Meet Cecilia.

She sat on a padded bench with her tiny babe pulled close in a stroller. Her back was turned to me, but I felt led to approach anyway.

I asked Cecilia one question. “If you didn’t have to worry about money, what would you do with your life?”

This was her response.

Cecilia used to live in El Salvador. She wasn’t worried about money at all when she lived there. She grew her own crops and was “just happy.” Cecilia noted that in El Salvador, “money is not a major theme.”

Here in the United States “you have to worry about money” for your car, gas, and food. “I worry a lot about money here,” she said.

Cecilia couldn’t have said it in any plainer English.

“I wasn’t worried about money until I got here.”

I asked Cecilia if she was glad she decided to move to the United States. “Not really,” she replied. She’s always worried about money and paying her bills on time.

Cecilia works in a greenhouse. I asked her how she likes it. “It’s okay,” she said.

If she didn’t have to worry about money at all, she’d open her own greenhouse.

So what can we learn from Cecilia?

The take-aways are simple and profound.

Money fuels most everything in the United States. It’s a blessing, but it can also be a tremendous burden.

Sure, “money makes the world go round.”

But we’ll never be fully ourselves until we rid ourselves of this more, more, more mentality.

The ultimate desire of our heart is NOT to be richer, but to overflow with love, joy and peace.

Is this really true? I believe so.

Perhaps this post is best ended with another rhetorical question…

If you could only pick one, which would you choose? All the world’s riches, or a deep sense of contentment and fulfillment?

 

 

 

*This post is a part of a month-long 31 Days series titled Dreams from the Street. If you’d like to read more from my series, click here and you’ll be brought to the series landing page where all 31 posts are listed and linked! You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AmyBPederson where I’ll tweet links to all 31 posts using hashtag #write31days, and I’d LOVE to connect on Facebook at facebook.com/AmyBPederson! I’m so glad you stopped by. Make yourself comfortable and take a peek around the place. You’re welcome back anytime.

Meet Lola.

She captured my attention with her bright pink hair as she opened the doors to a candy store filled with gummy bears, lollipops, and crystallized candy sticks.

I asked Lola one question. “If you didn’t have to worry about money, what would you do with your life?”

This was her response.

Lola would live comfortably, not have to worry about things she can’t afford, and wouldn’t skimp on anything. She’d get everything she’s always wanted, and would treat family and friends to anything they wanted. She’d have a bigger house and most definitely, A LOT of cats.

If she didn’t have to worry about money, Lola would prefer to NOT have a job. But if she did work, she’d probably “sell little art things,” like “make stupid necklaces and phone cases.”

I asked Lola to tell me more about the necklaces and phone cases she’s made.

She’s made one necklace.

And she hasn’t made any phone cases yet, but “dream[s] of it.”

So what can we learn from Lola?

Why sit on your dreams? Take a little action. Even if it’s just one step.

Lola’s dreamed of making phone cases and necklaces. I encouraged her to be bold, take action and explore that dream.

What have you’ve been dreaming about? Do it. Today.

So tell me…is there something from Lola’s story that you can take and apply to your own life? 

 

 

 

*This post is a part of a month-long 31 Days series titled Dreams from the Street. If you’d like to read more from my series, click here and you’ll be brought to the series landing page where all 31 posts are listed and linked! You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AmyBPederson where I’ll tweet links to all 31 posts using hashtag #write31days, and I’d LOVE to connect on Facebook at facebook.com/AmyBPederson! I’m so glad you stopped by. Make yourself comfortable and take a peek around the place. You’re welcome back anytime.

This month, I’m participating in one of the largest blog link-ups that exists, 31 Days hosted by The Nester. Last year, in 31 Day’s 5th year, over 1,500 bloggers participated! The challenge is to choose a topic and write about it for 31 days straight. All the bloggers who participate link-up their series at the 31 Days website. There, you can click on various categories and read until your heart’s content!

