be so very real;

Intangible realities that are in fact the very foundation of our lives, and that once we have none can take away.

I've had my own difficulties - things that today I wouldn't wish away if I could.

I've been through times of severe deprivation where I was starving myself so my kids could eat, times where I was dependent on donations of clothes for my kids, and where I didn't know how I was going to pay my bills.

I've been through rape and sexual abuse, and the process of processing all of that. Of getting in touch with all that is not right, of standing my ground and saying 'no more'. Of hard heart work and journey's through inner cauldrons of hate and bitterness and despair.

I've been through loss upon loss. The normal losses and deaths of Grandparents, and then the not-so-normal losses of a brother when I was young and of a grand-daughter just last year.

I've been through a tough marriage, full of addiction and dysfunction and abuse. I've known the loss of dreams and the loss of love. Rejected and dismissed time and again, from numerous sources ...

I've found that life goes on.

And that for all these, because of these difficulties I am stronger and wiser and equipped for great works.

The preparation of difficulties cannot be underestimated,

Neither discounted or wished away.

Difficulties are in fact grand opportunities to use inner strengths we didn't know we have, to find God's strength we didn't know was available to us, and to become the kind of people we've always wanted to be.

This is the Key: It is in the giving over and the relinquishing of every single thing we have held so dear and thought so very important, we find Joy.

When life by virtue of difficulty removes from our beings the 'shoulds',

You know what I am talking about, the 'that should be this way', 'you should do such and such', 'they should yada-yada', 'we should...'

When every 'should' is pressed free from our lives and language and expectations,

Joy floods in as a gentle warm bath, permeating every layer, it is simply there.

When it arrived we cannot tell,

It was somewhere in the midst of the difficulty.

Joy doesn't come when every thing is easy. It comes in difficulty.

Trust too, is the same.

Trust grows as we are broken.

When life throws something at us that tests us to the core, demanding of us to relinquish our very life as we know it,

Then trust really takes root. And we will never be the same

Glory be to God.

"Welcome DifficultyJoyTrust, thank-you for gracing our lives."

May we simply do right by you.

Only Boys

2012-05-15T16:43:31Z

The last weeks my attention has been caught by Britain's Got Talent. With auditions and semi-finals and finals, my votes were on a few notable talents.

Take a few minutes to watch this performance for instance:

Only Boys Aloud - Welsh Choir

I don't know about you, but I found them absolutely beautiful.

Not the only inspiring performance, there were most assuredly others.

And as I watched a number of these auditions a number of times, I was struck by how each didn't really know how they had done.

Would they receive the coveted four 'Yes's' or not?

Just as these lads at the end, so touched and relieved and over-joyed at the favorable response. Surprised in fact.

Yet to those of us watching, it is very apparent very early on that Only Boys Aloud Choir would in fact receive four approvals to the next round.

It wasn't even a question in our minds, they were that good.

We could see it, could feel it.

Yet they didn't know it, didn't have that same confidence.

It was the same with all the very best performances.

While the worst of the performances were truly surprised that they didn't get through, the very best didn't all the way know how great they were.

And isn't this the way with all of us.

We don't really know how we are doing most of the time.

There are most likely brilliant things about the way you are doing life, are you aware of them?

There are most likely brilliant things about the way others around you are doing life,

Have you told them? Given your feedback?

We all need feedback, need to know where we are at and how we stand in any given endeavor.

For only then can we get better. Only then can we become the best we can be.

Give the gift of feedback today.

The Only Boys Aloud Welsh Choir took third place in Britain's Got Talent, but even more than that, they've gone home with a jolt of much needed encouragement and affirmation.

Something that doesn't do any one of us a bit of harm.

Affirm someone today.

Blankets and Afghans and More, Oh My!

2012-05-11T13:13:00Z

My family is busy making blankets. I took the one I am working on to Mayne Island and my few days away this week.

You see, there is a babe added to the family, and this means afghans.

It's a bit of a funny thing, for as I looked around the house on Mayne I saw evidence of years of blanket making.

I napped under a striped afghan that my Grandma crocheted years ago now (I think it is older than my youngest daughter).

There are afghans my Aunt Marge made. With splashes of color and design and basically a really good way to use up random wool, these blankets mark the home in a way... we can't imagine the island house without them.

And then there is a quilt that my sisters and I made back some years for Aunty Marge. With Christmas colors and a trip-around-the-world design, it seems ages since we made that blanket, though I remember the making well.

But this is not all...

In my home, there is an afghan that I made when I was thirteen years old. In butt-ugly green and gold (the color of my bedroom at the time), this darn thing will not die!

Die afghan die!

But no, it hangs on. sigh

And then we have even more blankets and quilts that just won't go away.

When a young bride many years ago, I crafted a blanket out of the parts of old blankets. With layers of old wool blankets and an old comforter (from my mother-in-law) covered by king-size sheets, this old blanket now fills my daughters quilt cover... I cringe when I think of it. (I thought I got rid of it years ago now... only to have it following)

Die comforter die!

There are the quilts I made for the kids. Zack's is ripped and dying, but still it lives on, he washed the poor thing just the other day.

With afghans galore: the one I made teaching Zachary to read, the one I made Rebecca to match her room, the one I made Danielle, the denim quilt I made for Justin out of old jeans, the giant fluffy one I made Alexis (that one is at her house, phew!)...

