Day to Day

09/12/2015 Daring to Live Out Loud

by Val Payne on 09/12/15

I've spent some time being quiet; partly because it can be pretty hard to hear when you're talking. Also, as much as I hate to admit it, I allowed fear to creep in and shut me up. Without offering up too much detail, I allowed an anonymous letter-writer and a group of less-than-loving professionals to silence my story. Temporarily. After two years of being too afraid to say, "Good Morning, Val Payne", I'm here: Daring to Live, out loud.

Life doesn't seem to be quite as meaningful when you can't share your story. I believe God allows all of us to experience life in order to be a help to each other. Whether it helps one, one hundred or one million, I encourage us all to share our stories. So, I will.

Now, a lot has happened in the past two years. The world is ever-changing and it doesn't seem to be the same place that it was last week, not to mention last year! My thoughts on this: It's life! Andre Crouch said it best, many, many years ago, "Jesus is the answer for the world today. Above Him there's no other. Jesus is the way."  Ironically, He is the same today, yesterday and forever. No matter how violent, dangerous or evil the world becomes; Jesus is still the answer. So, I choose to trust that he can and will retain all power.

So, I maybe cannot control all of the characters in this book that is my life, but I can control how this story ends. Since I am surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, I am defying every hindrance and running the race that has been set for me. My eyes are fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of true faith. When I consider His cross, my story isn't hard to write at all.