On Bravery

"You make me brave. You make me brave. You call me out beyond the shore into the waves."

I was listening to this song on and off throughout the week at work, and it wasn't until yesterday that the thought struck me...what do I consider being brave? Listening to this song conjures images of radical acts of selflessness and courage in my mind - overseas missions, innercity missions, standing for the truth and facing real persecution. But what does being brave mean to me in my every day life?

Is it brave to love, support, and submit to my husband when we can't reach an agreement?

Is it brave to offer tea and a place to cry to a friend who has been hurt?

Is it brave to honor those in authority over me?

Is it brave to offer my best work each day at my 8-5 desk job?

Is it brave to love well?

Is it brave to act in obedience, even when I'm bitterly disappointed by giving something up?

Is it brave to raise a family and teach them to love Jesus and to obey His Word?

Is it brave to tithe faithfully?

Is it brave to persevere when I feel taken for granted?

Personally, I see great bravery in people in my life on a daily basis. Consistent, quiet, faithful bravery. I see bravery lived out without calling attention to itself. I see bravery lived out as people choose an intentional life in the face of a world that applauds the easy superficiality. I see my siblings choosing to be parents rather than buddies to their kids. I see my father choosing to work long hours with excellence and integrity. I see my mother choosing to speak hard truths with much love. I see my husband humbly acknowledging when he is wrong, and being willing to grow and change. I see my friends standing for truth in small things that seem easier to compromise. I see fierce love for the orphans, the widows, the outcast, the slandered, the wronged, the forgotten. I see great bravery all around me, most of it stemming from obedience to the One who calls us to live a life that is radically different from the world around us.

What life am I cultivating?

There's recently been a lot of intriguing online press regarding social media and the effect it can have on identity. Whether positive or negative, it seems that no one contests that social media has an effect. For most, that effect is often on self-perception or self-promotion.

I am not going to clamor and assert that social media is inherently anything, good or bad. It is a tool. Tools can be used wisely, tools can be used foolishly. But we cannot blame the tools for how we use them.

My conviction lies more in how I myself use social media, and what life I cultivate. Am I pouring more time and effort into curating an image and cultivating a life online? Or am I spending my time, resources, and energies to pour into the lives of people around me? Am I staging pictures to portray an image of life, happiness, and harmony? Or am I working on relationships with people around me to cultivate connection, truth, and joy? Which is more important to me: experiencing the moment, or capturing a moment? Am I filled with joy by the things I see on my friends' posts, or am I filled with jealousy? 

I often don't have answers to these questions. More often than not, I don't like the answers to these questions when I'm truly honest with myself. But I want to cultivate a life characterized by real connection with real people in real day-to-day life. Much like life, it's a process. The end result isn't a stellar collection of pictures, it's a life lived with intention and presence.