And the quilts my sister and I would craft and put on walls (we shudder about this now!)

It truly goes on and on.

There was the year my Mom made afghans for all the grand-kids for their birthdays. And then five or so years later (or maybe less) the ones she made for each one at Christmas.

blankets I've made + afghans she's made + blankets I made + afghans she's made X 5 =

These I've tried to store away for them... along with the baby blankets crafted at the hand of an old old friend now deceased, who made crib blankets for every new arrival...

And here... we are now making more.

My niece made one, my Mom is making one, I am making one...

Anyone else making one?

(We don't want Dorian to be cold come summer)

With time and wool the cost of each of these afghans we dare not count, we would prove ourselves even more ridiculous.

But make them we will. And make more in another few more years we will as well.

For there is something in this, as crazy as it feels,

Tangible hand-made knits that demands everything else is set aside to invest in the luxury of 'I made this for you'.

Guess it's not about the blankets,

But about the lives,

And the celebrating of life,

And if we do that through blankets and afghans,

Who am I to suggest otherwise,

Bring on the knitting needles!

Forward Ho

(but green and gold one, you can die any day, really...)

Out of My Heart

2012-05-09T13:22:00Z

I'm working out of my head lately. If you frequent my blog posts you have most likely noticed. And while our heads are important, they are not very moving.

Words without heart, without emotion, fall pretty flat. Even I am not satisfied with some of my posts these last weeks.

The best posts rather are those full of heart and soul. Brimming with raw authenticity these are the ones most loved and commented on; they are the ones that move us.

And I've a little secret to share. The only way for me to write from that place is to be in touch with sorrow and sadness.

When I am upbeat and in task mode, there is nothing inspiring to write.

The best writing comes out of my personal depths of difficulty and pain. Not that everything has to be going bad in order to get a good post, but I must be in touch with all that is not right and good.

'In touch' being the operative word.

To feel the depths of sadness sets the stage to feel the depths of delight and joy.

Without the stretch the one way, we cannot stretch the other way.

And safety in the middle, that controlled space where nothing is too bad or (god-forbid) too good, results in nothing. We simply are not moved.

We are working out of our heads.

Creativity rather, that place of an artist, comes from that core depth deep inside us. From the guts of our existence and experiences, here is where we find gold.

It is interesting that creativity is what saves us. Studies have shown that when we engage our creativity, regardless of what that might be, we no longer have need for addictions or false happiness of any sort.

Creativity draws from us something by which we are saved.

Its that depth of knowing, of raw reflection and naked frankness by which we come to enjoy life.

For art requires vulnerability and risk and that place where we put ourselves out there.

So in this head space, I'm working to connect with my heart. To feel the vulnerabilities, to name the dichotomies, to honestly see the difficulties, to cry aloud all of which terrifies me...

To enter into grace.

It is the very thing we shrink from the most,

Becoming the very thing which saves us.

A Great Journey

2012-05-07T16:10:00Z

Transitions are powerful yet never easy. Life is full of them, these shifts and changes of landscape and journeying, movement that we must all make in and of ourselves.

Perhaps you are in your own transition, becoming a new creature yourself, moving in new ways, stretching to reach for things you had not reached for before, and others around you are not so impressed, and certainly don't know what to do with themselves in context of you.

My own journey has been full of people not able to carry on alongside me. And while it has been a disillusioning process with much grief, I've learned a few things along the way and perhaps I can validate and encourage what I suspect is your journey as well.

The image that comes to mind is that of a train. You start off from the station, slowly at first, taking an easy pace for some time in fact. Those on board are enjoying the breeze, there is excitement in the air, you are all in this together and things look great.

But then the train catches into the next gear, the wind whips by a little faster, and a few of those on board are not okay any longer. It's going too fast, the scenery flashes by a little too quickly, there are a few unknowns coming to light, not everything is as sure as it could be, and before you know it a few dear friends have fallen off at the side.

At some point in time the pace picks up even more. And if there wasn't difficulty enough, you are now traveling through mountains. With cliffs dropping off into hundred-foot drops, with heart-numbing tunnels at which (for some time) there is no light at the end, and with corners that test the stoutest of souls, another number of those who've been alongside simply yet hastily get off at the next available stop.

Not only does the train not stop, it actually picks up speed. Now you are really moving. This train is really traveling. Gathering momentum you are out of the mountains and on the long stretches of prairie. While the risks are not so profound, the speed has increased and the destination is not so much somewhere to arrive at, but a process by which to live. And still more drop off at the sides.

At this point in the story, repeat and then repeat some more, repeat and then repeat some more.

The first few times I encountered this kind of loss and cost in the journey, the grief wracked my being for weeks. There was disillusionment and dismay. I would wonder about myself, looking for who to blame and where to launch my disappointments.

But of course, while grieving is always useful, looking to hurt someone as keenly as that hurt is piercing my own heart is never a good solution (and that is an understatement).

Learning to grieve and to let go, allowing compassion to coat all of our relationships simply makes it plain that not everyone can move alongside where we are called to go, and that is simply OK.

We don't need to fix it, don't need to manage or manipulate a different outcome.

Grieving creates nimbleness in our hearts. For what this train story does not show, is that at every phase along the way, new people are coming on board.