I joined the 31 Days craze for the first time in 2013 with a series titled Letters to the Unthanked. I loved my series and loved being part of a committed community of bloggers. From the moment I completed the series, I knew I’d write another in 2014. Yes, my husband’s the one who had to remind me that 31 Days wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns. It’s definitely a challenge to write, edit and publish a post every day for 31 days straight. This is no small task. 31 Days is like birthing a child. There’s no way to get through it but to do the hard work of writing, writing, and writing some more. But in the end – when you look back and realize you’ve birthed a beautiful body of work – you can say with certainty, it was worth it.

This year’s 31 Days series wasn’t conceived as quickly as last year’s. Most of the year, I intended to write another letters series titled Letters to My Baby. But I wasn’t sure it fit neatly within my new blog vision, so I tucked the concept away for another day. Another vision rose to the top. I wanted to interview 31 elderly and and hear their perspectives on loving life. It was and still is a concept I’d love to explore, but once I started making contacts, I realized that logistically speaking, it was going to require a lot more planning than I expected. So once again, I tucked away the concept for another day.

At that point, I was empty handed. But not for long!

I wanted this year’s series to be about people and for people. I wanted to interview strangers. I wanted to ask one question. And I wanted to go as deep as possible within a limited time frame. So my husband and I had a couple brainstorming sessions, and voila! The topic surfaced. I knew without a doubt. This was my 31 Days series for 2014.

31 Dreams from the Street

So here’s what it’s going to look like…

Throughout the course of the month, I’m going to be selecting 31 strangers from the street for brief, on-the-spot interviews. After explaining who I am and why I’m approaching them, I’m going to ask ONE age-old question…

“If you didn’t have to worry about money, what would you do with your life?”

Whether I have two minutes or ten minutes with someone, my goal is to develop rapport and get to the center of their heart as quickly as possible. I don’t want to get too personal, but these are the questions begging to be asked under the surface.

What are the desires of your heart? What do you really want to be when you “grow up?” What’s the thing you always wanted to do, but all the logic and reasoning in the world told you it wasn’t a good idea? What in the world would you do with your one beautiful life if you didn’t have to worry about money at all? Tell me, you, beautiful you. Tell me.

Here are the things I’m sure of going into this series…

I’m going to get 31 vastly different answers to one question.

I’m going to experience some level of rejection.

I’m going to be blown away by peoples’ dreams.

I’m going to note significant discrepancies between peoples’ realities and peoples’ dreams.

I’m going to see some people moving towards their dreams, and some people far from their dreams.

I’m going to be moved to tears.

I’m going to speak with people I definitely would’ve noticed, but wouldn’t have conversed with otherwise.

I’m going to witness the whole spectrum of emotions.

I’m going to be stretched outside of my comfort zone.

I’m going to learn a hundred things I didn’t expect to learn.

I’m going to publish some edgy content.

And I’m pretty sure I’m going to love it (and I hope you do too)!

So at this point, you might be wondering what’s in this series for you?

Well, I’ve thought about that long and hard. I can’t quite wrap my brain around what this will look like yet, but at the end of each post, I’m going to share a nugget of wisdom, a unique lesson learned from that interview – for you.

It’s not my nature to launch a 31-day series that feels so random, so unplanned, so out of my control in so many ways. I have no idea who I’m going to meet. I have no idea how they’ll respond to me or my question. And it bugs me that I can’t tell you in advance what nuggets of wisdom I’m going to share. Basically, I have no idea what I’m in for.

But this is the series I’ve chosen.

This is the series that God seems to have chosen for me.

So I return to the thing I know for sure. That question…

“If you didn’t have to worry about money, what would you do with your life?”

I’m pretty sure there are a thousand lessons waiting to be learned. It’s a matter of discerning the learning.

So let’s go! Let’s do this! It’s settled well with my soul.

These are dreams from the street.

Call me trailblazer. Call me pioneer. Call me crazy blogger lady. Whatever.

My mission? To discover what God’s laid on your soul. To discover the thing that makes your heart tick if all money’s set aside. Because I believe our hearts beat loudest and most in rhythm with God’s purposes and plans for our lives when we tap into the dreams He set in us from the beginning.

May my eyes be opened. May my soul be ready to hear. May my countenance be on spot.

May the Spirit guide my paths.

