The desires of our heart; the little whispers we hear from time to time deep within our heart. A desire to do something that excites you! This something may be a quiet whisper, one that you are afraid to even speak out loud. Maybe the thought seems silly to you or way beyond your reach. Maybe that whisper, isn't a whisper at all. Perhaps it's a desire that you are currently living; something you love and enjoy. Over the past 2 years my life has done a complete 360 and has been an incredible journey of personal growth. I look back to the person I was just a few years ago and wonder how I've gotten to this place and I'm confident it was simply because of the grace of God. This season of my life began with a little whisper in my heart. This tiny whisper that told me I needed to get on a treadmill and run. Now, a little back history... "I DON'T Run" was my mantra. Ha! Are you nuts?! Only crazy people run. Why would anyone do that to themselves?! I was the heaviest I had ever been, I was miserable and SO out of shape, and I had this desire in my heart to RUN?! Ha..   but out of desperation I did it. I took a single step and kept on going. At the time, it was just that.. an "idea" I had that worked out pretty well. Over a span of a year I lost 45lb. Okay.. so it was a pretty good idea. One year later, I prayed a prayer and asked God to use me for His Kingdom. I was driving home from dropping my son off at school and was moved by a song on the radio. Out loud in the car I prayed, little did I know that God  already had plans to use me for his Kingdom and it started with a little whisper to my heart, during the lowest darkest days of my life when he told me to run. Okay, so you are wondering.. "April.. what the heck does a desire for running have to do with God and His Kingdom?" Let me tell you something I learned that has made a HUGE impact in my life. That desire didn't just magically appear.. it wasn't some great idea that I thought up. No. God put that desire in my heart for a reason.

God has put desires in your heart as well; desires to use your gifts, desires to be a certain way, to feel a certain way. Your "Crazy ideas" may not be so crazy after all. The moment that I learned that those desires of my heart came from God was a freeing moment for me. I felt a little more brave.. like it was okay to step out in faith and go for it. Now, here is the important part, you can't leave God out of the equation. He desires to be apart of every step you take towards your goal and this ensures that we are staying on the right track towards achieving those goals. Psalms 37:3-4 says, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, And he shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." Isn't that powerful?! God is telling us that if we seek him first and follow him, he will give us the desires of our heart! That little whisper.. or that BIG goal that you have, God wants to give it to you. He just wants you to seek Him and trust Him along the way. Matthew 7:7-8 says, "Ask , and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." I love those verses. They excite me and give me hope! God wants to give us the desires of our heart. How amazing is that?!

We are all in a unique place when it comes to our faith, and that is okay! God loves us all equally and doesn't favor some more than others (Acts 10:34-35). No matter where you are in your faith, he wants to help you reach your Big Goals; those desires of your heart. The day I took those first steps on the treadmill, I didn't have it all figured out. I was a mess, but God was still pursuing me. God has this amazing plan for you and it's not to just give you everything your heart desires. He wants a relationship with you, he wants you close to him. When we make a relationship with him a priority by reading his Word, praying to him, and doing what is pleasing to Him, he starts doing amazing things in our life. With God it's not about the destination of achieving our goal, but rather the journey, which requires growing in our faith and slowly becoming the person God wants us to be.