My son finished a book called The Courage of Sarah Noble, a true story about a girl who came with the early settlers to North America and had to have courage to live among the Indians, whom she did not know while her father went back to their homeland to get the rest of the family. So this book and the essay he had to write on it, got us talking about this thing called courage.

Do you have it? This thing called courage? Hmmm. I sometimes wonder. I asked my son today what he learned from the book and he said “never give up.”  Sounds good to me. Wikipedia says courage is this. Charles Dubuis said “The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become” this takes courage. Helen Keller said “We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world” going forward in life after a series of disappointments takes courage but I am sure many who have been there would say they are more mature, better, and heck even dog gone amazed because of the things they have endured and continued anyway because they had courage. Perhaps you didn’t label it that, but that is what it was folks.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said “Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.”

So do you have it? This thing called courage?

We need courage as mothers to stand up against the injustices and dangers facing our children;

We need courage as church leaders, pastors and planters because our gospel is a courageous one and we have to tell it when no one really  wants to hear it;

We need courage to believe God still has a plan for our lives so we can keep following and discerning His next steps for us;

We need courage to get out of our comfort zones and do what we have never done before;

We need courage to take a break, to get some rest, to declare a sabbath when everyone around us says “gimme, gimme, gimme more”;

We need courage to reveal our true self to the world that thought they knew everything about us already even if we are not sure they would still love us;

We need courage to admit that we are not as smart as people think or as naive as many hope;

Honestly, I believe we need courage everyday on this side of heaven to keep our faith strong, to believe in the good in this world, to dare to hope for a better future, to get married, to bring children into this world, to develop new friendships, to cut the toxic people in our lives off…for good this time, to work on our own spiritual development and face our screw ups and baggage of the past.

So do you have it? As for me…Maybe. Sometimes. Perhaps you feel the same. Yeah but not always. Today I am hoping YOU get the courage you need from God to step out and DO. Do what he has called you to do. Ok, do what you THINK he has called you to do. Do it passionately. Do it lovingly. Do it freely. But please “just do it”, a life of regrets is no life at all.

DARE. I pray that you dare to believe God for that crazy idea, that ludicrous plan, that wild vision. I hope you dare call up that person you know can help you in your life RIGHT NOW but you have some trouble swallowing the pride. I hope you dare say forgive me to that person you know you’ve hurt and at one time didn’t care.

DECIDE.  I pray that you will decide to believe in the crazy notion that we Christians usually speak to one another, share in bible studies and in sermons, that God REALLY does love YOU. That God really does have a plan for YOU. That God didn’t set you up to screw you up.

To DO, DARE and DECIDE we need courage. Everyday. This is my prayer for you!

A Prayer For Courage  (adapted from Internet Prayer by Rabindranath Tagore) 

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers,
But to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain,
But for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not look for allies in life’s battlefield,
But to my own strength through your strength.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved,
But hope for the patience to win my freedom.
Grant me that I may not be a coward,
feeling your mercy in my success alone,
But let me find the grasp of your hand in my failure.

Remember God’s word today. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” —Joshua 1:9 Isn’t it good to know he’s right there! Courage.

My prayer for YOU and for ME is courage. The world needs people with courage.

Hey all!

This is a sample part of a newsletter I just sent to women on mailing list as part of my Rebound Coach ministry. If you are interested in getting it every month, please sign up through my sign up box on the right hand column.

In preparing for the Everything Must Change Tour with Brian Mclaren in NYC May 2-3 (SIGN UP!), we’ve been brainstorming ideas for tshirts. We have one idea lol. I just saw this and I LOVE IT. But its intellectual property and I have to ask the originator of the idea if he would let us use it. The originator is David Trotter, lead pastor of the Revolution Church. What is this thing? Its a Manifesto of a different kind…

Manifesto of a Revolutionary
“I am a revolutionary. I will not be satisfied with life as normal, and I will not listen to the voice of the masses. I’m listening to the lone voice of THE Revolutionary calling me down the narrow road. I am sacrificing comfort and contentment in order to love like never before. I am part of a movement of the heart that is changing the world – one life at a time.

Who will speak up for those who have no voice?
Who will step up when someone is in need?
Who will stand up in the face of injustice?
Who will show up when no one else will?
I WILL.”

Will you?

Three little words. Words that bring hope to a generation, young and old, white, black, latino and other who know in their hearts and mind that something or perhaps EVERYTHING MUST CHANGE. No, change is not easy. No, standing up for hope in a sea of doubt, status quo thinking, defeatist mentalities is never ever easy but it must be done.

