Those who change the world are ordinary people who have the courage to think different. We may start out in our small towns, intimidated by this big world, but we have to know that there are words only we can say, comfort only we can offer, art only we can make, worlds only we can change. Still we worry, and we hide in our small rooms of fear, afraid what it might mean to live on the other side. But rest well, because there is work to do before we can open the door.
It’s quiet work, invisible work, light and simple, but not easy work. Receive grace. Be loved. Be patient. Be encouraged. And know that sometimes you may be led to be impractical. And that is good. When you finally stand at the doorway to the world, there are things you need to know before you move.
Know your passion, because any influence you have will flow from this. Know your limits, because your weakness is actually your gift. Know what makes you cry, because your tears are tiny messengers that carry evidence of where your heart beats strong. Know your choices, because you may not change your circumstance but you can still change the world. Know how to worship, because every small moment of life boasts a breathe that comes from God. Know your brokenness, because healing only comes after wounds.
When it’s time to move in a way that will affect change, honor the courage it takes to start, and know that sometimes it looks like simply showing up. Not extravagantly with speeches and banners, but simple with open hands. Find your brave yes. Fight for your strong no. Learn how to suffer, to be small, to be quiet.
Use names with love. Use words with conviction. Be willing to not only look, but to see. Purpose to not only hear but to listen. Tell your stories and as you live them, watch art come out.
And if we are a trusting and believing people, we will know that change doesn’t always happen fast. We need to stand back a little and let things grow.
So we’ve been talking about these things for 31 days. Where are you on your journey to change the world? Are you stuck in the bathroom? Still in the knowing? Having trouble starting? Suffering? Quieting? I would love to hear from you on this last day of the month. And I want to sincerely thank you for visiting.
i have LOVED this series. It has given me a nugget of confidence everyday, a little bit more determination to take risks and beleive in myself. thank you!!!
I moved out of the bathroom and locked the door.
No going back. I copied and printed this post – it is hanging on the studio wall as a reminder to keep moving. Thanks, Em, for your conviction to share the message and courage to actually do it. We all benefit. <3
Thankful for this Emily. You have captured my heart condition in these paragraphs and for that I am grateful.
Not only did I come out from the bathroom… I brought my heart and Faith with me. Stronger than ever, happier than ever and ready to help CHANGE the World. I was so far gone on that cold tile floor I couldn’t breathe, eat or sleep. With your help my life has been restored and I move forward with joy.
My greatest thanks and praise to you! xo
Thank you for every word of this series. It’s been really fabulous, encouraging, and uplifting. You are truly talented with words and inspiration.
xo
I know what I am meant to do. I feel it in my bones. It excites me and terrifies me. It’s something I love to – this writing thing – but it seems so impractical. And yet, I know God wants me to share my story and His story and to tell stories. so I am stepping out in faith, little by little. I am dreaming with my husband and then taking those dreams to God in prayer – knowing He will answer them in His own time because He always does.
Thank you so much for every day for for the whole of the last 31. It’s been so fun to have something to look forward to each day, wondering what it will be. And it’s never disappointed. It’s all been beautifully presented, original, calming to read but also motivating, thought provoking and helpful. THANK YOU! XXX
Thank you for writing this series! This concluding manifesto is beautiful.
I copied your sentence ‘tears are tiny messengers that carry evidence where your heart beats strong’ and placed it on my facebook page, reminding me of the movie courageous that I saw yesterday. So tender and so moving. I gave you the credit for the words, I hope it is ok. Thank you for the encouraging post.
i’m about to start something. waiting to get microsoft word… this week! yes, we live in dinosaur times at our house. ; )
thank you for this. for the encouragement and motivation and prodding. God knew i needed it all.
I have enjoyed reading your series. Thanks for showing us that we are all special in our own unique way. Your stepping out encourages us to step out. It’s a tough world, but there’s a greater purpose for the struggles and challenges of our lives. We were made to be there for one another, and lay down our lives for each other. It’s in the sacrifice that we give one another life!
I think I’m quieting…listening for God’s sweet words of love and learning to receive His grace. I know it’s a journey that will take me to the unknown, but realizing it’s ok for me not to know where or how or when, as long as He knows. I’m learning to replace fear with trust and to step out and take a risk. Thank you for your sweet words of hope and encouragement! I have enjoyed being a part of these 31 Days, both in the reading and the writing.
Thank you, Emily, for this wonderful series. And thanks for this post that summarized it so well. As much as I think I”m at the door and would absolutely love to be out the door changing the world, I must confess that most days I’m still on that bathroom floor trying to learn how to receive grace. I am studying your book with a friend, and I can’t begin to tell you how you have identified me to a T! I want to be consumed by His grace, transformed by His grace, and empowered by His grace. Thank you for your beautiful writing, your honest heart, and your pointing to Him who makes all things new and good and truly transformed. May He change us all so we can have the courage to change the world!
