Christmas Bravery.

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Brave Girl.

I know most of us are in the midst of writing lists, checking them twice…

Flour flying,  kids crying…

Welcome to the Christmas countdown. I don’t know about you but I told myself I wouldn’t over book, over commit or overindulge (who thought up peanut butter fudge anyway?!  Not sure if I should thank them or spank them!) this holiday season.  I firmly declared war on being weary during this wonderful, blissful season.  What about you?

“So, how’s that working for ya?”  

As I awoke this morning to a kitchen that looked like some pretty crazy reindeer games took place last night, I felt the weariness creep in.   Creep over me as the thoughts of not only tackling this baking aftermath but also the wrapping and last-minute shopping left to do.   For a brief minute, I wanted to check out for Christmas.   Maybe I’m the only one.

Turning on the news, it made the weariness seem to overtake my soul.  The darkness in this world is so tangible you can almost taste it.   It’s easier to check out and keep focused on the Christmas busyness than the evil that dwells in this world.

Romans 5:8 came to my mind, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, 
Christ died for us.”

In the middle of my chaos I was made aware of the beauty of grace in a more profound way.  The Grace offered to us through Jesus Christ is for all who sin.  If you meditate on that for a few minutes, grace becomes more beautiful and more scandalous.

Those men who slaughtered the children in Pakistan, Christ died for them. It’s their choice to receive or not but the hand of Grace is extended to them. Pondering on this makes me cherish grace all the more. None of us deserve this wonderful gift of Grace. Not one of us. Who is this God that He would know us and invite us? Fully knowing the evil that hides in the heart of mankind, Jesus came to this earth to rescue us.   All of us.   Let’s be brave this Christmas. Brave enough to believe.

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder, 
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6 ESV

Merry Christmas, Brave Girl.  

Brave Girl Bonus

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I saw this post on Facebook from Heather (cutie on the left) about her sister Jayne (cutie on the right) and was really touched by what Heather had to say about her sister.   Jayne has been with Jesus for four years now.  This side of heaven Jayne experienced fifty different surgeries in her forty-one years here; never once did she complain. Her favorite scripture was Phil 4:13 ” I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

AND…

Jayne was a prayer warrior.   If you had something going on in your life that required prayer you were on her list in one of her 75+ journals!   Ya’ll SEVENTY – FIVE journals.  What a hero in the faith!    Jayne knew the key to being brave: staying closely connected to God.   What a shining example of being brave exactly where God has us.

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Brave enough to live a Jeremiah 29:13 life.

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Brave Girl,

For some reason cold, winter weather whispers, “purge, clean, get-rid-of”  to me.  How about you?

Last night,  I found a journal that I started in 2011.  I wish I could say I journal all the time.   Um, no.   I know that it would be an amazing discipline to continue longer than 10 months, but for some reason I can’t go the distance with journaling.  To quote Frank Sinatra, “Regrets, I’ve had a few.”  Sigh. Anyway.

I started this particular journal (don’t EVEN ask me how many journals I’ve started) on my trip to Israel.  As I was reliving this once in a lifetime trip reading through the pages of my journal I realized I had found a gem.  Not only because my trip to the Holy Land is in there but the year after my trip is captured there too.   I’ve walked with the Lord 15 years and 2011 is a spiritual marker for me.

It’s the year I began to follow the Lord wholeheartedly.  Yes, I loved Jesus before 2011, but something changed.  I knew I was empty.  I knew the abundant life had to be more than just women’s bible study and singing worship.  Please don’t hear what I’m not saying… yes, worship is a great way to draw near to God and certainly give God His due.  Because HE IS — the great I AM.   And YES, bible study is a great on-ramp to building a relationship with God.  If you are doing those things, don’t stop doing them.  I haven’t.

But I found that the abundant life that scripture talks about was missing from my own.  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.”  John 10:10 (NET)

In 2011, I found the KEY.

Jeremiah 29:13  If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

That’s what was missing….a wholehearted approach to looking for God.  Brave Girl, what I discovered is this…when we are “all in” surrender comes easy. Eyes are focused on what we are gaining (Jesus) not losing.

