Dream BIG

“Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different…” – C.S. Lewis

 

In 26 days I’ll be 36. I have realized how quickly time passes and how easily it is to look back and say “I wish I would have…”. For so long I felt like I was getting older but nothing was really changing. I still felt just as young as I did when I was in my early 20s. This year, though, that feeling has sadly changed. I started to notice subtle changes - like new wrinkles on my face, droopy eyelids, or needing more rest time to recover from a strenuous workout or a long car ride. How does that happen? How does everything seem the same and then all of the sudden it’s different?

 

I find myself frequently waking up early in the mornings. I already wake up early to work out, but I will wake up even earlier (unintentionally) and just lay in bed and pray continually before I start my day. I think these moments are my most vulnerable with Jesus. I remember my youth pastor in high school telling us that she would tell God every morning, “I give you Lordship over my life”. I say that same prayer even now, but then there are days when I wonder if I really mean it. I don’t discount my desire to have the Lord reign over all things in my life but when push comes to shove, I’m not sure how receptive I am to listen and obey when I feel a nudge or prompting on my heart. 

I look back on the weeks and realize how I could have done so much more. It’s so easy to just live moment by moment (and don’t get me wrong, those are all good moments), but the time will pass by whether we are intentional about it or not. I have felt extremely convicted about being more intentional with my time, my money, and my words. I love to travel and love to adventure simply because I cannot handle the feeling of mundaneness or monotonous routine. I enjoy change. I may even like it too much. I love meeting new people even if I know our encounter is just for the day, and we’ll never see each other again. I love hearing a person’s story. I know it is much more than a story and no words will really ever be able to re-tell their experiences. I find myself feeling so honored when someone is willing to share parts of their story – their life – with me. We can learn so much from others if we’ll just take the time to listen.

I have been traveling a lot for work lately, and it never fails that I sit next to someone that tells me their story. It’s somewhat impressive how it happens, because I usually travel with headphones and wear them nearly non-stop as they are noise-cancelling and help me with my anxiety when traveling. This last trip I sat next to an older gentleman who was just the cutest man. He walked very slowly to his seat and was having a hard time with his briefcase so I offered to help. He was dressed in a suit, wearing a nice watch, and had a big smile. Once we got settled, and he realized there was an open seat between us, he asked if his wife could join him. He asked me where I was from and coincidentally, he was from Springfield, MO, which isn’t too far from Olathe. I say coincidentally because we were on a flight from Atlanta to Orlando. I asked him if he was going to Orlando for work or fun (assuming fun and that by his age he was retired) but he responded by saying work. Over the course of the flight, I learned that he was a minister and grew up a preacher’s kid. I also learned that he had a heart at a young age to be a missionary in India, and he and his wife started a not-for-profit organization called Project Rescue to help integrate women who were victims of sex trafficking back into the world. I sometimes feel annoyed when people want to talk to me on flights, but I was far from annoyed. I had so much work I needed to get through during that flight, but I couldn’t help but listen to their story. He gave me a book he had written, and I am excited to finish it. I walked away from that encounter not only with a smile but also feeling encouraged and empowered by their testimony and love for Christ. In just an hour flight, it was clear to me their love for Jesus and for others. That’s pretty cool.

 

I was listening to a podcast this morning and they were talking about how it’s so easy to look back on your life and feel like you wish you would have done it differently. The guy was saying how he hears younger folks say “I wish I would have…” and as a man in his 30s, he is thinking “you still can” but then he realized that he is told the same thing and when he shares those similar thoughts with 60-year-olds; they’ll say to him, “you still can”. Isn’t it funny how our perceptions are constantly changing? What are the things you wish you would have done that you can still do if you just had the faith to walk out your dream? How “BIG” would you dream if you didn’t have any limits? 

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Why can’t we dream big? Mitchell was sharing with me how sometimes he’s afraid to do something new in fear that he might fail. I think that’s a common feeling for all of us, but my response was “haven’t you already failed if you haven’t even tried”? It’s so interesting. We will do nothing if it means getting to feel safe and comfortable. In reality, even if you try and fail, you are no less off than if you did nothing. The only difference is that we now robbed ourselves of an experience that would likely teach us something and perhaps humble our hearts in the process. And all that is assuming you’d fail… you might not!

 

Did you know that Dr. Seuss (Theodore Seuss Geisel) wrote his first children’s book in 1936 and the book was rejected by more than 20 publishers? He was walking home to burn the manuscript when he ran into an old classmate that liked the book and led to its publication. …Just think if Dr. Seuss had burnt that manuscript and stopped living out his dream. What “books” have you not written or “manuscripts” have you burnt in fear of rejection?

 

I remember working on a client where one of my main contacts told me that she often tells herself out loud “I can do hard things”. I remember smiling to myself thinking how silly that was… but guess what? I do that all the time now. I find that I have to convince myself that I am capable, intelligent, and loved. I too, can do hard things. Maybe we need to stop beating ourselves down; stop being so self-critical. If there’s one thing I know, the world will criticize you enough, you don’t need to be critical too. YOU can do hard things. YOU are loved. YOU are capable. YOU can dream BIG.

 

I’ve recently heard two sermons over the verse 2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”. Is that not the coolest verse? Jesus became sin (not because he was sinful but to be sin for us) and he died on the cross in place of our sins. We don’t have to live life feeling convicted for the stupid, sinful things we do. Instead, we are the righteousness of Christ. YOU are the righteousness of Christ.