Tag: #NotPerfectButPresent

Amazed by Grace

Posted on by Kris Valdez

When I mention the word, grace, what pops into your head? Maybe the famous song, Amazing Grace? Or something extended to you in a moment of weakness? I previously wrote about a police officer extending me grace by not giving me a well deserved speeding ticket.

Then there is the ultimate grace.

God’s grace.

The one freely given to us.

This grace is truly sweet to my starving soul. The grace God has bestowed on my life is nothing less than miraculous. You may think this is an exaggeration, but allow me to share a few examples.

In college I couldn’t run fast enough from God. His rules for life seemed to hinder what I thought college was about. College was about getting an education, of course, but it was also about figuring out how to live life. I was finally on my own, sort of, and I wanted to try out my new independence.

Oh, the choices I made!

Most of which went against God. I thought these decision were part of college, part of the fun and life experiences it has to offer. Instead it led to the destruction of my relationship with God and turning my back on Him. Instead of obeying Him, I wanted to figure it out of my own. This meant falling into a career path that I struggle in, even though it comes somewhat easily to me. This path has been one of growing through grace back to God. He is showing me grace at a level which amazes me.

My first marriage didn’t turn out as I had envisioned, but out of the hurt and struggle, I was blessed with two amazing, beautiful, healthy children seeking to know God.

Then God gave me grace by bringing a strong Christian man into my life. He loves our own child just as much as his step children. Although, never once has he referred to them as step children. They have and will always be, his kids.

When I feel like I’m at the end of my rope, my husband raises me up in prayer and extends me grace when I have those moments where I need to ugly cry until I have nothing left or I take a bad day out on him. I can’t get any better than that in a husband.

Make no mistake, these gifts are for nothing I have done. It is by the grace of God. He has seen my mistakes, and still loves me enough to take me out of the muck and mire I’ve made of my life. He gives me gifts of His love even when I didn’t deserve them.

There isn’t anything we can do to deserve this gift of amazing grace. It’s simply a gift we can choose to accept or reject.

Will you accept the gift of amazing grace? Share in the comments below how God has amazed you with grace so others can be encouraged.

Breaking Our Mask

Posted on by Kris Valdez

As the kids put on masks for Halloween, I wonder how many masks I wear in a day to get through until I crawl into bed at night. There is the happy mask I slap on at the office when clients are yelling at me for things in which I have no control over. Then there’s the mask I sometimes wear with friends to let them know everything is alright, even when it’s not. There’s the mask I wear at my kids’ school in hopes other parents don’t see how little I have it all together.

The irony is that on this blog, where I can’t look people in the eye, is the one place I don’t need to wear a mask. It’s probably one of the main reasons I like writing this blog so much. I can just be me and if one of my commenters doesn’t like it, then so be it. For some reason the virtual world has the ability to be the great equalizer where we can create whomever we want to be or be as authentic as we want.

Keeping up the mask, ensuring there is no crack in it, is exhausting. I am exhausted. Can I get an amen from the back?

What if we let go of our mask? Let go if the parts we play for the expectation of others? What if we turned to the One who never rejects us, but He felt the ultimate rejection to pay for our sins? What if we took off all the mess we have and laid them it at the foot of the cross?

God created us. He knows what’s in our true hearts. In Psalm 139:13 (NIV) it says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” He truly sees the real us. He fully accepts us. Let me say it again my friend, He fully accepts us.

All of us.

Our faults.

Our fears.

Our failures.

Not only does He accept us, but He loves us unconditionally. There is nothing that can separate us from His love if we are willing to accept the invitation He offers to all of us, freely. In Romans 8:38-39 (NIV) it says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

There are no exceptions to His love. We can drop the mess and grab a hold of the truth. Yes, when we drop our mess, those around us might not like it and we may even be rejected by friends or family, but we can turn to Jesus. He knows what it’s like to feel rejection for walking the path to our purpose.

Jesus’s whole life lead to the cross. It wasn’t what He wanted to do. He asked God to take it away because He knew the physical cost of what He was about to enter.

