[pinit count=”horizontal”]We welcome Kim Hyland as our guest writer today! Kim is a God-sized dreamer, a mama to six kids, and the founder of the annual Winsome women’s retreat. Five-Fifteen is her latest dream, as she seeks to use consistent daily prayer to battle human sex trafficking. We’re so happy to share her words here!
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I really like the word embrace. Besides the clear message of love and affection that it brings to mind, there is an intentionality to it that challenges me.
At our wedding, my husband Jeff and I danced our first dance to the popular 80’s song, Just You & I. We chose it for this line: “And I remember our first embrace, the smile that was on your face, the promises that we made.”
I did! I remembered our first embrace. It came before our first kiss and meant a lot more.
To embrace a thing is to hold onto it whole-heartedly. Both arms. That’s the thing. It takes starting with empty arms. In order to embrace whole-heartedly something has to get put down. The embrace Jeff and I shared on that little country road almost 30 years ago held a lifetime of promise and more sacrifice than we’d ever imagined.
Over and over through the years I have had to “put things down” so with empty arms I could embrace all life brought, both good and not so. But our marriage has been better than I ever dreamed.
Dreams are like that. They require empty arms. A wholehearted embrace. Lots of sacrifice. And much like marriage and babies, if we knew how hard they’d be, we’d probably say no. (<==== Click to tweet)
Today I’m thinking about what I need to put down, so with empty arms I can fully embrace the God-sized dream I’m pursuing.
It’s not easy. My kids and husband like breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every night. Clean underwear too. Except Sam . . he’s ten and doesn’t care a bit. (We could all learn something from Sam. Just kidding.) Isolating myself from friends and family would kind of defeat the purpose of creating something that encourages others. So, what? What can I put down?
Aha!
I can put down perfection, expectations that are unnecessarily high, the need to control (an infinite delusion), and instead accept and enjoy today. (<==== Click to tweet) As is. Embracing the task at hand. Wholeheartedly. Whether it’s making a meal or pursuing my dreams.
Perfection, expectations, control . . they’re too heavy to carry anyway.
And my arms have better things to embrace.
Kim Hyland is a writer, speaker, wife, and mom to five sons and one daughter ages 11 to 24, a son and two daughters-in-love. She is also a brand new grandma! Kim is the founder of Winsome, an annual retreat for women focused on discovering joy and doing justice. She recently started Five-Fifteen which mobilizes women and men to fight human sex trafficking through consistent daily prayer. Her passion is to love her family and friends well and encourage women in their journeys. Kim speaks to women’s groups and writes about her imperfect path and God’s perfect plans at winsomewoman.blogspot.com. You can connect with Kim on Facebook, Twitter, Instagra
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Rather than give a prompt, we’re opening the weekly link up to ALL God-sized dream posts!
Share your God-sized dreaming journey on your blog and link up with other God-sized dreamers.
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I’m so happy to see your words here today, Kim! Thanks for explaining embracing and letting go so beautifully.
Thanks, Mandy! It’s so good to be here with you incredible ladies!
Beautiful words today Kim! I love the imagery of putting something down in order to fully, whole-heartedly embrace. I believe God calls us to embrace so much that we miss in our every day – being intentional and mindful is a great place to start.
I agree, Shannon. And I don’t want to miss a thing God has for me in my days!
It’s wonderful to see you here, Kim. I’m still so wishing I could have made it to your Winsome retreat. Next year!! Thank you for this today. My word last year was embrace and I think I had a hard time ever fully understanding why God had chosen that word for me. Your message really spoke to my heart. I will need to spend time reflecting on what you shared. Blessings to you.
I love that that was your word last year, Beth!! 🙂
Oh, Beth! I hope you can make it to Winsome next year 🙂 Embrace is an awesome word to focus on! I might have to steal your idea and make that my word next year!
So good!! I can think of a few things I could put down to fully embrace all God has for me.
I think my J and your Sam would be besties 🙂 Aren’t boys fun?
I love that Alecia! It makes me want to make a list of expectations and unnecessary things that I can put down. Yes, boys are awesome and can be so low maintenance when it comes to cleanliness and their expectations 😉
Thank you for sharing with us, friend! I am excited to see where God leads you on your Five-Fifteen journey – what a powerful vision He’s given you.
And I have a couple of little ones who could join Sam in his carefree ways! ha!
Thanks for the opportunity, Christine! I wish we lived close and could all meet at the park with our kids! Maybe we should bring our boys to our next conference . . . not 😉
thanks for the encouraging words. I had told God the other day I wonder why I am a ‘shadow’ still… there is talent and desire and hard work behind the dreams…having to put aside after moving towards successes, to the back burner, shift priorities. Yet parenting Special needs kids takes near every moment. And it takes my thinking times as well. So to be asked to look at putting down my unhealthy thoughts & attitudes,,makes sense to open up the space for receiving the love and grace of our Father. I shall have some pondering and searching of my heart this week.
Thank you for sharing, Nina. God chooses special people for special tasks that require special preparation. My son has been training for almost six years in the classroom for his job as a submarine naval officer. Often he’s felt like he was wasting time. But come next year, he will be well prepared for his tasks. I know hindsight will reveal the value of this time of preparation as your dreams become reality in His time. I’m praying for you and for God to reveal His grace and love in your present circumstances.