Those who know me really well can tell you what makes me laugh and what makes me cry.
If I’m honest, my sense of humor is a bit …out there? A good game of Telestrations will have me rolling. But the thing that consistently grabs my soul and erupts my heart into tears of joy and gratitude is this: watching people step out of fear and into their true identity.
That’s it. I live for those moments.
I cried during Top Gun when Tom Cruise did the thing with the plane that he was meant to do and then everyone around him cheers like their lives depend on it after he landed. (I know - this is not a very good description of the movie. You should hear my analysis of sports - even worse.)
I cried when the sister in Wonder stood on the stage and knocked the socks off of her theater performance and then got a standing ovation.
I cried during the Bear Grylls Celebrity Hunt show, when the guy who seemed so awkward stepped head-on, fully and completely into a leadership role and led his team to victory. He got in touch with a part of himself that he didn’t even know was there, and it was astounding to me to watch it unfold.
We’re meant to cheer for each other - and not just when another person does something for our benefit. There is something profoundly beautiful about watching a person do what they were made to do - in full freedom and joy. It’s like watching a tree break into bloom in the spring; or like the feeling that hits your heart when you see the most beautiful sunset that ever was, displayed in all its glory right in front of you.
So what about you?
For me, because watching people step fully into their God-given identity is what grabs my soul with ferocity and wonder, it’s what I chose to do with my life. I help people figure out who they were meant to be; I help them look back at the painful memories in their lives and tend to those hurting places so that they can move forward with freedom and tenacity. I help them wrestle with the lies they believe about themselves and about God, breaking chains that - through Jesus’ death on the Cross - have no power anymore.
I think a good place for each person to start is with the question: what makes you laugh, and what makes you cry?
What makes your heart come alive?
Once you identify that, the next step is to ask what’s getting in the way.
And that, my friends, is where the real and good work begins.
There is freedom on the other side.