At every stage there are those who come on board for a specific time and place and gift set added to the journey. They are very rarely those we began the journey with, they are new contacts, new hearts, new souls alongside which we travel.

So while the journey is never easy, it is incredibly rich.

I've also come to see that the input of each individual along the way is not diminished by their not being able to stay on the train. Rather the ability to recognize and commend and thank each and every person along the way, opens our own hearts and minds to receive others who have yet to come on board.

Once we release the ones who have dropped off, we can accept and fully embrace those who are set to journey a future piece of our landscape.

I don't know your journey or your own transitional times, but I do know that the people change along the way. Take this to heart, cry and grieve the loss and the cost, as many times as you need.

But the real point: keep your heart open and your life nimble to welcome and embrace those who will show up at that next part of your journey. They will bring something that the others could not bring, something that you will need for that next step.

Incredible bounty

Inestimable Value

2012-05-05T09:58:03Z

Imagine if you will for a moment, that you have a person by your side of inestimable value; a person who has made themselves invaluable to you. A person who knows what is important to you, what makes you tick, how you work best and the values by which you work.

Just imagine.

There is a Pastor Edison in Uganda, overseeing a number of churches throughout the surrounding area where he lives.

The day I spoke at his church I spoke of this:

"Imagine that Pastor Edison has a helper. But not just any helper. Imagine that this helper has made it top priority to know Pastor Edison. And not to just know him but to study him. To find out what is important to him.

What does he value, how does he go about his work, what is the manner of his interactions, what are his nonnegotiables? What are his goals and dreams, and what are the priorities in the churches he oversaw?

Imagine that before this person really offers what s/he might bring to the table, the first months are spent simply studying Pastor Edison. Just imagine that this person gets it that to know Pastor Edison is the first and foremost key to being useful to Pastor Edison, and to the surrounding parish"

As I asked there I will ask here, "Would this person be of use to Pastor Edison?"

Would this person have made him or herself incredibly invaluable?

The answer of course: and with a wide grin and dancing eyes, Pastor Edison gave a hearty, "Yes!"

It is the dream (and deep need) of every leader to have such a one(s) by their side.

I had been reading the book of Daniel in the Old Testament.

Daniel is a fantastic book that tells us so, so much about being promoted within a kingdom.

While many believe that promotion comes only to the lucky or the wealthy or by some off-chance, the story of Daniel in the time of the Babylonians testifies otherwise.

Promotion is never chance.

Daniel starts off as a foreigner in the land. The Israelites had been taken captive by the Babylonians, and Daniel finds himself a young man in service to the King.

We find a number of different things about Daniel and his character and service.

First off, we find that Daniel had a few of his own integrity points by which he wants to live, and he holds these close to himself, defends them and through tact and wisdom does not give them over to the oversight of anyone else.

Only a few times do we read of Daniel standing firm in his own stuff for his own stuff sake, but firm he does stand.

Daniel held to a level of personal integrity which powerfully paved the way for the rest of his incredible service to the Kings that came and went during his lifetime.

Reading further and as the stories are told, with snapshots of encounters with the Kings, we find Secondly that Daniel honors Kings.

He honored the earthly kings, and he honored the King of Heaven.

Daniel sought to know the hearts and motives and values of the Kings, and his service was always in fact a service to each King. He came to deeply love the Kings, and wanted only success and safety and prosperity for them.

Daniel was that one by the side, the one of inestimable value.

And because of this, his influence grew and grew and grew.

For you see, the King could trust him.

Daniel had proven over and over that he was there for the King,

And because the King could trust him, he entrusted him with his Kingdom.

Now, it is the same in this life, with us as people in our jobs and companies and organizations, and it is the same with the King of this Universe.

Promotions happen as we prove our trustworthiness.

It is all a test,

"Who can I trust?" is the question every leader is asking.

The entire Bible is God's letter sharing (his) heart with us. We find God's nonnegotiables. We find God's passions. We find God's values. We find God's manner of work and priorities.

God is putting it all out there, "Here read of me, find out what makes me tick, what is important to me. I am looking for those who will serve alongside me, but first you must know me. Who will take the time to study me?"

It is the wise person who studies God, to find out how to serve and to be of inestimable value.

Like any wise person in any company or organization, the one who wants to be advanced seeking to study and learn the values and priorities and heart,

In like form, as we pour ourselves out in service to The King,

Proving that we are oriented to the King,

Taking our cues from the King,

Seeing all of life as through the eyes of The King,

We will be entrusted more and more, bit by bit, with the King's Kingdom.

Trusted with the King's priorities and heart and vision...

Inestimable value

Live to Win

2012-05-04T15:57:38Z

Life is a test

Presuming that something matters,

Each test gauges our progress,

Ensures our movement, pace and process.

Tests are for us,

And tests are for instructors.

"How might we advance this person?"

"Is this person ready for promotion?"

It doesn't matter the size of the test,

The importance of the test,

All of life is a test.

Will we give it our best shot,

Or will we cry foul?

From day one I've told my kids,

"Govern yourself or I will govern you."

"Control yourself or I will control you. Which would you rather have?"

A test,

How will you do?

Will you take the challenge,

Or cry foul?

With equal opportunity for success,

All of us can prove ourselves in some way.

Life is in fact begging us to prove ourselves.

The gifts and talent that are inherent in you,

Must follow their own sequence in the releasing,

Their own path revealed.

