It’s so weird. My whole life, I thought I wanted to be special and have a resume of noteworthy accomplishments. I wanted to be recognizable if not celebrity famous. I didn’t want to just blend in and live my life in anonymity (maybe why I left the Midwest). Impatient with my own mediocrity, I’ve been waiting for my moment to shine.
But now that I feel like God is calling me to step outside normalcy, and enter into a “new thing,” I am surprised to find myself balking. All of a sudden I want to be just like everybody else. “Are you sure, God? Do you really mean me? I couldn’t be the person you have chosen to do that.” I am sounding like Moses on this one. What is the backup plan? And I am, after all, a regular person. I don’t have amazing talents and abilities that are making national news.
Last year my small group did a Bible study called “Living Beyond Yourself” by Beth Moore. Beth is a stud. She points out that if we’re living in our own strength and living small stories, we’re not participating in the Spirit-led life force.
Anyway, I thought I would resume my sporadic blogging with some thoughts about letting go of normalcy and safety and reaching for something greater. Otherwise, my moment might never come.
There is never failure with risk, only change. I remember meeting you and realizing how good it was to see a young creative woman at the Multi-Site conference in San Diego, interacting with Pastors of all ages and representing yourself very well! Mediocrity is not who you are. I am excited to see where you go and how God will use your talents! The biggest thing I have learned the last few years as I meet people who I have admired through their book writing or their Pastoring from afar is that they are all truly just normal people being used in extraordinary ways. I was an overweight stay at home mom just four years ago and now I’m an overweight Co-Executive Pastor of a growing church and with no seminary degree… who would have known what “Only God” can do with each of our talents. You are chosen!
i think normal is over rated and misunderstood. What is really “Normal”? Deep i know… but when you think about it we let be normal what should be abnormal. Mediocrity, playing it say, letting fear chain us down, being “grown ups” instead of dreaming like a kid… the list could go on of things that are “normal”. Who wants to be normal? Live out who you really are, the world will notice (i sure did) and you will be anything but normal. I think is all of us lived out the dreams God has for us, no matter what that might look like we would ALL be anything but normal. Normal these days will abnormal someday, i want to make that happen sooner than later! JOIN ME!!! I know you got it in you!