Friday, October 1, 2010

Why God-Sized Dreams Embrace Awkwardness & Joy (Faith Barista Jam)

God-Sized Dreams Embrace Awkardness & Joy

Really if you haven't checked out Faith Barista you really need to.
Not just to join in on today's jam session but because she does some really great writing & sharing.
http://www.faithbarista.com/

Now on to today's jam....
Bonnie wrote about the Awkardness & Joy in birthing God Sized Dreams. 
And even though I've never had kids, nor been in the room when one was being born
(and really I can say I don't really want to) I think that birthing and awkardness & joy go hand in hand.

Really, think of the struggle (more often then not) that a woman goes through when giving birth -after all it is called labor- and then the joy that comes from that process. 

I won't go into a lot of detail on that one since it could get messy.  :o)

But I think it's so very true.  It's work....birthing, and hard, and that's just what God sized stuff is.

This weekend we have our ladies retreat for our church.

This year I was asked to speak.  I think I may have mentioned that before- and the fact that I have to speak for 40 minutes. 
Not something that I was thrilled to find out.
40 minutes is a LOT of time.

But I said I would do it so tomorrow...that's what I'll be doing. 

I still have a few things to work out, so I'm refining that today.  But the retreat theme is Pioneer Women...and I wasn't thrilled about that either to be honest. 

It seems kinda silly to me and I just wasn't into it. 
My specific topic was "pioneer women work hard and accomplish much"
Again I wasn't too thrilled. 

Yes I work hard, and yes I accomplish much but at the same time I also think I sometimes work too much, and accomplish things that could be left alone. 

And as one who is working to scale back...this makes it hard.

But as I was planning what to say I started to write about Faith.  And how faith is something that takes work.

At least for me.

It's not that one can just say I believe and be done.  Not when it comes to our faith. 
It's an active and growing thing. 
Something to be nutured and developed. 
Something to be tended too. 
It can be choked out if one doesn't rip away weeds.
It will fail if we don't water it.

Otherwise, just like a flower that goes unattended, it will wither and die if left alone. 

So take the time to nuture your faith, and keep in mind that it is something that is active, not something that's just there. 
It will grow if you tend it. 

3 comments:

Bonnie Gray said...

Hi Leanna,

I have put a sticky note to pray for your speaking. I don't think you can go talking about faith! :) LOL. Be free and just speak from your heart and the Lord will reward you for your faith as you depend on Him! GO LEANNA!

Sheryl said...

I think the concept of hard work and faith go together so well. With your pioneer women thing (sorry, I'm kind of in the dark about your speaking gig since this is my first time to your site) . . . my immediate thoughts went something like, "Yes, pioneer women work hard. They do things with immediate results like cooking and laundry. Those don't last long. They do other things that take faith---building relationships, planting seeds, meeting physical needs. There generally aren't fast results there, one has to believe that there will be and act on that belief." Thanks for giving my mind a quick workout!

Unknown said...

Faith is active and growing - Yes!

Blessings as you speak today. God Bless.