What makes my heart sing? - by gabriella

The answers come fast…

…watching an infant being loved on by an older sibling

…Friday movie nights snuggling with my family

…seeing acts of compassion and care between my children

…quiet times with God that bring connection and a deep sense of peace

…coffee brewed to perfection

…witnessing acts of bravery and selflessness

…seeing authenticity and engagement, vulnerability and risk

…moving from oppression to justice

…hearing stories of God’s faithfulness

...a perfect snowflake

…a sharpening conversation engaging vision, energy, and passion

…the beach

…music that moves my soul

…watching folks wrestle through conflict while being committed to each other and finding a solution

…walking the journey of life with deep friendships

…seeing the curvature of the earth through an airplane window

…summer heat

Life is full of moments that make my heart sing and take my breath away. When we experience these moments, we need to sit up and pay attention! These are the moments that God gives us to tell us about who we are to Him and who He is to us – our provider and gentle caretaker. These are the moments that tell us about our purpose on earth and God’s unique plan for our lives. These are the moments God gives us to show us joy and perfection.

While I have many things that bring me joy and make my heart sing, I’ve been trying to pay closer attention over the last few years about how God has wired me;  to pay attention to what gives me energy, what depletes me, what comes easily, and what feels like hard work.

What I’m learning is what makes my heart sing are the moments when people risk big and try something they want to try but didn’t think they were capable of doing. You know, I think that sometimes we default to a place of weakness and defeat rather than hope and strength. Or, we minimize our gifting and skill. Does that sound familiar? Let me unpack it a bit. I’m no social scientist, but I have a theory (entirely unscientific) that people don’t recognize their gifting; people don’t actually recognize what they are uniquely good at, even when those skills are ones people might see in them almost immediately. Perhaps we are so used to how we think and operate that we don’t recognize how we unique or different from how other people think and operate. Perhaps we take our gifting so for granted that we fool ourselves into believing that everyone thinks the way we do, or has the same gifting we do. We fool ourselves into believing we’re nothing special.  

But that can’t be true - as a Christian I believe that we’re all created in the image of God. The God I serve is multifaceted, incredibly complex, rich in skill, beauty and wonder, far beyond my understanding or the box that I have put Him in. If we are all made in His image, that truth makes us incredibly special.

Over the course of my life, just like you, I’ve had the privilege of speaking into the lives of my friends, family, and colleagues and reflecting back to people what I think their gifting is, what I see in them. The reaction is so surprising! Usually people respond with incredulity and push back on a little and say, “I don’t see that” or they say “sure, yeah, I see that, but doesn’t everyone think that way?’ And what I say back is, “no, actually, they don’t! That’s uniquely yours!” Curious eh? Let me tell you though, when people start to connect with their gifting, magic happens and their whole sense of self expands and grows – with words of life and encouragement, folks become willing to take risks and stretch themselves.

And now for the heart singing piece. The part that makes my heart sing is when people circle back around and we sit together and talk about their ‘risk-taking’ experience - what they did and the lessons they’ve learned. These are precious moments – the sense of “I didn’t think that I could do this and I did, and this is how it’s turned out.” Incredible, precious, life-giving moments. Those moments, when someone leans in, trusts a different voice in their life, and then see themselves as more able - those are moments that make my heart sing.