A Summer of Discovery

As I enter into this new summer season, I know it is going to be a time of great transition and change.  I am spending the summer back home in Oregon doing an internship with a local church.  When I look back on all that I have walked through this past year, I know this is exactly where God was leading me all along.  Sometimes He had to drag me or push me a little, but nevertheless, here I am.

As this new season begins, I have been brainstorming and dreaming a little about some ideas for this blog.  I sat down with two of my close friends and asked them to help me come up with some goals and ideas.  I am thrilled about the one I am about to share with you.

My blog is about meeting God in our everyday; finding Him in our messy, mundane, and miraculous everyday lives.  And I had this idea, that maybe it would be fun to have some of my friends and mentors write a post for the blog. 

So as I sat with my friends and we discussed the idea, we decided there should be a common thread throughout all of them.  A theme that each person could take in their own direction and discuss out of their own experience.

As you may or may not know, I am writing a thesis on identity, so it has become my heartbeat and my passion.  So when we were attempting to come up with a theme related to that, one of my friends asked, “What about the word discovery?”  I hope this friend never doubts her ability to hear the Lord’s voice.  My heart skipped a beat as I excitedly made the connection.

For me, discovery means finding something that was lost.  Because I have falsely believed that I am a forgettable person, being found and discovered has been my greatest hope.  Because God has spoken over me that I am His treasure, discovery makes perfect sense.  Treasure always involves looking, searching, and hopefully - discovering.  It is a process of uncovering what is really inside that hidden vault or box.  The opening up lets the gems inside shine, and brings JOY to the one who found it.

Some of my favorite synonyms for discovery are these: unearthing, identification, revelation, and discerning.

When it comes to identity, it has involved all those things for me.  It has required unearthing hurts and insecurities that I didn’t even realize were still haunting me.  I have identified my strengths and my struggles, and surrendered them all to the Lord.  He Has revealed my passions, my calling, and who I am to Him – a treasure. 

All of it has required discerning.  Discerning His voice from others, discerning my selfish desires from God-given ones.  Discerning where He is leading, and what He wants me to know about myself.

Identity is a search, it is an unearthing of who we are.  It requires work, like digging through rubble and ruins in order to find something beautiful.  It is both active and passive; we search and discover, yet sometimes God gives us a revelation of who we are in the most simple and passive of moments.

Yes, discovery.  What a perfect word.  So, over the next weeks, we will get to read what discovery means to women from all over the country, walking through the everyday of this wonderful journey of life.

So look each Wednesday this summer for a new post from a new person, answering the question:
In your life right now, what does discovery mean to you/look like within a framework of identity? 
I hope and pray that this little dream will be a blessing to all of us; I know I cannot wait to read and discover all kinds of wisdom and lessons from these posts!


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