Hey everyone,
A couple of days ago, I posted a vlog on following God’s plan for your life, and I thought I’d share it here! Hope you enjoy!
Tag: Dreams
God-Sized Dreams
“You’re never too old to set a new goal or dream a new dream.” Les Brown.
I have always been a dreamer. I have always been the girl with big dreams and bigger ambitions—so much so that my Instagram tagline reads, “Christian, writer, youth leader, dreamer…striving to live confidently in Christ.” I have always wanted to do big things and leave some kind of mark on this world.
I am sure that many of you reading this are the same way. I believe God puts a fire inside all of us and a passion to live out our full potential in Christ. A dream that only we can achieve through Him and for His glory. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV). God knows the plans that He has for us; plans that are bigger and crazier than anything you could ever ask for or imagine.
Maybe you’re reading this and thinking to yourself, how do I know if a dream is from God or myself? How do I know that this dream is from God, and not just from my own head? Since I don’t specifically know what your dream is, I can’t answer that question for sure, but I can say that God has given us a roadmap for discerning these things, through His Word, through prayer, and through the people around us.
The first way that we can discern God’s will for us and for our dreams is through God’s Word. In the Bible, the plans that God had for His people were always for a purpose greater than their own personal fulfillment. Whenever God led people down a certain path or calling, it was always for a purpose that impacted others outside of themselves. Steven Furtick says, in a short message on YouTube that the key to the dream that God has given me is found in the dream that God has given others. Furthermore, God has never put a dream inside of a person that would require them to sin or fall outside of His standards to achieve His purpose. Every time He gives us a dream, it will bring us closer to Him, and to the person that God has created us to be.
Second, we can discern God’s will through prayer and through the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (NIV). When we ask God to give us direction and guide our steps, He will make His will known to us. It may not always be in the timing that we’d like and it may not always be the way we expect, but God’s plans will always be better than our plans, so never stop trusting the process.
Third, listen to wise counsel.The people who know you best will be able to help you discern your gifts and pray alongside with you with whatever it is that you feel God is calling you to. So don’t be afraid to ask your best friend to pray for you. Talk to your parents about it. Ask for advice from your pastor, or a trusted mentor at your church. Proverbs 11:14 says, “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.” (NIV). Oftentimes, those closest to us can see where our passions and talents lie—and these things can help us to get a clearer idea of what God might be calling you to.
Last, find your contentment in God alone. It can be so easy to be crazy intense about a dream that we feel God has placed inside of us, but our relationship with Jesus should always take precedence over our dreams. God cares more about your heart, and having all of you than He does about what you try to do or achieve for HIm. And if we lose sight of the One who gives us our dreams and gives us our passions in the process of trying to chase them, we will be ineffective in fulfilling the mission that God has called us to. So put God first, live each day to it’s fullest in the present, and trust that God will bring His plans to life in His perfect timing.
How about you? Do you have any dreams that you feel God has placed on your heart? If so, share them – I’d love to hear about them in the comments section below!😃💙
Through Christ
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13
From the time that many of us are young, we have dreams for the future.
Maybe our dream is to write a book, or go to college, or enter a certain line of work. Maybe it’s to start a family, or become a missionary in a third world country. Likely, the details of our dreams and desires will look somewhat different for everyone, but there is one thing many of us struggle with, regardless of our many differences and strengths. Something that is a common fear amongst many of God’s children, and that can be nearly paralyzing—holding us back from our destiny and our calling in life.
And that thing is, the fear of failure.
This can be especially highlighted for those who have graduated this year—either from high school or college, and who are faced with a new chapter in life. I remember my own high school graduation just a couple of years ago, and the feeling of being plagued with a sense of fear and anxiety as I stood on that stage to accept my diploma.
What did God have next for me? And what did life after high school look like?
Many of my friends who have graduated this year have expressed similar concerns. Some are still trying to decipher God’s calling post-college graduation, and some will be entering college campuses and universities for the very first time.
Even if we aren’t one of the lucky graduates of 2018, we likely still deal with some of this same stress and worry about the future. A lot of us have a dream for the destination, but don’t know how we’re going to get there. Some of us may feel hesitant to even try.
Nonetheless, while these are all very legitimate fears and concerns, there’s something very important that we can remember as Christians during times like this. Something that can carry us through any fear or doubt or worry that we face, and something big enough to carry us through any trial that we encounter.