All 31 days. All 31 dreams from the street.

Send your positive thoughts and prayers my way, will you?

So I may return with stories of dreams unexpected, nuggets of wisdom, and pearls of grace for the journey ahead.

Let’s get practical for a minute, yes?! 

All 31 posts will be published on my blog home page as usual, but this post serves as my series landing page. At the bottom of this post, you’ll find links to ALL posts from the 31 Dreams from the Street series. It’s simple…find a post that intrigues you, click on it, and it’ll pop right up for your reading adventure!

I placed the series graphic on the right sidebar of my blog’s home page ——–> so click it anytime, and it’ll bring you back here where all 31 posts are listed and linked.

You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AmyBPederson where I’ll tweet links to all 31 posts using hashtag #write31days, and I’d LOVE to connect on Facebook at facebook.com/AmyBPederson!

So glad you’ve chosen to stop by. Make yourself comfortable. Take a peek around the place, and know you’re welcome back anytime.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to embark on this adventure. So let’s get to it! Join me, will you?!

Dream 1: Pink Hair, Cats & Phone Cases (Lola)

Dream 2: Money and Greenhouses (Cecilia)

Dream 3: Windows, Wishes and Good Guys (Jared, Andy, Nick & Steve)

Dream 4: Kids, Kids & More Kids (LeAnn)

Dream 5: Coffee and Confections (Jenny)

Dream 6: Basketball and DNA (Diamond & John)

Dream 7: Therapies and a Bucket List Blessing (Lisa)

Dream 8: Happiness (Jouaye)

Dream 9: LA, NYC & Fire (Steve)

Dream 10: Education (Kao Vang)

Dream 11: Work, Art & Design (Alex)

Dream 12: Editing & Producing (Lori)

Dream 13: Writing & Gardens (Lin)

Dream 14: Food & To Be Well (woman on the street)

Dream 15: Travel & Animals (Emily)

Dream 16: Enjoyment & Fulfillment (Carlo)

Dream 17: Travel, Roots & No More Suffering (Cali)

Dream 18: Self Care & Volunteering (Lisa)

Dream 19: Diesel Trucks & The Army (Mat)

Dream 20: Diesel School & A Diesel Truck (Maddy)

Dream 21: Food & Shelter (Jazmin)

Dream 22: Loving, Living & Traveling (Jose)

Dream 23: Cartooning & Animation (Cassie)

Dream 24: Dancing & Giving (Guest Post from a Nine-Year-Old Girl, Elsa)

Dream 25: A Whole Lot of Love (Darlene)

Dream 26: Sabbath: Where The Streets Have No Name

The Day I Wanted to Quit 31 Days

Rejections From the Street

Notes From the Street

My Dreams 

Your Dreams

The call to write, not just for myself, but for others, began in 2003.

Let’s just say I was a little slow to listen.

Yep. I’m admitting it here. Now.

I was a little slow to listen.

Okay. Maybe I was really slow to listen?

I witnessed events unfold through the years. They’re all detailed in a private document I wrote in April 2014, titled “A Possible Calling.” Perhaps the truth’s in the title. As much as God’s tried to (gently) bat me over the head with His truth, with His vision for my life, I’m still calling this whole writing gig “A Possible Calling.” Because I’m human. I’m not God. Even with all the evidence, even with all the unfolding of this and that, it’s still hard for me to prove to myself and everyone else that this is my calling.

I struggle with this, can you see?

A wiser and older owl I met in November 2006 affirmed the vision I shared in the quiet of a dark hallway nook. A vision, which at the time, seemed like utter crazy talk. I seriously felt like I was making stuff up, people. Like I was pulling dreams from the sky and taking them on as my own.

Anyway, that day, among other words of wisdom I wrote down in detail when I got home, the wiser and older owl shared two pieces of advice I’ve never forgotten…

“Don’t look to people to affirm what God has already made very clear to you.”

and this…

“Walk. And follow the lily pads of grace.”

She clarified, stating that if this vision is God’s will, if this is God’s call on my life, that He will lead me through. One by one, He will place “lily pads” in my path, next steps along the way. And I will know. This is what I’m supposed to do next. This is His call.

