The Pendants

by Patricia Coons

A short devotional on how our name came about. 

 

            Staring at the screen, feelings of confusion from 25 years before filled me. Could this be what “that” was all about? I typed in the words believe dream writing to fill in the rectangular domain of my new email address. Reflecting upon that moment, where I opened up that small jewelry box was and has always been bewildering. I never completely understood my gift. My mentor was so excited for me to receive the gift she had so carefully and prayerfully picked out; two silver pendants with the words believe and dream engraved on them. I felt shame crawl up my body as I remembered how I didn’t understand and was defensive in my spirit. Thoughts rolled in my brain, “Don’t I believe? Does she think I don’t? I have dreams. What does she mean?” Now, my thoughts dwelled on that point of time which I hadn’t thought of for years. I clicked continue with my new email.

 

            Creating a new email, signing up for websites, and watching informative videos on writing were all a part of a dream that had been forming in the back of my mind for a decade. It sounds cliché, but I love to write. Writing purposefully about experiences that has been given to me to inspire others to practical growth, fills me with joy. When a piece is done, my heart jumps within me and I feel like I have truly accomplished something. So, when I came to a crossroads of life, I was determined not to settle again. I wanted more. I was made for more. That is when I saw a writing website advertised. Should I? Shouldn’t I? After a few days of debate, I dove in and signed up.

 

            Choosing to believe that there is more for me out there is taking another step out of the hole I was living in. For 5 years, I have been continuously punched in my heart that it felt like that was my purpose; to be a punching bag. Some of the punches were my fault and some were not. About 2 years ago, a punch hit so soundly that shattered my heart. Betrayed, I crawled deeper into the hole of distrust, fear, and bitterness.

 

Oddly enough, what was shattered by the actions of others is what I needed to choose to do. Trust is what I needed to pull myself out of that hole; more specifically trust in the Lord. Once I chose to trust God and give my current circumstances to Him, the light pierced through the blackness of that hole and I began to hope again. Isaiah 50:10 says, “Let him who walks in darkness and has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.” That is where I was, in a dark hole. It was when I trusted Him that I began to feel His warm light.

 

Jesus told us that He came so that we might have life and in abundance. “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly,” is what Jesus stated in John 10:10. An abundant life is definitely what I want to live. Abundance will look different from person to person, because we are all made uniquely before the Creator. I have my abundance I need to live in; an abundance designed just for me. It is our job to trust that He wants us to live an abundant life and not that we are life’s punching bag.

 

Choosing to believe in dreams that have been placed in my heart by God is living in abundance. Those pendants, given so long ago, point to what God is doing today. Can God give me something years ago to direct me today? Yes, He definitely can.

 

For further application: Have you been given something in the past that points to today? Is there somewhere where you need to trust in God so the light can pierce the darkness of your circumstances? What does living in your abundance look like? What are your dreams and have you given them to God?