Too passionate….what does that mean?

The dam broke & my mind raced back to the night of that heated exchange.

 

I was standing at the foot of their bedroom steps in the midst of a teenage tantrum. The summer air was suffocating in more ways than one. His words spoken through gritted teeth, ringing in my ear,

 

“You’re just too passionate.”

 

Who knew words could be so heavy? Just four little words, and yet two of them left a fermented taste in my mouth for more than two decades.

 

 

Too passionate.

 

What does that mean?

 

For years, I wondered and wrestled with that question.

 

Then, while in Indiana, attending a conference, I heard the word that was dead to me.

 

“What is it you could do all day long & lose track of time? What is it that causes your heart to turn a flip? That thing is your passion!” –Lara Casey

 

The pendulum shifted.

 

The weight of those fermented words that I had carried for so long lifted !! At last!!! A new sense of freedom and excitement rekindled a part of my soul I had let die. With tears spilling down my face and all of a sudden, passion was a good thing. Better than good, it was GREAT!

 

 

John Piper, the author of,  Don’t Waste Your Life,  pierced me this week as I read,

 

“But whatever you do, find the God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated passion of your life, and find your way to say it and live for it and die for it.”

 

These words.  Words like these, ‘find your way to say it and live for it and die for it,’ make my heart turn flips! They leave me short of breath.

 

Friends, can we be done with living life on medium?

 

 

For those of you who have heard me speak over the last few months have undoubtedly heard these words. I feel very passionately about placing a sense of urgency.  Lysa TerKeurst says, we’ve “set our souls to the rhythm of rush.” Many of us have.  And for what?  Or for whom?  How are we spending our hours? Our days? My desire is to inspire you to give it some thought.

 

What do you dream about when you go to sleep??

 

We took the kids to the zoo last week and made wishes in one of the fountains.

 

What wishes have you made lately?

 

What’s on your bucket list? Do you have a bucket list?

 

Dearest friends, this isn’t dressed rehearsal. We don’t get “do-over.”

 

To echo John Piper, don’t waste your life!

 

I don’t know what your passion is or if you prefer the plural, passions are, but you do. And if you don’t, I beg you to carve out some alone time to search for it!

 

How long has it been since your heart turned a flip?  And I’m not talking about a flippant “oh that was fun’ but a deep, fulfilling satisfaction that comes when you know that you know you’re right where you’re supposed to be doing exactly what you are meant to be doing!

 

In your quiet moments with God, I pray you will ask Him what it is he wants you to #PrayBig about and then, get after it!

 

A couple of summers ago I asked the ladies of a summer book study, “When you were a little girl, what did you dream of or hope to become?”

 

Some answered without hesitation. Others left baffled. It had been so long since they had given thought of anything other than mundane.

 

There’s another word, mundane. We’ll save that post for another day because there is glory in the mundane but today is about passion! My fervent prayer for you, my friends, is that you will:

 

~Live passionately in pursuit of all God has for you!

~Believe He has a plan and a purpose for your life!

~ #PrayBig because God is BIG!

~Ask Him to use us where we are with what we have!

 

These words in the old book, Apples of Gold, I found fitting in a way of wrapping the pondering for today:

 

You’re writing a gospel,

A chapter each day,

By deeds that you do,

By words that you say.

Men read what you write,

Whether faithless of true,

Say, what is the gospel according to you?

Much love,

P.S.

Because apparently I love a P.S.

• #PrayBig is six months old tomorrow!  Thank you for celebrating this message with us!
• I am “passionately” pursuing a little project that’s been burning a hole in me.  We are talking about what brave looks like over on Facebook and Instagram.  Hop over and share your two cents.
• Our baby turned eight yesterday.  I’m still processing how old eight sounds and mustering words to express how crazy I am about the little boy who wants to live with me forever.
• I”m reading A Different Beautiful, written by the brave and precious, Courtney Westlake.  To say this book is inspiring, to say this book is applicable, to say this book is an ABSOLUTE must read would barely be the beginning.  GO NOW and PRE-ORDER this book to be released August 2016 because it is SURE to be a SELL OUT!!!!!!!!!
• I need to hear about your summer!  How are you chillaxing and what does that look like?