Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Dreaming...

I'm a big dreamer. I love imagining all the possibilities in life. For seven years my husband and I remodeled an old home and we dreamt about all the ways we could make it beautiful and unique, but it often got us into trouble. When we needed to insulate the attic, we saw the potential to turn it into living space and we spent four years, and a lot of money, doing just that. When we had to install a mailbox out on the sidewalk, we thought it would be pretty to put the mailbox on a pillar, which meant we had to make five other pillars to match it. Even though this meant more money and more time, it was worth it to see our dreams come true.

Dreaming is a lot of fun. It allows your creative juices to flow and it gives you something to look forward to.

When you dream, the possibilities are endless.

But the thing about a dream is it can often leave you feeling discontent and impatient. I had a lot of dreams for that old home, but I was continually dissatisfied with it because it was never finished.

After having the twins we realized that our house was too small. Two weeks before we moved out we finished up all the projects we'd been trying to get done for seven years. It was hard to leave all our dreams behind, but God opened the door for us to move into a much bigger house on the banks of the Mississippi, where we could start dreaming all over again.

This time I am older and wiser (or so I hope). I will allow myself to dream, but I am not allowing myself to become discontent. Life is too short to live that way. Instead, when I feel myself becoming impatient, I find all the things about this house that I love and focus my attention on them. I love the neighborhood, the river, all the storage space, the room we have to spread out and the backyard.

Yes, we have dreams and we talk about them all the time, but we also have realistic expectations about our finances, our time and our abilities.

God has shown us that patience truly is a virtue; it's something that you acquire only when you exercise it. Waiting for a dream to unfold is the best way to do that.


This is my future writing room. It's a little space tucked into a quiet corner of the basement with windows that face the beautiful Mississippi River. Right now it's a three season area that is underused, but someday it will be heated with plush carpet, a floor to ceiling book case, the glow of a soft lamp and a comfy chair with ottoman. I can see myself curled up there right now, typing away...

I love to dream about this room, but it's easy to become impatient and discontent as I wait for the time and money necessary to complete it. When I begin to feel these negative emotions, I know it's time to turn off the dreaming and focus on something else - like writing - which is another thing I dream about.

What about you? Do you like to dream? Does dreaming leave you hopeful or discontent?  

23 comments:

  1. In 1984 I did a mission trip to the Amazon, and I don't mean the website. I walked through the jungle, I met incredible people, I swam in a legendary river. I ate great food. And food that was forced on me. Then I got sick. I came home. My health was permanently ruined. But I dreamed of going back to South America. 24 years later I stood outside the security doors at Viru Viru Airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and whispered to God "Thank you for bringing me back."

    It was all I dreamed of and more. My hopes were replaced with God's fulfillment. How could I have discontent when God took me by the hand and led me deep into the Andes to be with a forgotten and despised people? People who repeatedly say to us, "This Jesus speaks Quechua? How can I know Him?"
    5 months and I'll be sitting on a plane, dreams replaced with a plane ticket. And saying "Dios Tata benday si su chune" over and over. "God bless you" in Quechua.

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    1. Amazing, Jennifer. I agree, there are some dreams - the really important ones that God places on our hearts and leads us by the hand - that we are not discontent with, but wait patiently for many years to fulfill. I am planning on writing a post about those dreams one day soon. Thanks for sharing your incredible story - your heart is all over this one.

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  2. I love that stone fireplace! Dreaming is such a wonderful gift from God! :)

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    1. I love it, too. It opens up on both sides. I can't wait for the day that I can light that fireplace and dream about my storyworld people there! I believe that dreaming is a gift that God takes pleasure in giving us.

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  3. I definitely am a dreamer~ I dream of many things. My main dream is a cure for cancer. It is hard to watch someone suffer through all the treatements and the many effects of the treatments. Year after year after year.... I have other dreams too. A dream for a bigger house. One with a bigger living room, bigger bedrooms, my OWN bathroom (well, okay, I guess I could share with Tom....;) ) A home with a view! I want to look out my window and see something amazing....hills, a valley of houses, a river or stream....something breathtaking~ One day I will....but again...patience. All in due time! God will bring me to where I am suppose to be WHEN I am supposed to be there.

    Many dreams more.....too many to mention....I will keep dreaming, full of HOPE that one day many of them come true~

    Jennifer Bailey

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    1. Jennifer, I am dreaming of a cure for cancer, too. You've been such an inspiration to so many as you've walked the journey with Peighton, my prayer is that you will continue to have the strength to fight it and that Peighton will continue to heal - God has a might plan for that little girl's future!

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  4. Hopeful if I don't turn it into expectation.

