It’s day 13 of 31 days to Living Bravely. There is no brave without the power of God’s Word living deep within us. Find some index cards and start building your go to verses. Joshua 1:9 is one of mine. Please share one of yours.

Just click here to view the 31 days series.

Finish. This word just kept bugging me. Has that ever happened to you? A word, a concept grabs your attention and will not let go.

Last month as I was wrestling with the idea of joining the 31 day series, that word finish lay heavy. It seemed obvious to me that the connection between living bravely and finishing would be a blog post for the end of the month. The obvious led to feeling quite unsettled about it.

What if living bravely needed to start with finish?

As that question tumbled around between my head and heart, I watched this video on Beth Moore’s blog. It’s a challenging word and definitely worth the 13 minutes of your time. Here it is.

I think the things left undone or unfinished distract us from doing what God has called us to do. That distraction can keep us stuck. We worry. We obsess. It’s continually on our minds. Finishing that thing redirects our focus. Finishing is freeing.

What’s undone for you? What do you need to finish? Me??? Well, I need to finish some ministry things in order for me to be involved in more ministry things. My unfinished projects are distracting. Can I be honest and tell you they are also, in their own way, comfortable and safe.

But that’s not living bravely. So I need to get busy. Being a part of this 31 days is a start.

I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me… Acts 20:24

This is day 8 of 31 Days to Living Bravely. To view the series, just click here.

 

It’s the weekend! For the 31 days series on Saturdays and Sundays, the plan is to share some of my favorite quotes and verses that challenge me to do life bravely. I’m always looking for new ones. Please share in the comments.

 

 

Missed a day? Just click here for the index.

 

 

This week Holley asked us to write a letter of encouragement to a fellow dreamer. Here’s mine…

To my Guy,

Make us ready. Those words. Those words formed a prayer that we prayed over and over and over again for many years. Lord, make us ready.

Ready for what, we weren’t sure. Maybe what we were really asking for was His dream for our lives. Lord, help us to dream.

And then it happened. You lost your job. To be honest, that’s not exactly what I was expecting. But it had to start there, didn’t it? Maybe beginning the adventure of a God-sized dream starts with loss. Maybe that’s how God makes room for the new thing.

That loss opened the doors to something I never imagined for you, for us. I probably wasn’t your biggest cheerleader in the beginning. I was scared to death! But you just kept walking through each open door. As scary and as crazy as it all was, each step, you kept faithfully putting one foot in front of the other.

I’m not sure you would say it was your dream, but God made it very clear it was His. And you followed.

Your obedience to serve the people of District 15 as their State Senator is a wonder to watch. I know it’s hard. The days are long. The issues facing our state are intense. It’s a challenge every day to be a bright light for Jesus in a very dark place. You do it well.

You are teaching our girls and me what it looks like to follow hard after God when the dream is not something you would have chosen for yourself. God chose it for you and you said YES.

All of your Brown girls are so very proud of you.

As we continue to daily pray those words still – make us ready – I promise to go with you wherever God’s dreams take you. I’m your girl.

 

Can you think of someone today who might need a little encouragement as they walk out God’s dream? Maybe a note, a call, a text? It will mean the world to them. I know it will.

To connect with other encouraging dreamers, just click here.

It’s been fun reading about some amazing dreams that God has birthed in some amazing women’s hearts. You can read about them here.

This week’s challenge was to take a small step toward our God-sized dream. Just one, small step. In fact, Holley said we’d get extra credit if it was “simple, small, and takes just a few minutes.” I’m all about extra credit. But what could I do? The steps getting to my dream seem more gargantuan than small.

That’s when I felt the God nudge to listen. You know the one. I turned my list over and tried hard to listen. “You need help.” Well, of course, I need help! Look at all I have to do! But this time, quieter, slower, “Deb, you need help. I want you to ask for help.”

Ask? Ask for help? Really, God? Really. You see, I don’t like asking. I don’t like needing. I like to do things All. By. My. Self. (said with a two year old stomp at the end.) The stomp is so effective.

The nudge wouldn’t leave. So I took the number one thing on my gargantuan list – need to learn more about WordPress – and asked God for help. Immediately He brought someone to mind. Immediately. No hesitation. Oh, the frustration there has been intense. I’ve let it keep me in a stuck place for a long time.

God was just waiting for me to ask for help – to invite Him deeper into the fulfillment of His dream for me. He has/had no intention of me doing the thing alone. Do you need to read that sentence again? It’s taken me a long while to get that. I’m getting that now.

So I contacted my friend, Lyla. She’s brilliant. She’s wise. She thinks WordPress is fun. She said, “Let me know how I can help you and your dream!” And she is. All I had to do was ask.

When you look at your God-sized dream, where do you need help? It’s a brave step to ask for help, but the clarity and courage it brings as you take it, is worth it. It really is. Trust me on that one.

If you need help on knowing where to begin, Holley’s The “Do What You Can” Plan: 21 Days to Making Any Area of Your Life Better is a great place to start.

If you need some WordPress help like me, my friend, Lyla, is your girl.

I’d love to hear about your small step. I’ll be praying for you, too.