Doesn’t it sound mystical? Maybe even a little kooky? “Lily pads of grace?” What the heck does that mean?

Well, let me tell you in plain words, friends. Maybe I didn’t know then what she really meant. But I know now. “Following the lily pads of grace” quite literally means to take one step after the next, after the next. First take this little leap of faith, then this door will open. Go through it. Take another little leap of faith here, and you’ll feel a tug to go there. So you do it. Then, you get a kick in the butt and realize there’s no other way but to do that next thing. So you do it. And it goes on. And on. And on. Until the light bulb turns on. I’ve taken 20, 30, 40 steps towards this vision. And truth be told? All of those steps have been leaps of faith.

Leaps of faith can be scary. Leaps of faith require courage. But after a while, leaps of faith make way for the answers you’ve been looking for. Things start to make sense. Little by little, the purpose of your life becomes clearer.

So today? I’m announcing the next leap of faith I’m making on this journey I’ve titled “A Possible Calling.”

I’m jumping on the next “lily pad of grace” God’s set before me. And as far as I can see, I’m jumping on over to a big one.

Well, I’m not really going to be jumping. I’m going to be flying, down to South Carolina where I’ll be attending my first writing and blogging conference! It’s happening next month while I’m doing that crazy every day writing challenge called #31Days.

I already know this writing conference is a lily pad set before me by God…

Because I’ve been a part of this community for more than four years.

Because I’ve been following this conference closely for two years and I’ve longed to be there.

Because it’s never been a possibility for me to go until this year.

Because I approached my husband about going to the conference just one week after I’d written that document, “A Possible Calling,” and he said yes. Pretty much right away. Without much persuasion on my part.

I already know this writing conference is a lily pad set before me by God…

Because my all-time favorite blogger, Ann Voskamp, was scheduled to be a keynote speaker when I signed up to attend, and then we got word she wasn’t going to be there at all. With or without Ann, I knew I was supposed to go anyway.

Because I asked Jennifer if we could room together, but she isn’t going this year.

Because I emailed a different Jennifer, Michele, Anna, Nasreen, Alia, and Kris to see if any of them would want to room with me. Four of them aren’t going to the conference this year. And two of them are, but already had roommates.

Because the week I’d planned to just go ahead and book a hotel room by myself, it was announced that the place was sold out. No more rooms available. Everyone make space. Find a place to crash. Bunk up.

Because I knew there was no other way but to put an announcement out there – I need a roommate. And believe me, that was the LAST way I wanted this to happen.

Because the eighth potential roommate decided she couldn’t afford to go this year.

I already know this writing conference is a lily pad set before me by God…

Because the ninth roommate? She had a room. And hallelujah, she had space for me! The funny thing is that we were already connected through Twitter, but hadn’t ever connected in that space personally. I’ve since discovered that there’s only one thing I need to know. She’s beautiful. She’s amazing. She’s kind-hearted. And God was determined to match us as roommates. In other words, God had the pad laid out. It just took me nine tries to find the right one to hop onto.

So I’m taking this leap of faith. Because after all of that? After all these years of feeling called to write, way back to 2003? I think it’s high time I attend a writing and blogging conference. In fact, it’s long, long overdue. Clearly God thinks so, too, or He wouldn’t have made the way.

So yes. I’m leaping. To a Christian writing and blogging conference called Allume. It’s next month and it’s sold out. 450 spirited, sold-out souls will gather to share and learn what it means to be called to write. And bless my leaping soul, I’ll be one of them.

On July 11, 2014, I published a post titled “Change is Coming to this Blog!” In the post, I explained that I was working on a new blog mission, vision, tagline, guiding scripture, and core values. I also wanted to define, more clearly, what I’ll be writing about from here on out.

Well, today’s the day, folks! It’s time to launch the vision I’ve had in my mind for the past six months.

But before we get started, let me share a little behind-the-scenes secret. Earlier this week, I woke up in the middle of the night, in my half-awake half-asleep state, and all I could think about was this launch. My worry was that it was too much, too complicated, too wordy. So in my middle-of-the-night state, I vowed that I would keep this as simple as possible. So here’s my best shot at making that happen!

