Dream Big.

"You can never outdream God"

God is so big.
So why do we always feel like our dreams are too much, too big, too unattainable.
Our God is infinite in size and in love and in power. The end.

Dream Bigger.


Danielle Nicole.

Simple Reminders.

I need to be reminded often of people's love for me.  True confessions.

All my fears seem to stem from my biggest, binding fear of abandonment.
I am so afraid that I am not good enough, or that I am not working hard enough for my friends love, all the time. I catch myself recently so frequently bound by a fear of losing the interest of those dear to me.

But today the cutest little card found itself in my mailbox, and within minutes of that my eyes were met with the sweetest simple text from a dear far-away friend. It is in moments like these that I am confronted with the lies I let myself believe. It is reminders like these of people's love for me that I am able to see truth clearly. Even little acts of intention seem to bring a wealth of freedom to a bound heart.
This such freedom was given to me today in these simple, yet invaluable, gifts of affirmation. & it is from that freedom I have received that I am beyond encouraged to write messages to those I love and who bless my life. A pay it forward revelation of sorts.

So friends, don't keep silent today. Tell someone what they mean to you. Tell your friends you love them. Choose to be intentional. It really could be freedom someone really needs today.


Love you guys,


Danielle Nicole.

Another November.

You were the first person close to me that wasn't over the age of 80 in my life to go.
You were the first person I had to see beat their parents to the kingdom.
You were the first person who brought many people of my past in a room of dark skirts and damp eyes.
You were the first person to move away to a new city when we were children.
You were the first person to teach me how to craft for every holiday.
You were the first person who told me I should love books.
You were my first friend.
You were beautiful.

Julie,
I am learning this year that it doesn't matter how many more years go by, November 9th I am always going to wake up feeling a little heavier in my chest. I am always going to listen to Maroon 5 and the Fray. I am always going to scrunch my nose a little extra. I am always going to craft in your honor. I am always going to sneak away for a moment to feel sad, and I am always going to remember this day. Dance with the King for me today, & I'll dance here; in my living room, with my holiday socks and project out, in your honor. You're beautiful and you're still so loved. I miss you.



Danielle Nicole.

Vocal Heart.

Speak your heart out.


I don't believe in regretting.
I believe there are appropriate & inappropriate times for things to be said.
I don't believe we should hold back because of fear.
I choose to not believe in fear: of rejection, of failure, & of pain.
I believe in love.
I do not believe love is boxed into that giddy, butterfly, space of oneself.
I believe in fighting for what you love.
& I do not believe in ruined friendships over speaking your heart: Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. (Thanks Dr. Suess, wise man.)


What I want most in this life of mine, is to be loved with an honest love.
I don't mean that what I want most is to find the perfect guy & for him to love & obsess over me.
No, I want honesty, I want loyalty, I want laughter, I want imperfection. I just want someone to like me, to know that, and to choose to try, or to fight for me.

I am difficult. Independent beyond reason. I don't settle. I believe in a good, healthy confrontation. I am bold, fierce, and in all of this, I can be intimidating.
This I know about myself.

But in all of that, I also love with my whole self.

And it is from that love that I speak, encourage, and also confront those around me.
Not in judgment or in critique, but instead in love, and in a desire to my core to have honest and authentic relationships all around me. I want those around me to know that I love them, but not just in times of fun and frill, because love is more than butterflies, or inside jokes, or a photo reel. Love is a fight, a vulnerability, and a goal. Defensiveness should be an obstacle to climb, not a reason to bail out and run. Fight for those you love friends. & know that you are loved today, even if it is by a fiercely honest love.


Danielle Nicole.

A Name.

Dear Danielle Nicole,

Some days I think you chose me, not my mother. My mother thought you looked elegant written on the tag of a blouse in 1987. But how much can the tag of a shirt say for a girl? Apparently more than I thought as a child.

I didn’t like you very much back then. I dreamed of being called by something else with deep meaning or attributes of a person that had influenced great women of the past. I wanted you to come from a strong woman who sought to be honest, and aspired to love those around her fiercely: maybe a Marilyn, or an Eleanor. As I grew, I tried to change you to fit another role I found appealing. I introduced you to others as Dani. As Dani you seemed fun, curious, and unique. I thought I could improve you by changing you, but you knew we were fit from the start regardless of my shallow opinions of you. You knew I would one day grow into your strength and poise.

