On Monday, I wrote how I can’t fail in motherhood because I am already a failure. We all are. My children can’t fall farther than the reach of His grace & love. So I shouldn’t parent in fear of failure, but in love.
On Wednesday, I shared the message & hope of owning my life. Loud & clear so many Allume speakers spoke of intentional living. Creating before consuming. Keeping my life, so I have a life to write about. Remembering fun.
If claim I don’t want to parent in fear. If I want to own my life. Then I need to cast aside fear and live, following His calling. Because while at Allume, the calling was solidified & shiny, crystal clear. But I’ve pushed it aside because the risk of failure is high. The feelings of inferiority and comparison rob me of confidence.
Darren Rowse, aka Problogger said,
“Acknowledge the insecurity. Be faithful in the next step. Step forward even if you are afraid. Don’t live with regret. God is giving you a message and you don’t want to look back 30 years from now and wonder what would happen.”
Thank you RedLetterArt for the perfect confirmation of His call.
Then Darren quoted Will Rogers:
“Even if you’re on the right track you will get run over if you just sit there”
I could be right where God wants me to be, but just sitting there hoping things will work out. Not actively pursuing the call. Just sitting.
Monday, during my time with God, I turned on Pandora to hear this song, “Called Me Higher” (by All Sons & Daughters) played:
I could just sit. I could just sit.
And wait for all Your goodness.
Hope to feel Your presence.
And I could just stay.
I could just stay right where I am
And hope to feel you.
Hope to feel something again.
And I could hold on, hold on to who I am.
And never let you change me from the inside.
Here is the chorus that echoed my time at Allume:
You have called me higher.
You have called me deeper.
I will go where you lead me Lord.
He has called me higher. He has called me deeper. I need to get off my booty and follow where He leads!! Enough of sitting around already.
Each woman I interacted at the Allume Conference heard a specific calling from God in some area of her life. The callings were unique from one another because the work is plentiful and too many workers are sitting around. We don’t have to worry about competing with one another for space in His Kingdom (TY Lisa-Jo for this reminder).
One of the biggest parts of my Allume experiences was the re-igniting of a call. He put into place people & situations to reaffirm He has some work for me to do. Next week I want to share with you all the specifics of this “calling”. It’s big. Real big. After last weekend I realize how big.
For today I leave you with the awesomeness of Ann Voskamp’s words on calling:
- Feeling a little bit raw and a little bit discouraged. Clean underwear in my husband’s drawer. There’s just not enough of me to go around. Am I doing the right things?
- Do you want to use me at all?Does the creator of all things love me and want to use me at all? Or is He looking at you and thinking, “Well this isn’t going to go very far?”
- Quit “trying to fit” stop trying to squeeze all your extraordinary into ordinary.
- Stop feeling failure.
- Stop fear, God’s artist at work.
- Tree grows tall by stretching into unknown territory.
- A call is something one keeps listening for. He didn’t give Abraham a map, He gave him a relationship.
- We need the person of God more than the plan. Wait in prayer in His Word.
- God’s call is not that you do more FOR Him, but that you do more WITH God. Life changes with the prepositions.
Are you pursuing a relationship with God? Do you stop & listen to His voice? If you have heard Him calling, are you held back moving because of your fear of failure? Let’s own this life and the calling He has given us!
**IF YOU ARE READING THIS POST & ATTENDED ALLUME, WILL YOU SHARE THE CALLING YOU HEARD FROM GOD? BE BOLD & FEARLESS!
***Here is the song, “Called Me Higher” by All Sons & Daughters. So. so. good :
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eeeNPMzEEk?rel=0]
Oh Heather, I so wish I could have sat near you during these sessions!!! But I’m so thankful for you sharing your heart and eager to hear what is coming up for you!!! It’s great how God just keeps taking us on these journeys!!!
Your absence was felt sister. Your giggle missed. Can’t wait to share something that God shared for me while at Allume. Thankful for you, more than you will ever know!
I felt the call to local blogging while at Allume. Before I went I didn’t even know what it was. My friend Jolene has long been calling me a “regional blogger.” My passion is blogging about Oklahoma — its people, terrain, food, and heart. When people would ask about niche I would cringe because I really and truly did not fit into any label that anyone said existed.
But I exist. What am I?, I wondered.
I have to thank my friend for calling out the good in me. She sees where I excel (and where I fail miserably) and is open about sharing that with me.
Oklahoma — I knew it’s what I wanted to blog, but I didn’t know how to harness that. On a whim I attended Laura Booz’s session “Going Local: How ’10 Million Miles’ Shrunk Down to the Perimeter of My Hometown.” My steps were ordered by the Lord that day! What she had to say was what I was sent to Allume to hear. I am keeping my old blog — it’s my homebase and more personal space, but I am now on a slow but steady path to starting a blog for and about my tiny hometown and the primarily agricultural county it resides in. I want to inform and inspire. Let God use me to shower these people with what they need — and let all signs point back to Him in the long-run.
Yay for clarity, confirmation, and direction!
so super cool! I’m a big Laura Booz fan. Sad I missed hearing her session. She is the real deal & she listens to God. Thankful you were inspired by her calling and it reaffirmed yours! Shining a light in local places is following in Jesus footsteps. awesome sauce! thanks for sharing!
Yay! I was in that session, too. I did my “31 Days” series on our small town, then get to Allume to find Laura Booz’s session?! It was awesome, wasn’t it?
Love this Heather! Even when we wait on The Lord it says “then we will walk… Run…”
So glad you were encouraged and refreshed. Thrilled to get to witness all that God is doing in and through you!! I’m so blessed by you!
Oh and my calling? To get back to just writing. When God called me to blog He said “live your life and blog along the way.” I got away from that trying to do all of the things bloggers “need” to do. I feel so much freedom now to get back to simply writing and know that my obedience will be blessed.
I also feel so challenged to bring older and younger women together and help younger women realize what a blessing and benefit it is to learn from these “been there, done that” moms. Waiting on The Lord to find out exactly how to go about this…
I am soooo in love with what God has called you to Kristin. The name you shared is perfect: “Been there, done that Moms”. The fact it is being started by a younger mom is what is fresh and exciting. Thank you for sharing your heart here!
awesome! excited to see what God’s got in store for you!!:)
Thank you Dee for the constant reminder that I can dream big b/c I know Who’s I am. It’s more about the God who gives the dream than about me & what I want. You rock for your generosity…hope you are blessed a thousand-fold!
Heather, I’m grateful for the ways God’s speaking to your heart, through Allume & deep down in the quiet. And I’m excited to see how these seeds grow. So much grace to you in the journey! Coming to Allume with my prints was totally nerve wrecking for me. I can write my heart and soul out, but sharing my art is a new, vulnerable spot for me. I was so grateful for the warm reception there. I’m still growing into this.
oh sweet Annie! Your prints were so fresh, precious, and wonderful. Thank you for sharing your dream with us. lovely. Also just made the connection that you also design websites…sent you an email. Today I thought, I wonder who designed Lisa-Jo’s site…ding, ding, ding. 😉
Heather….girlfriend, you are a gift in a million different ways! Your words encourage and your face literally radiates Jesus. I just love your heart! So thankful for you and your friendship! And you know what I felt God calling me into because you commented on my blog too! 🙂 We’ll see how the Lord leads….but I’m excited to see giftings unearthed that I didn’t even know I had. Isn’t the Lord just fun like that?! The Sovreign Surpriser!