Y’all I’ve been on this journey for many years now, and through my 20s and 30s I expected to have arrived by now! It frustrated me for so long that I was still journeying and still not feeling complete.

Then I visited a little church, in the middle of a farmer’s field, in a little town near the edge of the world, and my life changed. It wasn’t the Big Bang and it was several days before the soft whispers of what life is really all about started coursing through my  heart, mind, and soul.

In that church, I had a very personal experience with the living God. That night God pried open this long closed heart of mine and let the light shine in. It took a while, but I eventually figured out that even that moment in time, despite the change it brought into my life, was only a way-stop  to the destination.

Jesus really is the answer and He holds my heart, but until I walk with Him in heaven, I am still on the journey. John 10:10 states “The thief comes only to steal  and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and live it to the full.”  God didn’t create us to just get through life. He created us for a purpose and He created us to relish every moment we’re given.

Each of us is on a purposeful journey and we each have a choice to experience life on the way or to just muddle through.

For so many years, I just trudged through. Even after that night in that church. Then my momma got sick, and I realized that life is short and it’s fragile. The enemy is happiest when he has us believing that this life is all there is, that we don’t count, that our fears are true, and that we are not destined for a greater purpose in this life.

I was missing out on so much and that made me sad. I made a conscious choice to stop letting fear hold me back. In the years since then I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone. And there are times I retreated back into my comfort zone like a bear to his den in the winter.

In the stepping out, I’ve found parts of myself I didn’t know existed.

I found new friends and my world exploded with color. I’ve danced with my fears and found the rhythm I needed to start being the person God created me to be.

They haven’t all been big moments, but I found that the little moments sometimes carry the biggest lessons. It isn’t always easy and sometimes I just want to hide in the predictable and safe, but God calls to me and promises to tell me great and magnificent things if I trust Him.

Those magnificent things have come to me in the softness of snuggling with my great-nephew as he falls asleep, watching the sun set over the mountains, smelling the earthy, clean scent after a good rain, and hearing them in the roar of the ocean.

I’ve soared on the winds. Yeah, it was in a wind tunnel and the indoor skydiving instructor was there helping me, but in that moment I understood the way a bird must feel as they soar through the skies fulfilling the destiny God made them for.

Friends, God created you to soar. I don’t know what that looks like in your life, and sometimes I don’t know what it looks like in my own life, but one thing I do know is that God doesn’t want me to keep this to myself. He wants me to share with others how he has taught me and continues to teach me to trust him. To dream big, fear less, and live now.

If this resonates with you, won’t you join me on the journey? Sign up for my newsletter below and I’ll send you a booklet of some of my favorite quotes!

Photo Credits

Church – Tammie Fickas

Girl with backpack – Michelle Spencer on Unsplash