Is the challenge taken,

Are the gifts revealed,

Or do we cry foul?

A sky-scraper must be preceded by a very large hole and substantial foundation,

That bridge across the large river takes years of infrastructure being built,

Can the company last the digging,

Can the workers stand the years?

In each of our own lives, we are the company, we are the worker,

Can we stand the heat.

Or will we cry foul?

Heat endured strengthens our stamina,

Veins come out as gold,

Dross is burned away,

Our resilience is established,

Our inner muscles of heart and soul refined and polished.

Will we endure the test,

Or cry foul?

Tested and proven to handle some,

We are given more,

Tested and proven to handle more,

We are given much.

Tests of attitude,

Courage,

Fortitude,

Stamina of heart and mind, soul and spirit,

Will we be moved, stretched, strengthened,

Or cry foul?

Can we be trusted,

Are we up for challenges,

Do we live to win or to simply get by.

A Gift

2012-04-27T16:42:57Z

Baby Dorian has graced us with his presence. Such an incredibly sweet thing to welcome a little one into the world.

It has been a full couple of days.

Last week on the first of two long plane rides home from Uganda, I spent a bit of time decompressing, grieving over a few things, shedding a few worthwhile tears, and of course one of those things to grieve still more was the loss of my granddaughter Anna not quite a year ago.

I had just been praying miracles of heart and soul and body over many individuals in Uganda, and was so so sad that I had not been able to pray Anna back to life last May of 2011.

Looking ahead to increasing signs and wonders by God's power yet through my own hands, I was simply hear-sick that these gifts were not there for her.

It has been a poison creeping into my heart.

We have all known that Dorian was arriving. Making preparations in many ways, my home has happily burgeoned to fit a bassinet and baby clothes and a bouncy-roo-thing. With teething ring and facecloths and baby dishes all in the cupboard...

All signs of life arriving. While still grappling with a life lost.

I am so glad for God and life alongside the Spirit.

(and that is an understatement)

Just last Saturday I was spending some time before the Lord, and taking this poison of regret in my heart to Jesus I was healed.

It is the same healing we are bringing to many in Uganda. The same healing that in RESTORATION Prayer many find relief.

With God's hand on my heart the poison was drawn. Drained away by the power of our living God. Nothing can mimic this, there is no substitute.

All in perfect time

This past week I've been free and clear of regret and excess sorrow. With things set straight by my God, my heart received the last freedoms it needed to fully welcome Dorian.

All in perfect time

Making it into the delivery room just moments after he'd arrived, nestled on his Mamma's belly and with the umbilical cord still attached he has been free to arrive simply as Dorian.

And with a few tears shared with my daughter (it is impossible to welcome one baby without remembering the last baby lost), we are heading forward into the future.

Dorian is a Greek name and it means 'Gift'

Exactly what we all needed.

All in perfect time.

Everything About God

2012-04-24T16:19:06Z

Yesterday my post was more advertising than blogging, more fundraising than blogging.

It is something I don't do very often at all, but when I do, everyone is VERY SILENT.

Tis' an interesting phenomenon.

So I thought I'd break the silence.

Money is an interesting thing. It holds our affections in surprisingly strong ways, with each of us holding all sorts of rules about money. When we should or should not speak of it. What and how we do what we do with it.

There is nothing that reveals our inner person quite like money.

Nothing like money to have some walls put up high, like we don't know our own boundaries, or are afraid of being scammed, or know our vulnerability and therefore have to extend extra battalions to battle for us.

I get the impression that we are all pretty confused about money, or at the very least deeply afraid in some way, and others simply insulted.

My own process of emotionally and psychologically processing money has taken some years to be sure.

And a lot of intention.

For years and years I read book after book on budgeting and budgeting and budgeting, ad-nauseum.

Not one of those books gave me what I was truly looking for.

They told me the steps to fiscal responsibility, practical to-do's about this and that, but none of these things helped. I didn't need more information about money.

I wanted to get to know money; to experience money on a visceral level and to understand money from the core of my gut and through my emotions.

It wasn't until the book by Lynn Twist, The Soul of Money came out, that I finally found what I had been looking for. If there is any book you read this year, make it this one. Profound and delightful, heartbreaking and completely visceral.

Money savvy from the inside out. Exactly what I'd always been looking for.

Through this book, and the testimony of others that same season of my life, I began to understand money as an expression of what I consider most important. Where I spend it or don't spend it, invest it or don't invest it, reveals what is most important to me.

I also learned, really saw and got it, that to participate in a great cause with my financial gifts was an incredible privilege. And to invite others to participate in a great cause with their financial gifts, invited others into an incredible privilege.

Lynn was the fundraiser for an organization working to eradicate world hunger. And through her 15 years in that position of fundraiser, she clearly came to see that to invite others to donate was in fact an invitation to be blessed right back.

And through her testimony, and the witness of others, my judgments that to 'ask for money is bad', began to shift and open up with wider understanding. I got it in my gut that to fund-raise is in fact an invitation to others to get in on the blessing.

There are various ways that we might participate in the blessings of God. My last trip to Uganda my host home for three-plus weeks was in the home of Edith, a beautiful woman and heart.

One day I was thanking her for her incredible hospitality, and she pointed my attention to Matthew 10:43, "If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as the prophet."

This is profound. And Edith gets this.

