Take 20

Liminal Space

Nov 10, 2020

Arnold van Gennep, a French ethnographer (studier of people & cultures), is well known for his coining of the term “liminality” and his extensive writing concerning the concept of liminal space. According to Van Gennep, liminal space is the disorienting experience of transition between two meaningful events. When someone enters into liminal space, he writes, they stand at the threshold of transformation between who they were and who they are becoming, which then provides the opportunity to shape and direct the person they want to become. (Vanderbloemen Blog)

I am in a liminal space— a space not quite in the past but not quite to the next thing, either. It’s kind of like the hallway of life. I’ve come too far now that it’s not okay to turn around and go back. But I also feel well beyond the reach of the doorway I want God to open for me. It’s the great in between…

“I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them.” -Andy Bernard (character from “The Office”)

A few years back I attended a conference with the great laugher, Bob Goff. His advice?

Speak your ambitions out loud. Tell everyone. And start right now. -Bob Goff (paraphrased from my notes)

This was a new concept for me. I thought “those” needed to be stored away only for private prayer time with God or maybe a vulnerable coffee date with a close friend or spouse. Ambition of the heart was a scary topic. Spoken the wrong way and it felt prideful. Spoken to the wrong person and it felt competitive or braggy. Spoken at all and it felt real.

But I took his advice. I started to say it out loud.

[Disclaimer: this was not some “speak it into the universe and it will come to be” sort of thing. It was simply, if you care enough about something to call it an ambition of the heart, you should care enough to talk about it with other people. And in doing so, allowing God and His people to help you finagle the finer details about what it is you really care about, why it’s important, and how to make it happen. See more in BG’s book, “Dream Big.”]

Based on the passions and giftings God gave me, if I could do anything at all, I would travel, speak, and write. And for awhile there, it was just me being brave enough to say those exact words whenever the topic would come up. But approximately 20 weeks ago, I decided to put words to action. I started this newsletter, “Court’s Cuts” committing to write about whatever God was up to in my life every week. A few weeks later, I wrote, recorded, and launched “Podcast Parables,” with not two clues about how to run a podcast, but clicking submit anyway on the Anchor app while in a doctor’s office waiting room. Then my mom and I planned and began teaching a weekend “Legacy Retreat” for women in our local churches.

After years of prayer and hushed whispers to close friends, God gave me the courage to say the words out loud, and in turn, God then gave me the courage to put some of those ideas into real-life motion.

But here’s the thing, I’m still in the liminal space, y’all. Even though I have clarity and consistency and courage, I haven’t arrived. The doors haven’t opened for me to do this full-time. I still substitute teach. (partly for the easy writing content and partly for the boost to the checking account each month—ha!) Twenty weeks in, and I still don’t know if God is going to bless this ambition into a career opportunity or if the ambition will forever be a rhythm of my personal life.

And then, like He does all so well, God drops this on me last week:

Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another— or maybe both. -Ecclesiastes 11:6

Another way of saying,

“Court, keep your eyes on me, sister. Keep waking up early, planting those seeds, writing those words in the morning. It matters. Keep going to school each day, busying yourself with the investment of kids who need a caring adult in their life. It matters. You don’t know what will turn to what. You don’t. And that’s okay. I do. Keep your eyes on me. Stay faithful. Igotchyou.” —Jesus, probably

So keep at it this week, friends—

Speak your ambitions, sure.

Hold them with open hands, most definitely.

Keep your eyes on Him, always.

What is your ambition? Comment here; link it up; give a shout out to what’s in your heart! We promise a no judgment zone filled with compassion and cheerleading!

Court's Cut

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