In a recent Your Hope-Filled Perspective Podcast (How to Live Bravely, Courageously, and Without Fear – Episode 75,) I chatted with author and minister, Tracey Mitchell, about becoming brave and courageous women, and living without fear. I think this is something most of us desire, but few know how to get there. So I asked Tracey to share more of her insights with us here.
Read to the end to enter the book giveaway!
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Becoming Brave and Courageous Women
By Tracey Mitchell
I’m not sure why, maybe it’s my age or my stage of life, but I’ve simply grown weary of a yo-yo type of bravery. In all sincerity, I insist we can’t be bold and brave one day and bashful the next. The unhealthy habit of swaying between faith and fear will only leave us as mental messes.
If we are to become brave, our words must echo our resolve to step out of the shadows and do something meaningful. I can usually judge how serious a woman is about stretching beyond her comfort zone by the verbal choices she makes in describing her future.
A bravery challenge
Let me lay aside the soft talk and speak directly for a moment? What I am about to share is not a rebuke to our gender but a challenge, a provocation to bump the bar of bravery up a notch or two.
Standing before a group of women in a remote wooded village, I opened our retreat with a series of probing questions. Wanting to get a pulse on the group with whom I would share the weekend, I instructed the women to break into small groups and sit comfortably on the floor. With everyone settled in, I gave the assignment: each person in a group would have five minutes to introduce herself to the rest of her group and share on the topic of life’s most disappointing moment.
Chatting it up like schoolgirls, the roomful of women unloaded private, painful issues. Trust me when I tell you it took more than a quick minute to dial down the volume and reclaim order. I opened the second round of dialogue by inviting them to share about a relationship that ended painfully. Once again the conversation erupted as strangers swapped stories like sisters.
Moments of courage
What happened next was entirely disappointing. For the final assignment, I asked the women to tell of a time when she’d acted courageously.
The oversized cabin grew eerily quiet. For the first time, I could hear the crackle of the fireplace and the hum of the outdated appliances. The women stared at me, then at each other. The silence was louder than thunder.
I’ve not sure why the invitation to talk about courage often trips women up.
For the life of me, I can’t add together all the hours I’ve spent mulling over why we can’t mesh our names and our identity with the word courage. Is it that we’ve failed to be courageous, or do we simply feel unqualified to be labeled courageous? Perhaps we cannot call to mind moments of courage because we have had too few.
It seems we women feel more comfortable referring to ourselves as wounded than as warriors. But that’s not the case with the men in our lives. Put men around a bonfire and the competition for who has more grit gets heated. As the night passes, the tales get taller and the fables become more fictitious. Men talk about themselves as if they are legends.
Leading the charge
Men shouldn’t be the only ones swapping long-winded stories of heroism. It would be good for us daughters to think of ourselves as daring too. With a culture in need of moral clarity, our hearts should leap at the idea of leading the charge to liberate those who are blinded and bound by sin. Until we are daunting enough to live up to our God-given identity we will live powerless lives marked by forgotten dreams.
How have you shown yourself courageous? We’d love to hear in the comments below.
About Tracey Mitchell
Tracey Mitchell is a renowned and well-respected Bible teacher and international conference speaker. She travels 40 plus weeks a year speaking to diverse and cross-cultural groups throughout America and internationally, including Cuba, South America, Africa, Canada and the Middle East. Tracey Mitchell is a published author with Harper Collins and Thomas Nelson. Titles include The Invitation to Intimacy with God, Becoming Brave and Downside Up. She is the executive producer and co-host of Life From DFW, Executive Vice President of Christian Women in Media, President of Global Media Summit, and the CEO of The Winning Woman, a ministry-based consulting firm.
Connect with Tracey: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
Book Giveaway!
In conjunction with this post and the podcast interview, How to Live Bravely, Courageously, and Without Fear – Episode 75, Tracey Mitchell is giving away a free copy of her book, Becoming Brave: How to Think Big, Dream Wildly, and Live Fear-Free.
Leave a comment below sharing with us one way you have acted courageously and you will be entered into the contest.
You could also share this blog post on Facebook or Twitter then comment here to tell us where you shared it and you’ll also be entered into the drawing.
The winner will be selected at random and announced next Monday, September 28, 2020, here on this post. Continental United States only.
(If there are affiliate links in this post, meaning, if you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no extra cost to you)).
I enjoyed the podcast that you and Tracey did last week. Thinking of myself as brave is a bit out of my comfort zone but as I read this blog, I thought of several scenarios where I was brave and courageous. In the ambulance at 80 miles an hour headed for the hospital with my hubby in the back with a brain bleed, I was at peace. I knew the Lord was with me but I had a choice either to be fearful or courageous trusting Father. I did choose to be courageous and there have been other instances At the time thought I didn’t think about it being brave or courageous. Thanks to you both for all you share. I know you, Michelle, and I know you are daily courageous as you face many challenges. Thanks for the testimony of your life! I will share this on FB.
I have shared the comments on Twitter and will share this on FaceBook. I think the first step in being courageous oftentimes, means taking that first step. Shortly after my book, “Abandoned into the Heart of God” was published, my senior pastor offered me the opportunity to tell my story via an “interview” with him at a Sunday morning service. I was very nervous, but I knew this was something God wanted me to do. And so I did. After the service, I had a book signing in the foyer and five different women came up to talk to me. They had lived through the same experience as I, but they felt no one would want to talk with them about it. God knew and opened the way for me to talk with these women.
Having to walk several family members through challenging health situations which were beyond me has surely demanded courage of me. I so appreciated this article and agree – we women should share these stories and encourage one another to greater strengths. Blessings to you both!
This book sounds great! I spoke truth to my son with a knot in my stomach not knowing if he would cut me out but knowing that I had to.
Thank you for sharing this post and encouraging woman to be brave!
Hi! I’m hopping over here from the Instaencouragement linkup. I don’t think of myself as particularly brave, but I’ll say that my courage has grown stronger over time. I grew up a shy, insecure girl. Even into adulthood, my self esteem was pretty low. I think starting a blog was pretty brave. I’m still pretty shy about it but I’m still doing it. 🙂 Parenting takes courage and I’ve raised 3 wonderful adults. Marriage takes courage too even though newly weds might not realize it at first. I think, in general, women are much more courageous than we give ourselves credit. Thank you for encouraging women to be bolder, especially about sharing the gospel with others.