Oh friends, how I have needed the words and wisdom of this post…! Even for those who don’t think of themselves as Creatives, our very lives are adventures we have the privilege to create. Ann yearns to cheer-lead and encourage, and I’m certain others also need the cool refreshment she’s offering, the gentle nudge to keep going. Let’s keep moving forward, stronger for moving forward together.
re:create recess #17: Ann McDonald
Forward.
I’m soul stirred by the concept of inhabiting forward motion lately.
Truth? I’m not even sure I know what that means, but it feels like the daily practice of choosing to leave yesterday completely behind so today and tomorrow can actually be new…
…new places and spaces where creating is fresh, not simply re-purposed from what we’ve always done.
There is this holy unrest in me to move forward. To see what is possible.
We’ve got something else to build, you and I.
It’s not time to settle in and get small.
The concept of soul-downsizing offends me, as I see some of my acquaintances fold up hope and shrink back in fear. Considering their ideas and dreams old and of no use…they call it wisdom. But it feels more like embarrassment or self-judgment…that comes not from God, not from love.
I believe our best upsized soul days are ahead. Let’s walk those days out together, you and I. It isn’t exit stage left just yet…no matter what age or cycle.
My heart yearns to cheer-lead and encourage in this season.
To remind us we’ve got something never before seen inside of us that wants to be created and come out.
Jesus came to give us abundant life and there is a piece of abundance that includes more.
It’s the “lying one” that came to steal, kill and destroy.
If our thoughts start to steal hope in us, they need to go.
If our dreams start to kill the blessing of prosperity, they need to go.
If our imaginations turn destructive, they must bow to the name of Jesus…and find, in that name, grace for hope in today and most certainly, tomorrow.
Everywhere I turn, my heart burns to lift our collective countenance.
To empower us to the next heap of joy. Not sappy happy, but deeply seeded, “heaven is actually real and it wants to break in on our every-day” kind of joy.
There is this piece of me that yearns to stand on the park bench and get my Berkeley preacher girl on:
“Take the music lessons at 80”
“Learn to ride the horse at 70”
“I heard about this couple named Sarah and Abraham who had a family after 90….”
“Build the idea you’re afraid of into an abundantly prosperous business at 30 – 60 – 100”
“Start an orphanage”
“Bring water to a village”
Why? Because we can’t create those things from a place of downsizing in our soul. They must come from a place of hope and courage. Those things come from abundance…
“Write the book”
“Write the book”
“Write the book!”
Why? Because you may not see yourself as an author, but heaven knows you as one…and time is waning, the veil is thinning…
As I see it, we humans are a resilient and marvelous bunch. Every single one, created by God with something great inside, but we must steward our part forward.
It’s not easy, but sometimes it is. Sometimes there is grace for today to forget and forgive ourselves so we can live our best fearless day with dreams abandoned to the impossible becoming possible…
This is my re:create cry in this season.
Re:create what is impossible without God.
Try.
And so this holy unrest in me to move forward. To build something new. To be something I’ve never been.
Forward. Upsized. In spirit, soul and vision.
Stretch our tent pegs to the right and to the left.
Every day we get a new chance. Every day. Every day we set the coffee and pour a cup for Jesus, convinced at some point He will, in fact, show up to drink.
What is our everyday hope? Do we still have one? Can we even find one in all the noise?
What is our tomorrow dream?
Don’t downsize your soul and fold it up because it feels hard or heavy.
Turn on the lights at home. Buy a new pillow. Have a dinner party. Have a dance party. Host a prayer group that keeps the music on and the feet walking while the prayers ascend…
So many questions I know, but for the Creative, questions stir life.
There must be unanswered questions that move our soul into places in glory we’ve dared to dream of…
For today, let the spaces and places you inhabit move you forward…not hold you back.
And here dear one, is our collective key: the doors only open forward…
Xo – Ann
Creative Ann McDonald has been designing spaces & places and enterprises from ideas for over 30 years. Having lived & worked in New York City, Beverly Hills and now the San Francisco Bay Area, she exists to empower people to do great things. Ann believes joy is strength and if God said it, it must be true…even when we can’t see it just yet. Her Idea to Implementation curriculum is part of the 7 Mountain Message, she mentors Kingdom Entrepreneurs & equips people to create prosperity from ideas.
She and her husband Patrick have recently co-created a new health minded endeavor, Forwardshape™, set to launch Fall 2017. The purpose of Forwardshape™ is to empower a multi-generational movement away from shame, regret, unbelief and unforgiveness into joy, peace and righteousness in the everyday. To join the movement free of charge prior to launch, visit www.forwardshape.com.
