Here’s to Part 2

A year ago this month, I entered a life-changing experience. I packed my bags and moved to Redding, California . I didn’t know what I was getting into. I didn’t have a clue what to expect. I just knew that I was heading the direction God spoke to me [read about it here]. People ask what I learned or what I gained there. As dramatic as this may sound, when graduating, I really felt like my life was beginning.  . A five-year journey of breaking through came to full fruition in first year.  My heart was uncovered. I discovered my message to the world. Not only did my voice return—I encountered intimacy. Oh my heart has melted in ways I can’t describe towards Abba. He is my best friend. Our relationship has gone to deeper depths. I’ve learned the power of the secret place. The power of worship and the sweetness of the Holy Spirit. First year has brought me deeper and higher. I really am forever ruined by the truth, power, and love of the King.

The last nine months have been transformative, inspiring, and revelatory. I’ve discovered what I burn for, what my purpose is. Who I am was born. It excites me because I desire to share this with the world. I desire to see other people come into the reality of who they are and whose they are. I aspire to release the revelation of identity to others.  My heart is to encourage and empower others to find their voice—their message. I want people to be reminded of how faithful God is. I want people to know and encounter His supernatural love. My heart is to see a generation raised and a generation rise up in and to the reality that they have a message this world needs. They have a voice that rings loud with authority, passion, and power and is drenched in the purity and culture of Heaven. I desire to see a generation broken free of religion and released into the grace and freedom of the Kingdom. A generation that knows that freedom and grace is not a “free pass” to live any kind of way but core values that hold them accountable to the standard they are called to. Whew. I could go on! The last five years but specifically the last year has really opened my eyes to the truth that there really is soooooooo much more. SO much more to life, to this walk–to relationship with God. It goes beyond me–it goes beyond us. It goes beyond one state—one city—one country. It’s an eternal reality—a never-ending revival.

In April of this year, I was accepted into Bethel’s second year program. In a month, I will be heading back to Redding to delve deeper as I begin second year. This year it’s all about serving and pouring out. I will learn and live out how to take ALL that I’ve gain, seen, and encountered and give that to the world. It will be a year of more stretching—stretching who I am as a leader; propelling me to walk out–even more fully–my purpose. This year I will have the honor of serving and running alongside leaders in the community of Bethel and second year students.

As I am working now and starting to prepare to return to Redding, I ask for your prayers. Tuition is $4400. Praise God, my tuition is half-way paid with $2590 left in the balance. Recently, God shared with me this revelation that He does nothing in halves. When He let His son die on the cross for us, He didn’t let Him die half-way. He didn’t raise Him half-way. He did it ALL in FULL. With that truth, we get HEALED in FULL. We get DELIVERED in FULL. We are PROVIDED for in FULL. We are LOVED in FULL. We are REDEEMED in FULL. You get it? God does nothing half-way. He’s ALL IN. With that said, I am believing God to have my tuition fully paid off by September 3^rd. I believe this also for all my financial needs this year–missions, housing, and ministry trips included. As I pray for more faith and boldness in this, I release it over you. Whatever financial concerns you may have whether it be debt, rent past due, car notes, accumulated fees–whatever it maybe—I release every financial breakthrough I’ve had over you! Every financial miracle I’ve witnessed you have permission to receive!  Even as you read this supernatural provision is happening. Doors are opening in places you least expect. Checks are being placed in the mail. Papa prick the hearts of the community this reader is surrounding by so this reader knows they are not alone or forgotten. Release Your grace over their finances. Let this reader know that they are seen and that YOU see their need and will ALWAYS provide for them. He’s just that good!

Again, I thank you to all those reading this who have invested in my journey thus far. You were apart of dreams coming true and I am so grateful! If you feel lead or would like to pour into the second leg of this journey, you can follow the instructions below:

go to www.ibssm.org and click on “give to tuition”. Type in my name: Danae Carson.

Any amount counts and I’m greatly humbled for your support and your belief in me. Whether you donate or not, just know that God’s hand is ALL over your dreams. He is ALL over your finances. He doesn’t give us crazy big dreams to tease us. He fulfills them. He has pre-budgeted your life. Every expense, every need is accounted for before you came into this world. God is limitless. He has limitless resources. I stand in agreement with you and declare life and truth over your finances. If you experience ANY financial breakthrough after reading this or if you have experienced it in your life prior, leave a comment on this post so that others can read it and be encouraged! There is POWER in the testimony!

You guys are AMAZING!

Til next time,

D

The Value of Beauty

Today’s post is brought to you by Eline Millenaar, the inspirational heart behind Beautiful Dreamer.  Be stirred, challenged, and encouraged as Eline M. shares her heart on beauty.