Thanks for these 30 days of strength words, Emily.
I have enjoyed these 31 days so much. This time has allowed me to sift through so many things and see some direction. I also finally realized that I have been living in the bathroom for a long time now. I never realized just how much I’m controlled by fear. Nevertheless, I know that God is working on me and that’s the best thing of all.
Thank you for the last 31 days. Your words have been a great balance of exhortation and encouragement. May God bless and keep you.
Thank you for writing this series! (Oh, how I wish I could have been at the Relevant conference to learn more and hear you speak!
Your prose feels like poetry, and your wisdom is most definitely beyond your years…I will be chewing on these little morsels of wisdom for awhile – thanks again!
Oh how I have loved this series. You speak with bold, clear wisdom that give encouragement to move forward and just. be. me. Thank you!
What an uplifting inspirational summary of your series. Love it!
Emily, I have thoroughly enjoyed your series. It spoke straight to my heart. Most posts seem to be written just for me. I was moving, beginning those things God was calling me to do. Moving beyond that bathroom door. Then my world stopped. I was stuck. My dad went in the hospital. The baby we are have had for 6 months, the one we hope to adopt, the one I am not allowed to talk about. Social services made mistakes, left loopholes in their case, and court was approaching fast. I was stuck. And my faith was fading fast. I began this month participating in this series, but I got stuck and couldn’t write. I was paralyzed in my world that seemed to be spinning out of control. I began reading other 31 dayers series, receiving devotions and articles, they all had the same messag;. God is always with us, He is in control, even in the hard. I tried pulling myself together and keep moving. Then I got the call eight days ago. My dad was not going to make it. He passed away that evening. And I’m still stuck. But I know God is sovereign, I know He will carry me through. I know He gives me grace to be stuck. I am so thankful for these 31 days. Thank you Emily for letting Him use you.
I have so enjoyed your words of encouragement this month and the opportunity to participate in this HUGE undertaking for me! I feel I can say with confidence, “I am a writer.” But I’m still not sure what God wants to do with that revelation yet. But He is doing something and it’s exciting!!
I love the word “manifesto” and you did a beautiful job with this one. My sweet, 34 yo hubby had a heart attack Saturday night, so my 31 Days of Purging took a different turn, but God saved him, and now he’s making a manifesto of his glory out of Gabe’s life.
Emily, I enjoyed this series very much. The overall theme was thought-provoking, enlightening and encouraging. A couple of your blog posts are printed out and up where I can see them and be inspired by them every day. While ultimately, our true destiny lies not in our hands, there are things we can do, actions we can take to create a more productive, meaningful and enjoyable earthly life for ourselves. The posts in this series, and your blog in general, are always an inspiration to me to do just that. Thank you, and many blessings.
Well, I guess I began my journey on the first day you wrote about changing the world. As I published each post of my “31 Days of Real,” you were right beside me with a daily dose of encouragement to receive grace, open the door, and write brave. It’s taken more out of me than I realized to write from the heart for 31 days in a row. It’s been scary and thrilling. Now that it’s over I feel both sad and relieved. And I felt as if you were on the sidelines with pom-poms cheering me on. I’m sure I speak for many who feel the same way. Thank you, dear, sweet friend for writing the message that obviously beats strong within you. You could keep it to yourself but you don’t. You’re changing the world. Love you!
Dear Emily,
I also loved this series, to be cheesy, you had me at the title;}
AND I absolutely loved getting to meet you at Relevant. You are just as sweet and encouraging and grace-filled and truly from the inside out beautiful as I would have imagined:} Unfortunately, it doesn’t always go like that. You can admire someone and then you meet them and well, it is just a little disillusioning…but, not with you AT ALL!!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you, just for being you and living the message:}:}:}
Words that wash over my soul, to remind me of how I am blessed and to look through His grid He gives me…if only I would all the time.
Much gleaning from your words. Thinking I’m still at the door. Fear of men rather than fear of God seeps through my veins. My different perspective on living would not be popular and i fear the consternation. I guess I am not here to be popular, but I fear the negative feedback. My goal: to please Him. Not sure how to put my perspective into words. I often come across as harsh.
living life with a heart wide open
full of trust, knowing and faith
we all are intricate threads in this beautiful tapestry we call life
love and light
Once again amazing and beautifully said. Thanks for taking the time this month to inspire all of us in so many ways!
Where am I? Gradually removing my glasses and allowing His sight to become mine. Thank you for daily inspiration. Blessings!
