{my graphics are free goodies for you}
Every dream starts small. It’s a seed that first sprouts in thoughts and conversations, quiet moments and glimpses of a vision, late-night prayers and early-morning hopes. It has to fight through the dirt and dark when believing is not yet seeing.
Then it finds its way to the daylight, throws itself toward the sky and audaciously dares to add more beauty than you ever saw coming. It becomes so strong and wild you can hardly imagine that it might not have been. All you can do is point and say with a bit of awe in your voice, “Look what God did.”
That’s how I feel about the dream of (in)courage. For the sixth time the writers gathered as a group last weekend. Wildflowers. Wallflowers. Word women. In the Nester’s barn with twinkle lights hanging over us and stars scattered above us, we shared our hearts. Laughter. Tears. Hopes. Fears.
(in)courage group pic by The Nester
When we finished, I thought of all that’s transpired since we first met each other. One of us in heaven. Babies born. Books too. Nonprofits hatching like eggs. Kids flown from the nest. Hellos, good-byes, prayers requests, praises. Lives touched. Differences made. Words changing the world.
I never could have foreseen it all. But God did. You may be staring at a dream the size of a mustard seed and asking, “Can this really do any good?” And I want to lean in and whisper, “Oh, yes. Only God can see the heart, the breadth, the depth, the glory, the power inside. It’s said a sprout has the force to crack concrete wide open. Who are you to hold it back?”
And here’s the magnificent secret: Once you release it that seed will take on a life of its own. It will grow in ways that astound you, reach places your feet could never touch, defy the world with a loveliness that makes you want to drop to your knees in the dirt and lift your hands in praise.
You have but one role: Let God grow the dream.
It’s both harder and simpler than it sounds. I’m reminded of that as I exchange final hugs with my (in)courage sisters. I wonder what the next year–the next fifty {long live the dream}–might bring for us.
And I realize all over again: Only God knows. Just as He alone knows what unseen wonder a single seed, one little dream, can hold.
XOXO
Holley Gerth
p.s. Thank you to Lisa-Jo Baker for faithfully leading and growing (in)courage for the past five years. Well done. And thank you to DaySpring for bringing the writers together each year as well as all the ways you support the ongoing dream of (in)courage.
****
Welcome to the Coffee for Your Heart weekly link-up! You’re an encourager so I’m asking you to pour out a little love with your words every Wednesday {link-up goes live at 5:30am CST}. Simply write an encouraging blog post and then share it here. Don’t have a blog? You can still write an encouraging comment. If you’re reading this by email, go to holleygerth.com to see all the fun and join in too.
Pretty please use this button in your blog post so others can easily join in with us {html code in right sidebar}. And when you link up your post, take a moment to leave an encouraging comment on the one that’s linked up just before yours. Thanks, friends!
I’m having Coffee For Your Heart with my friend Holley Gerth
{click to tweet that you’re joining me here today}