“Put that mirror down and start living!” or “Why in the world are you redecorating your house again? Wasn’t it just fine before?”

We have all heard sentences like this over and over again. Design, beauty and decoration are socially connected to the words ineffective, useless and unnecessary. In this ‘men’s  world’ we’ve lost our value for beauty and we forgot the importance of it. Generally speaking, men are seeking for productivity, while women are searching for beauty. We are made like this to complement each other, because productivity creates space for beauty and beauty stimulates productivity. Unfortunately, we’ve overestimated productivity at the cost of beauty. Even beauty has to have a purpose and I would like to propose that beauty in itself is a purpose.

Beauty reflects the feminine side of the heart of God. Please look up from your computer screen and look outside your window for a second. Do you see the trees, clouds, the sun? Or if the world outside is dark, look at the image of your face which the dark glass reflects. Imagine what the world would look like if God decided to make His creation only effective and productive and completely leave out the aspect of beauty. Thankfully He didn’t, because beauty echos His glory. I once saw a little glimpse of His glory. The only way I can describe it as is an explosion of colors and sounds, movements and lights. It’s beautiful beyond understanding. That very glorious Presence of God can be found in the beauty of creation, that includes you!

Paul Manwaring said it like this: “Beauty is an aspect of Gods glory which attracts the soul and rises up a desire to respond to it.” You want to capture beauty, hold it or absorb as much of it as you can. How that looks, your response to beauty, is different for everybody. Paul gave the example of a mountain. What do you see when you see a beautiful mountain? Do you want to photograph it,  climb it, write about it, or study it? The way you respond to beauty reveals a lot about your personality. Even more, what you consider as beautiful says a lot about your identity. Beauty is both an expression and an indicator of identity.

I’m falling in love with beauty time after time again. I inhale beauty to exhale art. In this breathing of my artist’s heart, I can’t do anything else but be amazed by the beauty around me. My heart breaks when I see people hurrying and running around, without ever taking the time to look around, look up and look inside. You miss the benefits of something you don’t know the value of. Please know you have full permission to search after beauty, enjoy beauty, get lost in it and create it. Church, you’re called to be Jesus’ beautiful Bride. He has given you the most beautiful wedding dress, but you gave it away. You thought beauty was vain, when you are actually glorifying Him when you’re walking down the aisle in the most beautiful dress. Let the Church become the forerunner again in art, beauty and style!  It’s time we see the world and her people as masterpieces and give beauty the value she deserves.

Unveiled

Photo-cred Cadence Meeks (cadencemeeks.tumblr.com)

So I cut my hair. No big deal. At least that’s what I thought as my friend took scissors to my 10 months transitioning hair a month ago. My hair is the shortest it has ever been…ever. I was 14 when I got my first relaxer and I was a faithful user until March 2012 when I, unknowingly, got my last relaxer.

March 2012. My hair before I began transitioning.

It was in April that I decided to transition. To be honest, I can’t say where it came from. My hair wasn’t doing terribly with the relaxer. To most people it was healthy and long. I had no medical reason to go natural. I just really wanted to do something different. You could blame the ending of a four-year college journey as part of it, I don’t know. All I knew was that I was gonna do this.

It was January 20th when I cut it. I was fine. Then I went to this women’s conference that talked about embracing the power and beauty you possess. There it happened. My eyes were opened to what had really occurred on the 20th. In the natural, it was just a big chop. I stand with no regrets, but something spiritually and emotionally happened. I know…..I know I tried really hard to not be that deep natural girl, but I think it’s hard to avoid. Anyways, for years, I hid behind my hair, my hair and my glasses <— that’s a whole other situation. Let’s just say I was pretty insecure. I didn’t embrace me. I would downplay who I am A LOT to fit into a certain mold, group, idea, you name it. I had a history of people pleasing and I found my security in people and in their approval. I look back and I’m in awe of how much of who I am I tried to define and discover in people, through their expectations and their opinions. That changed in 2007 when God called me out on my little charade, thus beginning my journey to self-love.

I’ve been going through this journey, amongst others, with the occasional wrestle with insecurity. Last year, I was annoyed with these scrimmages and pretty much told God to show me His security, “let’s tackle this” was my thought pattern, and He began to take away things I placed my security in (read more here). Unknowingly, my hair was one. When I cut my hair, I realized I couldn’t hide anymore. I was in my most vulnerable state. I wasn’t depressed at this discovery. I was a mixture of, “I thought I was over this” and “wow…okay…cool time to embrace me even more”. Now, I’m continuing this journey loving every part of me on newer, deeper level. The day after my BC, I wrote in my journal, “help me to not hide behind my physical appearance. Strengthen my inner-beauty. Cause my spirit to soar with Your grace, love, and beauty” That’s my daily prayer, to truly see and love myself the way Daddy God does. There’s nothing like an individual who truly loves themselves. When you love you it shows. When you love you wholly you can love others wholly. It’s a little over 5 years since my journey of self-love began. My hair is a small part of the bigger picture. Whenever I reflect, I’m immensely grateful for the growth, the revelation, and new discoveries I’ve made about myself, about God, and our relationship. I am joy-filled by who I am!

