Pursuing the Dream

My life has been changing a lot lately. A year ago, we moved. Six month ago, I got a new full-time job. One month ago, We found out the date for Jimmy's Surgery. In a few days, one of my little sisters will be married!

All this change has got me thinking...Am I really doing/accomplishing the things that I want to in my life?

I believe that the answer is that I am on the right track. I love art--always have and always will. I never really considered it as a career choice until a few years ago. So my career is in a totally different field and I have missed out on years of honing my abilities but I am not going to let that stop me!

Instead I have decided to pursue the dream! I am setting tangible goals to help me move in the right direction. I know that accomplishing these goals will only make my dream stronger and more sustainable. I am seeking the advice of friends and family members, and I am spending time in Bible Study and prayer about my future. It's great to know that I am not in this alone!

One of the best things is that God can use graphic design and web design to bring people to himself--so I am still doing missions! There is a day that I could see a healthier, slimmer Jimmy and a more practiced Christiana moving to another country to be an event coordinator and a designer but also be working as missionaries to spread the gospel to a country that is normally closed.

When you are pursuing God's dream for your life then your possibilities are endless!


More Resources: Check out the Printable Christmas Card Special I am running to help support my dream.

Living the Dream

Have you ever felt that you were meant for something more? Are you satisfied with where you are in life with your family, job, or career? I don't know about you but I have wondered if I will ever find my dream job.

Friday, I received my copy of Dave Ramsey's e-newsletter in my email inbox. I don't know if you are familiar with Dave Ramsey or not but around our house we affectionately call him "Uncle Dave". Anyway... I was caught by one of the first headings this month called This Way to Your Dream Job. Now stop right there for a minute. It's not that I hate what I do. I just dream of so much more than being an Administrative Assistant.

Meanwhile back at the ranch...The article is based on the book Quitters by Jon Acuff. As the article puts it, Acuff says

I think finding your dream job or what Sinek calls your “WHY” is more than a revelation or an act of discovery. I believe it’s a process of recovery.


More often than not, finding out what you love doing most is about recovering an old love or an inescapable truth that has been silenced for years, even decades. When you come to your dream job, your thing, it is rarely a first encounter. It’s usually a reunion. So instead of setting out to discover this thing you love doing, you’ve got to change your thinking and set out to recover it, maybe even rescue it.

This really ressonated with me today. It got me to thinking about the art classes that I have been taking at Saint Louis Community College and about the things I used to say like "I don't think that I would be good at being stuck behind a desk all day" or "I don't like talking on the phone" and I realized that I think God has something more for me.

I have felt God's call on my life to be in full-time ministry since I was in sixth or seventh grade. I know that God is calling me to use the gifts and talents and passions he has given me to serve Him. Now I just need to re-discover that calling in my life, and it's scary! Maybe His calling is SO much more for me than being an Administrative Assistant at the Missouri Baptist Children's Home. Yes, that's missions and ministry, but is that the ministry God has design for me. I guess we will just have to pray and see!

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'" Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV

Buy Quitter by Jon Acuff

You Are Not Forgotten

I have put off writing about this. I feel like this was a very clear message from God when I needed it the most, and it spoke to me immediately and deeply. So deeply in fact that I almost kept this promise to myself, but then I decided that maybe someone else needed to hear this as well. I am going to share the message but if you don’t mind, I am going to keep the details that made it so personally moving to myself. Sorry.

Wednesday I was reading Girl Talk with God (read my review of Girl Talk with God) and one of the “talks” included the passage Habakkuk 2:3. I read the words without much emotion and kind of brushed them off. I didn’t want to read too much into them since I randomly read them in this book although I did remark that it was an obscure verse. I mean who reads from Habakkuk? Who puts it in their book? Evidently Susie Shellenberger does. Anyway…

Thursday morning, I opened my copy of Voices of the Faithful: Book 2 (Read my review of Voices of the Faithful: Book 2) and turned to January 27th… *Pause* If you don’t know the format of the book let me give you the low down. Each page has a scripture passage at the top, then a story or devotional by an IMB missionary, and it closes with a prayer which is relevant to the topic. *Play* Guess what! My eyes immediately filled with tears when I saw the verse was Habakkuk 2:3. This was no coincidence. These words were for me. God knew I was going to read the passage the night before and brush it off so He put it in my path first thing the next morning! I mean what are the odds?! The same obscure scripture in two totally different books that I have been reading for days and I read the verse twice within 10 hours of each other. No way! This was definitely God.

