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?

Finding a Place Called Happy

As usual my passion for reading has sent me down yet another thinking trail. This morning I am intrigued and haunted once again by something that I've heard a thousand times or more in various ways. An article in Lake Norman Magazine by Jen Aronoff details the story of how Shawna Robinson, NASCAR driver turned designer, has found her happy place. Speaking of this change in Shawna's life direction, a friend quotes "I think she's started to listen to herself inside". And off I go......

I have been trying to listen to my inside self for an entire lifetime. Just about the time I think I have myself figured out something comes along that derails the whole process. I suppose that in reality, like many women, I feel drawn towards something I cannot quite name or frame. Something deep inside is longing for expression...and oh yes, can I make a living this way?

I am nearly supernaturally attracted to books and articles that explain how to discover and live out the passion that resides deep within. My bookshelf groans under the weight of these books, torn magazine pages and journals that testify to my seemingly never ending journey. Among these archives there must surely be a clue as to who I really am at my core and how that core self can live out the purpose for which I was created.

What fascinates me the most about Shawna and people like her is that they have discovered how to do what they are and it's expression is bringing a depth of life satisfaction that is both tangible and visible. Pilgrims, that is exactly the place to which I am drawn.

The revealing thing about all this is that I may have stumbled upon the who of me while reading about the how of others. Turns out I might be closer than I ever imagined to my own happy place. As a Life Coach I invest a lot of time in helping clients listen to the differences between what they are saying and how they are living. My insatiable desire for listening and learning has proven to be a great gift as I weed through unabridged stories in search of what matters most.

One of my favorite pictures of younger me displays this calling even then. I am stretched out on a favorite chair and ottoman, backwards and stomach down with legs crossed and feet in the air. My elbows prop up the skinny arms that hold the book into which my nose is pressed. What am I reading? Who knows or cares. The point is that in this picture I am doing what I am. I am an information gatherer with a passionate love for learning. I do not care about passing a test to prove that I have learned anything. I will have passed the test on the day I use this information to help someone find the happy place, myself included.

Now...if I can only figure out how to market this gift in a way that brings life to others and livelihood to me. Gotta' go now. Barnes and Noble is calling my name. I'll be in the marketing section if you need me! My happy place indeed.