12-27-20 Dare to Fly

Quote: “It’s not enough to have the feathers.  You must dare to fly!” – Cass van Krah

I remember it very vividly.  It was November of 2017.  I was sitting at home and I received a text from Claire, who was now a college student.  I had first met her when I was her youth leader in high school.  We had gotten quite close since then and had bonded over an amazing mission trip to Guatemala that summer.  She texted me a picture of a book her friend had seen on the clearance shelf at Target and had bought for her.  It was the book, “100 Days to Brave,” by Annie F. Downs.  She said I should get it and we could read it together.

I bought the book on Amazon and waited patiently for 2018 to start reading it.  Every time I saw the cover, this feeling deep in my belly would creep up and I would start to feel very uncomfortable.  It’s like I knew something was about to happen.  I could feel it.

Then the last week of December, we went to my aunt and uncle’s church for their final service of the year.  They challenged us to pick a word of the year instead of a New Year’s Resolution.  This was mind blowing!  What a great idea.  I was horrible at making resolutions and even worse at keeping them!  They handed out black Sharpies and I boldly wrote the word BRAVE on my hand.  To seal the deal, I got invited to and went to a class on my Biblical cousin Esther, one of the bravest women in the Bible.  Yes, my word that year was brave.

I still don’t know how I survived 2018.  But let me tell you… feathers were literally flying everywhere!  Not only did I find out that I had feathers, I was meant to SOAR!  Once those wings started flapping, I couldn’t stop!  All these ideas that I had been too scared to pursue or risks I was too terrified to take all of a sudden didn’t seem so scary anymore.  I was no longer this timid, scared little girl.  I submitted my first book to a publisher, lead my first large mission trip team, left the comfort of a home book study and started my first real Bible Study class, and started our family company, Zieroff Ministries.  The sky was the limit for this bird.

I share this special story not to praise my efforts or puff myself up but to share with you the why behind it.  You see, I couldn’t have done any of those thing without the help of God or the Godly people He put in my life to help me take those leaps of faith.  He gave me a book to read from Claire. He gave me Amanda and Gail to be mission trip partners.  He gave me the editors at Christian Faith Publishing.  He gave me Nicole to start my own class on Esther.  He gave me Mark who supported me 100%.

One of my favorite verses is in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  Satan is a fallen angel, which means he has made his choice.  He didn’t want anything to do with anything that is good.  He hates us and has a horrible plan for our lives.  But what I love most about this verse is that Jesus could have stopped talking after he said that he came to give us life.  No, he kept going.  He said he wanted us to live abundantly.

He doesn’t want us to just live life.  He wants us to live an abundant life!

One thing I’ve learned from 2018 is that sometimes you’ve got to take risks to make life more abundant.  And there’s no guarantee it’s going to be easy.  My book has sparked some serious conversations amongst family and friends.  I lent someone money for a mission trip that still hasn’t paid me back.  Our little family company takes up way more of my free time than I ever thought it would.  I lost a few friends during the Esther class. Abundant doesn’t mean risk-free or easy.  It means full.

What is this year going to look like for you?  What is your word of the year going to be?  I challenge you to pick a word or goal that will cause some feathers to ruffle a little bit.  But be brave!

You were meant to fly!