There is a NEW BREED, people who believe that what “they” say is impossible IS POSSIBLE.
There is a NEW BREED, people who rather stand for something, than quarrel about everything.
There is a NEW BREED, people who are tired of talking about making a difference and finally are willing to “BE THE DIFFERENCE”.
There is a NEW BREED, riding the next wave of the Spirit of God, fighting for a revolution of hope, taking the first steps toward change.
Why, because we had enough.
Why, because we can.
Yes, we can.
Si, se puede!

NY Giants kicked butt. They were told they didn’t have a chance in hell. They were told the NY England Patriots were too good, haven’t lost, and wanted this Superbowl Championship bad. They were told…but today the Giants and everyone celebrating in my hometown NYC can yell from the rooftops that it ain’t o-va, I said it ain’t o-va till the seconds are off the clock and in our spiritual walk, in our ministry life, in our journey towards destiny, you may be counted out, you may be overlooked, you may be bypassed but IT AIN’T O-VA until you buried 6 feet under. God has the last word on YOU.

I guess I do believe this in a way. But I have a little slant on it. One door closes, another opens EVENTUALLY. That word means “an undetermined time in the future”. Most of us don’t like future, especially a future we can’t see or be prepared for.  I much rather “learn from the past, accept the present and create the future” as I once heard said. Many doors have closed on me but many have opened as well. Usually,  unexpected in most cases. Such is life.  I think survival in life, how one manages to wake up in the morning and face the world (with a smile or a frown) is about perspective.

We choose everyday the type of perspective we will have on life. When I am in a funk and having a “bad day” and my husband tries to snap me out of it, I usually tell him, I can have an off day! Why? Because being a thriver as opposed to a survivor, which I consider myself to be, means that everyday I have to choose to have a faith-full perspective on life. I have to choose to believe that God is at work in me, through me and for me. I have to determine that nothing I face in that day will cause me to walk away from God. That usually takes work because our sinful nature just wants to say the heck with this, doesn’t it? We could love the Lord, we could know without a shadow of a doubt that God has been there for us or else we would have certainly been in a seriously worse situation than anything we find ourselves in right now but still…that kind of determined thinking takes work and well, sometimes you just get tired.  So again I say, I feel entitled to my “off” day when I am pouting, crying or seriously doubting a lot of things I think I believe. In our lifetime many doors will close and we’ll wonder if it was us, if we are loved, does anyone care, do we have “skills” like Napoleon Dynamite or were we just plain off?

Many doors will open as well and we’ll wonder, do we deserve this kind of attention, why did they pick me, I must be a token Hispanic, I must be a token female, I must be both!, is this a God door or a good door?  What am I getting at? I’m suggesting that whether doors close or open, we always wonder about something. So the real lesson and truth is not in the opening and closing but in the learning of both and the choice we make to continue in the journey throughout the unexpected openings and closings of life. 

This faith thing is hard to understand. Those who don’t have it, don’t understand it. Those who have it, can’t explain it. I have a female statute on my desk that says “put your big girl panties on and deal with it!” A biblical exhortation would mention Hebrews 10:36 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” And finally, a reminder that he knows the plans that He has for us, plans for good not evil, a future and hope (Jer 29:11). So whether doors open or close, we got to deal with it, endure it while we continue to walk in His will and know that even in the midst of our own confusion over our own plans for our lives (that we may have thought was HIS plans), God said he has a better plan. In that I put my trust and hope. I hope you do the same.

Today is Thanksgiving day 2007 and the beginning of the holiday season. I love this time of year, I go all the way decorating my home, have music on most of the day and watch Christmas movies with the family. I love to reflect on the meaning of the Thanksgiving and the days ahead. Although I have been dealing with Bursitis with tremendous pain in my upper back and my right writing arm and have had to resort to prescribed drugs to help with the pain, I still feel an incredible amount of thankfulness today.

I guess it is because my life could have turned out so differently then it is now. I grew up in the Lower East Side surrounded by drug addicts, young single moms, raised by a single mom who had two jobs just to care for me and my sister. As a latchkey child, I could have been in alot of trouble most of the time. But I was introduced to God at an early age and going to church made all the difference in my life. Sure, I have had my run ins with those who don’t walk their talk, those who give Christians a bad name BUT thankfully I learned it never has been about THEM. It’s all about me and God. He’s kept me–out of trouble when I was younger, sane when I was older going through all the drama I’ve endured.

I am thankful I am more in love with my hubby than when I married him and that is with an almost near breakup in 2001;

I am thankful for my older son who has always been very healthy and never been hospitalized;

I am thankful that my younger son didn’t die on me this past Mother’s Day even after being resusitated 5 times!;

I am thankful that God kept me through the dissertation process without killing anyone especially after a certain person kept rejecting my submission (5th time was a charm);

I am thankful that God always provided for me and my family even after I was let go of a job at a so-called “Christian” university because I was “too much of a women’s advocate”;

I am thankful that my family and I made it through a lawsuit against the hospital who made serious mistakes with my younger boy and finally admitted it!