Thank you so much for your series. God has a way of speaking through you that makes a girl dare to believe, dare to try, dare to take God at His Word and step out at His voice.
And thank you for inviting us to join in on writing a 31 day series. I was pretty nervous going in to it, but I am oh, so thankful I obeyed His promptings to join in. My heart has been greatly blessed by the whole process.
thanks, emily!
it was a great month of encouragement.
and i kinda have a feeling A TON of bathroom doors have been flung open!!
Your invitation to take part in the 31 Days had me standing at the bathroom door with my hand on the doorknob. And with each day and each post written, I took a step further outside of that little place and found freedom. Thanks for encouraging us to take part, and thanks for being here day after day , changing the world.
i’m struggling with the impractical. i’m struggling with the fact that i want to make a choice that will affect my entire family and i have no idea what is on the other side. i have faith that it will all work out. my husband does not. yet. impractical v. practical. i just keep praying that we’ll show up at the same place on the same day. praying that he will see what i see.
Thank you for sharing from your heart to inspire us to be what we are called to be. I am in the grieving stage and it is sad and terrifying. At some point I will find a way to take a peek and find out what is waiting for me. Until then I will wait quietly on a whisper from the Lord. Since we are entering a month of thankfulness…I will engage is looking for all my blessings. Blessings to you, Dianntha
So many of these lessons of the last 31 days continue to ring through my mind and heart, Emily.
Your words helped me feel new peace about leaving the bathroom, as I had only recently, beginning to tell my story in a new blog space, standing ever more strongly in my purpose and calling.
Bless you, Emily, for these 31 days. For this beautiful, grace-filled, empowering reminder that we are not alone, that God is greater than all our insecurities and that He desires to change the world through us. Sending love and praying sweet rest after the intense daily post grind.
Your words have meant so much to me these past 31 days! Thank you for your kind encouragement and for quietly reminding us all that life happens where we are and that each moment, however fleeting, has the power to move us to be world changers!
Your words have been gifts.
Now to the scary part of living my heart out loud.
Blessings.
This one is the best..thanks Emily xox
This 31 day journey has radically shifted me in ways I will probably be trying to articulate for some time to come. I spoke to you at Relevant about how your post on knowing where your tears come from changed my life. And I truly want you to know that I meant every word. I am a new woman….thankful for His process in me!!
I love this heart of yours – of our Lords. Printing this post today. Placing it on my wall at work, letting my eyes feed my soul through the days- through the decisions. Thank you.
Thank you, Emily. Your 31 day challenge, and my participation in it (blogging and reading and praying and being honest), and the Lord’s great faithfulness to meet me right here, changed me for good. Thank you.
Being quiet
Beautiful, Emily. A creative, insightful way to sum up all all you have given us in the last month. Thank you!
Thank you for the invitation to take part in the 31 Days challenge. The Lord used your words to breathe life into my words. You have a gorgeous blog and a beautiful heart. Thank you thank you thank you!!!
BEAUTIFUL. Thank you.
Kristin
I’ve been here three times now – trying to put the right words together for a comment. All I can say is that this series of yours has been so good for me – both challenging and inspiring. I’m still processing it all. Thanks for sharing your words and yourself
Thank you for encouraging us in this series. It came just at the right time as I step out to write in new ways and a new “thing”. Right now I’m telling my story. The bigger part of my dream has me quieting and listening. He’s doing new things. I’m so excited.
Beautiful words spilling out once again and reaching my heart. I have absolutely enjoyed this series on Changing the World. “….there are words only we can say…” Yes, Emily! Somehow I mustered up the courage a few years back to begin my blog and I do believe HE has, is, and will continue to use my words to encourage others. Thanks for helping me to realize I am making a difference, even as small as it is : )
Sweet Blessings,
Pam
you did a wonderful job w this, emily. your words are like silk. and yours lessons, perfectly inspiring.
i am endeavoring to empower girls.
starting with mine.
xo
Well done. I think 27 of your 31 posts have brought tears to my eyes. Some days it was the head on the desk ugly cry. The finale manifesto was no exception. I for sure needed to read these words that you have written. Thank you, Emily, for sharing your gift and encouraging us to step out of our hiding place and do what we are called to do. Because you are so right, the only thing scarier is not making art at all.
Emily…after 31 days I’m opening the door, again…the one that I cracked open this year then slammed shut out of fear and pure overwhelmedness (I know that’s not a word, but it describes me just fine). God simply will not let go of me. And He has used the inspired words of your book and this series to encourage me to believe Him once again. Thank you.
Great series, Emily,
I am on a journey to learn how to give in the everyday. . .and how to teach my family to do the same. Loads of overlapping themes with your writing over the last month. I know posting daily is tough. Thank you.