My role in Uganda, and as that extends to other countries, is in the capacity of a prophet. The work is a prophets work. And I know the promises and the rewards that God has and is giving me, and to clearly see that those same things will be Edith's, wow, Thank-You Lord! Yes and Amen!

I am delighted for her. And still more, my own confidence is increased in terms of inviting others into this work.

Whether that is volunteering time and effort here in Canada, whether that is risking to travel with me on a trip, or whether that is in financially backing the work no matter how much or how little, it is all the same opportunity.

Invest where God is and the investment comes back hundred-fold.

The law of sowing and reaping has us receiving back multiple times over what we put in. This works on every single area of our lives.

Sow a judgment, get that judgment back, multiple times over.

Sow honor, get that honor back, multiple times over.

Whether for good or bad, what we sow, what we invest or plant, comes back at us, multiple times over.

Our money is the same. Where are we investing it, what are we sowing.

We don't just want to be investing it anywhere. We want to be investing it where the hand of God is. Where the spirit of the living Lord is pressed down.

We want to invest it in open heaven ministries, where favor is evident, where miracles are taking place, where open doors are without end, for here is the heart of God. It is alongside Him that we want to invest.

Because we want more back than just more money. We want that same favor and blessing and promises and rewards that go to the prophets, we want the same open heavens over our own lives, we want more of God.

We want miracles in our own lives. So we invest where the miracles are happening.

We invest where God is evident. Where are you seeing Him today?

Though only occasionally using this blog as a fundraising platform, we will continue to invite you in various ways to invest in Capturing Courage International. And not because our budgeting got out of whack, but because God is doing something here.

The forward movement and open doors and exponential increase in the work already (and we've really just begun), is mind blowing.

Those on the team, can barely keep up.

We are in so many ways overwhelmed by blessing, and we will continue to invite you into this work because we know that you will be blessed in return.

The homes where I stayed in Uganda have changed. My first trip there was a palpable sense of poverty in the one home, this second trip, that is no longer there. Instead there is sufficiency and tangible prosperity. And joy is now there as well.

My other host-home has also exponentially increased in favor and delight, and in tangible prosperity, with God thick on the ground there. It is truly amazing.

The prophecies and anointing and open doors and favor is nothing about us, it is everything about God. And you just might want to get in on some of that.

Just maybe

Advertising

2012-04-23T16:11:03Z

If you have been keeping up with my blogging this last month, you will have seen that the work of joining the living God in Africa is dynamic and alive.

It has certainly been a pleasure sharing the experience with you.

And I trust that you have been blessed as much as I.

Thank-You so much your prayers!

Coming home is always an interesting thing. I love being back in Canada. I love re-settling into my home and with my kids. I love re-settling into the work here, before I head back again.

I love taking stock of each trip, settling it before the Lord and inquiring of Him.

And one of the things that needs attention, one of the things that blew apart on this last trip was the finances.

We had budgeted as best we could, but once in the country the transportation to go from church to church each and every day, took on unexpected proportions.

Bottom-line: Our bottom-line doesn't look so good.

I write today with an invitation to join in with this work via your donations.

While it wouldn't take much to make up the losses of this last trip, we simply need your help to set us straight, and ready to get on with preparations for trips to come.

Will you help us out with your donation?

There are a few ways you might do this:

One is by mailing a cheque made out to Cyndy Lavoie, to this address:

Cyndy Lavoie
306-15322 101 Avenue
Surrey, BC, Canada
V3R 4G9

The other way is to make a donation via PayPal, to the email:

cyndy@capturingcourage.org

(click the donate button to go to PayPal)

ALSO and in addition to this money stuff, we are having a:

Ugandan Update Story & Pictures
this next Sunday afternoon - April 29th, 2012
10082 160th Street, Surrey BC
2:30 - 4:00 pm

This is the time and place to hear a more detailed report about this last trip to Uganda, to get in on more of the stories and specific touches of God, as well as looking forward with us to all that might be in the future.

(Please note that these Story & Picture Times are NOT fundraisers. When we do fundraisers we will say 'this is a fundraiser')

Bottom line: With your interest and prayers we are simply stronger.

Better together is the name of the game!

~ You are Invited ~

We would simply love to have you there.
Please bring a plate of goodies to share, and RSVP by emailing cyndy@capturingcourage.org

"I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yea, wait for the Lord."
Psalm 27:13&14

Great Works

2012-04-19T16:27:59Z

I'm home.

The tasks around the house, the re-settling in, the unpacking, making a cup of tea in my own home, climbing into my own bed, are all small yet unbelievably sweet groundings.

Taking a few days to simply be in my home and with my kids has me tickled-pink.

And in the midst of my comforting familiar, I am struck with stunning clarity that my life will not be the same, and has dramatically and already in fact...

Changed.

While unpacking I think about putting the band-aids that I took in a small zip-lock away...

But why? my mind asks, I'll just need it again in a few months, just the way it is, all ready for the next trip. And then the next one after that, and the one after that.

And in my gut I am struck by how life will in fact never be the same,

Ever again.

With commitments to Madudu, Uganda in August,

With nine other districts in Uganda fiercely wanting me back,

With others waiting on 'a trip-in-the-planning to Tanzania ASAP'

With regular emails from Mozambique, "When are you coming?"