He did it anyway.

For you and for me.

All we need to do is drop our masks at the foot of the cross and accept the freedom God offers us. If this is a gift you seek, a freedom you crave, and a step you’re willing to take, pray this simple prayer, “Lord I’m tired of wearing all my masks. I want the freedom you offer for my sin. Please wash me clean of my past. Guide my present thoughts and actions. Help me to trust you with my future. I asked you to come live in my heart. I thank you for the gift of spending eternity with you.”

If you pray this prayer, please share it with us so we can throw a party or if you want to contact me individually so we can celebrate one-on-one do you so here I encourage all of us to drop our masks and live authentically with God.

Doing Our Dream

Posted on by Kris Valdez

Are you doing your dream? Are you taking steps on a consistent, daily basis to see it come to pass? Or are you hoping and praying something will change without much effort on your part? I know this may sound harsh, but what have you done for your dream lately?

When God puts a dream in our hearts, He expects some sort of action on our part. To what degree this action takes is up to us. This dream is our personal journey with God and what lessons He’s teaching us along the way.

Throughout the Bible, we see God asking for action before we see the blessing. Take the story of Joshua when he fought the Battle of Jericho. Instead of attacking the walls of the city, God told Joshua and his troops to march silently around the city for six days.

I’m pretty sure I couldn’t keep my lips sealed for 6 days, let alone 6 minutes. Yes, feel my husband’s pain as I talk his ear off, constantly.

Anyway, on the seventh day they were to blow their horns and shout. (This is the day I would have loved.) At the end of their action, came the victory. The walls crumbled and the Israelites took over the city of Jericho without losing a single member of the army.

It took of Joshua to see the promise of God come to pass. The beauty of each story in the Bible is it the person who would action God wanted them to take. Whether they believed it or not or ran the opposite direction of where God wanted them to go is another challenge.

The first step in doing our dream is being open to hearing God’s voice. Yes, in this day and age of constant connection, it seems almost impossible to hear the still small voice of God, but it’s essential to doing our dream. With God’s leading, we can cut out unnecessary tasks which will save us time, money, and heartache. God will not lead us astray with the dream He’s put in our heart. He wants us to succeed, to provide us a platform to share the unique story He’s given us.

It doesn’t matter if our dream is big or small by the world’s standards, it’s the precious dream between us and God which He wants to come to pass. Once we hear His voice, we need to go where He’s leading us.

The second step is to go with God. Where God tells us to go or do can sometimes be a bit out there or downright weird. During one of my quiet times, I felt the Lord asking me to bring something I had in my closet, brand new, still in the box to a friend. I can’t even say we are close friends. I was supposed to give this person what I had. Eventually, I planned to use this item, but I felt the pull to give it away. I was driving past person’s house anyway that day so God was making it convenient too.

Bummer.

I hesitantly knocked on her door, silently praying she wasn’t home so I could turn around and run back to my car. Instead, not only did she answer the door but the majority of her family was sitting in the living room, staring at me.

Awkward.

I put the item forward and said, “This is going to sound weird, but I felt like I was supposed to give this to you.”

She looked down at what I was handing over and tears formed in her eyes. Her response is one I will never forget.

“I’ve been praying for God to provide a way for me to afford this. Instead He brought you to give it to me. Thank you.”

Maybe her family was there so they could see the power prayer. Maybe they were in need of a little hope. I don’t know. What I do know is that when I did what God was leading me to do, even though it seemed weird and way out of my comfort zone, I was able to bless someone and be their answer to prayer. When God asks us to move, we have the ability to give others what they need.

Pursuing your dream may be the blessing someone desperately needs. Move when and where God is asking you to go. When you’ve moved, be thankful. You’ve done your part, leave the results to God, whatever those are.

After I dropped off the items to my friend, I was so thankful for the blessing I received in response. I thanked God that I heard His voice and responded the way He asked. Each time we follow this process, God gives us a little more responsibility and gives us a little more motivation for doing our dream.