I want to share Habakkuk 2:3 with you because maybe you need to hear it today. God has a promise and a plan for you. Don’t give up hope.

“The message I give you
waits for the time I have appointed.
It speaks about what is going to happen.
And all of it will come true.
It might take a while.
But wait for it.
You can be sure it will come.
It will happen when I want it to.” Habakkuk 2:3 NIrV

God, please use this verse to speak to someone else today. I know there are others out there who have almost given up on their dreams or the things they felt you had promised them because they have been a long time coming. Use your Word to refresh them and to renew their hope. Remind them that they are not forgotten. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

More Resources

A Word from "She Seeks"

Today I wanted to share with you an article which really spoke to me. I am a regular reader of the "She Seeks" blog which is a compilation of many different female writers who take turns writing and vlogging (video blogging) about the things God is teaching them in their lives. The article really struck a chord with me today and I would like to share with you what Ali has to say.

Lonely but Not Alone

a real, raw, and honest inspirational entry

I was at Starbucks the other day, minding my own business, when I was suddenly surrounded by what I could only describe as a big flock of lovebirds. In every direction couples were walking hand in hand, strolling the mall, laughing, smooching, and just… being together. I felt like pulling out a giant megaphone, standing on the table and making a special announcement: “ATTENTION ALL LOVERS: please withhold any physical display of affection or else leave the premises. Thank you.”

I pretended to be disgusted, but the feeling registering deep inside was that of loneliness. I wondered if that would ever be me — with someone else. I have been waiting ever so patiently on God’s timing, and most of the time I honestly feel fine. I am enjoying the special blessings that come along with the ‘season of singleness.’ But then there are those moments when it feels like things are moving along at a snail’s pace. You know, those times when you just want to march straight up to heaven and shout at the top of your lungs, “Hurry up already!”

So what are we supposed to do when our desires – and emotions that come with them – bubble up to the surface of our souls like the foam of a root beer float? Pretend like they are not there? Shove them under the rug and ignore them? Put on a smile and feign happiness?

Then as in now, I am reminded of Jesus, and how he dealt with periods of waiting. His journey on earth wasn’t a bed of roses, but of reality – living in a fallen world ridden with pain and darkness. Rather than having an artificial response to these earthly experiences, Jesus was real, raw and utterly honest about the deep well of emotion He felt. He wept. He cried. He expressed anguish and anger.

If Jesus, the Son of God, experienced such valleys of intense emotion while He waited for God’s purposes to unfold in their proper time, how much more us? Through His example, it is clear, not only that we will face moments of “long-suffering,” but also that God does not expect us to suppress our emotions. He wants us to express them-to Him.

I love the words from the Psalmist who wrote, “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge” (Psalm 62:8). Part of showing our trust in God is pouring out our hearts to Him. This is something very practical we can put into practice each day. All it requires is that we be real with God, approaching Him with a raw honesty like Jesus did. Feeling down in the dumps? Tell Him why. Is your heart troubled? Share it with Him. Tired, weary, lost or alone? Invite Him into those deep crevices of your soul and allow Him be your strength, comforter, healer and friend. He is just waiting to put His arm around us in those tougher moments and say, “My child, I am here with you. It’s going to be alright.” He desires nothing more than to be a part of our world – but it’s up to us to let Him in.

I left Starbucks that day with a feeling other than loneliness in my heart. No matter how low or lonely I felt, I could rest in the fact that I was never truly alone. And dear sister, so can you.


Resources…
The Bible
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” (Hebrews 5:7)

“…but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

“The spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it.” — Henri J.M Nouwen