What did I lose?   My personal rights of complacency,  laziness in my part of our relationship,  neutrality on loving well (based on feelings: if I felt like I did it, if I didn’t I didn’t.) The Lord set me on a path of discovery that year that changed my life.   Because He knew my life as I had known it would be changing.  And as a good Father, He needed to get his girl ready.  All of this is Him.

Brave Girl, God is working in your life.   Have you forgotten?  Be reminded. Be assured.  He is steadfast and true.  Determine today to no longer live by what you see, that your current circumstance is NOT the end of the story.  If you are a child of God, walk by faith — decide right now, today…that He is working your situation out for good (Romans 8:28.  His solution is not always our solution, but it will be a solution that is good.

What to do in the meantime?  Jeremiah 29:13  If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. He’s already found us.  The scripture puts the emphasis on us looking for Him.  Are you looking for Him wholeheartedly?    As a young child looks for her parents when she wakes up in the morning?

I believe in the midst of “wholeheartedly seeking”  that true healing comes into our lives.  We allow God to come close enough to pull the band-aids off and begin the healing process.   The deep wounds (some I didn’t even know were there) that keep us in bondage.  Bondage can be anything we are tied to… not just addictions. Bondage to hurts, relationships,  victim mentality, etc.  Are you brave enough to let Him “have a peek at it?”   When everything in you is saying, “run away from the Healer’s touch…fill your life with busy activity for God instead.  That’s good enough right?”  Brave Girl, you are brave enough to stay.  Don’t run, fill, and hope it all works out in the end.  God has a better plan for you.  A call to wholeness. Only Jesus can make you whole. You won’t find wholeness in another person or activity.

I have found that a call to wholeness doesn’t mean there won’t be bumps and disappointments along the way. But  wholeness allows us to be very real with God and placing our desires firmly in His loving hands.   Knowing whatever the outcome,  we will not act like a victim, because my God is good,  my God is for me.

I read this journal entry to my husband last night.  And we praised God.

July 7, 2011

Fully knowing I’m in the center of God’s will for my life.  I accept it. I know His plan is good for me.  I know He doesn’t withhold blessing just to withhold blessing.  His “No” today means a greater “Yes” in my future.  I understand it.  Yet, tonight, I am so lonely for a husband. Coming home to my empty bed brought tears to my eyes.  It seems the healthier I get the more alone I feel.  How long Poppa?  How long do I have to wait?  I know you are growing my faith, and I won’t stop believing you have someone out there for me.   I’m trusting you but getting weary in the wait.

I know your plan for me is You, Poppa.   More of You.    I love you.

________________________________________________________________________

Two years after this journal entry I married one of the greatest men I know.   Truly.

My change in marital status doesn’t make this a win.   Realizing His plan all along was for me to be completely satisfied in Christ, that’s the win.

Bye, Bye, Baby!

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Yes, so this just happened.   Our little Brave Girl Boots baby is in the hands of our trusted proofreader extraordinaire!

I think this is really happening.   Get those boots on girls!

Bravery in Shattered Pieces

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One.

One call, one conversation, one email…all it takes is one.

One to take the air out of the room, punch us in the stomach, leaving us breathless and searching. Life altering news seems to come out of left field. We don’t expect it. We certainly don’t look for it, do we?

The glass shatters. Leaving our lives in pieces.

We can’t see anything but ONE BIG MESS.

How? Why? WHY? Our broken hearts and dreams demand answers.    Those questions often get unanswered.

The easiest thing to do is blame God,  take up our cause and become victims.    And we stay sitting in our mess as the months, years, tick by.   Sitting in our mess.

Brave Girl, there is another way.   

Psalm 34:18 comforts us with this truth:  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Have you looked for God in your shattered pieces?   He is nearer than you think.    “If He is near, why didn’t he stop this from happening?”

The truth is found in  John 16:33… ” I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

The promise of this world: Trouble.

The promise of our Lord:  Overcome.

There is another kind of shattering that comes to believers. Truth comes in and shatters our facade of sin. It’s a holy moment when we look at our sin for what it is; face to face with the truth of our estate.

And the shattering comes.   Usually when we least expect it.   Facade is shattered and we see clearly the heart wrenching betrayal lodged in our heart.   Self-worship.  “My, me, mine”  really boils it down doesn’t it?