Have you listened to where God is leading you and taking the steps to follow through? If so, give thanks and share in the comments below so we can celebrate with you.

Creating a Plan of Devotion

Posted on by Kris Valdez

How devoted are you to pursuing your God-given dream? What are you willing to sacrifice to make the dream happen? Or are you in the camp that if God meant it to happen, it will? You don’t need to bother with the details?

Guess what? God created us for a purpose. He created you, yes, you for mission in this life that only you can fulfill.

Our first and foremost purpose is developing a relationship with Him. Without a personal, loving, two-way relationship with God, where we surrender to His authority, then there is no reason to do anything. There is no reason to pass go and collect $200 as in the popular board game Monopoly. Once we come under His authority and realize His leadership is what brings us peace and rest, then we can create a plan of devotion.

See, I believe if we use our gifts and talents to bring about the dreams God has put in our hearts, we are showing devotion to Him. He knows our hearts and why we do what we do. He may bless us monetarily through our gifts and talents or He may bless us other ways such as feeling the joy of His pleasure when we are doing what He created us to do.

Whatever His blessing, are we willing to accept what He gives us as we pursue our dreams? If my writing is only meant to change one person, am I okay with that? If I’m honest with myself, it’s a tough pill to swallow because I selfishly want to have a bigger impact than only one person. However, am I then doing it for my ego or God’s glory?

Ouch.

The answer is, if I’m not willing to accept the small, but important results, how can God trust me with an even bigger outreach? The truth is, until I fully entrust my dream, the process to get there, and the results to God, I can’t begin creating the plan of devotion to the true Dream Maker.

So what does a plan of devotion look like?

I’m so glad you asked. This plan comes with the assumption that we already have a relationship with God. If this is a foreign concept to you, this is step one in creating a plan of devotion.

  1. Be still. This seems counterintuitive when we’re developing a plan. We want action steps and to-do lists. Instead, the challenge is to be still and be with God. In Psalm 46:10 (NIV) it says, “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” We need to hear what God wants to tell us, not only in life, but in the dreams He’s given us. There are things we may need to uncover and face before we can move forward with our dreams. It could be the lies the enemy has been whispering in our hearts for so long that we need to hear God’s truth over our lives first before we can do anything else. So sit quietly with God. Write down what you hear even if it sounds weird or ridiculous. God will speak to us in our own unique way if we have our spiritual ears tuned into Him.
  2. Write it down. Besides writing down what you hear from God, write down the vision of your dream. It might start out as a few words, a snippet of what God is calling you to do or it maybe you have it fully fleshed-out after taking time to be still with God. I started with a few words and ask God what else I should add to make this the dream He wanted for my life. After writing and rewriting, I finally came up with a fully fleshed-out, written goal for my life which has been guiding me for the past year. Yes, there has been some tweaks over that year, but the core message has stayed the same.
  3. Move. This is where some faith walking comes in. We need to be ready for where God is leading us. Are we willing to step out of the comfort zone into the adventure God has waiting for us in His open arms? This is the final step in creating a plan of devotion. Following God where He leads us with the dreams He’s given us.

Are you ready to create a plan of devotion? Share in the comments below to encourage others.

Faith Walk

Posted on by Kris Valdez

Just have a little more faith.

Those words of advice, even from well meaning friends, can be tough to hear. I could be praying my guts out for something and the situation seems stagnant. There isn’t any movement to my problem no matter what I do. Then I hear those words from well meaning friends that bring discouragement rather than encouragement:

Just have a little more faith.

Like getting older, being a faithful Christian is not for the faint of heart. It takes courage along with a little more faith to walk in step with God.

What does walking in faith look like?

My faith walk is rarely flat and boring. It involves curves with not knowing what’s around the corner. It looks like me trudging up hills, running out of breath and needing frequent stops because the climb is arduous.

It’s during these times where I grow closer to God. And that curve where I don’t know what’s coming next? Well, I’m holding unto God and praying for wisdom on how to handle what’s coming around the bend.