With fresh invites and plans-being-made to have me in Rwanda and Burundi,

And with an email upon my arrival home, "Please come to Pakistan"

I grasp that I must fully shift.

Not shift a bit,

Not even some,

Not partway or just enough,

But that all of heart and mind and spirit must fully enter this work, and that to do so,

I must change.

My commitments must be deeper,

My riskings-of-self more profound.

I am a coach after all. Trained to ask questions, trained to help others succeed, today I am most grateful to make good use of my own training.

And as a coach I know full well that 'who I was yesterday got me to today' but 'who I am today will not get me to tomorrow'.

To enter tomorrow's work, if it is to be dynamic and newly relevant, I must engage and personally invest in a deeper and fuller way than I've ever before imagined and have not yet experienced.

So I am coaching myself this morning:

"What change in your daily habits today, might ensure the greatest success tomorrow?"

"If there was one commitment that would dramatically move you toward this new future, what might that be?"

"What needs to happen in our home while I am home, to ensure success for my kids while I am away?"

"How do we take this shift in my work and use it as a catalyst in my kids lives?"

"What is the work that must be done 'while home' that sets up the 'work away' at best advantage?"

With these only some of what I am asking myself, I am keenly aware that this inquiry place must not be rushed, not skimmed over, not hastened away.

That time taken to ask what we don't know is time well spent.

For while we build on the groundings of our past success, in order to make the most of our futures, we must be open to completely new ways of thinking and seeing, the blinders must come off of our visions and understandings.

The commitments of yesterday got me to today,

but tomorrow needs new commitments.

I've no idea how to live a life of home 2-3 months then gone 1-2 months, little idea of how to pour out to many and how to fully refresh in-between-times...

I've certainly got more questions than answers,

And that, is exactly the recipe for success.

Remaining in the inquiry place,

Refusing to have to have the answer today, or even tomorrow,

All the while making radical commitments of self,

Is exactly where the great works are done.

And I am looking to do a great work.

After all, why not?

Without Guile

2012-04-16T06:29:11Z

There have been many precious moments as I've been in Uganda.

With only two days until I leave for home they are beginning to replay through my mind. And a few are standing out as the very best moments.

Being my second trip to some of the same areas I've been re-meeting many. And while the women whom I didn't meet on the first trip warmly greet me, those women I met before literally throw themselves into my arms.

Forget the handshake, forget any social protocol of greeting, enthusiastic arms-around-my-waist, head on my chest, hugs have been the standard of many.

And I'll never forget the woman whom I danced with one day, and the next saw me at a distance and ran full on and into my arms in welcome.

I cannot quite describe the feelings produced in me at such unrestrained shows of affection, other than profound humility and a wondering at the impact I am bringing.

I really only get it in part.

The men too are not shy to hug and to welcome, and as they jostle for pictures and conversation we simply enjoy each others company.

And I'll never forget the frail elderly man whose eyes begged a dance, and so hand in hand he and I dance a jig, a slow jig to be sure, but a jig nonetheless. And with beauty and joy pouring out of his eyes, loving adoration pouring over me I simply blessed him back with the honor of a dance.

It is the least I could do, and the most I could do.

Complete satisfaction.

At one school I visited, with the choir singing for me, a few of the boys one by one made their way to the front to express their delight with the movements of traditional Ugandan dance.

I so wish I had caught it on film. The strength and risk of men shining through these small ones as they took courage to strut-their-stuff as a gift of welcome for the visitor.

Quite simply brought me to tears, if I could have stopped right there and wept I would have.

The songs composed and made just for "our dear Cyndy" caught my heart just as strongly. And I wonder at how profoundly easy it is to bless others...

Simply get on a plane and visit some people.

But I know it is more of that. I trust the real impact is that I am bringing a touch of God with me. And more than me I trust it is God in me to which others are responding.

A few of the smallest children responded in unreserved and uncharacteristic abandon.

Most of the kids shyly yet confidently (they've been taught well how to greet a visitor) came forward extending their hands for a shake, greeting me with a 'Welcome'. Others hung back, eyes wide and wondering, not quite sure about this visitor and certainly not interested in risking to touch.

And then there were a few set apart, whose actions caught my breath in my chest.

One little boy seeing I was near as I sat on a neighboring bench, all of a sudden came as a bee-line to my side and pressed in against my leg.

He couldn't get close enough.

I wrapped my free arm around him (the other had a baby) and there he stayed for a good while, some twenty minutes easily. Leaning in, drawing something to himself, blessing me with his unreserved and abandoned company. My heart caught with the wonder of it.

And just the other day the same.

While visiting a community, listening to the song of a gentleman as he played for us, out of the corner of my eye I saw a Mom with her little girl in her arms. This little one was struggling to get down and I wondered what it was about.

I soon found out, for once she succeeded in being placed on the ground, she immediately came to me and in one fluid motion as if we had known each other since her birth and visited every day, she was on my lap.

And there she settled in. Leaning back her head on my chest, snuggling in without a care in the world.

I held her for some time, as we enjoyed the music together.

While I am blown away by the love and hugs and dances with the men and the women, these validations of the children are what catch me off guard.

Without masks and without guile they are the truest gauge in all the world. Children see what we as adults can no longer see. Their perceptions are the truest, their candor the most free.

"For such is the kingdom of heaven"

Something we can all hope to be one day.

