What If...You Let Your Dream Begin?

Lynn sent me an email a few days ago introducing me to a new community. She had been contacted by a member of the organization giving kudos to The What If...Women blog. They were generous enough to place a link from their blog to ours. I couldn't resist checking them out and now I'd like to share this beautiful community with you.

Let Your Dream Begin is a community of dreamers led by Josh Golder.

Josh Golder has overcome incredible adversity in his own life in order to live his dreams. Now, he’s on a mission to help others achieve theirs by building a community of like-minded dreamers...a community in which all members will help each other to live lives of passion and purpose.

What I find so refreshing is the generosity of Josh Golder. You needn't look any further than his website to find a man of intentional generosity. The focus of his community is on the dreams of others. He asks this question with four answers:

How Do I Start Living My Dream?

Join the Dream Community Mailing List.

Tell Us Your Dream.

Make Connections In The Dream Community.

Attend A Live Dream Event.

The What If...? Women blog is all about "pondering the possibilities" and I find it completely fitting that we would add our voices to the Let Your Dream Begin community.

I already have. How about you?

What if...We could build more courage?

My oldest daughter was nominated to be a Student Ambassador to Europe this summer. We are all very excited. She has her interview before the committee next week and is anxious about it because it reminds her of the interview she had last year for an opportunity to visit Japan through my husband’s work. She was not chosen for the Japan program, so she thinks this interview will turn out the same way. My husband and I reassured her that these are two very different programs and this upcoming interview is more of a formality, rather than a heavy part of the selection process. I also reminded her that she received all the points she needed on her Japan interview, meaning she interviews well. Sometimes, that confidence needs to come from within!

Does this ring a bell for you? Have you ever been a little ‘gun-shy’ about engaging in a similar situation that didn’t turn out in your favor?

TIPS TO BUILD COURAGE:

1. Be willing to evaluate the last situation that didn’t go well for you and examine the pros and cons. If you only see the negative, talk it over with a friend or colleague for a more objective point of view.

2. Courage means seeing beyond what you think and believe you want or need. If something doesn’t happen in your favor, it could be there is another opportunity to come.

3. Trust that you can gain a strength that God provides, and can give you a positive boost of confidence and energize you. You don’t have to do it alone.

4. List the positive characteristics and talents you have. Don’t be modest! Ask others for input. Keep this posted somewhere as a daily reminder of what you contribute to this world!

What If...You Met Them Where They Are?

Several weeks ago, my husband and I went to Chicago for a wedding. We had our plan in tact:

We would fly out on a non-stop from Kansas City to Chicago.

We would catch the train into the city.

We would walk the 3 blocks to our cousin's apartment.

The plan went accordingly and as we stepped off the train in the heart of Chicago, my husband called his cousin to let him know that we were on our way to his house and we began the 3 block walk.

Much to our surprise, within minutes we saw our cousin in complete view on the other side of the street.

He came to meet us where we were...

and walk us to his home personally.

As the leader of a women's organization, God has been teaching me a powerful lesson recently. I can almost hear His words audibly:

Meet them where they are, Randee. This is your job as leader.

I have made the mistake in the past of waiting for others to come to me; particularly when a task was clearly outlined and agreed upon by the individual and myself. After all...Am I my brother's keeper? (Sound familiar? Ouch.)

In reading through the Gospels, I see how often Jesus met them where they were. He found common ground with His followers. He spoke their language. He was able to beautifully pinpoint a need to be met and then fulfilled that need.

Oh, how the desire of my heart is to be a leader like Him. How far I have to go but in His mercy and grace, He gives me one opportunity after another to demonstrate His kind of leadership. How precious is our Lord for...

He meets me where I am.

What if ... we learned the 21 irrefutable laws of leadership

I had read some time ago when my sister borrowed me John C. Maxwell's book called "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" and found it to be a wonderful book. Unfortunately I had to return the book to her. It is a book that I wanted to keep on my bookshelf to be able to go back to from time to time and learn from and gain new insights into becoming more of a leader myself.

So when I heard about the new revised and updated 10th anniversary edition of his book, I had to get my hands on it. The new revised edition includes seventeen new leadership stories, two new laws of leadership introduced, a new evaluation tool that reveals your leadership strengths and weaknesses and application exercises in every chapter to help you grow. View his video about the book on GodTube below:

What If...I leave this for Randee?

The Evolution of Dance. :)

What If...We Made It To 100 Posts?

I couldn't resist announcing this momentous occasion.

The What If...? Women reaches 100 posts!

Yep. You read it right.

This is offically the 100th post of The What If...? Women.

When Lori called me with this fabulous idea those few months ago, I jumped at the opportunity with an invitation to Anne, Norka, and Lynn.

They accepted and here we are!

So, please join in our celebration by leaving a comment.

What if ... we allowed our kids to keep us young?

When I was younger I never appreciated when I seemed to always be the youngest person in any adult gathering but now that I am getting older with kids of my own that are growing so fast, I miss being the youngest. It seems I am now the oldest person in many adult gatherings making me feel older then I'd like.

This past week after going to a roller skating rink with my kids for my daughters birthday, I realize, too often, that I allow the fact that I have kids and seeing how fast they grow up, keep my mindset on how I'm getting older as well, giving me gray hairs instead of keeping me young.

This past week having fun roller skating with my kids was just what I needed to help me see that they don't have to give me the gray hairs but keep me young instead if I just allow myself to participate in more of the fun rather then dwelling on the fact that I am getting older.

Watching some other older adults zip around the roller skating floor having lots of fun was definitely an inspiration for me to see!