Skip to main content

Baby steps to Big Girl Dreams

My heart was racing.  I had a tug inside of me to make a call to the local community college to inquire about teaching a continuing education class.  I had always had a desire to teach, and the bubbly stir inside of me kept pushing me to act.  My only problem was that  the conversation in my head made me want to run and hide.  But the stir was so very strong.  I had to do something.  And then I remembered a teaching I had just heard by Joyce Meyer.  She spoke about fear and how it can grip your life.   Her solution was simple.  She said, "Whatever you need to do, do it afraid."  

A light blub moment!  Her words interrupted that internal conversation, and pushed me to make a choice and shift my thinking.  I marched to the phone....afraid....and made the call to the college.  I asked if they were in need of instructors and before I knew it,  one thing led to another.  By the end of the call, I had an interview lined up and a request to submit a curriculum for a new class I would personally develop.  My head was spinning when I hung up and my heart was jumping for joy.  God knew, more than I ever could, how that call would turn out and how it would affect me.  I soon found myself teaching a room full of adults about the ins and outs of starting a gift basket business as well as classes on the basics of floral design.  When I was encouraging my class, I was on top of the world.  In that teaching setting, I felt like I was doing what God created me to do.  It was a dream come true.  If I didn't trust and face my fear with faith, I never would have experienced the joy of the dream.  

I learned the "do it afraid" tip over 20 years ago, and I still use it today to help me when I feel that scary, bubbly stir inside of me.  That Holy Spirit prompting that says, "go for it."  Yes, the fear is there, and it's real, but God is there too.  The secret?   I leave it up to God because he is the one who started the bubbles in the first place.  I pray the bubbles never run out!

What do you need to do "afraid" today?  God will be with you!

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Isaiah 41:10

Comments

  1. I love that idea! Thank you so much for sharing! Keep on dreaming! I guess...especially when you are afraid! {Good news for me!}

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Honey...very inspiring expeirence. Your right the bubbling is aways there and the reaching for something to help us get through is always there too. Both real and true. I found a saying in a Oparh Magazine, don't know if she wrote it or if it was from someone else but I remember cutting it out...it said, When we face our fears we find out they are only paper thin. Fear is such a big farse and illusion. but it's something I personal seem to have to go through often and afterwards grateful I didn't experience it along either that someone larger then me was alway watching out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So true, Laura. We are meant to do life in community...with friends and inspirational people who cheer us on!

      Delete
  3. Lovely and uplifting post Re! Very powerful words to remember. Thanks for the reminder :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Everybody Loves a Good Fight

I’ve gotten into two fights in my life.  I know, hard to believe.  But I can remember them clearly.  One was with Cathy, who lived two doors down from my grandmother’s house.  I was probably around 8 or 9 years old.  Cathy was mean and a thorn in my side.  She was also the only other kid on the block who I could play with.  I don’t know exactly how the fight started, but I can remember the final scene and how it all played out.  I towered over her as she lay on the grass, pinned in a helpless position.  She cried for mercy and I let her go.  She flew home and that was the last time she bullied me.  The other time was in sixth grade.  I was friends with Rosie; at least I thought I was.  She accused me of breaking her compass and told me that she was going to beat me up after school.  I was shaking in my boots the rest of the school day.  I wondered how I could avoid the ordeal.  I wished I had someone that co...

Opposite Directions

It was nice and toasty in my house.   And the tear that just leaked from my eye turned ice cold as I pulled the door shut behind me.   I couldn’t help it.   I had an emotional wrestling match with my better half the night before, and it left me feeling fragile.   This happens in marriage and relationships, right?   How is it that I can be standing right next to my husband and yet feel so alone?   I had to make a choice.   I prayed and wondered how to proceed.   Would I be able to verbalize my thoughts?   Would I be able to lay down the anger I felt it my heart?   I had to work backwards.      I’ve learned enough to know that the anger is the blanket that covers all the other feelings.   Don’t we like to stay under the blanket?   It’s kind of comfortable and it keeps us distant so we don’t have to deal with the truths that lead us there.   So I had to start uncovering, and   I found rejection...

Help, I'm a new mom again!

Have you ever re-visited something in your mind, over and over again, hoping to rehearse an upcoming conversation, or maybe correct one?  I find that happens to me as I sometimes put my foot in my mouth when I speak with one of my kids.  I find myself bumbling through a conversation and when I hang up I wonder, “Why did I say that?”  I blame it on the awkwardness of talking on a cell phone, the distance in miles that limits a heartfelt conversation, or just my inability to remember I was once their age.    Thankfully, my sister helped me put things in perspective.  I’m not their mother anymore…in a sense.  I’m not here to give advice, unless they ask.  I’m here to be a companion in their journey.  To hold on very loosely so they can experience their lives, just like I had to.  I don’t think my parents had much insight into what I was experiencing when I was 25 or 30.  They were living their lives.  And so am I, but I w...