Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
Psalm 34:5 (NIV)
The New Year is ripe for new beginnings, a breeding ground for fresh starts! Don’t go into the 2015 without revisiting this age old but timeless question: Who do you want to be?
No, really, without thinking about what your friends or family has said…the haters at school…the doubters at work…or the failures of your past, can you freely answer this question: Who do YOU want to be?
As a 6th grade teacher, I have the privilege of staring into some of the most captivating eyes in Houston, Texas. They are beautiful because they are the eyes of little ones who are full of HOPE. They are RADIANT. They literally twinkle with potential.
When I ask, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” One eagerly shouts, “A basketball player, a pilot, and a doctor!” Another will reply, “A singer, a marine biologist, and a famous author.”
What I love about this age group is that they have not yet succumbed to the “realities” of the world, to the statistics that attempt to gauge what they will do, or to the naysayers on their block who “think” they can predict the future.
It’s as if these awesome young people resolve in the minds, “I can be whatever I want to be!”
Truth be told, I want to be like “them” when I grow up!
AUDACIOUS. BOLD. COURAGEOUS. NOT SHRINKING
Some call them naive, but I call them AUDACIOUS.
Dare to be audacious with me – immune to the discouraging doubts of others, allergic to complacency, addicted to realizing the “impossibilities” of life, and fueled rather than stifled by the limiting beliefs of others. You will not be put to shame!
Make 2015 the year you refuse to shrink – Dream BIG!
from GEM by Jewel: Isis Smalls ©