Godly sorrow is good.   Contrary to what the world would tell us.    2 Corinthians 7:10  Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

Godly sorrow brings repentance.    A change of heart and mind.   Luke 3:8 encourages us to “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”     Repentance is not private.

The promise of this world: Death

The promise of our Lord:  Life

Brave Girl,  you are not alone in your mess.   And believe it or not, the truth is God wants to bring a message out of your mess.    Will you let Him take the broken things,  the hurts and disappointments to make something beautiful?

Only Jesus can turn our ashes to beauty.    He won’t throw that shattered life away,  but with care only a loving Father can give will He bind your wounds, brush the tears from your cheeks, and begin to build something so beautiful…it will grab the world’s attention and point people to Himself.

Will you be brave enough today to let Him?

Bravery in the Wait.

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 The Lord is my Portion

Tick, Tick, Tick….

When you are in the land of in-between, on the on-ramp for days, weeks even years…it’s easy to lose hope.

Bravery seems to be the first traveling companion to bail on us when we feel as if God has left our story unfinished. 

Boom.  Lie believed.  Lets look to scripture to remind ourselves of what God says about the story He is writing with your life. 

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Hebrews 12:2  King James Version.

Other versions describe Jesus as the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (NIV);  the founder and perfecter of our faith (ESV).

Our Lord has the final say in our story.  Not the world, not man.  I often encourage people battling illness by sharing that God is above man’s opinion. He has the final say… in all things. 

How do we encourage ourselves when we feel utterly alone in the wait?   You know those times when you cry yourself to sleep? Or in the shower?  When we can’t help but kick your feet in the ground like a toddler because we aren’t getting our way, on our timetable?  

No?  Oh, maybe it’s just me.

But I don’t think so. I think many of us need a healthy dose of Jesus-brave to swoop in and still our anxious hearts and minds.  

During my long wait to be married and for the record it was 45 yrs LORD! I got some really, really good advice.  The Holy Spirit will do that, ya know.  He will direct us to truth when we ask for help. It’s not always what we want to hear, but it’s truth, it’s good and it’s just what we need. I was directed to Lamentations 3:24  “I say to myself, the LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.”   That became my mantra.   Whenever I felt sad, anxious, unsure that God hadn’t forgotten about me…I would say this verse out loud.   And bravery would rise up in me to face another day.  For some of us, Brave Girls, we need to get through the next hour.  

What are you waiting on the Lord for?  Healing?  Salvation of a loved one?  A Spouse?  Direction for your next step?  

He is trustworthy.  It is worth putting all of your eggs in His basket.  Bet on Jesus.   

Make Him your portion today, Brave Girl.   

 

Bravery into the Unknown.

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Brave Girl,

I stumbled upon this picture tonight. Taken September 2005 on my last day at The Auto Club Group. I worked there since I was a “kid”…just shy of 18 years.

That was nine years ago.

If someone would have told me after I started following Jesus just five years earlier, I would be leaving my career to go into full-time ministry…I would have laughed. Loudly. Yes, I would have laughed very loudly.

God’s ways are not our ways, right? I mean we read that in Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.

Like, He wasn’t kidding?! Isn’t that scripture for other people?

I mean I didn’t actually think He meant it, right? Sound familiar, Brave Girl?

In this picture I see an unsure woman who is leaving everything she has known: her comfortable job, the security of being known in a field she specialized in, and great friends. All cozy, all comfortable. All Tami’s plan.

Enter God’s plan. Gazing at that picture, I remember feeling so unsure of the foreign territory God was asking me to travel on for the next leg of my journey towards Heaven. As unsure of the new soil I was asked to tread, I was completely sure of my God.

Brave Girl, is God asking you to step out on unknown roads with Him? Unsure of where they may lead?

Be encouraged. God’s plan is better. 10000% better. S E R I O U S L Y.
When I think of what I would have missed out on had I been too afraid to answer the call to follow Him…my heart aches.

