I discovered this incredible pie-chart-gauge thing that describes a human reality: If you ever want to be awesome, you have to push through the dork phase first.

“The dork phase?” you ask.

Oh, come on, don’t act like you don’t know what the “dork phase” is.

It’s the folks who love a capella music and “mmbop” around, wearing “I feel A Capella Love” t-shirts and harmonizing “Happy Birthday”.

It’s the golfers who wear sweater vests, stick tees up their hats, and practice wind-up hits in their office.

It’s the home-schoolers who carry “Homeschooling is My Bag” bags, let their children collect centipedes, and think that reading the Dictionary backwards is fun.

It’s anyone who is so totally into something, wearing their precious hearts on their sleeves, but just aren’t superior – yet – at their craft. We might scoff at them, secretly categorizing them as “dorks”, but we fail to recognize that the more they invest in their passion, the more they are quickly approaching “the awesome phase”.

“The awesome phase?” you ask.

Oh, I know you know what the awesome phase is.

It’s when we find ourselves paying $75 a ticket to attend their concert, clapping politely during their master’s round, or begging them for curriculum advice.

It’s when we find ourselves so totally inspired that we, too, suddenly want to experiment with mmbopping, putting, and centipede-collecting.

Lots of folks avoid “dorkdom”, not realizing that they are simultaneously giving up on “awesome”.

Don’t you give up, too! What do you want to be awesome in? Push through! Get awesome!

What I’m willing to be a dork in: reading and speaking about the Bible and Jesus, falling in love with Ryan, loving my children, homeschooling (is my bag!), cooking healthy happy food.

‘Here’s hoping for awesome!