A curve was thrown at me earlier this year when all the management staff at our organization left during the same month. It was a time of upheaval and every week it seemed more people left the organization. It wasn’t clear where the organization was headed or if I would still be part of it when the dust settled, but God knew the plans He had for me so I could rest in knowing He knew what was around the corner on my journey. It’s my choice if I’m going to find joy in this journey.

During those tough uphill hikes, it’s about asking God for strength to keep moving on the path He’s laid out for me. Sometimes the path God asked me to walk isn’t an easy or pleasant one.

There was a time not so long ago where the act of walking itself became a struggle. I had done so much damage to my back and spinal cord that I was using a walker for a short period of time while I learned to modify the simple things I used to take for granted such as the ability to tie my shoes or be able to get dressed by myself.

I’m not sure why God had me walk that painful path but when I summited the mountain and defied what two doctors told me I could do it, it was a beautiful feeling knowing I stayed alongside God and believed He had more for me than what the doctors predicted.

Our faith walk will take us on unseen adventures. The reason we need a faith walk is to develop the perseverance to climb up from a valley. Or to enjoy walking down the other side after God has shown up in our situation and we coast along with Him.

The point of our faith walk is to walk alongside God. If we get behind Him, we may lose our way. If we get ahead of Him, we might miss the growth in the journey.

Where are you on your faith walk? Do you need to speed up or slow down to walk alongside God? Share in the comments below to encourage others.

Getting Balanced

Posted on by Kris Valdez

What if work life balance a myth? Actually, I hope the whole work life balance thing is a myth because right now it feels like my rainbow colored unicorn – clearly mythical and unattainable.

There are days when the job that pays the bills is all consuming and the 40 hour work week stretches to 60 plus and I get push back from my home life saying I work too much.

It was during one of these extreme work week stretches that I attended quite a few night meetings in a short period of time and my youngest, then a precocious four year old, said as I walked in the door one night, “I never see you anymore, Mom.”

Ouch.

Double ouch.

This high demanding job is one of the reasons I’m working hard to get the blog, my writing and my coaching business to succeed, but the short term sacrifices are tough.

There are times when my focus is completely on my home life such as when our kids are sick or have school performances I need to be at and work falls on the back burner. It seems there is little time to find balance in all my roles.

What is a busy, working mom to do?

Take a deep breathe and understand that there is a season for everything. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 it says,

“There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens:
   a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,
   a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,
   a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   a time to mourn and a time to dance,
   a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
   a time to search and a time to give up,
   a time to keep and a time to throw away,
   a time to tear and a time to mend,
   a time to be silent and a time to speak,
   a time to love and a time to hate,
   a time for war and a time for peace.”

Essentially, there are seasons to our lives. I believe this means whatever season or situation we are in, we need to focus on and be fully present in that moment.

Trust me, I know this is easier said than done.

While we need to focus on the task at hand, our ultimate focus needs to be on God. He is the one to show us perfect balance in our lives.

God knows and plans the seasons of our lives. There is a time to grow and learn. Then there is a time to share those life lessons and teach them to others. I do believe the idea of balance is skewed in our winner-takes-all culture. If we keep our focus on balance, instead of staying in step with God, we get more frazzled and fall farther behind in our quest to create the life we want.

What if we let go and allow God to direct our balance? Do we trust Him with our situations when work or home are tying us up in knots or with the challenges of being full-time working parents or caring for elderly parents? What if our balance isn’t about giving each other equal amount of time, but about giving the person in the present moment our full attention, while keeping our heart focused on the still small voice God provides us?

Going with the flow God provides and allows seems like the perfect life balance.

Is there a way you keep your life in balance? Share it in the comments below to give ideas and encouragement to others.

Healing Our Hearts

Posted on by Kris Valdez

Over the course of the last month, we’ve been talking about getting around to doing rather than doubting. What happens if you have everything knocked out, we’re all set to go and our heart isn’t into the task?

