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Sunday, August 30, 2009

Dreaming Big


I have two dear friends at work that are about to take a huge step of faith and follow their dreams.

They've been married for 5 years and have always wanted to end up in Colorado. For awhile they thought that they wanted to open up a Chick-fil-A out there, so he's been finishing school and training to be an operator, while she has been doing marketing for Chick-fil-A. Long story short, they met a couple who is moving out to Colorado to plant a church and Jasmine and Adam have decided to go with them. They are leaving their condo, furniture, jobs, and unfinished school in Atlanta and embarking on a brand new journey together. They are trusting that all the appropriate doors will open, that they'll find a place to live, get furniture, new jobs, and be able to build a church from the ground up. Dream pursuing is not for the faint of heart.

I'm so encouraged by them because so many people have big dreams and things they want to do, but never manage to take the first step. But Adam and Jasmine are some of the first people that I've known to just drop everything and pursue the things God has placed inside of them. They may never finish their work at Chick-fil-A, but they know that Colorado is where they want to be, so they're going to start there. And be in a state that they love, with the beautiful Rockies out their back door, pressing into God's heart for what He wants to do in Colorado. They are living life bold and unhindered, and radically chasing their dreams. Getting to watch the beginnings of this process is such a joy and a privilege for me.

I want to chase after my dreams the way that Adam and Jasmine are doing. Abandoning all that's familiar, and straining towards the promises that lay ahead. God has so many great things in store for us, but sometimes we have to get out of our comfort zones and trust that He wants to give us all that is in our heart to do. So let's dream big and press in further for the courage to move out in faith.

"And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues....they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." Mark 16:17-18


Monday, August 24, 2009

Books

"You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read."
-Charles E. Jones


I love this quote...mainly because I love to read and I love to meet people. Now if only I can read the books that are enjoyable and edifying and meet the people that will leave lasting impressions.

I've been devouring books recently. This summer I read Angels and Demons, Sheet Music, Dance Into Destiny, The List, My Soul Cries Out, and the Time Traveler's Wife. Each book was incredibly different and fun to read. I decided I had to put the religious, self-help books aside and start grabbing for more real pieces of writing. Writing that had personality, character, compelling stories and Truth that was hidden between the lines. The Time Traveler's Wife was one of my favorites that I read. It's so interesting to watch authors unfold themselves through page after page and chapter after chapter. You learn so much about an author by the way they write and the words and phrases that they use. The things that they choose to highlight or conceal. In some ways I feel as if I'm getting to know people through reading eclectic stories with lots of personality. So I'm going to try to keep up devouring books, especially the ones that allow me to experience other people in new and different ways.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Ordinary

I will not be satisfied with ordinary. I will not be satisfied with an ordinary marriage, or an ordinary household, or an ordinary job, or ordinary friends, or an ordinary life. The God I serve is not ordinary, therefor I will not be ordinary.