Healing

2012-04-10T03:33:00Z

I've been learning about miracles. Waiting on the Lord for miracles. Been anointed time and again for signs and wonders.

The anointing has been increasing incrementally over the last few years, and exponentially the last few months.

Having been in the business of emotional healing and heart miracles for some time now, years of inner healing and deliverance has me completely confident that when I pray/declare something freed off of a person that it happens. It is done.

Strongholds are broken. New opportunities await. Lies are released. Freedoms are found. Bonds are finished. Strength is imparted.

There is no doubt. No double-mindedness. No wavering.

But when it comes to physical healing, I am still a novice.

Still learning, still experimenting, still trying to figure it out.

Two weeks ago, praying for person after person, there came a woman who had trouble with her colon; it would come out of her body when she used the toilet.

I am really glad that no one could tell what I was saying as I with quiet dismay softly prayed out loud,

"God, I haven't the slightest clue what I am doing."

"Nor how you heal this kind of thing. I simply ask that you heal her."

I then received a picture of the fibers around her colon being stitched back together, so I declared this, spoke what I saw and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I don't what happened for her, if anything. But the picture I received gives me hope that perhaps something healed for her that day.

A dozen or more people down the line, came a boy of about 12 who was deaf in his left ear. Again, in dismay and softly out loud, this was my prayer that time,

"God, I am afraid of having you pour through me. I feel as though you will consume me if you pour through. But today, I give you permission to destroy me if that is what it will take to heal this boy. I am okay with your destruction of me if it will heal him."

And the boy was healed.

My hand was over his ear as I was praying that rather unorthodox prayer. I felt nothing, but upon testing he could hear.

We smiled, and those in line who had witnessed clapped.

And I wasn't consumed, and I wasn't destroyed, I'm here to tell about it.

What I am learning is that healing comes when ones heart is moved by God's heart for another. This in turn moves God's heart, and with two hearts in tandem for someone else, healings are the result.

But I am still afraid.

Afraid to pray individually over person after person for hours on end.

Afraid of exhaustion. Afraid of being consumed. Afraid of being poured out. Literally.

Simply afraid.

The day I prayed strongholds off of an entire area I was exhausted afterward. And with fifty children and twenty adults then pressing in for handshakes and hugs and well wishes, I was simply relieved that Moses had fired up the motorcycle and all I had to do was make a run for it and we were gone.

There are a lot of growing pains to go through in the months and years to come. I am glad I don't have to learn it all at once.

And I am glad that God is big enough for my fear, and I am glad that God will wait on me as I adapt and grow into this calling.

And I am glad to know that what was hard years back is now easy today, and therefore, what is hard today, will simply be easy in the future.

That day of healings, as I was leaving there was a boy of about 7 years of age. His right hand was lame. It hung limp and useless. I touched his hand, spoke some words while I massaged it, willing healing to come.

I encouraged him to flex his fingers, to open and close his hand. The other children all around helped to tell him what I was wanting, and he began to move his hand, flexing his fingers in and out.

I don't know if his hand has been healed or not.

But I realize that healing is the same muscle as being healed. We must flex it, and test it, and want it bad enough to risk it not happening, and to keep on asking anyway.

Small

2012-04-08T03:42:00Z

Having come back from a lovely afternoon, I'm feeling a touch low as I write this today.

Met another group of fabulous folk, spoke a good word that the Lord had laid on my heart, prayed release of burdens, shook many hands, received warm accolades.

The same as every day.

Everywhere I go I receive, "We love you so much"

Women hugging me, running to me, children shaking my hands till I am almost buried under them, men deeply appreciative, warm handshakes all around

With a number every single day declaring, "I am changed today because of what you shared, Thank-you."

With those who are with me, affirming and confirming all I am doing; amazed and inspired and changed themselves.

Testifying to what God is bringing through me, that we are seeing miracles of heart, mind and body.

So why am I feeling low today.

Because, as nice as validation and praise is, there is something as hollow in praise as there is in anything.

Regardless of our work, we come home at the end of the day and we are human; common, ordinary folk with ordinary problems.

Even when the work is not common, nor ordinary, we remain so,

And a vast dichotomy comes into existence.

You see, this dichotomy either drives us to our knees, or we must quit the work.

Whenever we enter into work far bigger than ourselves, we must be okay with profound humility.

That feeling of being very small.

The sense that one could be, is being, overwhelmed at any moment.

It is a vulnerable place. It is a fragile in the midst of great strength place.

And I think it is one of the reasons that we intuitively avoid great work.

Why we shy away from that which is bigger than us.

For we will find ourselves so much smaller than we ever imagined ourselves to be.

It is a misnomer (for the most part) that those in positions of great authority and power are arrogant.

My own experience is that it is the small and weak that rely on arrogance.

The government leaders, police chief leader, mayor and such that I met this trip, have been some of the most humble men I've met.

Men who stated, we cannot do this job on our own. We need help.

They know their frailty in the face of great responsibility. And that isn't a place of pride, but of humility.

Coming face to face with all we are not, is one of the scariest things on earth.

And those stretching into something bigger than themselves, are the ones entering that place.

So, lets toss aside the false humility, that says we cannot do something great because "Who are we?"

That kind of thinking... is pride,

Humility on the other hand, enters into where one might be consumed and lost,

Pride protects self,

While humility gives self away.