This is more than I don’t feel like it. This is more than being tired and needing rest to fill our souls.

I’m talking about when a heart is wounded from past failures or hurts we didn’t deserve or betrayal of those close to us we weren’t expecting. It’s having a heart with a wound so deep it doesn’t seem like it will ever be whole again.

There was a time in my life when I didn’t think my heart would be whole. Ever.

During my divorce the venom and insults coming from the other side felt like I was getting my heartbroken over and over again whenever we had a mediation or court date to negotiate our separation agreement. I couldn’t understand how someone who swore to love, honor, and cherish me 10 years earlier with now tearing apart everything we built together piece-by-piece.

To say my heart was wounded would be an understatement. It felt more like it was being ripped out, stomped on, and then run over a few times. It seems beyond comprehension that my life had come to this point.

Even when we think all hope is lost, God is there, waiting in the wings to pick us up, dust off our heart and provide a word of encouragement to move forward. The Bible promises in Roman 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Often this verse is quoted to us when we’re going through a season of pain or misunderstanding, wondering where God is in the midst of our chaos or trial. When is God going to show us the reason for our heartache?

Unfortunately, it might not become known to us until we arrive in heaven. However, there are times when we can see how a difficult time has grown or shaped us.

In the case of my divorce, in a few months after my year long divorce process was finalized, I met my future husband. Even though my heart was still healing from the bruises of what I thought would be my happily ever after, I met a man who demonstrated the patience and love needed to date my quirky self.

I believe God brought him into my life to show me what a selfless love looks like, to pour into someone else until they are overflowing with emotional support. As amazing as this relationship started out, it was ultimately God who showed me how He alone could heal my heart. He healed my heart through the following two ways.

Friendships: Yes, we have a relationship with God but He also allows people to step in and demonstrate His love to us. During this time of heartbreak, my friendships filled me up and put something back into my life that I didn’t know I was missing – hope. I had tried reading the Psalms, which of course are positive and we see the struggle of David in times of trouble. But, there is something about the strength of a real life friendship to hold our hand as God begins the healing of our hearts. It’s as if He has provided an extension of His heavenly kingdom through the graces provided by friends. Proverbs 18:24 says, “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Strangers: Growing up we learned about stranger danger. I even teach this concept to my kids. But, my kids prefer to believe in the motto that there are no strangers only friends they haven’t met yet. My youngest will pretty much tell anyone we meet about his day. He has kept people in line at the grocery store entertained while I unload our cart regaling them with his tales of awesome. I hope his storytelling brings a smile to those around us in the crazy, beeping check out line at the end of their work day.

Instead of stranger danger, God can bring strangers into our lives to heal our hearts.

When I was a single mom, to say money and time were tight would be an understatement. My very sweet friend hired a wonderful woman to clean my house for the day. It was an unexpected treat to have a spotless house, even if the moving boxes still cluttered my living room. When I went to say goodbye and give this woman a giant thank you, she proceed to tell me a few suggested cleaning products and tools I’d need to keep my home shiny and clean. Right in the middle of my note taking, she stopped and asked if I was a writer.

My pencil stopped moving across the page and I asked her, “Why?” I thought she might have seen one of my many journals or even a draft of a book I’d been tinkering with, but I couldn’t think of anything I’d left out for her to see.

She answered me with “God wants you to be writer and you have a gift of writing.”

I almost burst into tears on the spot. See, I had a business for five years writing magazine articles, marketing copy, advertising taglines, and consulting on other people’s copy for marketing.

I knew it wasn’t exactly what God was calling me to do, but it was the scratch to my writer’s itch and it paid my bills. Then, with the swoosh of a judge’s pen and my willingness to turn the business over to my ex husband, my writing business was gone. I thought this was God’s way of saying my writing was done.

It wasn’t my path. I had been hearing the call to writing wrong all these years. The dream of being a writer, being a storyteller was dead. My heart was broken again.