I am thankful that I was able to get a house and car of my dreams and will be spending my Christmas in awe of what God can do;

Finally, I am thankful for what I learned through the church plant experience even if it didn’t turn out to be what I dreamed it would be–the journey of highs and lows has made me so much wiser and aware of things we take for granted such as loyalty, spirituality, friendship, and honor.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone. God is good!

Outreach Magazine wrote about me as one of the “Faces of the Future” for their Nov/Dec  2007 issue. The link is here .  I am humbled that they would want to write about what I have done. It’s interesting that we usually never view ourselves as someone who is doing anything substantial and most of the time I know for myself, I feel like I haven’t done much. Truth is, I feel I still have so much to do yet many times I’m tired.

I was in NYC for 1 ½ days to handle some personal business and as always I try to meet up with my closest friends. As I connected with one of them, she and her husband who also happen to be church planters  tried to encourage me to do the Churchill “Never, never, never quit.” We are both facing many challenges as planters with little resources but also both feel like this is what we are supposed to be doing. I found this reflection on the web and thought of how I need to balance my dreaming with my doing.  I’ve been spoiled by having started with the big that I don’t realize that small is the new big in this day and age—this viewpoint has held me back from doing things in Florida to engage the community here. It’s taken me a while to get used to the way things are done here. I guess you can say I’ve been like a big baby stomping around in private about how the mindsets of people and the way things are done here in FL are so different.

However, in between the arrival to NYC and my return trip back to FL last night, I feel like I was given a new resolve to continue until I win. Winning for the kingdom that is…impacting lives, facing the giants in the land and continuing to do what I was wired to do. In order to do that I need a winner mentality, I found this reflection below that keys in on what winners do and think. Perhaps it can be useful to you too!

Winners

Winners take chances like everyone else,
They fear failing, but they refuse to let fear control them.

Winners don’t give up,
When life gets tough, they hang in until the going gets better

Winners are flexible.
They realize there is more than one way and they are willing to try others.

Winners know they are not perfect.
They respect their weaknesses while making the most of their strengths.

Winners fall, but they don’t stay down.
They stubbornly refuse to let a fall keep them from climbing.

Winners don’t blame fate for their failures,
Nor luck for their successes.Winners accept responsibility for their lives.

Winners are positive thinkers who see good in all things.
From the ordinary, they make the extraordinary.

Winners believe in the path they have chosen even when it’s hard,
Even when others can’t see where they are going.

Winners are patient.
They know a goal is only as worthy as the effort that’s required to achieve it.

Winners are people like you.
They make this world a better place to be.

 Nancye Sims

Failure is a word, an experience we don’t like to utter much less go through. In a world that consistently focuses on success, failure is deemed an unnecessary happening of those who 1) are not called; 2) are not destined to success in anything. However, if we think about it, much of what we are able to enjoy in life i.e. light, phones, the iphone was developed by a series of failures.  Thus, when we experience failure we should learn from it and remember that failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing (Denis Waitley). Our church plant is experiencing a very crucial time that has wiped out many a church plant before. While we have had many challenges in our history since we started in January 2005 like core team recruitment, MONEY, leadership development, and people leaving because the developing stage was just too little for what they wanted (since the “more” ministries were usually just around the corner or down the street). However, REAL ESTATE seems to be “the” most crucial issue we are facing at this point. We can’t afford the pricey places albeit small pricey places in the area we feel called to minister in and many churches already occupy the old regulars like schools cafeterias. Our experience renting space in a Spanish church was not the best one and we are gun shy about trying THAT again.  So here we are, contemplating as many have before us, our fate. At present, we are negotiating meeting in a wine club in West Pines. A very cool place with bistro tables, sofas, stage but not your traditional set up and we won’t be able to minister to young children in this location.I bring this up to say that wherever our decisions take us, we can learn from it all. It certainly isn’t where I hoped we would be at this stage in the development of Grace, but it is what it is and its all part and parcel of being a church planter with a MILLION decisions to make at every turn.  Please lift us up in prayer, we need it. I’m tired and I’m sad about the gutless people out there who say they want to make a difference for the Kingdom but want too much comfort while they attempt to do so. I’m sadden by those around us who think something great can come from mediocre efforts. I’m tired of those who believe everything must come from and be the sole efforts of the lead pastors. But in my mind, should we decide this is it, I remember that failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success (Denis Waitley).