The Windshield Is Bigger Than the Rearview Mirror for a Reason

Happy 2nd Week of 2025! Perspective.  At these first sunsets and full moon  of 2025, I am reminded of how much I love sunrises and sunsets. I am in awe of their beauty. Sunrises and sunsets come every day, whether we are ready or not.

As we embark on a brand new, shiny 2025, may we reflect on the good of 2024 and look forward to an even brighter 2025.

May we remember the windshield is much bigger than the rearview mirror for a reason.

Let’s give ourselves some grace.

We have so much to look forward to.

“Behold, I am doing a new thing: now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” —Isaiah 43:19

What are your looking forward to in 2025? What lessons do we want to learn and take away from 2024?

What are you praying for? I encourage you to write a letter to your future self. I just wrote a letter to my 60-year-old self (seven years away) with what I pray will have happened. I will keep it in my Bible.

Be encouraged, friend.
Happy New Year!!!

No Mo Status Quo, Post #3

Do you know who Sir Roger Bannister is?  Or what his claim to fame is? Don’t worry. I only learned of him recently when I realized he made the impossible possible.

Sir Roger Bannister was the first man in the history of the world (or record keeping) to have run a four-minute mile. It was said it couldn’t be done. On May 6, 1954, at Iffley Road Track in Oxford, Bannister broke the four-minute mile with a time of three minutes, 59.4 seconds. Bannister was 25 years old, and at the time was practicing as a junior doctor.

After accomplishing this impossible feat, Bannister’s record only lasted 46 days. Not even two months. Bannister went onto become a notable neurologist. Watch the incredible footage for yourself below in the video link in “Resources.”

What a man. What a dream. What a goal—a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal (BHAG), as Jim Collins and Jerry Porras call it in their 1994 book Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies.

I would rather call it a Big, Holy, Audacious Goal (BHAG). So, dear friend, What is your BHAG, your biggest dream?  What are your passions? What is hindering you from achieving your biggest dream or dreams? I wrestle with these questions.

A few years ago I started my life goal list, some would say a “Bucket List.” Included on my list is to write and publish a book.

Most of my life I have enjoyed writing. For years, I have dreamt of writing and publishing a non-fiction book. Twelve years ago, I had an epiphany to write a book about “waiting,” since we all wait but don’t seem to like it. So what did I do about it?

Not much. I started a folder and would occasionally add handwritten sticky notes with a chapter outline, idea, or quote. The BHAG of writing a book and even thinking of getting it published became overwhelming. “Perhaps when I retire,” I pondered.

In December 2012, my heart was shattered and blindsided from a relationship breakup. In the healing process, I cried out to God and asked what life lessons I could learn from this experience.  The divine answer I received was:

“Write. Write your heart.”

One day in January,  Proverbs 31 ministries President Lysa TerKeurst wrote in a daily devotional that a typical non-fiction book contains about 60,000 words. She usually makes a 12-chapter outline, and tries to write 5000 words per chapter. Suddenly after reading that practical devotional, the impossibility of my BHAG became possible.

Divinely led, I began writing in the evenings after work and on the weekend. I finished the very rough draft manuscript at the end of June, six months later, with 61,329 words. The book, with the working title of Wait.For.It., still is a work in progress.

This adventure led me this past summer to the dynamic Proverbs 31 Ministries “She Speaks” Conference in Charlotte, where I met with three publishers. I also learned how useful literary agents are for many authors, so I attended The Fedd Agency’s “Re:Write Conference” in Austin in October. It is such a delight to meet so many incredible writers and speakers and learn from them.

Through their influence, I, the least “techy” person I know, also took a leap of faith to start this “Pure Inspiration” blog. We’ll see what God does with it all. I am enjoying each moment of the adventure.

If I can do it, surely you, the much more equipped of the two of us, can do it. Please start today.

Reflect:

  • What is/are your Big, Holy Audacious Goal(s)?
  • What keeps you from dreaming big?

Renew:

  • “He replied, ‘Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’” –Matthew 17:20 (NIV 1984)
  • “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” –Luke 1:45 (NIV 1984)

Recharge:

  • Add a deadline and a timeline to accomplishing your BHAG.
  • List the first steps to accomplish your BHAG. Do your first step this week. You can do it!
  • Please let me know what you decide to do.

Resources: