The Kaleidoscope

Image from Dawn at My Home Sweet Home

I’m six and courage is school bus yellow. I stand on the curb, holding my lunch, and wait for my first day of kindergarten. My sweet mom tells me again that she’ll drive me to school (and she does every day after). But that morning I stubbornly put small feet in patent leather shoes on the steps to independence and ride.

I’m twenty-one and courage is wedding dress white. I wait at the end of an aisle to become a wife. In this  crazy world I make vows that talk about for better or worse and wonder what the future may hold. I choose to risk for love.

I’m twenty-six and courage is pregnancy test pink. I stand in the bathroom and discover once again I’m ready to start our family but God has other plans. I learn to live in the waiting and discover sometimes bravery simply means remaining in the unknown. I’m still there now.

I’m thirty and courage is shiny laptop silver. I sit in coffee shops, at the library, and outside on our porch writing my first book. It feels like putting my heart on display, like giving birth, like nothing and everything I’d hoped. And it scares me silly.

I’m here now and courage is summer leaf green. I stare out the window at the trees in my yard and hear God’s whisper again, “Be still.” So I stop my whirly-twirly life, let go of my insecurities, and try once more just to be. It is unfamiliar, this place, and my heart pounds harder than if I am going into battle.

I once thought of courage as a single color—always fire engine red—blazing and bold. But I am finding it is more like a kaleidoscope. It changes with the seasons of our lives, with who we are becoming, with what God is asking our hearts to do. Just when we think we know it, the form alters and we find ourselves seeing it anew.

And through all the shifting this remains—in every color, every life…courage is breathtaking.

GIVEAWAY

Over the next few weeks, you'll hear from over twenty amazing women about what courage looks like in their lives. Imagine all of us sitting around the kitchen table at a beach house, coffee in our hands, listening to stories as different as each one telling them.

We want you to have a seat at the table too! Just write on your blog about what encourages you, include a link to www.incourage.me, then add the link to your post below. If you do so before midnight on Sunday, August 16th you'll be entered to win the limited edition (in)courage t-shirt below. That's me being a bit sassy in those photos. My one and only stint as a model...

The back says: Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24 NRSV

Are you (in)?

Update: Wow, you girls have already filled up the first McLinky! I've started another one below so we can keep going (just scroll on down). We LOVE getting to know all of you! You maxed out MckLinky (woo-hoo!) so we started another one. Just keep on linking... MckLinky seems to have shut itself down today. But we still have a few hours to go until the giveaway is over! So here's a new one in case you're getting in at the last minute...