Each day I feel like I am learning what it means to dream again. Many mornings when I ask the Lord what He has for me today, He tells me, "Hope." I love that because I know that I need refreshed hope each day to believe for the dreams for my life. Proverbs 13:12 speaks into this need for hope, and for fulfilled dreams: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." So I hope, and I dream, and I continue to refine what I hope for and dream for. And I revel in the fact that my dreams could NEVER out dream the Father's; He dreams better than I could ever even fathom. As such, I dream that I get to see His dreams fulfilled in me.
Some fun nuggets of my dreams, though:
I dream of changing the world. I see this coming to fruition through seeing the beauty of the Gospel realized in individual lives, transforming families, cities and nations.
I dream of having a house in the mountains. The walls upstairs just might not extend to the ceiling like at my family cottage growing up.
I dream of owning chickens and having fresh eggs.
I dream of having a room that is completely white board paint or actual white board.
I dream of having my own kids and also adopting. - 1ST REALIZED with birth of my daughter
I dream of traveling the world.
I dream of dancing with Jesus in every language. He dreams the same with me.
I dream of seeing the "greater than these" things of the Lord.
I dream of loving little children and filling them with their identity as loved and valued children of the Father.
I dream of always stopping for the one.
I dream of having no regrets and living each day to the fullest.
I dream of reading all of the books Rory Gilmore has read.
I dream of squirrels and other woodland creatures, sometimes.
I dream of redefining family and marriage from how society has projected it. Marriage is sacred and a covenant. Children are a blessing from the Lord and should be honored as such.
I dream of my children standing on my shoulders one day, where my ceiling is their floor.
I dream of removing "hate" from vocabularies.
I dream of seeing people live out their dreams.
I dream of the fruits of the Spirit consuming me.
I dream of living life fully laid down and wrecked by Jesus everyday, even within the American culture, even where it causes me to defy the confines American culture and the American dream would seek to put on me.
I dream of watching cities and nations transform at the sound of the name of the LORD.
I dream of the Church being the Church, bringing the Good News and people breaking free, where "social justice" is merely the result of the Gospel and not something to strive for.
I dream of the human sex trafficking industry being completely shut down.
I dream of the oppressed and abused women of the world coming to Jesus, being fully healed and restored, and for them to find their voice to share the invaluable words on their heart with the world.
I dream of a world where coffee is free and has no bad side effects (i.e., addiction or high acidity).
I dream of a world where college campuses are equipping grounds for disciples and people flock to them for that very reason.
I dream of AIDS, brain degenerative diseases, deafness, blindness, cancer, barrenness, the common cold, etc... being a thing of the past.
I dream of lima beans and mayonnaise also no longer existing.
I dream of rain drops on roses and whiskers on [puppies], bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with sting - you know, just a few of my favorite things.
I dream of driving 15-passenger vans.
I dream of growing old and pretending to be senile every now and again just to mess with people.
I dream of dancing with my family in the kitchen and throughout our home and laughing constantly.
I dream of writing about what the Lord is doing all over the world and His extravagant goodness.
I dream of the little things in life.
I dream of living spontaneously, but I also dream of living in healthy rhythms of wisdom and discipline.
I dream of loving people who the world says don't deserve it.
I dream of respecting and honoring people I could consider less than me.