We aren’t in this alone.
We serve a God who painted the stars into the galaxy. Who said ‘Let there be light’ and there was. Who created the Heavens and the earth and who knows each of us by name—and who wants a personal and intimate relationship with all of us. The same God who tells us that “If we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains” (Matthew 17:20).
Here’s the thing guys, we are never alone in our hopes and dreams. We were never meant to try to do big things for God. We were meant to do things with God—as image bearers and beloved children of our Heavenly Father. And if we trust our dreams to God (assuming they’re His will), they will come to pass.
God wants to use each of us to play part of His larger story in humanity. No person is too small, and no dream is too big for the God of the galaxies. He has a history of using ordinary people for an extraordinary purpose. He transformed Shepherd boy into the king of a nation. He used a young girl from an ordinary family to give birth to the Savior of the world. He used a former murder to write most of the New Testament.
If God could use David, Mary, and Paul, than He can use you too.
As you go throughout this week, I want to encourage you to pray big for the things that you want to see come to pass in your life. Pray with confidence over your future and the future of those around you—believing wholeheartedly that God will answer your prayers in His timing. We were each made for something incredible, that we were meant to accomplish with and through Christ, who gives us strength.
All that we need is faith the size of mustard seed.
Thirty Day Blogging Challenge #2: Day Thirteen/ #MLKDAY Post
Hey guys, it’s day thirteen of the blogging challenge! It’s also Martin Luther King Jr. Day—and because today’s topic is “Someone who fascinates you and why” I decided to make this post a dedication to the civil rights activist whom this day honors.
As you can probably guess by the name of my blog, I was born long after his death. Nonetheless, even as a girl who’s skin fries after an hour in the sun, I’ve been impacted by this man’s legacy. Few people can take claim to an annual holiday, or have made such a huge impact on the world that we live and breathe in today. Few people have had the courage to follow a dream in the face of nationwide opposition. Few people have had the courage to risk death for their ideals.
I also find it interesting to know that he was a Christian—a minister, in fact. In addition to doing world-changing work in the area of racial equality, he was consistent about speaking out about his faith. I would imagine that he’d be an outstanding pastor to listen to, with memorable quotes such as the one below.
“We need to pledge ourselves anew to the cause of Christ. We must capture the spirit of the early church. Wherever the early Christians went, they made a triumphant witness for Christ. Whether on the village streets or in the city jails, they daringly proclaimed the good news of the gospel.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
The things he fought for were integral to to the message of the Gospel—absolute unity in Christ, as God’s beautiful creations. God never meant for us to be divided by things like race or gender. God’s dream for humanity is unity—something that Dr. King fought for until the day he died. If it weren’t for his legacy, we may never have met close friends, family members, and neighbors who were previously kept separate simply because of their outward appearance. It is very improbable that without his legacy, and the legacies of those like him, that we would ever have friends of a difference race or ethnicity.
God has a dream for each one of us. Martin Luther King found his in bringing greater racial reconciliation to America. Ours may be in any number of vocations—from ministry, to advocacy, to teaching, to raising a family. It’s very likely that God has plans for us in a number of different ways, as He uses His children a little bit closer to Himself and to each other.
Today, let’s continue to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and live fully into God’s plan for our lives.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:1-2
Thirty Day Blogging Challenge #2: Day Six
Day Four: If you could have any job in the wold, what would it be?
Since I already wrote about this for the first challenge, I’m going to post the link here, but I promise to be back tomorrow with a brand new entry!
Until then, be sure to check out Emily’s blog over at Fearfully Wonderfully Me, who is partnering with me in this challenge!
Have a blessed night y’all!
Three Day Quote Challenge: Day One
Hey everyone, as I promised, I’m posting day one of the quote challenge today!
I’d like to thank Emily for nominating me; I was super excited and honored when I saw that I got picked! As a writer, it’s always good to know that someone out there is reading your random thoughts, opinions, and ramblings. 😄
“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”― Catherine of Siena
I’ve loved this quote since the moment I first heard it. It’s so inspirational and makes me feel like I can take on the world! It’s the kind of quote you want hanging on your refrigerator, as daily inspiration to start your morning with!
