Lessons From My 20s: Do The Crazy Thing

This week I am at a conference in Colorado, so I will be reposting a few of my favorites from months past. Enjoy!

You know. That 'thing'. We each have them. They never go away. It is the idea, the dream, the passion, the vision that stays ever before you. The 'what if' scenario that resurfaces in your imagination. I have had several in my 20s. I have learned to do the crazy thing.

I fell in love when I said I wouldn't. So in love I married at age 21. The thing I was too young to do.

For years I dreamed of Seattle. Going and living in that vibrant city which sits at the edge of the next-big-thing in culture. When I was 23 I went there to plant a church. And I did.  I did the thing that looked impossible.

I have a passion for travel. So, I became a travel agent. The dream job for me in some ways. I made no money at it and didn't renew my license. I did the thing that failed...and it wasn't that bad.

God told me to it was time to leave Seattle. I wanted it to go away, but the voice of God was clear. So, despite many tears...I moved. I did the thing that should have killed me, but it didn't.

Graduate school has been a passion of mine for years. I decided to study for the GRE...hours I studied and then never took it. I did the thing that never went anywhere but taught me so much anyway.

I have two kids and am adopting two more. I am doing the thing that seems beyond my capacity.

I am trying to write a book. I am doing the thing that intimidates me.

I am pursuing my passion to see the Church respond to the injustices of our time. I am doing the thing that seems too big for me. The dream that has always felt intangible and distant. The dream that scares me the most.

So many things. Crazy, beautiful, motivating. Ideas & dreams I couldn't shake. Thoughts that didn't seem to matter to anyone else - they were the thoughts that wouldn't leave me alone. I did things that seemed impressive to others and things that people found trivial. I did things no one else understood but God and myself. Some things I did well and other things I fumbled. But I did them. Do them. Do the crazy things.