God-Sized and God-Given

God-sized Dream = A desire in your heart for more of what God has for you.

We’re opening the door to God-sized dreams in 2013. So every week we get together to encourage each other {because don’t we all need it? yes, ma’am.}. This week Amanda White is here to share about God-sized dreams with you…

The one thing I’ve learned about God-sized dreams, is that they aren’t just God-sized, they are God-breathed, God-planned and God-given.

When I was deciding what to do with my life in college, I thought God had a plan for me in full-time church ministry. I always liked performing and could imagine myself on the stage doing puppet shows, skits and lessons designed just for kids.

I just knew my God-sized dream was to be a super-star Children’s Pastor or maybe even a famous evangelist for kids’ ministry! And what do you know, that’s how my life journey began. My husband and I traveled the country for several years speaking at church camps and special kids’ events. We soon became Children’s Pastors at a church plant and later, at a mega church. We were totally living our God-sized dream!

Then, suddenly, we weren’t.

We became parents. Our pastor wasn’t all we thought he was. Our job was bringing out insecurities we’d never dealt with before. We were burnt out at 29 years old!

But weren’t we living the dream? Weren’t we doing the big God-sized dream? And if we left this dream, what would God think? What would God do without me? How could His will possibly be accomplished?!

(You hear the hyperbole, don’t you?)

Soon, my God-sized dream seemed forgotten. I was no longer a super-star for kids or otherwise. I was a stay-at-home mom trying to take a shower every day. I just knew my God-sized-dream Train had left the station and I was still waiting on the platform.

Then I discovered blogs. And they plugged right into my skill-set and my interests. I liked connecting with people, sharing my ideas, talking about Jesus and showing off my daughter. I liked writing and creating. I was good at this!

As the years went by and I learned more about motherhood, blogging and ministry, I discovered something: my blog could be a ministry. Actually, it was more than “could be”, it was a ministry!

When I got up on a stage in front of kids, I knew that was ministry. I could see hundreds of sweet little eyes looking at me. It took me several years to discover that opening up the dashboard on my blog was like standing up on that same stage, only this time I had no idea who’s eyes were looking at me. I had to put my best foot forward and my best words out there.

As I’ve used my blog to help parents lead their kids to Jesus and churches raise kids to know the Lord, I’ve seen a bigger part of God’s dream for my life. That God-sized dream seemed big when I was in college. It seemed even bigger (and out of reach) when I became a mom. As I’ve grown, I see how His dream for me, was something He’d planned a long time ago. Not something I planned and then executed for Him. That God-sized dream is something He planned, developed and carefully sculpted for me. He’s been waiting for me to grow and discover this dream. He’s laid it out for me like a surprise gift and He’s waiting for me, his small, insecure, bumbling daughter to find it.

Just as Joseph’s brothers tried to kill Joseph’s dreams, our experiences, our circumstances and even our emotions can squash our God-sized dreams. We have to remember that these dreams aren’t something we’ve made up–God gave them to us! God breathed your dream into your heart. He crafted it into your life. He planned it before time began. Your God-sized dream is really God’s dream for you!

How have you seen God’s dream grow in your life?

*****

{Amanda White is a stay-at-home mom of two who is a blogger and an author. She wrote the Truth in the Tinsel. In her former life, Amanda was a Children’s Pastor — overseeing, organizing and developing ministry for kids in nursery through middle school, but now that she is a mom, her “skills” are used up on her kids!}

 

Not sure what to do next? Start with The “Do What You Can” Plan: 21 Days to Making Any Area of Your Life Better

Want more encouragement? You’ll find it in You’re Made for a God-sized Dream: Opening the Door to All God Has for You

About Holley

About Holley

Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author and Life Coach

I like humans, words, and good coffee. And I’d love to help you beat what’s holding you back, become all you’re created to be, and kick butt for the greater good.

Cheering you on,

Holley

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