I love the message at the core of the quote: Be yourself and God will use you according to His plan and purpose. We can only serve God at our fullest when we’re completely honest, transparent, and real about who we are. This doesn’t mean that we can achieve perfection through some sort of new age-y”self actualization”. What it does mean is that God can use us as a vessel to make a difference in this world, flaws and all.
We’re all separate, yet all connected. This is something that I’ve always loved about the body of Christ. Though we’re one body, we have different parts, and each of us bring something beautiful and unique to the table. I may not be good at math and science, but that’s OK, because someone else is. God can use me exactly where my talents lie to help spread His message of love and grace to a broken world. Because I’m a writer, I can express God’s truth the most naturally through written word. If you’re a singer, make a joyful noise unto the Lord and glorify God through song. If you love science, teach about the truths of God’s creation, sharing your knowledge with the world.
We each have something special that we can bring. Whatever it is for you, do it with your whole heart, and bring a little more beauty to this world through your life.
Never be afraid to set the world on fire for Jesus!
Thirty Day Blogging Challenge: Day 15
I can’t believe it…I’m already at the halfway mark! After today I’ll have fifteen posts down and fifteen to go! I can see the finish line in the distance! That being said, it’s time to dive into today’s topic!
* * *
The future is a funny thing. As much as we try to plan it, life has a way of taking unexpected twists and turns, a fact that can either be exciting or frustrating, depending on how we look at it. Looking back five years ago, I never would have been able to predict half of the stuff that has happened in my life.
That said, everything in this post is merely a guess; how I hope my life will look five years from now.
- I’ll be twenty three-years old (a fact that is freaky in itself), nearing the end of my time in college. I plan to get a masters degree in journalism/communications. Hopefully, I’ll already be dabbling in my career path, job shadowing others in that line of work.
- I plan to have a steady part time job. I’d like to get a job working at a store; maybe Hallmark? I should have some of my own expenses at that point, such as a car which brings me to my next point…
- I should finally have my license by then. For those of you who are calculating my age, yes, I’m late. Driving freaked me out for a long time and I was honestly pretty unmotivated to get my permit. But, the older I get, the more OK with driving I seem to feel (I still don’t love it). Hopefully, I’ll be able to get my license some time before the end of summer, or at least, sometime this school year.
- I hope to be on my way to publishing my first fiction book. I’ve been working on it since freshman year and I’m starting to feel really happy with the way it’s sounding. I still have a lot of logistics to figure out publishing-wise, but college should give me some time to explore my options.
- I’d like to work with a youth group sometime during college. My old youth pastor was in his early 20s when he taught youth group and I’d like to do the same during college. I think it would be a really good experience and I believe I would enjoy working at a youth group and helping to share the Word of God with others.
- I should still be running this blog. I’ve really begun to immerse myself into the blogging world this year and I hope to continue writing through college. I don’t know all of the details about how this blog will evolve during college, but I hope you guys will stick around to see what happens. I know God has a lot of life lessons lined up for me in college and I plan to write about what He’s teaching me in this new chapter of life.
As usual, I’m going to ask for your awesome feedback. How did you picture your life turning out five years ago? What were you right about and what surprised you? I’d love to hear your stories!
Thirty Day Blogging Challenge: Day 5
Hey everyone, I’m a little late, but I made it! I had a Bible study with some of my friends today and we celebrated two birthdays, so that’s why this post is coming later than the last four. Today’s topic is about my proudest moment.
Truth is, I’ve been very blessed and have had a lot of really awesome moments, so I decided to narrow it down to my top three proudest ones!
- When I saw my first book in print. I was only about thirteen when this happened. I felt the Lord calling me to write a teen devotional drawing parallels between the struggles Biblical figures faced and modern day problems that people encounter, so I sat down at my computer and began typing. After a lot of hard work, I managed to find a publisher and earn enough money to self publish it. It was an incredible feeling to see something that I wrote in print and I’m very grateful for that opportunity.
- When I sang a song that I wrote in a talent show. From the time that I was a freshman in high school, I had a dream to sing one of my songs on stage, and October of my senior year, that dream came true! It was a great feeling and I’ll always remember that night. I wrote about it in detail here.
