I sat on the airplane, in an aisle seat, slowly turning through the pages of my little journal, rubbing the soft suede that had begun to peel away from the paper. The man in the seat next to me lowered the armrest between us, but I could tell he was only trying to make it less obvious that he was craning his neck to read my small handwriting. That was all right. Let him read. There were so many quotes jotted into this notebook that I would love to share with the world. Because I think the world needs to hear it. I did.

Lara said, “Nowhere in the Bible does it say ‘Follow your dreams.’ God only says, ‘Follow Me.'”

Katelyn said, “With God you cannot take a risk that is too big.”

Bob said, “What if, instead of filling our lives with doing things to show love, we became love?”

Hannah said, “We’re not the writers. We’re not the words. We’re the pencils God uses.”

And Jane said, quoting one of her favorite verses from Romans, “Against all hope, believe in hope.”I’m still struggling to process every wonderful thing that happened at the second Pursuit 31 Conference last week at WinShape Retreat. I went to the foothills of the mountains in Georgia, and I feel as if I returned home someone else. On fire and more equipped to run into each new day with my arms flung wide instead of my hands held up in front of me.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the day to day work of our lives and forget that God created us for bigger things. Yes, what you’re doing, work-wise, is important; what I’m doing is important. But I’m not on this earth to become a better photographer or to build a more profitable business. My purpose is much greater than that.

So is yours.

I am so thankful for this week of challenges and change.

~ Laura