    Such a cool set up!
    ~ Wendy

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    1. I agree, Wendy. Hope is what propels us to keep moving forward, but expectation is what leaves us discontent. Great point.

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  5. Dreaming keeps me going. But I have to remember to place my dreams in God's hands. If I can leave them there, then I'm not holding too tightly on.

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    1. You're absolutely correct, Lindsay. I've held on to some dreams before that were worthy of holding on to (like homeschooling my children), but when it came to the point that God was asking me to let go of those dreams, I kicked and cried and screamed like a toddler. Only when I finally agreed to let them go did I fully find freedom to follow God's best for me. And the dream to homeschool is still in my heart, but it's changed quite a bit as God continues to let me know what He wants.

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  6. Dreaming is a recent thing for me and I love it. I've got my hubby to thank for that, he's got the biggest dreams. I almost explode inside just walking into a craft store with all the potential to create something. The same with writing...but yes. I've often gotten discouraged, but I think its like a roller coaster ride of sorts. Up=hopeful, down=discouraged, up and down and around and around while we learn how to balance and keep our perspective. as for our house...yes, I get quite impatient when I look at the things we need to finish yet. But I like what you shared and how to keep things in perspective and not get too tied into the dreams for this place. Our house, however long we stay here, is really a stepping stone for future dreams. We shall see how that all plays out. But for now, I'm relishing our home, being content and trying to take good care of it. I do LOVE your future writing room and the fireplace. Our converted garage is our office/guest room/art room...its nice to have a space for things that mean a lot to us.
    :)

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    1. "Our house, however long we stay here, is really a stepping stone for future dreams." I love this line, Jennette. I think all of our dreams are stepping stones for things yet to come. :)

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  7. I've dealt with a lot of this recently too. When I start feeling discontent, I instantly switch to gratitude. I think of all the things I love about whatever I'm griping about. It's really changed me!

    Your writing room will be fabulous!! I found a cool magazine at B&N--"Where Women Create"--it's pricey, but the pictures really inspired me. Have fun dreaming!

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    1. I will have to check that magazine out - I love being inspired by spaces that other people have created. We have a book (don't remember the name) about cabins that people have built and there is a cabin in there built by Charles Lindbergh's granddaughter for her writing space - it is so lovely and makes me long for a space I can claim as my own (no children, pets or husbands allowed!) :) Well, maybe my husband can visit once in a while...

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  8. Aww, I love this! So glad that you and your family have been blessed with a bigger home. I pray that this new home would bless you even more than the former. Impatience and discontentment is so easy. I'm constantly having to remind myself that God knows what is best. And my dreams could easily turn into a nightmare if I stray from God's will while trying to pursue them.

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    1. You're absolutely right, Gwen. I find it hard waiting on God to fulfill a dream in my life, but I really wouldn't have it any other way. I don't want to walk outside His will for my life, because within His will is perfection and how amazing is that!

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  9. I love to daydream but I have to be careful to stay thankful for the things I have. I think thankfulness is the key to contentment. It's awesome that you and your husband liked doing these projects together. :-) Thanks for popping by my blog!

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    1. I agree, Jessica, thankfulness helps us to see all the blessings God showers on us and keeps us from being discontent.

      I see your name all over and thought I'd stop by and check out your blog. Thanks for coming by mine. :)

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  10. I hear you...sometimes dreaming definitely makes me discontent. I swing between dreams making me excited, hopeful and determined or discontent and dissatisfied. I know the former is better, but the latter is easy to fall into. I have to remind myself that even if every single last dream of mine came true today, it still wouldn't fulfill me the way Christ can and will fulfill me every single day...if I'll just look to Him, focus on Him and keep Him as my life's biggest dream-come-true.

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    1. Melissa, I love your last line, espceially "and keep Him as my life's biggest dream-come-true." Christ is our all in all and His love for us should be sufficient. I think we tend to fall into the trap of discontentment because the enemy knows how powerless we are when we're in that place. When we're thankful and content we can do mighty things for the Kingdom!

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  11. What a cool writing space - I love that it faces the Mississippi River! I've only seen the Mississippi one time, but thought it was awesome.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and following my blog! I live about a hundred miles south of the headwaters of the Mississippi, so where we live it's still very narrow - my husband and his friend hit golf balls across it into each other's backyards. :) The further south you go, the wider it becomes. We've been to Louisiana and to the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico, where it's much, much different than at home. The river is beautiful and ever changing with the seasons - it's one of my greatest inspirations. I feel very blessed to live near it.

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  12. That will be perfect. I've always dreamed of a fireplace in my writing space!

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