So if you read this blog, you know one of my favorite songs is "Brave," by Sara Bareilles. (Amazing lyrics, peeps... make sure you listen to or look them up!)

I have brave friends.
I have friends (and family) who have faced down cancer, who are battling autoimmune disorders that knocked them to the curb, who every day stand up to the status quo and say "screw you" and keep on going, living lives that inspire and encourage me (and others) because they are BRAVE.

I, on the other hand, get panicky when I post controversial stuff on Facebook. The backlash from one post promoting wind energy left me quivering under my quilt for days.
NOT brave.

My children are brave. Much braver than me. They say, and do, what they feel is right, whether I agree with them or not. (Yeah, going up against momma, that's a whole different kind of brave!)

I want to be brave.

There are stories I want to tell that will challenge the Christian conservative status quo, as well as agnostics and atheists and unbelievers.
There are things I want to do with my life that don't line up with anything considered "normal."
There are things I want to say that will stir people up, that will make people ask questions, and that will put me in a place of conflict. Did I mention how much I hate conflict?
But if I don't... I will violate my heart, and that, my friends, is not acceptable.

Time to be brave.