Two years ago I sat on a park bench eating orange sherbert ice cream and telling Holley all these dreams that were crammed so tight inside my heart I could hardly breathe for fear of splitting down the middle.
I told her about my sleepless nights.
I told her about the desperate desire to be poured out.
I told her I needed to create a space for women to connect.
I needed to spill out all the ideas that had crept into my head.
After two and half years of running up against wall after wall after wall of “not-now” and “not-yet” I sat next to Holley on a park bench and watched a train scream by two feet away from us.
And she said she believed I would do it. And then I believed it too.
I hope you have a Holley.
I hope you have someone who gets your dreams. Someone who understands that while you may be sitting in the carpool line, you’re actually knee deep in the planning phase of your book, your new church group, your next canvas, your new design, your photography workshop.
I hope you have someone who doesn’t laugh at your craziest idea. Someone who pulls out a pen and an unlined notebook and starts writing down how you can get from A to B.
I hope you have someone who prays the gap between your dream and your reality closed.
I hope you have someone who takes you out for ice cream on the days it feels like nothing will ever change.
I hope you have someone who understands that hard times are never wasted and no dream is born without waiting, stretching and aching.
I hope you have someone who tells you how amazing you are. Especially on the days when you feel anything but. On the days when you feel like so much spaghetti sauce spattered all over the microwave – all hot and sticky and scattered.
On those days, everyone needs a Holley. Because she says things like this,
I’m thinking of you as I write these words. I imagine you with your head bent over this book, maybe a highlighter in hand, on your couch, in the passenger seat of a car, on a plane. I’m wishing more than ever that we could have coffee today. I’d tell you, “You are loved. You matter. You have so much to give the world and the hearts in it.”
Let’s dare to love, to share life with each other to offer ourselves in the way God has created us to do.
I need you.
You need me.
The Kingdom needs us.
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Holley wrote that in her book, “You’re Already Amazing: Becoming All God Created You To Be.” I’ve read it. I love it. I may be quoted in it {huge grin}. And friend, if you need a cheerleader today, I promise that Holley’s your girl!
And for just today and tomorrow this gorgeous book that only releases March 1 is on a special sale – half off.
You can get it over here.
And then dish yourself a big bowl of orange sherbert and sit down with Holley. She doesn’t believe in perfect. But she’s all about the perfect God who made perfectly unique and wonderfully gifted beautiful YOU!
Sometimes we need to hear someone else say it before we can start to believe it.
And all the women said, “Amen.”
{Want to share with us about your “Holley”? We’d love to hear who the women are that inspire you! Do tell!}
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This touches my heart so deeply Lisa-Jo. I am sitting here closing quickly on old age. I read your words and wonder what my dreams are any more. So much time behind me, and I seem to have lost the ability to dream big dreams. Intellectually I know it is never too late, but somehow I can’t find the dreams any more.
Your words give me hope. I’m off to read Holley’s words. Thank you sweet girl.
I think I’m often a Holley to others, but I sometimes wonder where mine is…
Alaska mom, I too have been the Holley for others for many years, I have found that my gift is to see the best in others, and encourage them along their path. Continue to be a bright spot for others, no matter where you are. and eventually, you will find a Holley, even if it is in a series of books, blogs, or virtual relationships.
Wow, friend, these words bring happy tears to my eyes. Thank you for loving me so well! You are a wonder.
Beautiful. So thankful for the sisters who speak pour His grace into my life. Way to go, Holley! :)
Love this! I have the blessing of a Holley in my life, too. She writes her heart out over at http://www.peanutbutterinmyhair.com. Thanking God for her today. :)
This is such a beautiful picture of friendship, the way it’s meant to be. I have lots of women friends, good, godly women, but not a Holley. I definitely feel the loss of that kind of friendship as I draw closer and closer to capturing my dreams. You are both so blessed to have each other!
I am so thankful that you have Holley. I had a Holley. I called her the “other half of my heart”. Sigh. She always told me shared one. Smile. I think that perhaps friends such as these are God’s tangible reminder to us of His presence in our lives. Today I’m so thankful for sisters who walk beside us, and, when the road is rough, carry us. Thanks, sweet girl, for reminding us to open ourselves to friendship. I can’t wait to dash over and grab Holley’s new book!
Love you, Shannon! *tears*
I am thankful that you have Holley, and I have a Holley, too. Her name is Carla…and I am so thankful for her! I call her the other half of my brain! :)
Oh how I needed this reminder this morning—your blog became a little bit of a “Holley” for me. Our family is living in a remote area of Navajoland working with young people and their families…and sometimes our dreams seem SO impossible to actually carry out.
God has given me a Sharon who has walked through dark valleys (death of a son and husband’s cancer) with me. We share dreams and encourage each other to walk forward—even if some days only tiny baby steps are possible. She prays for me and I pray for her…”standing in the gap” for each other.
Thank you SO much for sharing the hard times as well as the good times on your blog. All of us so much need to see that kind of reality transparently shared!