Then God brought a Christian stronger than me into my life to speak words of hope and truth which I’ve clung to in times when I’ve begun to doubt my dream. I had put a period, where God had put a comma.

Sometimes we doubt ourselves or believe those around us are encouraging our dreams out of obligation . So God provides strangers, people with nothing to gain from our encouragement into our lives. This stranger, who I thought was only there to clean my home, instead healed my heart.

I want to encourage you if you hear God asking to use your words of grace and healing on someone else, even if it makes no sense to you, do it.

I’ve had the opportunity to be both on the receiving end and the giving end of kindness with strangers. Most of the time, the giving has been even more rewarding than the receiving. It has allowed me to be a part of hearing someone else’s heart.

How has God healed your heart? Share it in the comments below to encourage others.

Stop Doubting and Start Doing Part 4

Posted on by Kris Valdez

Results. We are a results-driven society. It seems that if we don’t have something to show for our efforts, then there was no reason to go through the process. I’ve wanted to hold God to an agreement. If I do step A, B, and C, then He’ll come through with step D.

Unfortunately, God doesn’t work like that. He’s more interested in the process of changing my heart than in the end results of the effort. I might not ever see the reward on this side of heaven for all my efforts and I need to ask myself, “Am I okay with that? Will I still be happy, content, and fulfilled with the journey God has me on even if I don’t get the result I want?”

Some days these questions are hard for me to swallow. My efforts on certain projects at the office go unnoticed, but God knows. I carefully craft words to share with the world for encouragement to answer the calling I feel God has placed on my life. Then only my friends and family read it, but God sees my obedience.

The bottom line is, am I okay with only God seeing what I am doing or do I need the results and recognition I crave to be happy with God? Am I content to trust him as my Adventure Director or do I need to direct the path and inform God the way things should go? When I see it in writing, I wonder, who do I think I am telling the God of the universe what to do? But, I’m embarrassed to admit, I do it more often than not.

My worth, my efforts are tied up in the results I expect rather than the ones God wants to give me. I’ve found time and time again that God’s gifts are infinitely better than anything I can imagine for myself. So what will it take for me to let go of the results?

Here are a few steps I’m taking.

  1. Keep an answered prayer journal. When I look back on all the ways God has blessed me by answering my prayers and ways I haven’t even thought of asking, it increases my faith that He has not left me. Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV) says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
  2. Keep a gratitude journal. Every night I write down five things I’m grateful for. This practice started because I bought a planner. I’m a sucker for a colorful, beautifully designed planner. Anyway, when it arrived in the mail, I quickly realized it wasn’t going to meet my needs for work. I couldn’t return it, so I thought it would collect dust on my shelf. When I was driving home from work and the DJ on the radio shared how he wrote down one positive thing in his calendar every day. It sparked the idea to write down things I’m grateful for every day in this journal that was sitting on my shelf. The journal had five lines for each day of the week so I decided to write down five things everyday. The stipulation I put on myself is that each entry had to be new. For example I couldn’t write thank you for bringing my family home safe today. While I am grateful for that everyday, it limits what I look for to write in my gratitude journal. At the end of the year, I should have 1,825 things written down. I say should because I missed two days this year because I have a stomach flu. It’s hard to think, write and be grateful when you’re lying on your bathroom floor. Those sick days aside, I’ve been writing in my gratitude journal every day since the beginning of January. As far as I know I haven’t repeated a single phrase of thanks. Each day, God shows me different ways to thank him, even in the day to day minutiae of life. I realize there’s always something to be thankful for everyday. This gratitude has allowed me to release the results of my efforts.

Are there areas of your life where you need to release results? Share in the comments below to encourage others.

Stop Doubting and Start Doing Part 2

Posted on by Kris Valdez

Last week we talked about Getting Into Motion and how I overcame my fear in the flash-over chamber to earn my shield as a firefighter.

Even though I doubted my abilities, my Lieutenant thought I was ready to check off this task, but I needed some help to get through it.

