DREAM BIG; FIND PASSION:)

Saturday, 27 February 2010 00:00

Hey girls… Just wanted to share something that’s often on my heart this time of year…

So I have an older sister, Kayla.  She’s three years older than me.  I love her - she's like one of my best friends.  But when we were little she was terrible... she was always testing my gullibility...  We used to go to my cousins' farm and play together with them all day, when I was younger.  It was always such a blast because I have the coolest older cousins in the world and so of course we always did the coolest things.  One of my favorites was when they'd pull out their gymnastics mats and equipment and teach us cool tricks.  Once after spending the day there, Kayla and I came home and as soon as my mom left us alone she led me to the top of the carpeted stairs leading down to the basement and said, "Tracey, if you really want to be a gymnast you have to be able to do a forward roll all the way down those stairs."  Well I looked up to Kayla; I really trusted her.  And when I wanted something I never really thought about it I just went for it.  That day… I wanted to be a gymnast.  So I got down and went for it.  It hurt, a lot.  I cried.  It was bad. 

I have a lot of stories like that actually.  Stories of me wanting something or thinking of something that sounds fun in theory and going after it - ask questions later.  But I think the older we get the less we see of that passion... our fires die and we become "realistic".  Our intelligence starts to out weigh our ignorance.  I mean it's not very often you see a grown up rolling down the stairs in hopes of Olympic glory.  Which is great –it’s nice to be safe- but in some ways it almost makes me sad to grow up because the more we do the more we tend to play it safe.  I mean really, can you remember all the crazy goals and ambitions you used to carry with you?  Can you remember what it felt like?  Can you imagine being so passionate about something you stand outside overnight in line for the newest must have video game or painting your face and going to a hockey game?  In grade eight I had a friend who was so excited for the new Star Wars movie he left school at lunch to stand in line for the evening premiere dressed as Darth Vader!  (And yes, he made the front page of the paper that week.)  Do you ever wonder what it feels like to love something that much?  For something to mean so much to you, you do crazy things?  That you will endure being mocked for it?  That it's so important to who you are you don't care what people think? 

Anyone who knows me knows that there is nothing I love more then the incredible people God's placed in my life.  Watching people live their lives motivates me and challenges me in my own.  And I have been so blessed to get to know several people who've held onto their incredible dreams and intense passions and are chasing them with the absolute faith that they will succeed.  Their dedication and perseverance are so rare in our world where we believe in God and say He can do all things but are still so reliant on the predictability of our lives.  But I don't think God is predictable - in fact I know He's not.  Five years ago, on February 27, 2005 I got a bitter taste of God's unpredictability.  Three wonderful people - two being my incredible cousins, the third being my cousin’s equally wonderful fiancé - died in a car accident after returning from a two week mission's trip to Mexico.  Their death has completely thrown my family - that night we lost our predictability. 

But what an awesome God we have - only he could have taken such a heartbreaking tragedy and turned it into such a broken blessing for me.  I miss my cousins every single day but the lives they lived challenge me and push me so much in my own.  It was that night that I realized just how fragile life is.  And I realized that we've only got one life - and none of us know how long or short its going to be.  But I do know that a lifetime of passionately following Him - whether it's nineteen years or ninety years - is nothing compared to the eternity he's promised us. 

At their funeral my uncle read a letter he'd written to Jordan, "I know I was always prodding you and trying to bribe you to go to school and decide on a vocation... concerned about your ability to provide for your future family.  You always seemed to have one more God-filled/Christ-centered experience you needed to tend to.  I am so happy I didn't push the issue.  You did so much better with your last four years then anything i could have planned.  You were amazing.  You have always had a spiritual sensitivity and a faith that was rock solid." 

I don't want to spend my entire lifetime simply dreaming and wishing.  God's put ambitions on my heart and given me talents for a reason and since that spring my greatest challenge has been to find those passions and give them to Him and trust He really can do all things - He can take me as far as He wants to go.  It would be so easy to slide through life, taking it easy, safe and predictable... but he's showing me more and more that I need to be like I was that day at the top of the stairs and just go for things - no second thoughts, no questions - just take a leap of faith and do it.  Dream big, find passion, let go of expectations and chase Him full speed, don’t even worry about what's coming.  Because he promises in Jeremiah 29:11 "I know what I’m doing, I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you and not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for."  That verse has been my encouragement this last year along with something I came across on Max - from Superchick's - blog where he wrote "when you come to that point where sensible people stop - don't stop.  Rosa parks crossed the line.  Martin Luther King crossed the line.  Ghandi, Mother Theresa, all of our great leaders lived boldly... if Christ had not lived boldly he would have been known for his ability with a hammer rather then his willingness to be hammered.  In small things, in big things, in life, in art, why not take risks, be a little odd, kooky, risky or revolutionary?  Do things you never thought you'd do.  Cross that line."

-tracey.

“Young Adults Hit Close To Home”

Saturday, 27 February 2010 00:00

This past week has been fun for us at Beautiful Unique girl. Both teams, PJ and Beach are at home in Winnipeg for a couple weeks or so. Hanging out, catching up and reminiscing about past times has been so much fun.  We have kept really busy especially because we have made a bunch of new friends. At the local church that we attend here in Winnipeg, we have gotten to know the “young adults.” At least that is what we call them. We hung out with them almost everyday this week and it was been so much fun. Just hanging out at each other's houses and watching a good show or the Olympic's has been such a blessing. I know that it seems strange that I refer to socializing as a blessing and it makes me come off as a very anti-social person but I am not. But what I didn't realize is that being in a different city, you have to start from scratch in terms of your social life. It is starting to feel so much like home here when you have a wider range and selection of friends to hang out with. I love it!

-Erika