You're here today, and you have a Dream. Not the small "d" of "dreams" where you hope, wish and fantasize about future events, but the Big "D" - the Dream you were put on earth to bring about. Maybe you haven't put it into words; maybe you just have a stirring inside of you, knowing that God wants you to do something more than you've been doing. And when you take a step of faith to find out what might be possible if you got more training, if you moved further in the direction of personal health and healing, or you begin to make one small disciplined change; that's when you truly begin to honor that Dream. I didn't necessarily have a dream to become the Director of Counseling Ministries at Heritage in Denver, but 15 years ago I drove 200 miles from Pueblo to Denver twice a month because I just knew something was pulling me toward helping others. I hadn't even decided to be a counselor and, in fact, I felt unworthy of borrowing $20,000 to go to school even after completing 18 months of lay counseling classes.
My husband, however, kicked me in the seat of the pants and said, "come on, now -- why did you go through Stephen's Ministry training, then more lay counseling if you don't plan to use all that information?"
To make a long story short, I did go to Denver Seminary, did my internship at Heritage, then began a private practice in Pueblo. And now, I'm back at Heritage, encouraging others to follow their dreams.
I read a quote the other day: "every person has been created with a big dream, and most people, for one reason or another, just aren't pursuing it." So I ask you, if money or circumstances weren't an issue, what would you want to do?
One of my assignments in school was to answer that question, then interview someone who was doing what I wanted to do. I had a couple of ideas; one was to be an international photographer for National Geographic, and the other was being a counselor. Since I didn't know any NG photographers, I interviewed a counselor. I still didn't have a clear-cut plan to actually become one; my idea of dreams was that they stayed at home on your pillow.
However, I've been privileged to know some dreamers in my life. And you know, when they're honoring that dream, they'll make comments like, "I was born to do this." But, even when they've found their purpose and dream, they go through many years of preparation -- schooling, classes, taking steps of faith and following the promptings of ideas that seem to be born out of nowhere.
It's important to remember that it's not what you get that makes you valuable, but what you become. As you develop yourself, become more valuable at your job, in your relationships and your corner of the world, you make yourself available for God to use you in bigger and bigger ways.
A big dreamer in the Bible was Jabez who prayed, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory!" And God, as recorded in 1 Chronicles 4:10, granted his request. He'll grant yours too as you Honor your Dream.