It all started with this – the tagline for my blog had to change. I always LOVED the “extraordinary encounters” part of my old tagline, but as I wrote these past two years, I realized there was something bigger I was trying to communicate through the blog. Three individuals I engaged with in February and March 2014 inspired me in specific and complementary ways. As a result, I knew what I could write about forever, “love what you live. live what you love.” So here it is, the new tagline integrated into my logo!

As of today, you’ll find the updated logo in the header on the home page of my blog. You’ll see it at the top, like this…

I have new covers for my Facebook and Twitter pages, and I also have new business cards which reflect the changes to the blog. The business cards are my favorite. LOVE the way these turned out! (Thanks to Shalon Estrada from Pretty Lovely Design for her beautiful work.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

So you might be asking yourself what all of this means. And why did I feel the need to go to such extreme measures to change one little tagline?

Well, there’s actually a good reason I’m making these changes. Like I said earlier, I want to more clearly define my worldview and what I’m going to write about in this online home from here on out.

In the past six months, I’ve taken a lot of time to define and refine the foundation of this blog. The changes I’ve made will benefit all of us. Starting today, my writing will be funneled through the new parameters I’ve set for the blog. If a post doesn’t fall within the parameters, I won’t publish it. This will benefit you because you’ll know more what to expect when you visit my blog. I’m hoping the posts won’t feel quite as random as they might have in the past. Under this new model, there will definitely be a theme, a big-picture message that’s weaved through all the posts on the blog.

So I made this graphic. I’ll be honest, I kind of love it and I kind of hate it. I spent too much time making it, and unfortunately, it was one of the too busy, too wordy images I couldn’t get out of my mind earlier this week in the middle of the night, but I’m not going to remake it! So here it is. It’s intended to give you a quick rundown of all the new bloggy things launching today. I’ll explain in a minute. For now, just take a peek!

Let me be clear up front. This vision is BIG. This vision runs deep. This vision has the potential to last the life of this blog. Sure it may need tweaks, refining and rewording along the way, but big picture, it’s good to go for a LONG time.

So let’s get to it! These are the foundations of this blog from here on out.

I believe that God created every human being to fulfill a unique and specific purpose here on earth.

Therefore…

My purpose is to inspire people to discover, embrace and walk boldly in their unique purpose.

Based on the observations I’ve made about life on earth so far, you’re likely to discover, embrace and walk boldly in your unique purpose IF you…

love what you live. 

and

live what you love.

You can expect every post on this blog to be written with these qualities, these core values in mind…

Beauty.

Authenticity.

Faith.

Passion.

Compassion.

Depth.

Tenderness.

Strength.

From here on out, ALL posts on this blog will fit into one of four categories as follows:

1) PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEIR LIFE.

These posts will feature people who love their life. My goal is to observe and interview people who love a particular aspect of their life, or maybe they love everything about their life! This might include their work, their hobbies, the volunteer work they do, or just about anything about their life that they LOVE. I’m planning to be generous with my borders and boundaries on this one. At this point, I’m envisioning everything from Mary Kay consultants to body builders to real estate agents to pumpkin farmers. Everything from muddy race running to blogging to mosaic making. From nonprofit thrift store management to Special Olympics coaching to animal rescue missions. There’s something to learn from people who love their life. I don’t know about you, but I’m eager to learn their secrets. I’ll be writing these posts with the belief that if you LOVE your life, you’re most likely tapping into your purpose.

2) PEOPLE WHO EMBRACE THE LIFE THEY LIVE.