I have found healing on this unknown path. Deep life-changing healing. I have the absolute privilege to serve God through my wonderful Connection family. Not to mention the sweet joy I experience in leading CGgirls. God’s plan is better. (And did I mention my stinkin’ awesome husband? Yeah, that happened, too! )

You won’t regret saying “Yes” to God, Brave Girl. Wherever that leads you.

Cage Match: Faith vs Fear

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It’s on Brave Girl!  

It's on Brave Girl!

Whether you realize it or not,  you are in a battle today.    Faith vs. Fear.

Faith will guide you to unknown trails,  sometimes asking you to be the trailblazer for others coming behind you.   Faith asks us to be brave.  That can be unsettling.

But Faith will always walk you towards Life.

Fear will sell you that comfort, playing it safe,  is your friend.   Fear is a liar.   

Fear keeps relationships broken.

Fear extinguishes the flame of dreams.

Fear keeps pride at a premium leaving no room for transparency and authenticity.

Fear keeps you scared but we call it comfortable.  I call fear a thief.

Jesus never called us to be comfortable.   Not one time.

What He said was this,  “Follow Me”  to real living.  Life more abundant.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  John 10:10

FAITH will always walk you toward LIFE.

HAPPY

God Space.

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Brave Girl,

As we move forward  from being ankle-deep into knee-deep book writing water I want to challenge your thinking.  Challenge you on the way you live and love.

Our ears are filled with “find balance”  “are you setting margins in your life?”  and my current favorite “less hustle more love.”   Which are all true and equally all hard to do as women.

My challenge today isn’t about changing how you fill your days.

It’s a question that we can ponder and answer honestly or we can hurriedly brush past with an answer  “of course”…

“Do you have God Space in your goals, dreams and the way you live and love? ” 

This is a lesson I keep learning.    You’d think as much as I’ve seen God work through my personal life, CGgirls and my tribe, this should be second nature to me.

When I felt God nudging us to expand the platform of  Brave Girl Boots to include a published devotional, I immediately went into strategic leader mode.

If you are wired for leadership you get that.  You can’t help yourself.

A vision for a published book + no provision =   Time to Plan.

Nothin’ wrong with planning,  nothin’ wrong with putting some action to your faith, no ma’am …that’s all good. 

Except I initially didn’t leave God Space in my plan.    We came up with the idea to sell shirts and set an obtainable goal.

(Ding! Ding! Ding!  First clue you aren’t leaving God Space in your plan is if you know how to pull it off without Him).

We needed the revenue of selling 200 BGB shirts but I knew we could sell 50 (mom, aunts, friends, Pastor’s wife…)  — I know LAME!  Totally lame!   What kinda visionary am I?

As I started to move forward confidently with our goal of 50, I felt that familiar nudge.   You know the one.  Yep.

Conversation flowed like this, “Have you left room for me to work?”  BOOM!   “No, God I haven’t. ”   whispers the woman who absolutely knows better.

Seriously, Brave Girl,  sometimes I am pathetic.  

We moved forward with the goal of 200 shirts.   The fundraising campaign was wildly successful.

We ended up $200 short in our funding;  however on the day we called to seal the deal with the publisher a sale was running.   Wait for it…$200 off !  Paid in full!

I laugh at this now, because really I could cry if I let myself.

Had we not trusted God by making God Space for him in our plan, we would have missed out on this provisional blessing,

not to mention spinning our wheels to raise more funds.   We would have settled for a quarter of what God could do.

I’m tired of settling for what I can do.  What about you?

God Space.  

Are you leaving room for Him in your dreams, your plans, your family, your relationships?

Or do you have it all tucked in your grip.  Closed. Controlled.

Brave Girl, that ain’t no way to live.   What we’re left with is what we can make happen and guess what ?   We get short-changed, every time.

What has your heart’s attention today?   Is it a wayward loved one?  A dream that needs to be dusted off and followed?  The physical estate of someone you dearly love? Is it your marriage or lack of one?
What about that hard to love person He keeps bringing in your path to love well?

Today is a day of exchange.   The burden of self-sufficiency, worry, fearfulness for God Space.

God isn’t afraid to get His hands dirty in your mess.   He gets personal, His hands eagerly ready to transform us from mounds of nothing to what He desires for us.   Christ-likeness.

But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.  (ESV)  Isaiah 64:8