Today is Sunday. i woke up this morning with every intention of writing my thoughts. i’m sitting in a room by myself, light filling every corner and music slowly leaving the speakers of my computer. i’ve been awake for a a little over an hour and i’m already quite fond of today. The sun is shining, the weather is enjoyable, and my heart is full. Today is a day where my dreams feel close.
i’ve realized lately that i have a lot of dreams; i want to travel across The States and around the world, i want to drink a lot of coffee, i want to own a corgi, i want more tattoos, i want to work for a nonprofit, i want to write a book, i want to climb mountains! i have things i want to do, stories i want to write for myself.
The beautiful thing about it is this: i can.
i’ve spent a lot of time on this earth telling myself that dreams are impractical and risky. Because of the story our Creator has written me, i’ve experienced a lot of hard things. Dreaming to me was setting myself up for more disappointment, which is the last thing i wanted. For five years or so, i didn’t allow myself to want things. Wanting things scared me, wanting things meant allowing my heart to desire something that it potentially couldn’t have. i protected myself and locked myself in a theoretical box and closed the theoretical lid. No risky dreams. No big desires. Just safe, reachable, small, reasonable potential dreams that i didn’t let myself think too hard about.
Thankfully, that’s not a problem any more.
After last semester, after this summer, after this crazy season where i’ve grown and healed and experienced more than i could have imagined, i view dreams differently. Before this season, i knew i was broken, i knew that you were broken, that the world was broken, and that my favorite coffee mug was broken. i knew that i had a Savior that had fixed me (and you), that He had come to offer us a life that isn’t broken. It just took me a while to really get what it meant to walk in the freedom that He gives us.
Liz and i were talking the other night and we almost got to the point of screaming because we were so excited about all of the dreams that we have. i loved sitting her car listing the things that the world makes seem out of reach and hard and risky, but that we want any way! Yes, going out there and taking risks is scary, but it’s what makes life an adventure, friends. We have a God who has given us grace, freedom, love, peace, comfort, and a million other things. He is there when we are chasing our dreams, He’s there to celebrate with us when we reach them, and He is there to hold us when we don’t. He has given us a life that makes going after our dreams possible. His grace is an adventure, so let’s explore!
Let’s stop telling ourselves that what we want is impractical and let’s go out there and do it! If it’s in the Lord’s will for it to happen, it will! So make a bucket list! Look up cities that you want to see, and go see them! Go hiking, adopt a dog, see the world! Take risks and experience things you’ve never thought you would.
We deserve to dream.
Stay wonderful.
adventures in grace. 