Life in Africa

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so they say

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Some great quotes on courage from Andy Stanley's Next Generation Leader.

  • "A leader is someone who has the courage to say publicly what everybody else is whispering privately. It is not his insight that sets the leader apart from the crowd. It is his courage to act on what he sees, to speak up when everyone else is silent."
  • "Leaders instill courage in the hearts of those who follow." (Or my take: Courageous leadership infuses courage in others.)
  • "As leaders we are asking men and women not only to follow us to a place they have never been before; we are asking them to follow us to a place we have never been before either. That takes guts. That takes nerve. That takes courage."
  • "Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage assumes fear... Courage is the willingness to strap on your fear and move ahead."
  • "Failure looks and feels completely different in the rearview mirror than it does when it is staring at us through the windshield."
  • "Capital follows courage. The courage to dream always precedes the capital needed to finance the dream. Don't be afraid to embrace a problem you cannot afford to solve."
  • "You can't lead without taking risk."
  • "Wherever there is fear, there is opportunity. Wherever there is great fear, there is great opportunity."

iPray

I love the book of Isaiah. I recently told a friend that I can (and often do) just camp out there. Isaiah 61 has always been significant to me, for many reasons; and God led me there again this week.

As I mulled over the words, it quickly became a prayer for myself...and for a friend. And while I wouldn't normally do this, I felt impressed to share my written prayer here. In some ways, there's freedom in sharing it. But mostly I just have a sense that it's for someone else, too...

I pray...

That God would bind up our broken hearts (from wounds inflicted by others as well as ourselves)
Pronounce freedom into every part of our lives where we are held captive (by sin, fear, self)
Shine His light into every corner where darkness still resides within us (as scary as that may be)
Speak His unswerving, undeserved favor over our lives (for apart from it, we can do nothing)
Comfort us in our grief (over the big and the small)
Give us beauty for our ashes (for I know I have many)
Flood us with joyous blessing to wash away our mourning (over losses both significant and minute)
Clothe us with garments of praise (covering us head to toe) as He takes away the spirit of heaviness and despair (an amazing exchange)
Make us oaks of righteousness, planted by Him to display His splendor (rooted firmly, strong, unmovable)

Amen.


my story

Because of a friend's recent realization about her passion for writing, I've been thinking a lot lately about how much I enjoy it. Writing, that is. This morning, I was reminded that God is the author and finisher of my faith. I pondered that fact. Author of my faith. Author of me.

He is writing my story. And I'm watching it unfold before my eyes. Watching the path appear before my feet. (I have a mental picture of walking into nothingness, but just as each foot is lifted to take a step, the next bit of paved path appears... Written into existence.)

He is the perfect author. He needs no editor. He needs no second draft. He needs no backspace. He writes it perfectly the first time.

Author and finisher. No abandoned writing projects. No half-hearted attempts. No arms-in-the-air, "I quit!" moments. He finishes what He starts. Completely. Thoroughly. He is writing my story till the end. There are many chapters I have yet to see, but they are there.

As much as I love to write, God loves it even more. He was the first to do it. And He's the best at it.

Combine His love for writing with His love for me, and you get my name written on the palms of His hands. Leaves me wordless...