Originally published Wednesday, 15 May 2013.
Ask yourself these questions: What are your dreams? What are your gifts? What has made your heart sing from the earliest memories you have?
Do you know the answers to the questions you just asked yourself? Do you feel guilty for not knowing, or guilty for even asking?
There’s something that happens to us as women when we grow up. Our priorities shift. Our daily duties take precedence over dreams. That’s not necessarily a bad thing—but it does leave a disconnect between the dreams we had when we were little, and the realities of our lives now. And sometimes, it seems too indulgent and too selfish to even talk about our dreams when we’re supposed to be giving our all to our families or our careers. But is that really what God purposed us for? Did he really create us with gifts, passions and abilities only to have us cast them aside?
This disconnect, and the consequent depression and anxiety that this often causes women, is what Rebekah Lyons has written about in her new memoir, Freefall to Fly: A Breathtaking Journey Toward a Life of Meaning. When Rebekah’s family relocated from the Georgia suburbs to New York City, she anticipated the move as a chance to start over and rediscover her calling. However, she soon fell into anxiety and depression, wrestling with those big life questions, “Why am I here? Does my life matter?”
Her journey to discovering answers to her questions is a freefall- surrendering everything to find the meaning God intended for her. She encourages women to reexamine their gifts and passions, to start seeing how the talents they have fit into the life they are living.
Frederick Buechner, an American writer and theologian, wrote, “The place God calls you to is where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Rebekah echoes this thought in her book, reminding us:
“Each of us must find our own path to totter down as we seek to live out our purpose. We must find those God-gifts that make us uniquely us, and then pair them with a burden that those gifts fit like a key. When we do, rescue will flood into our lives. And in the deluge, we’ll begin to discover meaning.” (161)
We talked with Rebekah about her book, discovering our calling and bridging the disconnect between the lives we’re living now and the lives we feel called to. You can hear more from Rebekah below, and you can order a copy of Freefall to Fly here.
iBelieve.com: Following My Dreams vs Raising a Family - Rebekah Lyons from ibelievedotcom on GodTube.
What are your dreams? How have you found ways to make your dreams come true, even if your life hasn’t gone the way you exactly planned?
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