Don’t Lose Sight of the Dream!!!

Philippians 1:6--Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

    It’s been 6 months since my last post, and while it may have appeared that I fell off the face of the earth, a lot has happened in my life and I have just been going with the flow. Over the past 6 months, I have been basking in every glimpse of hope while coming out on the other side of the storm that hit our family at the beginning of this year. While the storm was passing over, there were still moments of wondering, “Ok, is this it? Is it all officially over?”

   In the midst of worry, uncertainty, medical issues, and anything else that could shake things up, I began to realize that the storm caused me to put things in my life on hold. Things that I was trying to do to get ahead in life or move closer to walking through doors that I believed God was opening. LIFE HAPPENS and while I could not control the curve balls that came my way, I could try to control the way I responded to them.

   In the midst of the storm, I lost sight of who I was…lost sight of the reality that better days were soon to come…..but most importantly, lost sight of some of my hopes and dreams. I doubted myself and even had the audacity to consider just “settling.” HA!! That word brings back so many memories of when I was asked if I would be willing to let go of my hopes of reaching a goal and just settle. And my response at that time was, “No, I can’t because that is not what God called me to do!” How true that statement is, yet it was hard to believe that when I was just trying to come up for air from months of drowning and praying for relief.

   And that relief finally did come and once I was able to breathe again, I realized that I needed to go back to chasing after those dreams that were burning in my heart. God did not place the desire in me to just “settle.” I realize more and more every day that there is something on the inside of me that keeps me up at night, causes me to cry with passion, and  brings about a sense of excitement and advanced fulfillment that I know can only come from God. I’ve never claimed to be perfect and would never want to give off the impression that I don’t have my own crosses to bear. But it is so easy to encourage someone else to follow their dreams and not give up.

    But what about encouraging yourself? Why is it so hard for us to believe the very same life-giving words that we give to someone else? I lost sight of who I was in the midst of the storm, and I lost sight of the vision that God has placed in me.  Last week, I caught a glimpse of the dream and I got excited all over again! All those months of desperation, hopelessness, and apathy were replaced by determination and hope. I realized that the dream never moved away from me, but I moved away from it.

   Today, I want to encourage you not to lose sight of the dream. I want to encourage you to fight until the finish and carry out your God-given potential. I want you to come through your storm with so much hope and determination that it will feel like fire shut up in your bones! Don’t lose sight of the dream because there is something in you that someone else needs to survive and/or reach their goals. Yes, that sounds like a lot of pressure on you to possibly hold the key to someone’s breakthrough.

     

   But as my pastor says, it is in you to make it! I believe that whatever has been holding you back or causing you to remain stagnant is only a test of faith. You must believe that God has already placed in you everything you need to make it. But you have to want it, be willing to chase after it, and REFUSE to settle for less than God’s best. No matter what comes your way, DON’T LOSE SIGHT OF THE DREAM!!!