piece of advice

I want to ask you to do one thing, please consider removing the word "someday" from your vocabulary. I feel like in my own life I already have too long of a list of somedays. I’m 20 years old, I don’t want to be the kind of person that already has a list a mile long, that someday I’ll get to.

I've wanted to do so many things, someday- since I was probably four years old my someday list began. I can find you six solid notebooks in my room alone filled with new activities I want to someday try, games I want to someday learn, places I want to someday go, recipes I will someday cook, instruments I will someday learn to play, a notebook solely dedicated to all the great books I will someday read... are you seeing the trend?

Let's call this the someday trend, and this someday trend, it can be very dangerous. We are always, essentially waiting. Waiting for the someday when we become who we want to be, do what we want to do, waiting. Why? Someday. It’s a word that is responsible for keeping our lives stuck, keeping the world unchanged, and keeping us from living the deep dreams that God has planned for our lives. I think someday is a horrible word and it keeps our dreams on a shelf, it keeps fear in the central position of our lives and it keeps us from moving forward into the life that God has for us.

Don’t become a person whose answer to everything is saying someday. I have no desire to be that kind of person, I want to be the kind of person where at the end of my life when I see God face to face I say, "I took every possible challenge, I took every possible risk, I listened to your voice as best as I could, and I did what I could to be a person who wasn’t ruled by fear, who wasn't stuck in the day to day, who was listening on a deep level for ways to connect into Your (God’s) big story."

So I have no idea what that is for you, probably not reading a million books on your list or finally having the courage to study abroad, this is totally not about my someday lists. It’s about listening to that voice inside of you that I believe is God's voice and God's spirit saying "Take a risk, become a different, better version of yourself.” Do something that helps the world, that connects people together, that helps you dream a better dream of who God is and what He’s doing in the world.

Maybe its creative, maybe you’re a painter but you put down your paint brushes because you got too busy with homework. I totally get that pressure, the future is always being brought to our attention and I think college is really really important, I also think college life is not just about getting ready for the future, it’s about living the life you were made to live now.

So I don’t know what it is for you- maybe it is something that is so deep and scary you don’t even wanna say it aloud, maybe its forgiving somebody in your past, maybe it’s starting something totally new, maybe its volunteering for something that you know God made you to do but represents some serious fear. Whatever it is I hope you pay attention to that voice and I hope you really do remove the word someday from your vocabulary.