There is an old saying, “Many hands make light work.” There is also the Bible verse in Proverbs 15:2 (NIV), which says, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”

There is no such thing as a self-made person. Every person on the planet has had help in some way or another. Even if they don’t know it. Sometimes we don’t see the spiritual realm working on our behalf.

Just as my lieutenant was there to support me when I didn’t know if I could move forward, find someone to help you move forward in catching your dreams. It might be a friend, family member or a mentor in your community. If none of those fit the bill, consider hiring a coach to help guide you where you want to go.

In my case, that Lieutenant has been supporting my dream for the last seven years of our marriage. Once you found your support system of person it’s time to do the tough stuff.

Do you have a support system in place for your dreams? Share it in the comments below.

Stop Doubting and Start Doing Part 1

Posted on by Kris Valdez

Dreams come at a cost. The price we pay is up to us. There is a cost to doubting our dreams will come to pass and losing faith.

Without faith and believing in doubt, we stop doing the small steps to catching our dreams, not just chasing them. When we believe the lies, rather than the truth, we stop the amazing work God has called us to do. Proverbs 13:12 (NIV), says “Hope deferred makes the heart sick but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”

What happens when we defer our Dream? Our hearts become sick. The heart is the Wellspring of Life. Proverbs 4:23 (NLT), says, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

Our heart is essential to life, relationships and to pursuing our dreams. If our hearts are in a figurative life support and we’ve stopped doing anything towards refining our dreams or taking steps to pursue them, we are making ourselves sick – sometimes physically and sometimes emotionally.

So how do we stop doubting and start doing?

The next four weeks we are going to talk about getting through being doubtful and getting into action. Those steps are: Getting into Motion, Getting Support, Do the Tough Stuff First, and Release Results.

Getting Into Motion:
We all have fear. This is hardly a news flash, but the best way to combat fear and doubt is to get moving. Think about a situation where you had fear and did it anyways. For me, this took place almost every time I pulled a shift at the fire station. Those who don’t know, I used to be a firefighter. It’s how I met my current husband and the story of overcoming my doubt is actually the day I met my husband.

I had been with the fire district for three weeks when I called up on a Saturday morning to see if anyone could train me. A firefighter couldn’t run calls until they had completed their Probie Task Book. Essentially, by completing the task book, it shows that you know enough not to get yourself or those around you hurt or killed.

The lieutenant who answered the phone said, “Sure, we’re doing flashover training, I’m sure you’re ready for it.”

I hung up the phone not at all sure what flashover training entailed, but I was game for anything to get my Probie Shield so I could start running calls with the rest of the crew. There are hours of training that must be completed before you earn a seat on the truck.

Normally the flashover training comes later, but it’s not something they did often because of the resources it takes to make the training happen. So this Lieutenant had the opportunity and decided to throw me in the fire.

Literally.

I got geared up and the Lieutenant checked over my gear before he put me in the metal shipping container they were planning to set on fire with us in it. Now, as cool as this sounds, this exercise serves two purposes.

First, to see if you can take the heat. Some of the guys in my training class had one go in the flashover chamber and quit on the spot.

The second, if you can you see the signs fire gives off before it flashes over. A flashover is almost always of death sentence so it’s important to see the signs.

On this day, after my gear check, I knocked my regulator off my mask as I walked into the metal box. Getting a regulator connected while wearing stucture gloves isn’t the easiest task. The fear must have shown on my in my eyes because this nice Lieutenant, helped me re-attach my compressed air and asked me if I’d like him to come in with me. My regulator nearly came off my mask again with how vigorously I was bobbing my head up and down in the affirmative.

Not only did I make it through the flashover chamber, but when I took off my mask, I had a huge smile on my face when I walked out. I had known my fear and did the task anyway because my end goal required me to go through the process.

Another firefighter saw my smile and said, “Looks like we have another lifer.” While injuries have currently sidelined my firefighting duties, I still remember the feeling of overcoming my fear.

Are there tasks on the way to your dream that need to be done and fear is keeping you from them?

Share it in the comments below so we can encourage you.