Laney Houser

Live Your Biggest Possibility

Create a Vision for Your Life

I’ve had a nasty staph infection in my left eye and last week my entire eye was swollen shut. At one point, it was so painful I just laid on the sofa with my eye closed while taking pain relievers, antibiotics and using hot compresses to try to get some relief.

This week it is nearly healed and I can see clearly once again, I am so grateful for my restored vision.

It gave me lots of time to reflect on the importance of my vision.

When my vision wasn’t clear last week, I couldn’t see where I was going. I had a hard time with depth perception when I went down the stairs but the worst part was I felt overwhelmed, confused and frustrated not to mention it was painful and ugly.

It was a great picture of life. Most of us live with a huge infection over the big vision for our lives.

We once had dreams as a kid or young adult but we’ve allowed the cares of the world to cloud our vision or worse we can’t even see the visions and dreams we once had for our life.

God is a huge dreamer and what He dreamed He created and He continues to create.  The awesome part of being human is that we are made in God’s image and we have the ability to dream and to create our lives.

In fact, God asks us to live out our vision. Scripture says in Proverbs 29 where there is no vision the people perish and Habakkuk 2 says to record the vision because it points towards a goal. Goals lead to the creation of your vision. Revelation 1 says to write down the things you have seen. When God gives us a dream or vision for our lives we are to write it down.

I love the story of Joseph because he didn’t allow his horrific circumstances to deter him from his dream. It took many years for the dream Joseph had at 17 to come to life but he never gave up on the vision God gave him, no matter what.

The vision for your life starts in your mind, and contrary to what the enemy would like you to believe you have complete control over your mind and what you do with it matters.

The vision I have for my life is to create fun, adventure and abundance everywhere I go no matter how I am feeling. I believe that the world needs more Jesus people living full out, 100% of their best selves every single day. Imagine the world if every single believer stepped into what Dallas Willard calls Life Without Lack living out Psalm 23. Living a life without lack would be an answer to Matthew 6:10 His Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven.

Imagine who in your life would be impacted if you lived your 100% best each and every day of your life, how would things change for you?

If your vision for your life is impaired, obstructed, infected by the worries and cares of this life or worse lacking (imagine your face without eyes) you can change that. You have the power to make a difference in this life. You can make an impact.

You can get out of your own way and chase your dreams and play full out. Your past does not have to create our future if Joseph allowed all of his trauma to determine his future his entire family would have perished in the famine. You are not different you have the ability to not allow your circumstances to determine your vision and instead let your dreams determine your vision.

 

I didn’t give up

Today as I was contemplating the cross I wondered what it must have been like to be there. I’m pretty sure I would have stood in the crowd among the doubters wondering what in the world just happened. And, I am sure I would have been a little angry in my grief and wondered, “Now what? What does this mean for my life? I had counted on Jesus and now He’s dead, hope is gone.”

On that day, I would have made up a story about what the rest of my life would look like without Jesus. I wonder how many of his followers made up stories that day about the rest of their lives.

I used to make up stories about my life.

Making up stories is useful because it means I don’t have to face my real fears in any tangible way. Sadly, it also keeps me from doing truly great things.

I stood for so many years in the chaos of my home thinking that if I took a stand against it I would have no income, be rejected by the church and end up alone and miserable, it was a story I played out over and over again in my head. Crazy thing is, I was alone and miserable. I made up things in my head that kept me stuck, fearful and alone.

Funny how that works, our greatest fear becomes our reality if we don’t face it.

I didn’t do any of the things that could have to make my life better. I stayed stuck in the story I had rehearsed in my head so many times. I didn’t dare to risk something better for myself and my family.

If I was standing in the crowd that day I’m pretty sure I would have made up a story about my future now that Jesus was gone, just like Peter did. He denied him three times because he lived into the story he’d rehearsed in his head instead of God’s story for his life.

If I would have continued to live my story instead of God’s I would have missed out on the fun and love I have in my marriage today. I would have missed the second chapter of my marriage. I would have missed all of the joy that comes with choosing to step directly into my fear and having God catch me.

Instead, I didn’t give up, I choose to trust God in the middle of my darkest night and believe that what He did with the Resurrection He could do that in my life. I also I reached out and asked for help.

Peter took a huge fall but he didn’t give up, Jesus was crucified but He didn’t stop there. My marriage was a mess, but we didn’t give up and what happens next in each of our lives is unbelievable. Peter becomes the head of the church, Jesus comes back from the dead and my marriage is alive and thriving.

Why, because we chose to step into God’s story instead of our own, we didn’t give up.

What about you? What story have you made up about your future that has caused you to give up in one or more areas of your life? What fear do you need to step into to take the next step toward reaching your dream? What part of your life do you need to step out of your story and into God’s?

I want to be brave like Mary?

Imagine for a moment one of the most unreasonable scenes in the Gospels….

Mary is pouring an expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet and then wiping it with her hair.

So many things about this picture make me squirm as I imagine it…..Mary was a woman, she spent a year’s salary, she poured the perfume on his feet and then used her hair to wipe it. WOW! Would you have the courage to do such a brave act? I don’t know if I would.

Mary gave all she had. One hundred percent. She held nothing back.

Mary lived fully alive risking it all with whole heart, mind soul and strength. Mary lived her life full out. She didn’t care about what others thought and she didn’t play it safe.

This week as we look forward to Easter we have the opportunity to stop and reflect on what it means to live fully alive. Living fully alive is counter-cultural, brave and unreasonable. Most of us do not live fully alive taking risks like Mary, but what if you did? What would it feel like to live fully alive for you?

Can you imagine how Mary must have felt as poured out the perfume? Can you imagine how close to Jesus she felt? Can you imagine how she felt fully alive and living her life on purpose at that moment? Can you also see her ignoring all that was going on around her to give her all? She didn’t allow her fear to stop her from being her best.

