Shake It Up Baby

It’s back again…the feeling that I need something more than my usual routine. I’ve grown accustomed to this feeling of slight discontent that has lived inside me for as long as I remember. But once in a while it shows up with such vengeance that I have no choice but to give in to the urgent call to do something different and get started today.


Well meaning people have told me for years that my discontentment is surely a sin. They haven’t used those exact words, but they always work into the conversation Paul’s message about having learned to be content. The problem is that I believe Paul also carried in his soul this same whisper to get life moving. He was content with God’s calling on his life and yet it was the ever present Whisper in his soul that moved him along to the next possibility.


Part of my problem is that I live for the thrill of taking on the thing that everyone else labels impossible simply for the jazz of proving them wrong. When there is little challenge in my everyday life, I have been known to create the impossible just so I will have somewhere to park the energy that needs to be drained.


This tendency to keep moving and shaking makes my husband a little more than nervous. He knows that my adventure will soon overtake him even if his bags aren’t packed. What he never quite knows for sure is where this is going to end up. Will he be moving the furniture around or getting rid of it altogether? How much is this little escapade going to cost? He asks these questions because he was an accountant before he answered the call to ministry. It only makes sense to him to find out if this is going to require a major loan from the Credit Union or if he will be able to pacify me with a trip to Barnes & Noble to research my latest idea.


Oh well, I’ll leave all that up to him. I have other things to think about. Like what’s next and how can I make it happen?


I have no idea where the Whisper will take me this time—I only know that I must follow. I have learned not to despise small beginnings. More often than not, this stirring in my soul leads me to take action that I would otherwise never consider as a possibility. True-- I have a list of failures to show for all the shaking. But I also have a treasure box full of experiences that most people only dream about. And I wouldn’t trade those treasures for the whole world if it was offered.


So here I go, off on another adventure with the People Whisperer. He knows my heart and He created me to be this way. It might make you uncomfortable-but I’m good with it.


Shake it up baby. What’s next for you?


The Challenge

· How does God’s Whisper show up most often in your own life?
· What one thing could you do that would “shake it up” and bring freshness to your day?
· What is your reaction to the idea that Paul was content with God’s call yet open to the Whisper?
· If given a choice to shake it up or stay the same…which would you choose?

With a Name Like That....

I'm sure my parents meant well when they named me after my grandmother. Or it might have been they couldn't think of a middle name that flowed well with Carolyn. I must say that I am especially relieved they did not follow through on their original plan to name me after both grandmothers...or this blog would be called something like The Life and Times of Lily Fern. Thankfully, they simply lifted the Dare from my grandmother's full name (Lillian Virginia Dare) and deposited it into my life as a middle name.

Until recently, I pretty much ignored my middle name. I even dropped it from my life when I married, opting instead to use my maiden name as my middle name and initial on all official documents. But the name was not willing to be so easily dismissed. In fact, I have come to the realization that most of my life has been filled daily with opportunities to live into the meaning of the name.

Webster's provides two definitions for the word dare: 1) to have sufficient courage and 2) the challenge to perform an action as proof of courage. At my age, I am long past the feeling that I must do anything for the sole purpose of proving myself to anyone. However, I face challenges every day that require me to summon enough courage to keep moving forward or sometimes simply do the next thing that must be done.

Thus the birth of Carolyn's Dare. In this place I will speak of challenges and courage. You may find that much of what I say could be said by anyone, including yourself. I have simply taken up my own dare to say out loud the things that are usually left unsaid. I believe we do not speak up because we fear what others will think. Or could it be we fear the truth about what we ourselves are thinking?

You will not always like what I say, nor will you agree with me. That's wonderful news to me. It means you are thinking. And when you are thinking, you are taking up the challenge to live with courage.

Welcome to Carolyn's Dare.