3-13-22 Big Size Dreams

Quote: “Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.” – Winston Churchill

I can pinpoint the year.  It was 2013.  Mark and I were looking for a smaller church.  We found one and started regularly attending in March of that year.  We simply showed up on Sunday mornings with a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old, and a 6-year old to get our weekly fill of faith.  The church was very outreach focused and so they started advertising for a short-term mission youth trip to Ohio in June and a long-term mission group trip to Guatemala in August.  Of course because Mark and I are both teachers, we pretty much had June, July, and August open.  Mark said, “Go.”  He knew I had it on my heart to serve and so I went on both trips.

Something happened to my heart and soul on these trips.  I felt the change immediately.  I knew I was meant for more than this white picket fence, suburban life.  I was called to expand the territory of my heart.  The ideas and visions for the future started coming at rapid speed.  Books I could write, trips we could take, groups we could organize, events we could plan.

And as they say, the rest is history.

There is not one day that goes by that I do not think about loving on people and sharing my faith.  It’s part of my DNA now.  I want to help others live the abundant life Jesus wants us to live – not just to survive but thrive.  I want to help them find love and forgiveness and connection and grow in who they were created to be.  It bubbles up inside of me in my classroom, on the soccer field, and in the grocery store.  I was meant for more than serving myself.  I want to make a difference on this planet and will work on this goal of mine until the day I die.

I’ve got some giant dreams!  I mean giant.  The kind I don’t share with a lot of people because I know they would try to talk me out of it!  I have buckets and buckets of lists.  I’ve got journals and journals of ideas.  And I think about them daily.  I know I am in a season of preparing for great things and so for now, I am in the “appetizer” stage of life.  I’m raising my boys alongside a supportive (yet cautious!) husband and I’m letting God control the timeline.  But when he says go, I’m gonna fly!

It says in Matthew 19:26, “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” If we try to accomplish the big size dreams we have without involving God in the process, it probably won’t come to fruition. We need that superpower that God has within him to make all things possible.  We need his wisdom, discernment, knowledge, encouragement, leadership, and mercy to help make it happen.  We simply cannot achieve the things he puts on our heart as passions and desires without him being part of the solution.  We sure can try!  But it won’t be the best version because the best way to live is with him in the equation.

Never give up on your dreams, no matter how big or scary they may be.  Dream big!