These posts will feature people who whole-heartedly embrace the life they live. The original vision for these posts is to observe and interview people who love what they live, people who are making the best out of less than ideal situations, people who are living in joy, beauty, peace and love even though life has proven to be challenging. At this point, I’m envisioning a whole host of individuals, including people who have special needs, people living in poverty and extreme poverty, people living with mental illness, people who have suffered abuse, people who have battled addiction, acutely and chronically ill individuals, infertility, stillbirths, adoption, and a whole host of others unnamed and yet to be imagined. Within this category, I would also like to dive deeper into the impact of these special situations on the family at large. Therefore, I hope and pray I’ll be able to interview moms, dads, siblings, special friends, and family members that have been impacted and have found beauty in the ashes. I have a feeling that God has more in store for this category than I’ve imagined. I can see already that He’s going to expand my definition of “love what you live” exponentially through these interviews. I’ll be writing these posts with the belief that God wastes nothing, that your purpose might very well rise up from the ashes.

3) EMBRACING AND WALKING BOLDLY IN MY PURPOSE.

These posts will be personal reflections on embracing and walking boldly in my purpose. I’m going to work this “love what you live” and “live what you love” out in my own life, and I’m going to share it with you in real time. What does it mean to love my life, even when it’s hard, even when it’s messy, even when it’s less than desirable, even when it’s barely tolerable? What does it mean to live a life I love? What makes me tick? What fuels me, makes me feel lit up inside? What risks will I take? How many times will I step out of the proverbial box or boat? In what ways will I be stretched like never before? And how will I know if I’m living my purpose? I’m not exactly sure how these posts are going to look. Some might look a lot like posts I’ve written before. But I think many of these posts are going to cause me pause. I’m going to need to reflect and look at my life from angles I haven’t before. And one thing’s for sure, I’m going to be jacking up my courage. Big time. Because in order for me to live out my calling, the purpose for which God created me, I’m going to need a lot of courage. And faith. I’ll be writing these posts with the hope that you’ll feel empowered to live, love and discover your purpose if you know someone’s on the journey with you.

4) LEARNING TO LIVE, LOVE AND DISCOVER YOUR PURPOSE.

These posts will be written for you. And I’m SO excited about that. Among the handful of careers I wanted to pursue for the longest time was psychologist, and one aspect that’s been missing from this blog is getting down and dirty in the trenches to help YOU. So with these posts, I’m envisioning that I’ll step back and draw some big-picture conclusions. What words of wisdom can I draw from interviewing people who love their lives? What words of wisdom can I draw from interviewing people who have chosen to embrace the lives they live, even if they’re less than ideal? What words of wisdom can I draw from embracing and walking boldly in my own purpose? If there was ever a how-to aspect of this blog, these posts will be it. I want to empower you. I want to inspire you. I want to engage in meaningful, authentic communication with you. I’m going to get vulnerable and real, and I hope you’ll be willing to go there with me. Oh yeah, and I’m guessing that I’m going to ask some hard questions. Because nobody ever started loving their live and living their purpose until they started asking and answering some really hard questions.

Last, but not least, I’ve chosen two scripture passages that will guide this blog.

Psalm 139:13-16 (click here to read the passage)

and

Isaiah 61:1-3 (click here to read the passage)

These are some of the most beautiful pieces of scripture there are. They both speak beautifully into the new mission of this blog. I can’t imagine any better words to guide my writing than these.

So yeah, let’s do this!

I feel like I’m baby blogger with this gigantic God-sized vision. And I have to be honest. This scares me. This is most definitely going to stretch me beyond my wildest imagination. Because in and of myself, I don’t have the power, the connections, the strength, the resources to make these interviews happen. In and of myself, it’s going to be a real challenge to embrace and walk boldly in my purpose, and share vulnerably with you. In and of myself, I don’t have the power to create change in your life. In and of myself, I can’t make this God-sized blog vision come to life.

But as Kristin Welch of “We Are That Family” stated in a recent blog post:

“There will be a big gap between your yes and the reality of your dream. That space is God-sized. If we have all the answers, resources, funding, the perfect plan, it might be our dream and not His. But when we don’t know all of the details or have all the answers, it gives God room to show up.”

God’s assured me with His still small voice that He’s prepared and trained me for this, that He’ll equip me because He’s called me. So I’m choosing to say yes. Because I don’t see any other plan for this blog. And I believe this is what God is calling me to do with this space. I believe He will show up. Big time.

So let’s go.

You and me.

Let’s live and love. And on the way? Perhaps we’ll discover the purpose of our lives.