- When I won a Liebster award. A couple of months back, I was nominated for a Liebster by my good friend Mfon from Dainty M. It was super exciting to win an award and be acknowledged for my writing. Plus, the feedback from all of you has inspired me to keep pushing forward and posting new content. I’m very excited to see what God leads me to write in the future.😊
I can’t believe that I’m already on day five of the challenge, I hope y’all stay with me until the end! 🏃
Thirty Day Blogging Challenge: Day 4
Guess what guys ? It’s day four of the blogging challenge! Today’s topic will be…my dream job!
Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve loved stories. I begged my mom to teach me how to read when I only three years old and from that point, I haven’t stopped. When I was little, it was board books. When I got a little older, it was chapter books. Now, I’ve moved on to novels and blog posts.
But, I didn’t just love reading stories, I loved telling them too. When I was a child, I used to enjoy playing pretend with my dolls and stuffed animals. After school, I would frequently disappear into my room, which in my mind was a transport to another land far, far away. Pretty soon, I discovered the ‘power of the pen’ and wrote short stories with a pencil and paper. I illustrated a “cover” and stapled the pages together. Those were my earliest days of writing.
I moved to the computer eventually (After taking the ever dreaded typing class), and I’ve been typing up stories since I was about eleven years old. I self-published two nonfiction books (Teen Impact and Know Jesus Know Peace) during my younger teenage years and am currently working on a fiction series that I hope to publish. I have also moved onto other mediums of writing-namely blogging and writing song lyrics while still staying true to my first love: Books.
As you probably figured out, my dream job is to become a successful writer. I’ve had that dream since I was a little girl and it’s persisted into adulthood. I’ve grown in my craft through writing this blog and also through the blogs of others (Shoutout to all my blog friends!). I don’t know my future holds, but I do know that God holds my future in His hands. Thus, as I continue this journey into college and a future career, I’m going to trust God and continue sharing my random thoughts with my awesome, faithful readers and through blogging. 😉
So how about you guys? What is your dream job? Feel free to post your answers in the comment section!
Waiting And Trusting
Hey everyone! I’m back in the blogging world! Sorry for the long hiatus (apparently my last post was twenty-two days ago…eek!). I’ve been keeping busy with school and revising a book that I’m writing (or, should I say re-writing?).
But, I’m back and I finally came up with a topic to write about (YAY!!!). This post is going to be about…wait for it…wait for it…It’s going to be about waiting! Yeah…I tried to throw in a little joke there.
Lately, as I’m getting older and closer to becoming an adult, I’ve been hyper-focused on my dreams and goals. A couple of years ago, things like a future career seemed so far off. Something to worry about in the distant future. But, suddenly, everything feels super close, which raises a million unanswerable questions to surface. Will my writing career sink or swim? And if it does work out, how? Should I make this change or that change to my book? Are my characters distinct enough? Are they relatable?
And then there are the more universal concerns.
In a couple of years I’m going to be living on my own, will I be able to handle it? I still only have my permit and haven’t even been practicing my driving lately. Will I ever get the hang of it? And, what will college be like? Will I be able to handle college math (My worst subject)?
I find myself caught between now and the future, half wishing I could ride in the crazy scientist from Back To The Future‘s time machine and be assured that everything will fall into place. But, I have something better than a time machine: God’s word.
As Christians, we’re not left alone to worry about the future. God speaks about this topic numerous times throughout Scripture.
““Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ?” Matthew 6:25-27
““For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”” Jeremiah 29:11
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
God has our whole lives planned out, and His plans for us are beyond our wildest dreams! We may not be able to see the future, but God can. Plus, if we could see into the future, we’d miss all of the surprises that come with living! As scary as it can often be, it’s also exciting to know that God has good things planned for us that we can’t yet fathom. At times, we may wish that everything would just happen right now. But, sometimes He sees things we can’t and has us wait for a reason.
Two years ago, I would have loved to perform a song that I wrote right then and there; but God had me wait until it I got better at singing and composing the instrumental for it. As hard as it was at the time, I’m now thankful that He had me wait. I trust that this is true for all my other goals/dreams/aspirations as well. God may be growing us during times of waiting, and asking us to trust Him with what you can’t see. He may be planning opportunities that can only be found further down the path of life. We don’t always know why God asks us to wait, but we can know this-
We never have to wait alone, because God is always with us, and always has our best interest at heart. ❤️
This song, While I’m Waiting, is from the well-known Christian movie, Fireproof. I think the song fits this topic pretty perfectly. 🙂
1 Timothy 4:12 Girl 