I love me. I celebrate me.

I am no longer hiding in the shadows of the expectations of this world, society, culture, or people.  I’m stepping out into the spotlight of who I am. I’m embracing my beauty inside and out. I am unveiled.

South Africa Love Pt. 2

8 years ago a nation became apart of me. This nation is South Africa. I’m not sure I can articulate well how my heart burns for this nation. There is this loving ache and this powerful squeezing of my heart that occurs when I think of South Africa. I desire to see the freedom and joy of heaven wash over this nation. I desire to see South Africa more ablaze and more hungry for the truth and power of the Kingdom of God than ever before. I see break through, restoration, and the reconciliation of identity being released all over this country!! I see a nation rising up to walk out its true destiny. I see a nation operating from the Kingdom’s perspective. I’m overcome by humility that God has chosen myself and my team to pour into this country.

I’m a little over a month away from having the honor and privilege of stepping foot in South Africa. I’m a little over a month away from loving and empowering a hungry people. In 10 days, the final payment for this trip is due. I am immensely grateful to ALL of you who have poured into this dream financially and through your prayers. On February 26th, I will need $880 dollars to officially have my trip paid off. I am once again standing in firm belief that this dream WILL come true and that God will come through. Daily my heart aches the way His heart aches for South Africa. It’s beautiful the love He desires to lavish over this nation.

To donate to this dream, just go to: http://missiontrips.ibethel.org. There will be a section that gives you a chance to give. Type in my name, Danae Carson, and my profile will come up. From there you can donate. Every amount counts and all donations are tax deductible. Thank you so much for reading this and for your support!! You can also check out South Africa Love for more about this dream!

Rest

“You have to be a human being before you are a human doing” – Kris Vallotton (Supernatural Ways of Royalty)

 Have you ever felt like there was never a moment to just pause, or when something is complete you are so drained you can’t relish in the beauty of what you’ve accomplished?  If you’ve answered yes, I want to present something with you. Firstly, above is a quote I love. The idea behind it is that what we do does not and cannot determine our identity. True identity comes from the truth of knowing who we are and BEING that person. When we get to a place where what we do determines who we are, we enter a downward spiral of a performance-based life that is riddled with comparison, low self-esteem, and a constant battle to measure up. Secondly, remember that:

1.  You are human. 
2. You cannot do everything nor be everything to everyone.
3. It’s okay to say no, because you matter.

Yeah, I said it, YOU matter. I can’t emphasize that enough. YOU are important. YOUR well-being is essential. See, when we operate solely out of a place of doing, we will run ourselves ragged. I am getting to a place where if I’m doing/giving out at 50% or lower, I practice the word ‘no’. Those I’m working with, in relationship with, and the things I’m working on deserve a fully invested me. I desire to be fully devoted and able to pour into my dreams and relationships from a place of wholeness and rest. If I’m not there, I allow myself the grace to step back and regroup. It’s important for me to BE me first.

In knowing this, do you think it is possible that we are unable to truly rest because we are operating out of a place of doing versus being? For me the answer is yes! When I placed my purpose and identity in a title, position, or job, I began to work from a place of striving. This led to me feeling burdened, pressured, you name it. That’s the complete opposite of rest! I’ve come into the realization that life is not about simply doing, it is being. When I am secure in the reality of my identity, I am LIVING. I am RESTING.

With all of this in mind, I want you to know that resting is doable and it doesn’t have one look. How you rest is unique to you, to your needs, and to your situation. One thing for sure is that when you are resting, you will know. So, just to clarify, resting is not limited to sleep. PLEASE understand that you can rest and not be asleep. Resting is not just a physical thing; it is an emotional, mental, and spiritual thing. I personally believe that I should be operating, communicating, and living from a place of rest. Now what would that look like if rest was only sleeping? Yeah…..it wouldn’t work out too well. To me, rest looks like security and peace. It’s knowing and being confident in who I am and living from that reality. Rest is being connected to my heart and my spirit and knowing when to say no. It’s loving myself enough to make sure I’m where I need to be emotionally, physically, and spiritually to be able to do and pour out all that I desire to.

So think about it, feel free to answer the questions in the post, they aren’t rhetorical! I’d love to hear from you so don’t hesitate to comment below, and REST. Find your inner peace, begin to live from a place of being and watch how things shift!

Til next time,

D