Dreams

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about dreams.  Not the ones that happen when you sleep, but the ones that pull you forward. 

There are two things that I have consistently dreamt of doing. Until a couple years ago they were really self-serving. I wanted to do them for pure enjoyment. I guess you could say they were part of my “perfect” life.

What I know now is that dreams are the manifestation of who God created us to be. The dreams that dance through our thoughts in the quiet of the morning, those are the callings from His heart. Those are His fingerprints on our lives.

When I kept my dreams to myself they remained clouds on the horizon. The neat thing about our human nature is that once we vocalize a thing to someone else, it becomes part of our reality, a tangible possibility. Making that dream public is the first step in making it happen.

Once I shared my dream it became a cloud I could touch. Friends held me accountable.  When tempted to give up their voice would echo encouragement. Through moments when it all just seemed too hard, their strength pulled me through. Those dreams challenged me to stretch beyond what seems magical to reach what is possible.

I remember as a child lying on my back in soft grass on a bright summer day watching the clouds change shape. To focus on one in particular I would have to hold my hand completely over the sun. Only then did the lovely contrast of blue and white become visible. In the same way, unless we purposefully block out the glare of the shiny things of this life, focus can be lost. 

We were each created with a purpose.  Don’t let that purpose slip through your fingers. Look to your dreams and speak them out loud today. Let them live in the reality of your life.

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Content and Image 2016 © Charlene M Campanella (May not be used or reproduced in any fashion without written consent from the author)