“What in the world do I have to offer? What story do I have to tell that will inspire someone else? Who am I to think I can offer something of value?”
These are the thoughts that have surfaced in various forms as I have contemplated how I can show up in love and service and provide hope through sharing stories of perseverance and overcoming challenges. I haven’t overcome cancer, I haven’t hiked Everest or lost a spouse. So what do I have to share?
As I looked deeper I realized these were just the voices of doubt, insecurity and comparison that were there to keep me small. These doubts and fears were the walls of security that I have built around myself to convince myself that what I have to say really doesn’t matter. Just stay quiet, don’t share, it’s safer to be small. Sounds familiar?
As I let go of those fears and took down the wall of insecurity brick by brick I discovered the truth that was there. The experience and story that binds all of us! The story that connects you and I, that connects you and your best friend and your neighbor and the women in the grocery store, they are simply the individual tapestry of ordinary every day life.
Each of moment of your life is like a strand of thread, some are brilliant red, others a muted brown, some even a stark black. Just one strand by itself is pretty ordinary, nothing special. However, when you step back and look more closely you notice that one strand is just one in a million strands that when woven together and divinely designed become a beautiful tapestry. This is my story and this is your story!
My story is beautiful, it is complicated and rich and full of meaning and experience. My story has brought me to tears, has brought me to my knees in prayer, has found me curled sobbing in a fetal position on the floor. This story has also brought me tears of joy, blissful fulfillment and a deep and undeniable connection to God.
My story is found in the musings while doing the dishes, it’s found in the goodnight kisses and books read to my four kids. It’s found when totally losing it while getting kids out the door for school. It’s in the sleepless nights and kids throwing up on the bathroom floor. It’s found in the juggling of guilt and time as I build a business and show up as the wife and mother I want to be. It is in the daily choice to let go of resentment and open my heart again to my husband after feeling hurt and betrayed. It is found in the insatiable craving for cream cheese frosting. It is choosing to trust every single day that God has a plan for me and that my voice needs to be heard. It is allowing my divine light to shine through all the doubt and fear. It is all of this my sweet friend… and oh so much more!
This is my tapestry and it is meant to be shared! It is meant to be heard and seen and experienced, not kept bottled up inside of me for fear of being judged or dismissed. This beauty is found in the ordinary. Designing my extraordinary tapestry one moment, one ordinary strand at a time.
So my hope for you today is that you see the extraordinary within you. Maybe you have a story of survival and maybe you feel like your life has been pretty simple. But have no doubt, whatever your experience it is extraordinary.
Part therapist. Part transformation artist.
100% loving guide to your most astounding metamorphosis yet.
- Once Upon a Time I Actually Took Care of Me - July 30, 2019
- Finding Your Extraordinary in the Ordinary - July 16, 2019
- Enlightenment at the Bottom of the Chocolate Chip Bag - July 16, 2019