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This is a blog post that I wrote for my friend Nicole's blog. You can check her out here! 

Often times I find myself asking God why He uses the people that He does. Why does one gain fame? Another "become" rich? Why do some people have the ability to talk to anyone at anytime? How do the most unlikely people rise from the worst of circumstances, and become great?

Since the beginning of the year I haven't been able to get the word whole out of my mind. The last few days it has been rolling around in my heart, and I feel like it has become my "word of the year". I don't know about you, but I have a lot of "things on the go". Always started, never completed. I have parts of me that I feel have come a long way, and other parts that I feel are a frazzled mess.

I desire to be full in heart, deep in character, and to complete everything that I take on whole-heartedly.

The other day I was reading my daily devotional from #SheReadsTruth (an AWESOME online site that I highly recommend), and it brought me to this verse:
"But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall posses it..." Numbers 14:24 (ESV)

BACK STORY: The Israelites escaped from the Egyptians and a life of slavery. Caleb and some other men went and scoped out the land that God had promised to them. When they approached it they saw that the inhabitants were very strong, and they told their people that they would not be strong enough to take over the land. But Caleb --- he believed that they were fully capable of taking it. Regardless, the Israelites continued to complain and turn against God. The didn't enter the Promise Land at that time, and continued to wander around the desert for 40 years.

Growing up in church, I have heard this story hundreds of times. I know that the Israelites were whiney. I know how it ends, etc... but I had never read the part about Caleb like I did this time. After questioning God so many times about why He uses the people that He does, it was so clear.

"because he has a different spirit, and has followed me fully."
fully. whole heartedly. different. willing. trusting. hopeful.

There is no mention of Caleb's talent, or dynamic verbal skills. It doesn't say he was above average in intellect. He wasn't bigger or stronger. He wasn't supernaturally gifted. He had a different spirit, and he followed God with a full heart and the belief that he could do what God had called him to do.
I was so intrigued by Caleb that I HAD to look up what his name meant on babynames.com (its an obsession that i have, because i think that names are so important and i like when people reflect the name that they have been given) and here is what it said:

whole. hearted.

This year, even though I have resolved to have no resolutions, I am striving to live whole hearted in everything that I do. As a wife, mom, friend, dental hygienist, leader, etc. I am going to stop asking God what he requires of me so that I can become great, and just do what he has already called me to do --- fully.

i will
work on the talents He has already given me.
love unconditionally.
trust fully.
reach beyond my comfort zone.
listen for His still small voice.
be bold enough to be different.
live everyday knowing that it's a stepping stone to a greater path that I am being led down.

Caleb was 40 when he first saw the Promised Land, and he didn't enter it until he was 85. He was only 1 of 2 men from the first generation of Israelites that entered the land that they were searching for.

a whole hearted person:
remembers the promise, even when it seems to be broken.
remains hopeful during disappointments.
recognizes that just because it hasn't happened, it doesn't mean it's lost.
remains on the path, when the detour is tempting.

Whatever you are facing, or going to face this year, do it whole heartedly. You may not know the destination, or the reasons why you are on the journey, but if you can go down the path fully trusting the one who leads you - I promise that the reward is great.

God is looking for the one who sees things differently, and will follow him fully.
Those are the ones that He uses.
Those are the ones that He makes great.