By Nicholle Franke
“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” – Winston Churchill
In a world of constant NOISE… Will we sit down and LISTEN?
In a world of constant NOISE… Will we stand up and SPEAK?
On April 8, 2015 Andrew and I boarded a plane way, way too early for Portland, OR. We were heading to the Great Northwest for our 10th Anniversary Trip (How is that possible?), a Tour of Two Airplane Factories (Andrew-always the plane enthusiast) and for me to attend the Faith & Culture Writers Conference (truly the reason this trip came together).
And because nothing, absolutely nothing is ever simple for me. We were also privileged to spend an extra hour in the PDX Airport with their awesome carpet awesome carpet and seriously the NICEST TSA agents on planet earth because I left my cell phone in one of the bathrooms behind security. But have no fear, they found it! HALLELUJAH!
Can you say this Power Couple (hahaha) is efficient? We killed three birds with one trip.
Plus for good measure we saw about one-quarter of the state of Oregon in a tiny little clown car, had a great lunch with my cousin at a Brewery, and rode Segway’s for the first time around Bend, OR.
When my in-laws were naming their son, I’ve often joked Efficient should have been his middle name. Of course, he did marry me, always the inefficient one. So perhaps he knew his proclivity towards exactness and needed some balance in his life. I mean seriously how many people do you know that leave their cell phone in an airport and can’t remember where they left it? Perhaps our diverse personalities are what joined us together.
But I digress. Because truly this trip was about confronting what’s next for me. It was my chance to wrestle with my passion for Revival and see what that could look like in terms of living as a Writer and even Bigger than that, engage with others around my Calling as Prophet in the Body Of Christ. And honestly, until this trip and the weeks that have followed – the jury was still out in my soul.
I had certainly spent MONTHS in total Silence with the Lord. Months wrestling with understanding what the Lord was asking of me. Months spent writing in these cute little notebooks my friend keeps supplying me with. And Months spent seeing visions of what was to Come. But MONTHS of all of that for an extrovert, can feel like AGONY!
“Listen to Me in silence, And let the peoples gain new strength; Let them come forward, then let them speak…” – Isaiah 41:1
Let me speak plainly for just a moment. I was beginning to feel like a crazy person when people asked me what I was up to these days…
“Well, umm, you know,” I’d say. And they’d say, “well no, I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking.” . . . see crazy person here.
But somehow with each passing day, and each moment spent at Jesus’ feet I was gaining more strength, more hope, and more passion to SPEAK! Because each moment I spent listening to HIM was a moment of being Built Up in my inner being. The very place where I needed it most, the INSIDE OF MY FRAGILE HEART!
And therefore when I arrived at the Faith & Culture Writers Conference Friday Evening, my outside life (the one everyone sees most days) was ready to listen to what I needed to do to be strengthened to stand up and Speak the Words that the Lord was placing in my inner being.
Don’t be confused though. I have not arrived, I still have no idea what I’m doing most days, and I still wrestle. I am the very least likely person God should use to broadcast anything to the world, but like Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians-its God’s grace that calls me to announce God’s good news, which is unsearchable.
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ… – Ephesians 3:8
And at the Conference, I finally found a space to rest, to find strength and courage, and to discern the words I was struggling to own about who I was. I was able to be still and LISTEN, so I can SPEAK.
So maybe you’re wondering what I heard God speak to me up in Oregon at that Conference… Me too!
But honestly as I listened to the words spoken over me at the FCWC and re-read my notes over the last few weeks I walk gently because it’s hard to follow so much collective wisdom. But here are my five key takeaways as I journey forward to speak and live out my calling in a Noisy World.
1. I will Never Arrive. Sorry this isn’t such good news to some, but there’s some strange comfort in it for me. Once I’m published, once people hear what God’s given me to say, once… There’s always another once. But from every published author, from every workshop leader, from every main stage speaker, I heard in their voices a hunger for continued obedience. So until we’re in heaven, creation will continue to wait for the revealing of our hope which is Christ.
2. There’s Beauty in the Redemption Process. Cornelia, Romal, Emily, Phil, Tony, William and everyone else that led our time there shared with fear and trembling God’s mighty work of redemption in their lives. And each of them reminded me that if the LORD has told me to listen, to write, to speak about my journey from broken-ness to wholeness – I need to see that I only have one choice: obedience.
3. My Best Writing and Theology Will Come out of Living the Gospel. Thank you AJ. I know this, and need to hear this EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!
4. Gut-Wrenching Honesty is Always My Preferred Method of Hearing the Truth. You are probably saying, for real? But yes, it is for me. I heard from different agents and publishers that yes, if I want to be a published author, I’m gonna have to work HARD, HUSTLE, and GROW my platform. And even in all that it’s not a given. But it is the truth.
5. My Passion and Calling Won’t Let Up Even When the Work is Hard. Because as Jeff Goins says, “I would rather do hard things that matter than easy things that don’t.” From every person who spoke, to every volunteer, to every attendee who was at the Conference, there was this sense that we all kind of knew what lay ahead wasn’t easy, but we were all ready for whatever it was.
I have no earthly idea, if any of those takeaways will help another soul. But today I was obedient to write and here’s what i realized… although I haven’t arrived, I will share my redemption process of becoming who I’m called to be, so that as I preach, write and live out the gospel with truth I’ll give someone else a sense that what we all do matters and we are ready for whatever that is!!!!!!
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Nicolle Franke is a writer and speaker and can be reached at: Nicholle Franke Website