Tag Archives: dreams

Throwback Sundays…Beautiful Words

I think I still get chills every time I read these words…a poem…a liturgy of sorts that Mark Pierson included in his book The Art of Curating Worship. My favorite portion of the poem is below, but check out this post for the entire thing. It’s worth it!

We often forget the story which came to us,
Preferring order to uncertainty;
Orthodoxy to love,
And religious piety to unmerited grace

Come to us again, Lord Jesus,
And whisper your words of welcome;
Fill our hearts with reckless wonder,
And our minds with splendid nonsense

Awake in us the dream of the kingdom;
Resurrect our dead and perished visions;
Alert us to the heaven in our midst;
And quicken us to laugh and love

 

 

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When Dreams Go Bad

I wonder how many of us have given up on our calling because of a dream gone bad. How many of us have taken the skin of a dream & grafted it to the skeleton of our calling without even realizing we’ve made the two one when that’s not what God intended.

I’ve lost count of the number of conversations I’ve had with people in the last several months who have wrestled with that very thing. People who have been tempted to give up on a calling because their dream wasn’t coming to life how they envisioned…and sometimes not at all. I’ve also seen the freedom they feel when they realize that their calling & their dream are not the same thing. That just because a dream project failed doesn’t mean they’ve been misunderstanding their calling all along.

After what I thought were two “life-long” career paths ended I’ve learned to try really hard not to confuse the skeleton of a calling & the skin of a dream. It’s a process…probably a lifelong one…but I’m learning to separate the calling God has placed on my life from the dreams He’s given me. I’m focusing on who I’m going to be for the rest of my life rather than what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.

Do you wrestle with separating your calling from your dreams? 

3 Comments Deep Thinking, Just Life

Throwback Sundays…Inviting Others Into Your Dream

If you don’t have someone you can get lost in big idea conversations with for hours over dinner or coffee, find that. I think it’s the first step towards DOING something. Invite someone into your dream. Find someone who doesn’t think you’re crazy, who wants to encourage and support you. Someone who believes in your dream as if it’s their own. It’s more fun that way. :)

Live out your dream. Don’t just live in it.

Check out the rest of the post here. I believe that just as much, if not more, today that I did the day I wrote it.

 

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Be Passionate About Something

Please don’t settle. Don’t settle for complacency. For simply surviving life.
Live it. Enjoy it. Savor it. Treasure it.
Anything less and you are cheating yourself.
Cheating yourself out of joy. Of experiences. Of memories. Of relationships. Of laughter. Of beauty.
And if you cheat yourself I believe you are cheating the world. Because the world won’t get all God created you to be if you’re settling.

Be passionate about something.
Whether it’s photography or mowing lawns, writing stories or making jewelry, building houses or making coffee, playing music or singing or cooking, being a parent or preaching or traveling.
Whatever it is, be passionate about it. Care about it. Refuse to settle.

And invite other people into your dream for life. Share your vision. Give the rest of us the joy of seeing you come to life when talking about your dream.

 

3 Comments Just Life

Ponder…Begin

All this will not be finished in the first hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first thousand days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.
-John F. Kennedy

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I need to be reminded that I cannot do everything but that shouldn’t stop me from doing something. That just because I might not see the end of something doesn’t mean I can’t see the beginning.

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Jump Start Your Dream

Do you have a daunting dream you want to pursue but no idea where to begin? Or maybe fear has you stuck.

Sometimes one of the most important things in fighting that resistance is people who will stand behind us. I know I’ve learned the value of having a community of supportive relationships that pushes me & supports me in the pursuit of crazy ideas. Ben Arment is one of those people & one of the most motivational people I know. He’s also been through the process enough times himself to have learned a thing or two :)

Ben launched Dream Year in 2010 which is a year-long coaching process to launch your dream. But you have the opportunity to get a condensed version of the process in just one weekend.

Dream Year weekends are designed not only to give you great content & insight into the process of launching your dream, but also a place to connect with people who will support & push you in the pursuit of your God-given dream. I attended the Dream Year weekend in Nashville & loved it! The next one is coming up in Washington D.C. June 3rd-5th & you still have time to get in on the fun. Check here for more information or to register!

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