Before she poured out the perfume she had to save her money, purchase the perfume and then choose a time where she would pour it out on Jesus. She had all of these intentions long before this scene, she planned it way before it actually happened.

I wonder what would have happened if she got scared and decided that she didn’t want to put herself out there. I wonder what would have happened if she let her fear stop her from taking this huge risk in front of other people who may think she was crazy. Mostly….I wonder how she would have felt if Friday came but she had waited until “next time” because she was too afraid. I am guessing she felt an enormous sense of gratitude that she didn’t wait until it was too late.

What about you? Do you have great intentions but then don’t carry them out because you are afraid of what others might think? Do you make great plans in your head but fail to do them because someone might think you are crazy? Have you ever missed an opportunity you had planned but then let fear get the best of you and lived with regret?

Take some time to reflect on your own life and how it might look different if you live your life like Mary. What would be different about your life? Do you have intentions you need to follow through on? Do you have a purpose you need to step into?

This is the perfect week to stop, ponder and reset!

Happy End of 2017

Happy end of 2017!!

 

I can’t believe this year is coming to a close it’s been an awesome year! I am sitting outside at a little gluten free bistro in Redondo Beach, California. It’s December and I am wearing a t-shirt!!! Who would have guessed that in less than I year I traded my wrung out life for the life of my dreams? Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe that this is actually my life. God knew what was up and I supposed I could have to if I had been using some sort of life calculation tool. I have been intentional most of my life and intentional living has led me to living a life of my dreams rather than a life that just happens to me.

At the beginning of 2017 I was very intentional about setting a vision for my year, I spent a few days praying through my year and making a vision board. I had a few words and a few pictures last year that compelled me and kept me on track for 2017. I hung the board on the back of the door in my office so that every time I left my office I would remember my intentions for the year. I also would continue to pray through them and ask God to keep me on track for Him.

The words I chose were Adventure and Perseverance, which translates….“say Yes, to adventure” and “Keep on going & never give up!. These were my mantras for 2017. As a result I traveled internationally three times, across the country three times, took a dream job, in a dream location and now write and speak both locally and globally.

There was a temptation to give up on many occasions this year.

  • There were times I was tempted to stay stuck in the shame of my past failures and losses and there were many of them so it would be easy to do.
  • There were times where I felt overwhelmed and I had to remember to focus.
  • There were times when I felt depressed and I had to turn my thoughts back to all of the good things God has done so that I could return to joy.
  • There were times I got so busy that I felt like I fell behind in life (ie..moving my entire home 1001 miles across the West Coast), but I would recalibrate and turn back to myself, God and the important people in my life.
  • There were times when I was tempted to give into fear…well there were lots of moments of fear….fear of failure, fear of success, fear of not being liked, fear of being too busy, fear of being depressed again…oh my lots of fear, but I did not allow myself to stay in fear, I honored it as a feeling and then asked God “what’s next?’

Here’s the point, no matter what my feelings were saying, I honored them as a part of me and then, I kept on going and I kept on saying “yes” to adventures.

I believe God has big dreams for you. Are you living a dream driven life or does life just happen to you? When God gives you dreams, ideas and plans do you say yes and then step into faith or have you laid your dreams down for a season or two and now need to pick them up again? Where ever you are in life now is a good time to step into your dreams, to do the healing you need to do and to begin to live a life of purpose on purpose. God has so much for you. I am even more excited for 2018. I hope you will join me in following your God given dreams this year!

Take the Risk to be Healthy

We are often more willing to climb a rock wall or jump off of a cliff into the water to risk our physical wellbeing than we are to risk spiritually or emotionally. And truth be told most of us are uncomfortable taking risks of any kind physical, emotional or spiritual and to be honest it kind of makes me mad. I feel mad because fear wins and I hate it when keeps us from becoming all that God wants us to be.

For sure I’ve been guilty of letting fear win, but I am determined not to let fear control my life anymore. I spent many years on enemy territory doing deliverance and helping people get free from all kinds of negative stuff but from most of time so much of the negative stuff started from the grip of fear. Fear is not from God.

Sometimes we don’t even know we are afraid because it shows up as anxiety. I’ve heard it called “free-floating anxiety” by my colleagues, but the truth is under that anxiety are some deep-seated fears and if we clear the fear then we also get rid of the anxiety. It’s an amazing thing to watch people learn how to be fear free, it is so good when we become fear free.

I know all about fear, I spent many years living in marital loneliness and isolation because I was afraid to confront my husband’s anger and I was afraid to tell anyone about it. That’s the kind of thing fear does. It keeps us stuck and isolated.

I consider myself a fairly good risk taker, but what I realized is that I was not a risk taker when it came to relationships. As a child, I lost many relationships so I learned that it is better to keep the status quo than it is to lose people. (which is not a good way to live life by the way, because it meant I kept harmful relationships in my life rather than healthy good ones.)

I am so thankful that I took the risk to put an end to unhealthy relationships in my life. It did mean that I lost some friendships and it even meant that I lost my marriage for a time, but when I took the risk to trust God for the best and let go of the unhealthy it meant I made room for more good to come into my life. It also meant that I had to give up some unhealthy patterns and take risks by trying new ways of being. The amazing thing is as I tried new ways of being that were healthy and good those became the new patterns in my life. The fear dissipated along with the anxiety and I enjoy life more than ever.

If you want to conquer some of your own fears it means taking risks in your life. It may mean trying out some healthy new emotional habits and allowing those to become new patterns. It mean trusting God for the best for you. There are lots of people in your life who need you to be your best self. If you are not living your best self, ask for help. If you ask for help you will find may people who want to see you thriving and will help you get there. Take a risk to be the best you can be. It’s worth it!!

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