Inconceivable. Ludicrous. Incredible Mindboggling. Mind-blowing. Out of the question. Unbelievable. Unthinkable. Unimaginable…

what does that mean to you?

Last Saturday
was the one year anniversary of our trip to Hawaii. Realizing that brought a flood of thoughts and emotions. Primarily awe and gratitude. You see going to Hawaii was epic for my husband and me.

Many people dream of going to Hawaii. Many people put it on their bucket list. So why was it so epic for me?

Multiple reasons that boil down to one.

I had never dreamed of going there. I didn’t have it on a bucket list. I didn’t even have a bucket list. Going there was, in my mind, outside of the realm of possibilities. It was far too expensive to even entertain the thought. I could not see myself in Hawaii.

Going there was what “other people” do.

Not me.

Why?

Mindset and money and mindset about money.

Last Saturday as I contemplated the amazingness of our trip to Hawaii. That we had actually gone there. I could not help but see how far we had come. I remembered when we lived in a rented house that had a rock shoved under the furnace to keep it from shaking the house and knocking things off of tables. I remembered when we only had one car, and that was because someone had given it to us. I remembered having to go downtown to a specific hospital when I got pregnant because we didn’t have any money. I remembered when we were receiving government assistance. I remembered using our food stamps to buy pop for the deposit so I could buy toilet paper. I remembered when we got off assistance but could not afford health insurance…..

I remembered the journey from there to here

today

where we have become

those

“other people”

and I am in awe.

So why am I writing about this?

Because I want you to know that:

You also can do the inconceivable!

Perhaps you are familiar with the quote by Henry Ford: “Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right.” I know I had heard it multiple times and it would just bounce off of me with an inner “yeah right”. Apparently, I was being successful at the not believing because it was working for me.

Since then I have come to understand that:

What you believe is what you see on the inside,

your perception, how you filter everything, your mindset.

I started becoming one of those “other people” by writing my book. I’m told that eighty to ninety percent of people want to write a book, but most do not. I started seeing myself as one of those “other people” when I published it.

So here I will pause in my story to encourage you that if you are one of those people who want to write a book – do it!

It will change your life. You can do the inconceivable!

My book Emerging With Wings is the long story of my journey. And it is not just the journey out of the inner darkness but also how I got so messed up in the first place. There is not space here in this blog post to do it justice. I was a convoluted mess and it took many things to bring me to the end of that book and the beginning of new life. I find it so amazing how complex we humans are. That it is possible for something to happen to us in an instant that takes years and multiple tools to gain recovery from.

But I want you to know that recovery is possible no matter how messed up you may feel. No matter how impossible your situation looks and feels.

Even if you cannot conceive it in your mind – IT IS POSSIBLE!

I discovered something that has been in my life, all my life.

This thing helped me even when I had no knowledge of it. This thing was able to do much more once I recognized it and I could cooperate with it. This thing is a person I call The Pursuer. I understand that you might think it is simply another name I use to refer to God, but it is necessary for me.

My perception of love and God had become so skewed that I would stumble over things that helped “other people”. For me the name The Pursuer embodies the passion of the one who conceived us in his heart and calls out to us all our lives. If that sounds corny to you, I’m sorry. But I am not sorry for how I feel.

It took THIRTY-FOUR years for The Pursuer to change my understanding of him, to REdefine love. His love is relentless and I am forever grateful. At first, I feel shame that it took me so long but when I shake that off all I feel is deeply loved. I used to think that love was defined as: love God or die. However, He said “THIS is Love! It is not that we loved God but that He loved us” & then he proceeded to show me and teach me.

I believe this, knowing and believing this love, is what changed my expectations and empowered me to be able to receive the things that the bible says belong to me, and to you. Things that previously would make me go “yeah right, that’s a nice story” “that’s for other people”. To use bible language things that are “exceeding abundantly above all I could ask or think”. That sounds like “inconceivable” to me.

But that is how The Pursuer loves us – extravagantly. I just hadn’t believed it and so just got only tastes of it here and there, however, he could get it in there. Love makes a way where there seems to be no way. The only thing that gets in His way, is when we respond with “no way” instead of “ok”. I say bring it on. I receive your love. What do you say?

Last year we not only went to Hawaii. We flew first class. I had never done that before either.

It was surreal.

I took this video from my lanai one early morning of the sights and sounds, waves and birds. It’s just under a minute long. Take a minute, feel, absorb the beauty into your soul.

As my author friend Stephen S. J. Hill says

“live loved”

How did this post make you feel?  What are you thinking?

Let’s talk about it in the comments below or email me if commenting makes you uncomfortable. #YouMatter

Danielle Bernock

Author, Coach, and Speaker helping men, women, and organizations EMERGE with clear vision of their value, TAKE ownership of their choices, and CHART a path to their promise, becoming Victorious Souls who Embrace The Change from survive to thrive through the power of the love of God

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