Three lessons for my children...

Lesson number ONE:

Sometime in your life you will have the chance to stand at the edge of murky waters, wondering what possibilities may be swimming underneath the surface. 

Your heart will say, go...but your mind will echo, wait. 

People in the shadows will stand behind you and comment, offer "advice".

They will secretly long to follow, but their "logical" fears will keep them on the shoreline.

Listen to yourself. Step out. Forget about the hooded naysayers behind you, 

before their voices become your own.

You have possibilities to discover.

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Lesson number TWO:

Everyday you have the chance to throw off your fears and run with freedom the path marked for you.

Knowing that freedom, and enjoying that freedom, will be your choice.

There will be those that stand at the sidelines and look with amused, perhaps judgmental, concern.

A slight furrow in their brow will reveal that they "don't approve" of the way you run.

(Or that you are having too much fun.)

They will always be the watchers and never the runners. 

So ignore them, before they take the wind out of your sails 

and you find yourself standing on the sidelines with them.

Lay your fears aside and run with freedom.

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Lesson number THREE:

Sometime in your life you will be happily in a field picking flowers, gathering them in bunches, marveling at their wild beauty. Out of nowhere your peace will be interrupted by the voices of "experts" who will look at your bouquet and exclaim: 

But they are WEEDS! 

They will question your eye for beauty and wonder why you give attention to such worthless things.

Do not drop the weeds. 

Do not allow those "experts" to cause you to hang your head in shame. They are nearsighted.

If those "weeds" are beautiful to you...

...then they are beautiful indeed.

Your eye for beauty is uniquely yours, so keep on gathering those "weeds".

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Your journey is between you and God alone. No one else can define it for you. 

Others may chime in with their thoughts and advice, but listen graciously and wisely. 

Learn to run with freedom, setting aside needless fear. 

And above all take the time to discover and love the person you were created to be.