Pride ensures we are up to the task,

While humility knows we are not,

And gets on with it anyway.

So I am simply feeling small today,

Something I'd better get used to,

As I've a feeling there is great work to do

100%

2012-04-06T08:58:12Z

I am amazed at the audacity of some. Actually, the audacity of one.

The audacity that believes oneself the gatekeeper, the manager, the owner of another's calling or dream or vision.

This picture that I've now embarked upon, of preaching and praying in Africa, was given to me some 30 years ago.

The preparation time: ... 30 years

And I find myself in Africa with a particular individual, whom I've only known for four months, believing he is the boss, the manager of this gifting, the gatekeeper so to speak.

He is making (or trying to make) the decisions, calling the shots, and somehow all of a sudden I am on HIS team. Wow, how did that happen?!

What is so astounding, is he has no clue how ignorant he is being. Not the slightest clue.

I find this absolutely shocking. An arrogance of incredible proportions, I am stunned and without words.

Except, that along the way and during the latter half of my preparation years. There were those at home who imagined themselves the same.

One in particular actually. One who wanted the say on my life. One who wanted the say about what I did or didn't do.

The same arrogance, just slightly more refined and professional, and hidden.

It is an incredible evil.

Something must be said about this kind of thing. Not because I've found it in Africa, but because it is symptomatic around the world.

There is always someone who supposes him or herself the ultimate boss. Setting themselves up as the gatekeeper, the one to go through, the one to approve or not.

And we, like sheep, give them the say. We turn over the authority of our lives to the arrogant and ill-informed and puffed up.

We can always spot them. They are the ones who ask no questions. Who do not seek to understand the bigger picture of our lives. They simply dictate, from their own best knowledge.

The one at home I invited time and again to check out what I was doing. Come to hear me at this place. Send another to find out when I am hosting this or that. Find out what you want, check it out, check me out.

It NEVER happened. Not once.

But still pronouncements of doom were given. Great threats and stories of bogey-men.

Arrogance - profound arrogance.

Not a stitch of those predictions have come true, not a one.

Bottom line is this: When we give our lives over to the opinions and 'advice' of those who fancy themselves the gatekeepers, we participate in the undoing of our lives.

We become party to the problem.

I'll never forget years back now, speaking to a gentleman who worked at the Dream Center in L.A. about his work feeding the homeless, and of callings of the Lord.

He said this, "Your dream is yours, the vision given to you is yours to carry. It does not belong to any other, and no one else will carry it for you."

True, succinct, profound.

We must carry the weight and responsibility and authority of the visions and callings given to us. Or quite simply we are not worthy of stepping into that very thing.

Whatever your vision or dream or calling, that thing in the back of your mind you've always thought of doing,

Protect it,

Nurture it,

Invest in it,

Cooperate with it,

And never, never, ever give it away.

It is yours 100%

Waiting

2012-04-02T11:38:21Z

If my last trip to Uganda was called 'Experiencing' this trip is called 'Learning'.

It's as though all the previous dozen years of visions and prophecy and wisdom is coming together into one dynamic whole.

All of what I am to be about, and what I am not to be about, is getting washed through in the mix of these days.

Like panning for gold, all the superfluous matter is being washed away.

I can't tell you how good this feels.

To have a vision fine-tuned down to the very work, to the very core, means there is so much not to be done, that simplicity is all that is left.

But it's not been without it's challenges. There are those who would like to take what I am bringing to the table and organize it and plan for it and around it and into the future with it.

But of course... none of that is going to happen.

We've entered a new era in time. It's not just through what I am doing and how God is leading me, but it is showing up across the globe and in almost every sector of society.

It's the ability to move with agility and to remain nimble. To move with clear purpose but without a plan that is unwieldy or locks any one of us into place.

It is the era of the artist.

No matter your work or aspirations, your gifts or callings, the work of an artist is that which flows out of the core of our beings. Artists best work comes in the flow of our days and out of the depths of our hearts.

The guiding mantra of the artist are not clocks and time-frames, calendars or others expectations, but work that exemplifies care and expertise, work of masters and skilled craftsmen,

Work delivered right on time

In the words of Frederick Buechner, "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the worlds deep hunger meet."

It is the work of an artist.

The way of 9-5 and you are guaranteed a paycheck have passed. (In case you didn't know it).

The work that pays the most these days are the works that come out of our very guts. Out of our souls and spirits.

But it is exactly the kind of work we shy away from,

For it is work that requires we give of ourselves, in great risk and with great passion.

This is the kind of work, the only kind of work, that meets the worlds deep hunger.

And it is the only kind of work that will ever satisfy. And the world is ready and waiting for this work. For the very work that will spring from your core is desperately needed somewhere.

It's why every time a baby's birth is announced I write, "Welcome to the world little one, the world has been waiting for you."

Because it's true.

Every single one of us have something unique to bring to the world, and each one of us have been uniquely positioned to bring that something, whether we know it or not, whether we will go after it or not,

It is there, waiting to be released, waiting to bless and be blessed

Every one of us has something that others are desperate for. Every one of us has something that others have been praying for. Every one of us has a touch of God that will change lives,

If we just take the time to touch, to reach, to stretch out past our comfort zones.

It is an exhilarating ride to say the least, scary as heck, uncertain as anything ever was, but oh so stunning in the process,

The world truly is waiting for you