Where Does Bravery Ever Get You?

I used to picture myself as the brave woman in James Bond movies, either speeding down a glorious Mediterranean oceanside highway in an exotic sports car, or zipping down the ski hill in my glamorous one-piece ski out-fit, hair waving, leaning into the curves. I was so confident that I would not only outrace everyone, but “get the man” doing it.
That was before I fell. And fell hard.

For someone who thought she was the brave one, I have often been the coward instead. I dreamt of being brave, but left a lot on the table when it came to speaking my brave words or acting with bold moves.

I tried so hard to follow everyone else’s brave, and spent years avoiding unpacking what brave looked like for me. I hid behind an identity of performing for and pleasing people, slowly losing my voice and finding rea-sons to stay hidden. There was a time when I couldn’t cope with the gap between who I was and who I wanted to be.

So I decided to throw in the towel.
It’s only by God’s grace I didn’t succeed.
Where does bravery ever get you?

How would you answer that question right now? Maybe, like I did, you’re looking around you and wondering for whom this question is meant. It must be for that smart, entrepreneurial woman starting her own online business, or the gifted one you see speaking on the platform, or the super-powered homeschooling mom of five who lives next door, or the one leading the women’s ministry at church. Those are the brave ones. Surely this question isn’t meant for you, right?

Oh, friend, it is—it most certainly is.

Perhaps you feel pain, doubt, or shame because you sense a call to step out of your ordinary life but can’t envision the extraordinary journey that awaits you. It scares you.

And so it should.

If these words are hitting a nerve, then this book is written just for you; it’s no accident that you’re here. I want you to be encouraged by every word. I believe it’s your destiny that your story confidently finds its place in God’s story. Open the door with me to what it might mean to be brave, as we look at the lives of brave women who came before you and are around you right now. Be inspired to choose courage for all the girls coming after you.