Excited to read Holley’s book- thank you!!! I am blessed as well- and Kathi- if you are reading this comment- thank you! :)
Oh…I have a Holley. She is beyond compare. We say that we fell in love at first sight the day we met, me with a handful of preschool girl and she with a toddler boy while our older children were in school. We only lived in the same community for 9 months after we met but 26 years later, she is STILL my best friend. She defines friendship for me. She was and is a precious gift from God. I will have to get Holley’s book and send it to her, after I’ve read it myself.
Oh I love that – what an amazing friendship testimony!
Beautiful, words about friendship. I do have a good friend who encourages me in whatever process I might be in and hopefully the ‘gift’ is given back to her as she needs it. Good friends are especially important for saying what is true and what is real about our hearts.
What a beautiful post. You made me cry, and I love the beach pictures of you & Holley. I just received Holley’s book in the mail yesterday.
I am blessed to have more than one Holley in my life, and to be a Holley to some very fabulous women.
What a gift.
Oh you’re going to love the book -enjoy with a big cup of tea or coffee :)
*tears* MY, you paint that nicely. Wish I had a friend like that. :)
I have a few Holleys in my life, and they are dear to me! My life would not be the same without them.
I also love the real Holley Gerth. She probably has no idea who I am, but we went to grad school together, attended the same church, and have so many mutual friends. She is a gift to so many!
I have a Holley. Last summer, when I had to decide if I should stay at my job or move on, she helped me look for other jobs, listened to my pro/con list (and added to it!), and just let me work through it however I needed to. She is my sounding board and my “sit and do nothing” friend.
Isn’t God’s grace for us great!?
“Holleys” are most precious!
Wow…
I have never had a “Holley” before but in the last year God brought this wonderful woman into my life….both of us have a hard time trusting because of broken friendships filled with heartache….but God is helping us both heal and we have and continue to be able to grow closer….I think she might just be my “Holley”!!
I have a handful of Holleys. They are such blessings!
I have severak “Holleys” in my life. The encouragement from my roommate, Lori, and my two dear friends and “sisters” are what keeps me going at times. After a very discouraging and hard day of teaching (and days that I feel like quitting) they remind me why I do what I do and always give me the kind reminder that God will help me get through. =) I loved your post!!!
Love this message. Just yesterday I had to relay on such a friend. I needed to be picked up and encouraged along and was thankful to have someone to call and be real with. I can wait to read this book. Thanks for your post.
i have two very dear friends, one being my closest friend of over 19 years, and both of these friends have been a cheerleader in my corner, giving me the words of encouragement i needed to believe in myself as a writer, mother, wife, talented artist, friend, sister, daughter, in every area, they have pushed me and gave me wings to fly. and it is hard to describe what it means to have someone in your corner for 19 years+. for my 30th birthday, she gave me a card that had two old women on the front and told me that she imagined that was us when we were old. what a sweet thing to look forward to, what a comfort to know she will always be there, loyal and believing in me. what a blessing God has given me in my life. and the sweetest of all is that i know this.
I have a dear heart-sister, too, and this post made me so glad (once again) that she is my friend. Sara Groves has a song which captures this sweet friendship: http://www.saragroves.com/lyrics/firefliesandsongs/twice-as-good/
I have a Rachel. She’s tiny, half-Filipino, beautiful and stronger than she looks. She stood by me when my community of friends crumbled, when the hurt cut so deep I couldn’t cry, when my own sister turned away. I had always been the “Holley” but I was in desperate need of a friend. She stood by my side, not with pity but with grace. When I almost died this summer, she quietly and graciously organized the help we so needed to get through that season. She thinks I’m great, but I want to be just like her.
I think it is so wonderful that you have Holley. She is lucky to have you as a friend too!
Blessings and happy weekend!
I have a Holley. Do I ever feel so blessed to have her!!! You might see her around (in)courage… Thank you, Heather Conrad, for the awesome friend you are. The kind that can just pick up where we left off. Text out of the blue. More than once a day. :) Send a card for no reason except to encourage. Believe in God-sized dreams with me. :)
Goodness, I needed to hear those words today! I have a crazy, blood pumping in your ears, kind of dream. My two Holly’s believe in me, they don’t laugh, and yes I’m blessed enough to have two! I’m so glad they believe and pray because honestly it’s a big dream to shoulder and I really wonder if I’m crazy sometimes!
I have a Holley. We met 19 years ago at a high school football game and became instant friends for life. She’s the one who has cried with me as my marriage struggled and prayed for me when i could no longer pray for myself. She’s the one who tells me I matter, when I feel like nothing I do matters. She’s the one who believes that my little Bible study for 7 teenage girls is as important and valuable to God as the work she will doing as a Missionary Associate in Ecuador. She laughs with me, cries with me, and cheers me on, and hopefully, I do the same for her. Yes, everyone needs a Holley…or in my case, an Alicia.
This was really, really touching. Moved me to tears.
I have a Holly, but distance divides us. I need a Holly close by. I also want to be a Holly. How does one breakout and meet women that you don’t work with? Everyone is so busy. I don’t want to be a burden, but I crave adult 40+ friends.
Thanks and good blog.