The Courage to Start

"It's time for healing, time to move on.
It's time to fix what's been broken too long;
Time to make right what has been wrong.
It's time to find my way to where I belong."

Whatever You're Doing, by Santcus Real


The start of this blog has been a long time in the making, for many reasons.  In part, my raging perfectionist tendencies wouldn't let me start until I had the perfect everything (blog title, post text, you name it).  Good thing I overcame that...at least for today.  In part, the issues that I'm hoping to cover in this blog are issues I have dealt with for a long time, issues that I would much rather just forget.

In fact, if we're getting technical, this blog should have been started over a year ago.  I left my job as the assistant director for a fine arts school/ministry, one of the hardest yet most important decisions I have made to date.  I decided when I left that the next year of my life would be devoted to healing and starting over; the stress and frustration of my job, my singing, and my life in general had really taken a toll.  I didn't feel like I knew down from up, and I had little to no clue what direction my life should take next.  I was completely lost.

...and yet, here we are.  Since this is just Post One, I won't delve too much into why I am still stuck here.  I'll have plenty of time for that!  Let's just say that I dug myself into a deeper hole, and I don't like to give up my shovel for just anyone.

Last week, I started reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (check out http://www.happinessprojecttoolbox.com/), and I totally fell in love.  Her book has rekindled the fire I had last year to improve myself and believe in something different.  I was so excited, I decided to start my own project...with a slightly different focus.

I didn't just want to be happier, though many days that would more than suffice.  I wanted to be more confident.  I wanted to find peace.  I wanted to seek healing.  I wanted to be whole.  And I knew that this time, it wouldn't be enough to just say that I wanted those things.  I'd need to actively pursue them, and I'd need some accountability along the way.

Once I decided that I wanted to do this with a blog rather than my pen-and-paper journal (I know, I know), The Wholeness Project came to be.  I'm really excited to start this journey, and I hope you'll follow me, support me, pray for me, and share your stories as well!

In her book Made to Crave (http://www.madetocrave.org/), Lysa TerKeurst talks about her journey through weight loss and food dependence.  She explains that this isn't a once-and-done kind of project.  It was a constant battle and reminder to turn to God in everything, to always be thinking ahead, and to make the courageous choice.  You never know what one courageous choice, mustering the courage to start something, can do.

So, here we go.  I am putting myself out there.  I am praying for acceptance.  I know there will be bumps in the road, and that the road won't be covered in a few days or weeks.  But I do know that, for the sake of my family and myself, I need to find the courage to start.  And I pray the same for you. 


"When you take that first step into the unknown, He won't let you go."


Walk on the Water, by Britt Nicole