Over the last 6-7 years you have changed me. You have shined light on a part of you I couldn’t see before. You have led me to believe in dreams, in fears, and in accomplishments. You remind me to believe in laughter. I have grown into your desire for exploring and for all things that float and sparkle. If you were an object you would be a balloon because you love to rise to the occasion and to lead when there is opportunity for growth. If you were a song you might play loudly Beyonce’s “Single Ladies,” because your heart leans towards encouraging women to know their worth. Your love language is writing and that language echoes your love for those around you. Words of affirmation and of excitement for life and adventure seep through you. If you were a color you would be gold because you value life to it’s fullest potential and your worth isn’t found in temporary light. You mean: “God is my Judge, Victory of the people,” and this meaning has shown its face in you more and more each year. You seek many adventures and goals to accomplish, but ultimately judged not by any peer, or scholar, but instead, judged by God alone. Even as I shy away from roles of leadership from time to time, you push me towards them. In each step you lead me towards an even fuller potential of myself and now as I see your true meaning and worth. I will walk with you to every next chapter, thank you for the ways you have shaped and continue to shape me.

Love,

Danielle Nicole.

Bildungsroman.

Isn't it funny how things that we could never imagine happening to us, tend to end up happening?
I never imagined myself experiencing many of the things I have in the past 5 years,
especially never did I think I would pursue a career in teaching.
I even remember, ironically, telling someone who suggested the field to me years ago that I was not cut out for that, & that I was on the road to get out of the classroom, hence graduation, not go back to it for a living.
Ha!
Ha is all I have to say to myself right now as I slave behind huge books of literature! Ancient, modern, english, latin, american, prose, poetry, biography, even bildungsroman novels! What?! What does that even mean & how did I get to this position where I must know & be tested on a word and piece of literature described like that???

I guess it goes back to my last semester of undergrad at Azusa Pacific University when I really needed an internship & a friend of mine, also a youth pastor at a church, really needed a helping hand. When I volunteered as a youth leader/mentor I had no intention of getting completely and wholly swallowed up and spit out onto a path in which my heart is completely passionate. The love I have for the students I have now & have had over the years is a crazy love. A love I can only do justice in comparing it to a parental love. I want to protect them with everything I have, guide them in anyway I can, and support them with my whole self. I'm telling you, this love for my students makes me feel like I have 20 kids at times & want what's best for each one of them. Talk about a crazy passion!
I love the part of the life-learning process a high schooler is in. Learning strategies for academic learning and studying, but also learning about becoming who they want to grow to be. Choosing moral standing, style, hobbies to lead to career ideas, what makes their passions peak, & what disappoints them in relationships. These things all start to become real, and serious areas of thought and experiment in high school and I love seeing this process begin. I love walking in areas of confusion, or moments of passion, and even in phases of complete suck, and yes that is the best term for it. Just to acknowledge these students as valid and important and encourage them in dreaming big & living in action really pours out of a part of my heart I didn't even know existed years ago. But as this part of me flows more freely and overflows in other areas of my life as I begin to go to school to pursue a further career involved in student life I realize I am not just mentoring the growth of the student. But they are also walking with me in my own story, my own learning, and my own suck at times. Teaching me what moral standings I prioritize in myself, and in what ways I am gifted in teaching & where I need practice. Grooming me towards a place where I can see myself teaching a class, learning with the students I will teach, and loving that process.

& That my friends, is a small, acorn size piece, of my own bildungsroman story. A formation story, or coming of age story, the focus on the psychological and moral growth of the main character. Cheers to each of your own bildungsroman stories!


Danielle Nicole.

Insp[eye]red.

As I reflect this morning on the people I have met in the last few weeks overseas I am reminded of a post I began over a year ago, more of a continuous thought really, titled "Insp-eye-red." These thoughts began from the connection of simple, yet sacred moments of eye contact with those around me and as I sit here reflecting my time in Africa I am most fondly remembering most intimate moments of eye contact.

I remember these moments best because eyes are powerful.
They are honest, & profound.
They speak words that the tongue cannot express & the body does not give justice to.
"Eyes are the window to the soul" said an old English Proverb,
& I firmly agree with this picture and the idea that eyes lead beyond a body.

People's eyes move me.
Move me to a place of intimate emotion and of curiosity to know more,
to feel more.
Eyes speak big stories.
Stories of loss & struggle,
Of pain, and abandon, and hunger.
But those same eyes, they also speak of a love.
A deep joyful love that seeps out and infects those eyes who meet theirs.

Children,
with no shoes,
a torn dress 3 sizes too big,
but with eyes full of joy and a longing for you to smile when looking at them,
to accept them and embrace them with eyes which look back with a joy and love for who they are.
Because life doesn't need new shoes, and ice, and running showers daily.
Life is improved by luxuries, even the smallest ones yes.
but what life needs,
is love.
is joy.
is hope.
And that is where my prayers begin,
with the hope, and the joy, and the love of those eyes whom met my own.



Danielle Nicole.