Cindy Powell

I just love the fresh start of a new year. I am especially looking forward to  this new year. It seems like I’m not the only one–there is an almost palpable sense of excitement in the air.

Obviously, I don’t know what all this year will hold — watching it unfold is half the fun — but I do want to share a few things that are already on the horizon:

Live Brave

For the next year, I am blessed to be part of the newly formed creative team–comprised of writers, poets, and artists–for the Live Brave blog.  Lesley Glenn, the founder of the Live Brave movement (and also a dear friend) has put together an AMAZING team from all over the country. These ladies are incredible and I am honored to be in their company. You will want to check out ALL of their posts!

I will be posting a couple times a month–primarily poetry. I’ve written poems and songs since I was a kid, but in recent years that form of creative expression has taken a back seat to many other types of writing projects. I’m really excited about this opportunity to go back to my writing “roots.” Here is my first post–really just a few simple thoughts about what it means to live brave.

Head over and join the movement by subscribing to the blog or by liking us on FB!  This is the year to live brave!

Deeper Waters – Encounters and Study Guide

I started the Deeper Waters blog a couple months back as a site dedicated to intimacy with God and to content with more of a  “vertical” focus. The blog is still a work in progress, but as I’ve prayed more about the whole concept, I’ve come to realize the blog was only a very small part of something that has been stirring in my heart for several years now.

A couple years ago I outlined a series of classes focused on going deeper into intimacy with Jesus called Deeper Waters (that is where the name for the blog came from) but,  for various reasons, I never got any further than the outline. I’m not entirely sure how it will work, but I’m sensing it’s time to step out in faith and try to take it beyond that.

My original outline had eight sessions. It may change significantly as it it takes shape, but for now I’m hoping to post a devotional type teaching  once a month, along with a few questions and tools for activation for those who want to go a little deeper. I’m also planning to host a monthly gathering locally. From that  group I will, perhaps, be able post an audio version to go along with each monthly session. (Jury is still out on this idea!)

Again, this is a work in progress, but  I want to explore the topic in a way that positions people for encounter as opposed to simply providing “instruction.” You don’t come to know God’s heart through teaching (at least not primarily), you learn to feel God’s heart by experiencing his presence. So much of the teaching I’ve run across on the subject of intimacy with Jesus is quite linear and left brained–which is kind of an amusing approach to a subject that is anything but linear! Not sure how, or if, I can take it “out of the box” and still make the content accessible and applicable, but I feel compelled to try. We’ll see where it lands! If it doesn’t work, at least I’ll have tried. 🙂

Word of the Year: Go!

I’ve been seeing and hearing the word “go” everywhere lately. That little word means a lot of things to me–both in a local and global context.  More than anything I believe it signifies a shift in seasons.  But for now, one of the things it means to me specifically,  is that I will be headed to SE Asia at the end of next month. I’m sure I’ll write more about it at some point in the future, but for now if you’d like to learn more about what we’ll be doing, click on the picture below (although you may have to enlarge it to actually read it!):

So yeah … new year, new season … and lots of new opportunities. I really believe it’s going to be a great year!  If you have a moment to share, I’d love to hear about some of the new things on the horizon in your world.

Here’s to a year of drawing closer to the heart of God and to all of his best and highest purposes in our lives!