Each week I am given a theme (in meditation) to post and blog about at the end of the week. Many times I fight the theme…I fight them hard, but it always ends up being a period of growth! God knows where we need it! It’s been a couple of months since I blogged, and even that has shown me how we can take on too much and almost miss our purpose, but God re-directs us! This week’s theme was dreaming!
I love to dream, but it was not always like that. For many years I allowed my dreams to be dictated by external things, instead of listening to “that inner voice”. Once I did begin listening, things started to take shape and I wondered why it took so long to start dreaming and trusting that they would manifest. I never want to stop dreaming so this week I explored why we stop, and as always, God really showed up for me!
I found that trusting could be one of the reasons we hesitate to dream. We say things like, “what if I share this dream with someone and it doesn’t happen or what if I mess it up?” We don’t want to live through the ridicule of disappointing others. My daughter confirmed this for me in a conversation we were having. I was telling her how proud I am of her for pursuing her dreams at the tender age of eleven and she said, “Mom, I’m just afraid of messing up!” My heart broke, because it became obvious that I’ve instilled my perfectionist tendencies in her, and I never want to limit her dreaming. I reassured her that we all mess up, but if we pay attention, that’s when we learn the most.
This week I also had lunch with a lady who is very dear to me. She is very open and honest and always willing to share her experiences, and admits that for a while she had stopped dreaming. She said she was emotionally scraping by to make it through. I remember being in this place many times in my life. It always gives me the mental image of a cracked desert with dried out skeletal carcasses lying around. That is how I describe the physical feeling I would have. Yet, that still small voice often whispered, “you’ll get through, there is a lesson here for you!” And sure enough, though those dry periods were rough to get through, yet they brought some of my greatest lessons and taught me to take my dreams to the next level!
Later in this week, I had what I call a Divine appointment. Again, it was one of those times I was led to go to a location, and even though I fought Spirit I ended up going! I was so glad I did (as I usually am when I obey and follow) because not only did I find an item I had been looking for (at 60% off!), but I met "Sally", a woman who is also on a journey toward healing and dreaming.
Somehow in our conversation Sally opened up and shared her dream with me. I was excited for her and told how great her ideas were and how feasible it is! She began to cry from the excitement that someone finally believed in her dream! Sally also shared how for so long she has not had a clue on how to push her dream forward and she kept doubting, but this dream is so strong she just can’t let it go, but doesn’t know how to get there. That’s familiar to me too!
I shared with her some of my life experiences, but mainly this advice. Deep-rooted dreams are God’s way of planting seeds in our heart. I compare these seeds to that of a bamboo. A bamboo seed is less that a centimeter in size (see the picture above), and most bamboo plants only produce seed once every sixty years or so. However, one day you realize, “this plant has grown at least a foot!”
The same thing happens with our dreams, when we persist and continue to believe, God opens the path to make them happen, we simply have to trust, listen and follow. Mistakes happen, but that’s when we learn. Naysayers will always lurk, but their jaws drop at the works of God! I guess what I am trying to say is never let something get in the way of your dreams; your dreams serve a greater purpose!
I love to dream, but it was not always like that. For many years I allowed my dreams to be dictated by external things, instead of listening to “that inner voice”. Once I did begin listening, things started to take shape and I wondered why it took so long to start dreaming and trusting that they would manifest. I never want to stop dreaming so this week I explored why we stop, and as always, God really showed up for me!
I found that trusting could be one of the reasons we hesitate to dream. We say things like, “what if I share this dream with someone and it doesn’t happen or what if I mess it up?” We don’t want to live through the ridicule of disappointing others. My daughter confirmed this for me in a conversation we were having. I was telling her how proud I am of her for pursuing her dreams at the tender age of eleven and she said, “Mom, I’m just afraid of messing up!” My heart broke, because it became obvious that I’ve instilled my perfectionist tendencies in her, and I never want to limit her dreaming. I reassured her that we all mess up, but if we pay attention, that’s when we learn the most.
This week I also had lunch with a lady who is very dear to me. She is very open and honest and always willing to share her experiences, and admits that for a while she had stopped dreaming. She said she was emotionally scraping by to make it through. I remember being in this place many times in my life. It always gives me the mental image of a cracked desert with dried out skeletal carcasses lying around. That is how I describe the physical feeling I would have. Yet, that still small voice often whispered, “you’ll get through, there is a lesson here for you!” And sure enough, though those dry periods were rough to get through, yet they brought some of my greatest lessons and taught me to take my dreams to the next level!
Later in this week, I had what I call a Divine appointment. Again, it was one of those times I was led to go to a location, and even though I fought Spirit I ended up going! I was so glad I did (as I usually am when I obey and follow) because not only did I find an item I had been looking for (at 60% off!), but I met "Sally", a woman who is also on a journey toward healing and dreaming.
Somehow in our conversation Sally opened up and shared her dream with me. I was excited for her and told how great her ideas were and how feasible it is! She began to cry from the excitement that someone finally believed in her dream! Sally also shared how for so long she has not had a clue on how to push her dream forward and she kept doubting, but this dream is so strong she just can’t let it go, but doesn’t know how to get there. That’s familiar to me too!
I shared with her some of my life experiences, but mainly this advice. Deep-rooted dreams are God’s way of planting seeds in our heart. I compare these seeds to that of a bamboo. A bamboo seed is less that a centimeter in size (see the picture above), and most bamboo plants only produce seed once every sixty years or so. However, one day you realize, “this plant has grown at least a foot!”
The same thing happens with our dreams, when we persist and continue to believe, God opens the path to make them happen, we simply have to trust, listen and follow. Mistakes happen, but that’s when we learn. Naysayers will always lurk, but their jaws drop at the works of God! I guess what I am trying to say is never let something get in the way of your dreams; your dreams serve a greater purpose!