Dreams. Part one.

I started reading this book at the end of January 2013 called, "You're Made for a God-Sized Dream," by Holley Gerth. I picked it up at the Christian bookstore because I seemed to lack dreams and direction. There were specific questions in the book that really inspired me. I'm not writing them down in this blog, but other things that were awesome.

The book started off by saying that the size of the dream isn't what matters, it's about how God made the dream to fit your heart. The following is directly from the book but just taking a few sentences out of each one.

Five Lies That Keep Us From Dreaming
1. Dreaming is selfish. The enemy knows that it's often one little word that can stop our dreaming in its tracks: selfish. Your dreams, your desires, your hopes are not selfish when they are from God's heart and in his hands. The people in your life may not always like that you're following your dream. You don't have to make everyone in your life happy - the only thing you must do is be obedient.

2. I don't have what it takes. It seems as soon as we give ourselves permission to dream, comparison is nipping at our heels. We look around and see others who are better, skinnier, more eloquent than us. Before we even get started, we disqualify ourselves. He doesn't want you to be a "me too" when it comes to your dreams. He wants the one, original you whom he created to do exactly what he made you alone to do.

3. It's too late. It's only too late for our dreams when we decide to write, "The End" on our stories and close the book. As an anonymous quote my mom has on her refrigerator reads, "Never place a period where God has placed a comma."

4. I don't deserve to dream. You have not been disqualified from dreaming. No matter what you've done. No matter what choices you've made. Dreams are about the future. You are forgiven.

5. I don't have time. If the enemy can't make us deny our dreams, then it seems the next tactic is to make us delay them. Yes, there are seasons for waiting and being still because that's what God has asked us to do. I'm not talking about those. I'm speaking of the seasons when we let procrastination get the best of us (and we all do sometimes).


Other things from the book that rocked:

"Let me tell you a secret: your dream will not fill you up. Yes, there will be some wonderful moments. Yes, there will be joy along the way. But it will also be hard, even exhausting, and push you to your limits at times."

"God-sized dreamers are positive people. Not the pie-in-the-sky-everything-is-perfect kind. Not the slap-on-silly-grin type. I mean true optimists. The kind who can maintain a realistic, resilient belief even in the middle of difficult circumstances. You are one of those people. You may have even had others teas you a bit about it. But let me tell you, being a true optimist in the world today is no small feat. Optimism doesn't come naturally to any of us. We're simply not wired that way. If you choose to focus on what is good, true, and lovely, then you've mad a deliberate choice to do so."

"Your most valuable asset as a God-sized dreamer isn't the plans you make or the connections you have. It's not the talents you posses or the experiences you can list. It's your heart. That's where the One who gives you dreams and makes them come true dwells. It's where you hear his voice and learn to follow faithfully. It's where you love, which is the most beautiful dream of all. Guard your heart like you would a priceless treasure. It's of great worth and can't be replaced by anyone or anything."

Part two of this blog will follow soon. :-)