Dare to Keep Dreaming December: Risk is the Answer

            As the Year of Dreams 2012 comes to a close, I have been processing how to keep Dreaming in 2013. After much contemplation, it seems to essentially boil down to one thing: Risk.

No, not that one. 

            Risk is scary. It requires us to step out of our comfort zones and into the unknown. It means we can get hurt. It means we can become confused. It means things can get difficult. And it means we can fail.

            These things paralyze us from even leaving our front door. Visions of past failures and past pain keep us from taking any action outside the confines of our “safety” box. It’s probably very cozy and warm in there, but here’s the thing: you’re probably not being super effective and you may be robbing yourself from a Great Adventure that God is calling you on.  This can be anything from field trips, relationships, going after a goal, or even trying something new. Why not?

            Here are a just few reasons why it is actually safe to take the risk of Daring to Dream in 2013:

“’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

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy  31:6

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27

Trusting God can seem like a risk. But He always knows what he’s doing. Both in the Bible and in my own life experience, God has been the only one who has never let me down. Yes, there were times that I didn’t understand why I had to experience some things. Yes, there was pain. But, it was used for good.

            One benefit of trusting and believing God is the redemption of sucky situations. There is a lot of pain in the world. You will get hurt. However, if you are open to it, God will use your hurts and pains to help you grow into the person you were meant to be. Otherwise, you carry all of those burdens on your own back and get tired. And sore. And, sometimes, it can feel pretty hopeless.

And you could end up like this guy.

      

      This is part of the reason why we as humans do our best to avoid pain. We are pretty much physiologically programmed to keep away from it. As modern humans, we are programmed to avoid anything uncomfortable or difficult.

            I’ve been watching an interesting series on the History Channel called “Mankind: The Story of All of Us”. The show chronicles all of the achievements of mankind since the discovery of fire, all the way through the modern technology of today. Each victory in battle, in discovery and in invention all starts with someone willing to step out of their comfort zone and take a risk.

Funnily enough, they forgot this invention. 

            2012 has been a year of risks for me. I began with jumping out of a plane. Then I set a goal in a sport that I’m not very good at where I could have failed pretty hard. Then I took to the continent of Europe with nothing but a rucksack, a plan(ish) and a dream. I made deeper connections with people. I interviewed for a job that I thought I wasn’t qualified for. I dreamed.

            For the first time in my life I trusted God enough to leave the Shire and go on an adventure. And it was good. I faced some trolls, some danger and some dragons. But it was good. I have grown in more ways than I can count and am inching closer to being the woman that God has created me to be.

I'm going on an adventure in 2013!

And it’s nice to know that I’ve always got the Shire to come back to.

The applause is nice, too. 

Here’s to the adventures of 2013! Happy New Year Everyone!

The Year of Dreams 2012: Dare to (Keep) Dream(ing) December

 Looking back to the very first post in this blog, I can see that I've chronicled a pretty productive 12 months. It's amazing what a difference a year can make. This time in 2011, I was rounding up the most difficult year of my life.  It was a year where God did some very deep ploughing in my heart. I didn't understand it and, in my own childish perspective, could only focus on the immediate pain of my circumstances. But God always knows what He's doing. He used and directed the most difficult circumstances of my most difficult year to break through the Great Wall of China that I had built around my heart. 

The following is a poem that I wrote a few months ago that may (or may not) shed a little light on what I'm talking about:

Despite me you have restored me

You have poured into me this spring of life

That wets my tongue parched by the dry heat of the world,

So  that I can sing your praises 

Trapped in a chain of lies disguised by reason

I ran away from your plan

Away  from your hand that had committed treason against my logic

Whispers of the enemy grew louder 

And I cradled them for comfort

In my arms they burned me,

They turned me into an enemy of myself

Wearing the armor of worthless of victim of hopeless and of hell.

In my  self righteous rage I called out to you from my cage of fire

And you answered.

Protected and covered in your blood  

you dragged me through the part of hell that was hot enough to melt away the chain around my heart

The chain that was tearing me apart, causing my soul to sputter and choke

And In your arms we left that terrible place

On our skin not even a trace 

of smoke lingers

My sin, once again, crossed out by the one that the cross tells about

You broke into my heart to get me out of the pit

bit by bit you're still tearing down walls,

preparing me to heed the calls of others 

still stuck in the muck and stuck in the mire, 

hearts burning with the fire of pain and dispair 

instead of burning with the love and hope

that comes from knowing you are there 

You have used the flames of the enemy to melt the chains of the chosen

The eyes of my heart, once frozen in an eternal winter, have been warmed and melted into spring. 

Finally it is learning to sing the song of glory for the one who has transformed my story of pain into a weapon that can take down giants. 

Though I stumble and falter through each day

Your way is clear to me now, even in the shadow of death.

Where there once was a chain constricting the flow of your blood to my heart, 

there is now only air. 

For the chain, like death, has been defeated.

It is not there.

2012 was the first year that I entered with a "chainless" heart. How could it not have been a year of dreams? 

And I have decided not to put a time limit on Dreams. I have decided to Dare to Keep Dreaming in 2013. I've got a sneaky feeling that this adventure that I have been put on has only just begun. I don't know what God has in store, but I'm excited for the journey. 

See you in the Misty Mountains of 2013!