Thursday, 25 September 2008
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When Dreams Don't Come True....
Guest post submitted by walkonwaters
This was officially the last weekend of Summer. I can't believe how quickly time passes once you're out of school. I remember being a kid thinking that time seemed to drag on forever.. Now, it seems like we just had Christmas...and here we are.. watching Wal-mart put their Christmas displays back up. Craziness...
I was back at church tonight. Tonight they talked about Creation...and all of the different viewpoints among Christians and society in general about the creation of the world. Some people believe in a literal 6 day creation, others believe they were more like spans of time, and not literally a 24 hour day. Science makes me believe in the latter. However the faith-filled little girl inside of me thinks it would have been SO cool to watch God whip up his magic super-God powers and create everything in 6 days.
In talking about creation they talked a lot about the environment and how we've pretty much sucked at taking care of this planet. I totally agree....so of course my mind starts racing with all of this off the wall, crazy ideas to do my part in fixing the world. So I went through my apartment unplugging all of my appliances in order to save as much electricity as I can. I've sworn of bottled water, dedicated myself to reusable grocery bags, thought about getting a bicycle to ride to work since I'm not driving to the 'Burg every day and wondered what my neighbors would think if I started a compost...
While I'm serious about most of the changes I realized while planning my massive "save the world" campaign that I come up with a lot of really good ideas. Let me finish my thought before you tell me how humble I am (HAHA!) I do dream up a lot of great ideas. Such as:
1. A women's house in Portsmouth offering free housing, counseling, spiritual teaching for women who are addicted to drugs, self-injury, eating disorders or just in a really bad place in life. I have the location, people in my head that could work there, ideas for funding and churches to ask for help.
2. Ignite the Light- that once upon a time Christian music festival I dreamed up....
3. My eco-friendly US tour -sharing Jesus with my music, guitar and a few friends on the road.
4. The Secret Garden project at work.. offering a playground type area for individuals with Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. It would feature handicap accessible swings, playground equipment, picnic tables, pathways, sensory garden and textile wall. It would be fenced in to help eliminate vandalism, but open not only to our residents but to anybody in the area who could benefit from such a place.
5. Use the main office at work as a central location for various support groups throughout they county to meet...The Autism group, Parents for children with MR, Various Mental Health support groups -you name it. I also have ideas to build teamwork and unify our staff at work... including quarterly karaoke contests and turning mandatory trainings into game shows.
6. With the economy freaking out and not knowing from one day to the next who has a job... setting up a service exchange in Scioto county. People who are broke and freaking out over paying their bills matched up with people who have more than enough to support themselves and are short on time to get things accomplished. So the person needing help to say...pay their electric bill could be matched up with someone who needs help cleaning their house or closing their pool. They provide the service, the person pays off whatever debt they're working for.
Etc...
I come up with all of these awesome ideas, dream up plans that are really detailed and in my head, it totally works. Then, I drop the ball. I don't follow-through and my dream becomes a thought...and then forgotten. I'm already thinking about the same thing happening with my whole "save the world" idea of changing how I live. I hope I don't drop the ball, but it's the norm for me.
Sometimes I wonder if Jesus gave me this overactive imagination so I could dream up things, and then put the idea in someone else's capable hands to make it happen. Problem with that is, I never know who's hands to put my ideas in. Are all of these projects too much for one person to handle? I'm thinking that's a definite YES. If you could just climb inside my brain it would be such a scary and wacky trip... you have no idea.
I'm tired of dreaming up dreams only to watch them fade away into this brain of mine. It's frustrating.
Do you have any dreams that you followed through on? How did you do it?
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Comments (10)
1. That's not the 'Burg as in NJ, is it?
2. I really like the park idea.
3. I'm working on following through on a dream right now. It's taking a lot of faith and hard work. I need to stay on top of my studies (a project of its own), save money (which means cutting down my expenses - forgoing cable TV completely, buying the icky cheap brand of TP, etc), and follow God's hand (listening to that little voice inside of me and making the right decision even when it's not the easiest or the one I'm the most excited about).
When I get discouraged, I pray and I can feel God's answer, "I wouldn't bring you this far just to abandon you."
@pinksunfiredragon - How can you do these big huge things? I say, close your eyes and let your hairdresser do his/her thing with your hair for starters. Then when you've got the new totally awesome 'do, tackle the big stuff! It might not seem as scary! lol
This is such a wonderfully encouraging post, thanks for writing it.
Visionaries are wonderful!
x
oh man... where to start?
for me it's embracing the call... honing the gifts He's given... then taking a small step and being faithful with what i'm given... leading worship consistently has led me now to be a teacher in the guitar where I'll be teaching lessons and helping out budding musicians... my ultimate dream though is to lead worship for thousands whether backup lead guitarist or actually leading...
but for now it's being faithful with what i'm given and keep fueling the passion God put inside each of for the glory of His Kingdom...
Keep the ideas alive by making a list of them!
For nearly 25 years I have a list I titled Happy Hopes, and I update it when convenient (I put the number of the year or the month and year after the title). Sometimes we only updated twice a year, and now it's once a month. I began it when my husband and I decided we were not going to put the income tax rebates toward bills. The trouble was, when we got the windfall check, we would forget what we wanted to use the money for, so the list was born. I put it on the side of the refrigerator where it wasn't out too prominently, but it could be seen by family anytime. (Some extended family members would check it over before the holidays too
)
After that, it expanded into a kind of prayer list for good things like health goals (weight loss, salvation for family members, etc). During really hard years when it looked like nothing was going to get crossed off, we began a new column: Unplanned Items we thank God for. That lean year saw us get a new king sized bed from a former boss, brand new dishes from a co-worker who was "bored with them", and other wondrous blessings. It remains there to this day.
The children have grown and flown, the marriage died; but the Happy Hopes lists are still fun to revisit and look over. I have the early handwritten ones, and now the ones on computer. The point is, it is a great way to see where you came from, where you are going to, and how the means of getting there changes with God's influence and guiding hand! Amazing!
I believe that God created you for just that purpose. Just be prepared for it to expand some. A seed looks nothing like the tree that grows from it.
It is moments like this when I truly get excited, because most people aren't able to discover their purpose in life so readily. You seem to have noticed a trend, and you should follow it.
And it may be that you are a starter. You are the idea gal, and others take up the torch from where you light it. Perhaps that is your gift, and having the ability to let others take what God gave you is not only life-giving, it will actually keep your mind open to receive more.
Joseph had two dreams. All they told him was that his family would bow down to him. Nothing more. A life of slavery and imprisonment later, he had the world bowing at his feet as their savior.
There is a savior inside all of us.
Just remember this: soon after Joseph had his dreams, he was thrown into a pit. The pit will reveal all the worst in you. Do not be dismayed, however, because the palace awaits, and your destiny, too.
I can't wait to hear more about what's going on in your life. This is going to be good.
i'm a naturally passionate person and before I turned my dreams over to Him, I was pretty succesful at getting results on whatever crazy project I had just dreamed up. But I think Christians shouldn't be about self-motivation or any of those type A vanities. In the end, when I finally agreed to give it all up for a dream to follow His will, I found that i was so thankful for what I had and the opportunities I had, that I wanted to show Him how thankful I was by not only utilizing the opportunities (which include imaginative ideas!) but to enjoy them. When you enjoy your work, it naturally gets done! So, I'd say being thankful. Being thankful for the ideas in your head gives you the desire to act and carry them out. It's a lot of fun, you should try it sometime!
I'm going to cross-post this to Oneria.
@trebleclef402@xanga - nope, not the burg NJ. :) It's in Ohio.