This has been a long time coming, dream brought to life! I have known for quite sometime that God planted a little seed in my heart a while back with the desire to encourage women to Bravely Flourish. I just didn’t know how to bring it to life. What would it look like, and was He sure He really wanted me to help Him do this? There had to be some other gal far more qualified. Along the way, I had doubts flood into my soul, wondering if this was really God’s desire for my life or my plan alone. I questioned whether my experiences in life could actually bring HOPE into the lives of the people with whom I would share my stories, life lessons, hard knocks, and redemption. But here’s the thing… God doesn’t always call the qualified, but He does qualify the called. So here I am putting my thoughts out there for you to see, trusting that in some way God will encourage your to BE BRAVE and FLOURISH in your life circumstances! This is my prayer, that we will come together as a community to share, encourage, build up, lift, wipe tears away, or whatever else it takes to keep walking forward in faith with God!
In the past, I have tried doing things on my own, but I’ve learned that if God’s not in it, then it’s not something I should be pursuing. I have prayed about this idea that was placed on my heart and have asked God to show me that it was truly His plan. At first, it seemed clear to me that I had caught the vision, but that, for whatever reason, the timing wasn’t right. There were lessons to learn, things that needed to transpire, and growing that was necessary to take place. For many years now, I have been experiencing life in the trenches, pouring into my soul by spending time with God, so that if and when the time came, I would have something to offer. I honestly believe that now is that time. This is that season! I bet your wondering, just like I did, why now and how did God show me this was the direction He wanted me to go?
In June of 2013, my Aunt went to be with the Lord after her almost 2 year battle fighting cancer. She was trucking along on the road of her life and then all of the sudden; her life was immersed in walking a road that eventually led her to Heaven. This was such an incredibly emotional time in my life, a time where the rubber met the road of my faith. I have found that it sure is easy to give advice when your life is going well, but over the past several years, I have experienced 1st hand what it looks and feels like to live out your faith. How God is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in Spirit. How to live out the truth that “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” The scriptures that I have read in the Bible for years came to life, as I experienced this tough road in my walk with God. When we found out about my Aunt’s diagnosis, I talked to her about what she wanted to do with the time she had left here on earth. As I listened, she shared with me that she didn’t think that she had done much and that it didn’t seem like she had made a difference at all in this life. This broke my heart and lit a fire in me to do all I could to help people recognize the amazing plans & purposes God has in store for their life! The desire of my heart is that every woman would seek God in discovering His unique plan for the legacy she will leave! I just want to make sure to do all I can, so that you don’t look back on your life and think you didn’t do what God wanted you to do while you are here on this earth!
In the end, God did reveal to my Aunt the people whose lives she touched. I believe God showed her an outpouring of love from the people who she personally impacted with her encouragement, kindness, and sense of humor. So here’s the scoop, I honestly believe the time is now, not later to do what God calls us to do! We never know how much time we have left, which has placed a sense of urgency on the NOW!
Just recently I met with a respected women’s ministry leader, author, and speaker. I asked her if I could take her out to lunch because when I read the bio on her website, I wanted to know how she navigated being an adoptive Mom and ministry leader. Now I don’t normally e-mail a person I have never met and boldly ask to buy them lunch, but I sensed that there was something God wanted me to hear through her story. It had to be a God thing because she can’t meet everyone that e-mails her, but she felt like she was supposed to meet with me, too. Eventually our busy schedules jived and the day of our meeting arrived. As I rounded the corner to meet her at a restaurant in Kansas City, I prayed to God that He would bless our time together. Honestly, I told Him that I was out there on a limb with Him and that I hoped that I had heard him correctly when I reached out to her. He quickly reassured me! The words she shared with me were like sweet music to my soul and soothing salve to my wounded heart. We laughed and cried and talked about the “real stuff” that can happen in life. Most of all she encouraged me to BE BRAVE and to keep walking forward in faith as a Mom and Ministry Leader! At the end of our conversation, I shared with her this little dream that God had planted in my heart. I told her that my fears had been holding me back and that I didn’t want this to be about me, but only about God and for God. She wisely told me that all I needed to do was to start helping people. To just ask God to open doors for me to help His people and then I was reminded about a verse in the Bible that I have posted in my office. It’s in Isaiah 6:8 and it says,
“Then I heard the Lord’s voice saying, Whom can I send? Who will go for us?” So I said, “Here I am. Send Me!”
That verse is at the heart of Bravely Flourish. I just want to be obedient to whatever God calls me to do; I want Him to know that He can send me to help his people. I think that’s we all want to be able to say, but we just need a community to encourage us to be all that God wants us to be! So let’s do this together, let’s Bravely Flourish in each other’s lives and cheer one another on to do GREAT THINGS for GOD!
Great to read your story Heidi! It is an inspiration to me. I know I can help others draw closer to God if I just let Him step me through and show me what He has planned for me!