Dream Big

All my life, they told me it couldn't be done.  My mom told me.  My other family members told me.  Professionals told me.  They said I couldn't.  They said it wouldn't work for me. 

They told me I couldn't grow my hair out long. 

It seems silly, right?  It is silly.  But you know what is sillier?  The fact that I listened.  I listened for 31 years.  I always sported short cuts and bobs because everyone told me that long hair would not look good on me.  They told me my face was too small, my body was too small, my hair was too thin.  Person after person after person told me this.  And I listened.

Then I woke up one day and I decided it was my hair and I could do what I wanted.  And I did.  I grew it out for over a year and my hair was longer than I had ever had it before.  And you know what?  It looked pretty darn good.  And I got a lot of compliments.  And it was fun. 

I know this may seem like a silly story but bear with me because I think it has an applicable lesson for all of us. 

I am sure this is not the first time that I have listened to the voices tell me what I can and cannot do.  I'm sure you've listened to those voices too.  You've given into them when they said that thing you wanted to do, that desire that you have, that thing that keeps you up at night was too hard. 

You've relented and relaxed on your dream or on your calling.  All because someone, maybe even someone who loves you, said it was too big.  Said it was too hard.

I have dreams too.  Here are a few of them.

·         I dream of a world without orphans.  A world where every child has a bed to sleep in at night and has a full belly and where they know the love of a parent who will ultimately lead them to Jesus.

·         I dream of a world where there are no homeless men and women sleeping outside at night and freezing to death in the winter.

·         I dream of a world where every widow is also adopted by a family who will care for and love them and make sure they are not lonely.

·         I dream of churches full of these orphans and homeless men and women and widows.  Where these people are celebrated and loved and accepted and where they are led to the Savior.

I know these dreams are huge.  I know they are big and scary.  The numbers are huge and they are overwhelming but I also know who my God is.

My God is big and huge.  And He didn't do small things.  He created the world, for crying out loud.  And when He wanted to shine some light on it, He created the sun.  He didn't create some dinky light to shine on a small corner of the world.  He created a huge, burning, fiery ball of gas to shine on the whole world. 

When it comes to these huge dreams, I like to think I take after my Father.  I like the big and seemingly hard things.  I like to dream big dreams.  He created me that way. 

I don't have all the answers but I do have love and for now I'm just going to take one step at a time and maybe one day my dream will come true.  Until then, I'm going to listen to the only voice that matters- His.

About Kerry

Kerry Todd is married to her best friend, Denny, and has one daughter, Alivea. She is passionate about missions and about orphans and she loves watching the church be the church.  She and her husband have adopted one daughter and are in the process of adopting another child. She writes at my life (his mission) all about how God has wrecked her heart for the orphan and how she has found new life in the midst of infertility.  You can keep up with all of her craziness on her blog, facebook, and twitter.

---

Want to read more from this contributor? Put her name in the search box at the top.  
Sharing this article over at these awesome blogs