Following your dreams

At a women's retreat this past weekend, I was asked what my childhood dreams had been. With a huge smile on my face I admitted to dreaming of being the next Wimbledon tennis champion or a journalist/writer, in that order. They were heartfelt dreams that I thought for sure would come to pass one day!

Fast forward a few years...one of those dreams has since past (obviously the tennis one), but the writing one still dwells within me. Notice the word dwells. Beyond this blog and my writing course, I haven't done much with my dream. It's not that I don't want to be a writer, I do! It's just that there is a part of me that doubts that this writing dream will ever really come to pass and fear that it will find the same fate as my tennis dream...cast into the sea and past it's prime.

Henry David Thoreau wrote, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams". I know that fear is a major factor for my dream dwelling, rather than my dream following. I know that if God has placed this dream within me, at the right time He will bring it to pass. Until then, I need to believe that it will happen and actively wait for that time. God has confirmed things to me through His Word, but since I'm sometimes hard of hearing and hard of learning He has also used a popular TV show to teach me a thing or two about dream following.

Maybe you're familiar with the show, America's Next Top Model? We started watching it recently when my teenage daughter informed me that she wants to be a model (a blog post for a later time I'm sure). The basic plot of this reality show is the same as Survivor, but without the jungle and the starvation (well, maybe not). There are challenges, cat fights, and photo shoots. At the end of each episode some unfortunate beauty gets the boot. But before Tyra Banks bids the loser-of-the-week farewell, she offers them a word of encouragement about following their dreams despite their current misfortune. It's those last 2 minutes of the show that God has spoken to the fears of my heart about my own dreams.

Here are some of those lessons:
* Have confidence in who you are and in your dream
* Never give up following your dream
* Transparency will get you further than you can imagine
* Don't hide the desire of your dreams
* You have it, you just have to break through

Funny how those few phrases have touched the depths of my fears because I know that Tyra wasn't just talking to those girls, God was using her to talk to me too! If I will just listen to His Word, His wisdom, and His encouragement, no matter what strange venue it comes through, like those girls I can reach my dream as well.

But I know that I'm not the only one out there with dreams. What about you dear friend? Is there a dream dwelling in you that you need to start pursuing? I pray that you will go confidently in your dreams, that you will heed God's Word and encouragement, and that you will actively wait for Him to make it a reality.

Hoping all your dreams will come true,
Liana