Linking up with The Gypsy Mama:

“Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays. We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to finger paint. For joy in the process. No matter how messy the result. Write for five minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.”

Today’s topic: BRAVE

GO.


For me, brave isn’t running my first half marathon. It’s not joining the choir, even though I am convinced I still can’t sing. It’s not giving birth twice – once naturally and once via c-section.


It’s not moving cross-country on an impulse decision and never moving back. It’s not dealing with postpartum depression and accepting medication for it. It’s not quitting my job with no safety net. It’s not going to 4 countries on 6 different mission trips.


Brave isn’t marrying the man of my dreams exactly one year after our first date. It’s not moving my family to another state without a home, and moving six times in a year and a half. It’s not being willing to speak in front of people even though it makes me nauseous. 


All these things are just changes. And changes happen when life happens. Walking into those things isn’t bravery, it’s just obedience.


For me, true bravery is this: standing vulnerably in front of the mirror and really seeing myself. Not through my own eyes — with all my flaws, and problems and insecurities — but rather forcing myself to look through the eyes of Jesus and seeing who He sees. 


That’s bravery to me, because I still can’t do it. I’m still too fearful to do that. The day I’m able to do it with complete and utter acceptance of what I see is the day I’ll feel truly brave.


STOP.