Live. Love. Lead.

     I just finished my 3rd year in an official leadership position. I love it. Every day I experience the cycle of success, defeat, frustration, illumination, exhaustion, second wind, stuckness, alertness, "in my zone", no where near my "comfort zone" and everything (if there's anything left) in between. It's coming to a time when I am getting a lot of questions on what my next move is going to be. Are you ready for the next level?      I struggle with this because I often feel there is much still to be learned in the chapter I am living. I struggle with what the "next level" will require of me? What will it require of the family I seek to have one day? How can I find my rhythm between all the roles I carry?      As a woman who strives to live faithfully to God, I struggle to know how there can be room for public leadership, eventual entrepreneurship, health + fitness, beauty, education, family (when that time comes), and faith? Oh and sle...

     How to get a slimmer waist.  How to get the bubble butt.  Make him fall madly in love with you.  Hot body moves.  Make any man better in bed.  Toned Legs.  Get better hair.  8 hour diet.  Get the best abs ever.  These are just a few promises of popular magazines justified with the physical evidence of women with: flawless skin, perfect smiles, flowing hair, matching make-up, killer wardrobes, perfectly toned everything, confident eyes, bodies, beauty and attitude that would make most men crazy and most women feel just a little (maybe a lot) more body/hair/looks conscious.  Trust me, I am not anti-self improvement (I'm on a better fitness training regime now); but I am anti-self-evaluation based on a standard that finds its substance in subjective desires. So with that said... Dear Beauty Magazines,      The next time you are in the board room perhaps considering what new, exciting, innovative cover...

     This year for me as a rookie leader was great and tough all at the same time.  One of the areas I wish to do better in is slowing down and investing all my heart in quieting the noise and hearing God's voice.  My goal is to create sacred spaces where I refuse to allow interrupting thoughts a foothold in my mind.      Lately, I have been pursuing a dream that I have had from a young age.  As I struggle between whether I should invest time and money into something that is not so "safe" I have been reading the book of Judges.  One of my favorite passages is about Gideon hearing God's voice in the overwhelming currents of fear.  The first time Judges records that God spoke to Gideon and Gideon heard His voice was when the Angel of the Lord came to Gideon.  Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine vat because there was fear the Midianites might take the wheat (Judges 6:1-12).  The first thing God tells Gideon was an affirma...

     My school year is almost done...more importantly my rookie year as a leader is at its close.  I cannot believe how much I have learned, how much leadership was/is more than I expected, and how much inner work truly goes into this role.  The list could truly go on and on.        During a particularly trying part of this new chapter of leadership I was reading a passage in I Kings 12 that so resonated with my everyday that it truly revived my prayer life and stimulated me to act with such courage and confidence.  It was when King Solomon had just died and his son Rehoboam has stepped into his place.  The people of the successful nation that Solomon had built came to Rehoboam and essentially asked him, "How are you going to lead?"  He asks for some time and then consults with the elders that served his father.  Those elders told him to listen to the people, speak kind words to them, and become their servant.  Then ...

     This whole year of newness has been exactly that...NEW. It feels like it takes me 30 minutes at least to make a decision and even when I do; oh do I waver back and forth and consider other options; as I constantly question, "did I do the right thing?"      Today, our students were testing and many did not go to the right rooms. Instead of trying to see where the confusion happened, the devil began to throw the flaming darts of accusations like not being as prepared as I should be, not communicating as best as I should have, and not being proactive enough. This is not the first time, nor probably the last, where defeat comes clawing at my confidence. When defeat begins to pound at the door of one area; it's soon that other areas reverberate with its cadence too. My heart was heavy with shame and guilt for something that I had somehow taken on myself.  To me I was and am always "on call" so when something does not go smoothly I tend to ache about i...

     It's amazes me how much our confidence and faith in the L-RD grows when we spend time with Him, listen to Him, and seek His face. It's equally intriguing how we can also so quickly see the challenges ahead and focus our attention on them instead of Him.      In Numbers 13, and again in chapter 32, there is an example of this scenario. "They went up...saw the Land and they dissuaded the hearts" (Numbers 32:6). This is the story of the spies who went to look at the Land; the amazing promise of G-D. Ten of them saw the greatness of the gift, but found it difficult to see the ability of the Giver. Nevertheless Joshua and Caleb's (the other two) hearts remained steadfast in HaShem's promise.      How often do we fall into the category of the ten spies? Many times we analyze G-D's ability through the lenses of our incapabilities.           He sees His hand of provisi...