While living in Lake Tahoe, I started absorbing the beauty and benefits connected to running. My friend, Carmen, whom I’d run alongside, said “you’re going to become addicted!”

As the words tumbled out of her mouth, I thought “you’re crazy – addicted to running. There’s no way!”

One of my favorite songs has the following lyrics: “…I’ve got miracles on miracles, a million little miracles. Miracles on miracles, count your miracles – one, two, three, four. I can’t even count them all.”

When I think back on my life, I get chills thinking of how real these words really are.

Last fall our son was thinking into some big changes he needed to face. As we talked through it, we shared, “You’ll never be able to remove yourself from negativity, yet you don’t need to smother yourself with it either. We all get what we tolerate. Design the life you want and bravely move toward it.”

These words are true for us too!

A few months back we headed out on spring break as a family. Typically, I bring a lot to read and “get done” yet for this trip I sensed a strong nudge to bring only a pen and pad of paper.

This felt beyond foreign to me so the morning of our flight, I started adding more items in my backpack and as I did, I was stung with a “stop!”

The inner jolt made me remove the additional items and off we flew…

Since I was young, I’ve always approached life just a tad bit differently. I never really fit into the borders and boundaries some people created and I often felt it. 

As life brought opportunities my way, I kept being moved toward what allowed me to lead, create, be in front and move people forward. The ones that stretched me and rarely formed invisible borders…

This print hung in my hometown church, my grandparents' home, and the hallway of my parents' home. Over the years, I saw the print repeatedly yet never fully knew its importance until recently, when God led me to study Revelations 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and continually knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him [restore him] and he with Me.”

This verse teaches us that Jesus knocks at the door of our hearts, wanting to be invited into our lives. The doorknob is from within; we are the only ones who can take the knob - open the door - and welcome him into our everyday lifestyle.

Let me ask, “At this point in your life, where do you feel led to add value?”

What’s notable about this question is that you get to choose. You get to decide the difference you’re being nudged to make and why it matters.

I firmly believe that life always presents us with opportunities to expand, grow, connect, and add value if we’re willing and open to seeing, embracing, and not walking past them. Three things come to mind when I think of adding value and being a difference-maker.