For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14 NIV
The YES Adventure is a journey of discovery—self-discovery. But it’s more than just discovering yourself. It’s about discovering the plans that God has for you. It’s about exploring who you are and how you are made. Your personal makeup—personality, gifts and talents, the deep desires that seem to be a part of the fabric of who you are—are all clues in the discovery process.
So, let’s take some time now to explore those deep-seated desires. Like silver threads woven into a blanket, those desires add sparkle, depth, and dimension to your life. Let’s explore what you really want. Clues to God’s purpose for you are woven into your desires.
Whose Dream
If you could do anything, what would it be? Perhaps you have never really articulated that before. Yet, there is something deep inside that calls your name. From the back of the dark cave called the future, the voice whispers loudly to you. “This is what you want. This is where you want to go.”
As I look back on my life, writing has always been there. For school projects, I would often choose writing rather than other forms of expression.
In the seventh grade, we studied the American Revolution. One of the projects to choose was to create a diary of a soldier at Valley Forge. That was my project. Even at that young age, the thought of writing rather than building something was much more appealing. I still have that project in a scrapbook. I spent the time researching conditions at Valley Forge and got a sense of what life was like. I wrote out the entries and creatively organized the information. I found old, yellowed paper with no lines on it. Perfect! I sewed it with thread for binding.
All the effort to create an environment through the words and the presentation was just a vehicle for carrying the information I had studied into words on a page. I enjoyed getting inside the character’s head and writing his words on the yellowed pages.
In high school, I discovered creative writing. We had the opportunity to choose different classes and the Creative Writing elective literally changed my life. The curriculum required keeping a journal of observations and thoughts. I had never thought of keeping a journal before. The journal became my lifeline. The journal became the place where I could express the feelings that couldn’t be talked about with others. I didn’t have anyone to listen to me. My journal became a place to process my fears, doubts, hurts, and questions.
Later, when Jesus became the center of my life, my journal became a place of prayer and study. I still keep a journal. It may not be the lifeline it once was, but it is a place to capture important thoughts, feelings, heartfelt prayers, and the whispers of God. Do you keep a journal?
I discovered that God made me to write words through that creative writing course. Writing words that carry emotions and ideas has been a part of my life since then. Recognizing the place of writing in my past has been part of discovering how I am made and uncovering His design for my future. That discovery led to the book you are reading now. This is part of my MORE. There is more for you, too, my friend.
Writing was not consciously my dream early on. Writing was just there. An undercurrent. A silver thread. Recognizing the sparkle of that thread helped me to discover God’s dream for me. I know without a doubt that writing is not just my dream. It is God’s dream for me. He designed me with words woven into my being. He made me to create. Words on a page, words in a message. Words are woven into me.
What is woven into you, my friend? Have you taken the time to discover the silver threads in your makeup? When you look back over your life, what are the dreams, gifts, and talents that recur? Those are your clues. The things that you have always enjoyed doing. The projects that seem to repeat in your life. The desires that never go away. Those are part of God’s dream for you.
Excerpt from The YES Adventure: Transform Your Life with One Word by Cathleen Zahradnik. Check it out here.