I’m back for good. I really didn’t know what to post about after a long hiatus, but the only thing I was certain of is my need to begin. I have words within me waiting to speak to those I meet, and I have an audience eagerly awaiting what’s next. 

When NFL players end a football season, they begin training for the next in their “off season.”  This is a time of preparation where athletes can work on the different skillsets that will propel them to be the best player for their team in the following season. And the last four months of 2018, I did just that. I participated in the internship of a lifetime in Charlotte, NC at Elevation Church. All I can say about my experience is, that I learned A LOT. I discovered new things about myself, about God, and about building the local church. 

One thing that God really taught me in Charlotte and continues to remind me about as I write this post in Miami is the importance of connecting with Him and with others from a place of complete vulnerability. 

Vulnerability is the essence of connection, which stems from a place of identifying your worth and belonging. Vulnerability is not weakness. It is emotional risk, exposure, and uncertainty. It fuels our daily lives. It is our most accurate expression of courage. 

And in order for me to build up the muscle of vulnerability daily, I need to let go of what I think I should say, who I think I should be, and where I think I should go in order for God to really flow in and through me. 

In Second Corinthians 4:7, Pauls writes this as a reminder to the people God had entrusted him with by saying “We are like common clay jars that carry this glorious treasure within, so that the extraordinary overflow of power will be seen as God’s, not ours.”

This verse demonstrates three practical steps I have taken, that you can do as well. 

• Own Your Calling! 
  • Be Open and Aware to see how God wants to use you. 
  • Vulnerability can also be spelled opportunity. 
  • You seize that opportunity by laying down your personal agenda. 
  • Therefore, stop looking for excuses as to why you shouldn’t do this and see it as an opportunity to share the essence of who you are. 
    • You begin by surrendering your doubt, your fear, and your insecurity.
    • You grant yourself permission for your perception and your reality to match. 
    • This juxtaposition leads to freedom. 
  • When you live fully, you surrender freely. 
  • With awareness comes application and with application comes advancement. 
• Take Courage 
  • You take courage by taking steps of Faith. 
  • Walking is leaving your comfortable place willingly with a heart that says I want more of God, and I want him to use me. 
  • Your story is meant to be shared to bring God glory! 
  • You can choose to walk carrying a backpack or in the fullness of freedom. When you don’t allow yourself to be vulnerable and expose how God is moving in your life, you add heaviness to your backpack that was not intended for you to carry. You were never designed to walk with a backpack filled with burdens. There is relief in releasing your backpack and walking in freedom! 
  • When will you decide to release so that you can experience relief? 
• Trust
  • When you trust someone, you allow them to see the good, the bad, and the ugly. This comes a place from confidence. You must be confident in who you are and in what you carry. 
  • Your identity is linked to how you see yourself and how others see you. 
  • As you trust God and speak confidently your story to others, every circumstance of life will become an opportunity to  discover a new facet of who God is and a revelation of what is to come. 

Let vulnerability become the key to unlocking your best next!