How To Keep Dreams Alive

How do we keep out dreams alive?

Through the mundane of life, how do we keep dreaming about the plans that God has laid and is laying on our hearts? How do we not get bogged down by the bills to pay, diapers to change, mouths to feed? How do we get our eyes off the obstacles in the way and rather lift our eyes a little higher, keeping the prize in view?

When I had already written all the above, I came across this blog entry. He gives some practical advice on how to get out of the rut you may have fallen into and get back into focus.

Some of it is not super practical for a stay-at-home/work-at-home mom like me. Finding a big chunk of time to spend alone and focus on God, the giver and sustainer of my dreams? Near impossible!! I'm thankful for the 10 minutes I sneak by myself in the morning to read God's Word. But on a very rare occasion, my kids do sleep at the same time, and I really need to take hold of those moments and focus on Him.

I can also do small focus moments throughout the day. I enjoy having a Bible reading application on my iPhone, as well as a couple of devotional apps. I also listen to podcasts of some Christian speakers I enjoy and am inspired by as I go about my day. Sometimes, while my children are playing, I may even have the opportunity to read a few pages of a book! And just interacting with my children reminds me of who God is as my perfect heavenly father, and how His singing and rejoicing over me to exponentially bigger and greater than what I feel for my own children. The bottom line is that It's easy for my focus to get sidetracked, so I can use these small things to bring it back to Him.

It certainly can be (and is at times) easy to get discouraged when I don't feel as if I have the time & space to see my dreams come to fruition. As a mom, I need to remember that my primary mission is here at home! God has given me & my husband two (so far!) beautiful children to care for. God forbid I ever look on them as an obstacle to what God has for me in my life. On the contrary, when God knit together His plans & dreams for me, He already orchestrated all the great things my husband, my kids and I would do together!

Rather I keep my focus on the giver and perfecter of my faith, the One who is able to make His plans come to pass in His perfect timing. I'm just along for the ride :)

The Importance of Practicality

Today, I heard a great teaching on the importance of transparency and authenticity in our relationships, as we desire to live in freedom from life-controlling issues and grow to be the people God created us to be. I walked away from that time, wholeheartedly nodding my head and saying "Amen!" I also walked away, feeling as if there needs to be more practical instruction on how to develop these authentic and transparent relationships.

It made me think of this great quote:

“Preaching a sermon that is strong on information but weak on application is like shouting to a drowning man, ‘SWIM, SWIM!’ The message is true, but it’s not helpful." From Jay Kesler via Kathy Koch

This quote is a bit harsh to blanket-ly apply to the teaching I heard because there was some application and some examples, but I'm a 3-point sermon kind of girl, and I like to walk away with a handful of things I can do today! So I followed up, asking for some helpful hints :)

Is Having One Best Friend Biblical?

This is not a new topic, nor is it one I thought up. I actually first heard it at an Exodus conference, and then read more about it in the book Boundaries by Cloud & Townsend. I've since wrote about it at Boundless.

I'll quote myself is saying that Jesus had 12 good friends, His Apostles, but He also had three intimate friends whom He took with Him certain places, such as the transfiguration, and the raising to life of the dead girl in Mark 5. At the Garden of Gethsemane, He had the nine other disciples sit at a distance while Peter, John and James went further into the garden with Him.

I never made the connection that when Jesus called the first disciples, Peter (also called Simon), James & John, they already had some sort of established relationship. I read today in Luke 5 that James & John were Peter's fishing partners. Jesus built a relationship with the 3 of them together.

Just a tidbit I found interesting :) I'll actually be writing about Mark 5 in a future blog post about how to find the right kind of support.

I'm Twittering

OK, yes, I know it's called "tweeting", but "twittering" sounds like more fun.

I'll be sharing faith thoughts throughout the day, as well as any public events, etc.

My Twitter name is "livingunveiled". Livingwithunveiledfaces was too long!

There's also a feed on my blog home page.

If you are tiwttering yourself, add me and/or tell me your name and I'll follow you as well :)

Memories of Bullying

I wrote a post today over at the Exodus blog about being bullied.

The recent suicides that are related to bullying have brought back some not-so-pleasant memories for me. I’m sure I’m not alone. Coming out of the closet (or rather, being pushed out kicking and screaming) as a high school student....

Go read it :)

God is Trustworthy

God does what He does because of who He is.

We can't separate the two.

Often, we are willing to praise God and to thank Him when we see how He's working and when we know that He's answering our prayers. But during the times when it seems as if He's not hearing us, the times when we can't figure out what on earth He's thinking, we tend to turn our backs on Him. We praise Him according to what we see rather than what He sees. God's character hasn't changed. We have changed. He is still the same God, whether we know how He is working or not.

What we think we want isn't always what He supplies, but He will supply.

Amen.

Perspective: Happy Horizons Children's Ranch

Today, the founders of Happy Horizons Children's Ranch visited my church. They had visited our church several years back, and their mission has been heavy on my heart. It was great to see them today and hear an update.

Their main work is the rehabilitation and defense of street children in the Philippines. Happy Horizons monitors and cares for hundreds of street children, many of whom have been abandoned or orphaned by civil war, abused or rejected by dysfunctional and poverty-stricken families, and further traumatized by the indifference of the societies in which they live. They also rescue children from the sexual slavery. You can read more about their mission here.

Did you know it is estimated that:
~ 27 million people are currently enslaved
~ 80% of those are women & children
~ 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year

Glenn Garrison, one of the HHCR founders, shared a story about how children at the Ranch need to be told that they will be having meals 3 times a day; otherwise, they don't finish their meals but rather stuff food in their pockets to save for later. They are used to eating every few days. This, in particular, struck me. My parents never gave me the "there are starving children in Africa" line in order to get me to finish my meal, and we do not participate in the "Clean Plate Club" at our house. But having overcome an eating disorder, I still sometimes struggle with knowing when I've eaten enough and definitely have eaten when I was not hungry because I felt like eating or the food tasted good. There are children everywhere who do not know where their next meal will come from. This striking story reminded me of the importance of giving my body what it needs and stopping there.

Glenn shared that these children are often completely defenseless. A man comes along and buys a girl a meal and a nice dress and she feels indebted to him. Many of these children don't have a name and don't even know their birthdays or how old they are.

I can't help but think of my own children. Jesus said "whoever welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me." The Garrisons are doing exactly that. It's an important work. Check out their website and support them if you are able.