Tag Archives: courage

risk and reward.

25 Jan

what would it feel like to not care
to let the wind really blow this time
i mean really howl with strength
freely without a single obstacle to hinder its gust
not limited by barricades built around places we want protected and untouched
insecure walls shaking faulty with disbelief
let it blow I say
fiercely
kindly
violently
ruin everything in your path with a force so strong and unseen
that destruction and death would force a rebuilding
a rebirth of living beauty both new and pure alike

Living freely always takes a backseat to what’s comfortable and easy. Little courage means little risk, less of a struggle and more aiming at targets you know you can hit. Let’s go where the odds are better, where the end result is already known, so coming up short won’t even be in the equation. But what if those carefully built walls made to protect from rejection and disappointment were shaken a bit?! What if the risk and reward of seeing Gods faithfulness displayed, far outweighed the reward of seeing our standard formulas create the same results we’ve always seen?!

I don’t know what that kind of life would look like. What kind of shape and form it would take. I imagine that it would seamlessly resemble the life Jesus led here on the earth. The life we read about in black and red. The life that’s steadily become greatly unfamiliar and uncomfortable to mimic. Yet is the life we’re called to look, feel, and taste like, one freely filled with courage and risk.

Maybe we can’t just flip on the switch of courage and life be different from this moment on… but I do know, with utmost assurance, that grace will willingly strengthen our hearts, and steady our hands, so we can start tearing down these walls we’ve built.
brick by brick.
fear by fear.
till we’re saved from ourselves.

it’s all been done before.

8 Dec

“Someone said, “It’s all been done before.”
Yes, I agreed, but we all have to say it in our own voice.”
- Madeleine L’Engle.

Being involved in “the arts” (writing, music, photography), I know firsthand how toiling this thought can be. It has the power to be an all-consuming fire.

“it’s all been done before”

Oh how quickly those 5 words can grow to stifle every ounce of creativity and courage within. And I don’t mean just for the artsy fartsy folks out there. Because truly, for us all, that thought is looming and present… and the danger is that it will keep us bound, it will keep us afraid, and it will keep us quiet.

What a courageous reality L’Engle is living from. And I truly believe we’ll never be free to be ourselves, if we don’t catch on as well. To live from a place of knowing  and believing that your voice, your perspective, and your expression – matters. And it matters greatly!
Yes, I absolutely agree, there is nothing new under the sun… however; there is also no one on this earth like you.

Sure, maybe it’s all been done before, but it hasn’t been done like you would do it. What you have to say and what you have to give is unique to you. It’s a result of your upbringing and background, your experiences in life and loss - and how you responded to them… it all creates this beautiful strand of DNA within that separates you from anyone else. It’s the result of God’s amazing attention to detail and his desire to make you and your voice, significant and valuable. and undoubtedly DIFFERENT!

This is where a new responsibility lies. The the responsibility to be you, and only you, to the best of your ability.
Because at the end of the day, no one can tell a story the same way you can.

I’m learning this more and more, everyday.

-S

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