Brave Dreamers sounds like a tribe you’d want to join. After all, doesn’t everyone want to be known as a brave dreamer? The chief dreamer in this tribe is Connie Jakab of Calgary. Connie is brave and likeable. How can you not like someone who holds up sparklers as an expression of her personality? She does heart work.
Sharing the Light
In December, Connie offered a 5-day course called “Sharing the Light Challenge”. Teach me how to share Jesus using words spoken by people who aren’t like me and I’m in. And she had me at the sparklers.
The deal was, Monday to Friday, Connie would share her teaching of the day on Facebook Live. And like an educational course, participants were warned there would be homework. The assignments involved recording a brief video answering a question about the Gospel and Jesus.
Principles, Particles or Passion
I expected Connie to share principles and participles. Something like the Four Spiritual Laws updated for Millennials. Or Evangelism Explosion edited for those on the cutting edge. Instead, I was blasted with passion.
Day after day Connie was a venerable fountain of vulnerability. As I listened to the final of five sessions, I came to a long overdue conclusion. For over fifty minutes each day, Connie shared stories, insights and revelations about encountering Jesus in her life; candid stories of conflict, betrayal, confusion, and distress. She was tearful on more than one day and sometimes more than once on the same day. It was clear that she cared deeply about what she communicates.
Her words flowed freely. She was unedited, speaking with sincerity and honesty. The words flowed because she was speaking from an unguarded heart.
Heart Work
How about you? All I know is that’s not me. I speak from my head. I’m carefully guarded. I double think about everything I say before I say it, which is why I often don’t enter a conversation – people have moved on by the time I’m ready to speak.
You’ve probably heard me chalk that behavior up to being an introvert with perfectionist tendencies. Or perhaps that’s just a well-expressed excuse. My “aha” moment was in realizing I don’t need a broader vocabulary to share Jesus. I need a deeper love – a richer, unguarded, and unconditional love.
Connie showed me, it’s not the way we craft words that creates saving impressions. What matters is our heart. Jesus said, out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks. Leading people to Jesus is heart work.
Brave Dreamers
What’s the path forward? Empty our heart of condemnation, judgment, bias, prejudice, racism or the need to be right. Fill our heart with the highest capacity to love. Love unconditionally like Jesus. Love, fearing nothing to lose and nothing to prove. You can get there by making daily choices to forgive, allowing yourself to be imperfect, and by keeping only the stuff that wrecks, but doesn’t spoil, your heart.
Brave dreamers. That’s my tribe. Thank you, Connie and all those who were in the course conversations.
How about you? How is your heart? Are you sharing the light? Please join the conversation and post a comment at the bottom of this post. Thank you.
Hope grows here. You’ll find stories that inspire, build faith, and offer lasting purpose.
We’d love to have you Subscribe to REVwords. Helpful content will arrive in your inbox early Mondays to get your week off to a thoughtful start.
