Tag: dreams

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When God is Silent

When God is silent I go crazy. I’m like an ADD super-charged squirrel in my natural environment going from one thing to another and even in my sedentary state I have the turkey brain. I have a feeling that may describe you too. The world is full of us. Ritalin dependent squirrels, am I right? Anyway back to my story with a lesson.

I have been about two years out of being bi-vocational. For those that don’t know I have owned Figaro’s Pizza for 18 years and for five of those years I also was also a Spiritual Development Pastor. I resigned from the pastorate around two Easters ago and have been awaiting what is next. God has been pretty silent on the subject which I’m not thrilled about. Actually I’ve had a beef with the big guy about it. Operating one store is not enough of a challenge for this squirrel man. He has more for me than I am doing and I know it. You know the feeling, you aren’t doing what you are capable of doing but no doors have been opened. It’s frustrating and it ticks me off. I have prayed that God would just show me and there have been crickets.

What do we do in those moments where God is silent on what to do next?

As you can guess this squirrel guy just does a bunch of stuff and looks more like a squirrel dodging tires than someone called by God. Pro tip: Don’t do that.

Visionary

You and I are vision casting leaders and vison casting leaders can get stuck dreaming about the future. Vision is how businesses are started, churches planted, and movements created. God gifted us with vision and that is a good thing. However, when we get caught up in the questions about the future we are not living out a life that honors God rather we are in squirrel mode.

Called for this Moment

God is calling us to this very moment. Dream about the future but come back to today. God has stuff for us to do now. I know that isn’t earth shattering but I realized recently that most of my prayers are about the future and not about this moment. When we seek future answers I have found that most of the time God is silent, however, when I ask Him current questions He has quite a bit to show me.

When God is Silent Who Should I Love?

One of the questions I have been asking that you may want to consider is; “God who do you want me to love well today?” When we ask a question that is in the character of God, He will show us someone. God is love. God will show His followers who to love. The question is, will we listen? God will show you who HE wants you to love if you are courageous enough to ask.

God gave us the Holy Spirit to be active in our lives. He will show us who and how to love. He will show us when we should shut up and listen. Ask Him to be in your day and be active. Then trust Him with your day. It’s easy to pray for help and divine appointments and then be ticked when the day doesn’t go according to our infinite wisdom (sarcasm is intended). Ask God to direct your steps and trust that He does.

Speaking of trusting God, lets trust Him with our future. As we love well and are guided by the Holy Sprit we are going to go on the coolest adventure. However, when we are constantly obsessing over when, where, and what in the future we are squirreling it. The problem with this other than our lack of faith is that it’s fruitless.

When God is Silent Let the Ground Rest

Obsessing over the future is like a farmer who plows a field to plant seeds and then tomorrow plows the field again and again continually. Then stands there and wonders why his seeds didn’t come up. We are called to plant seeds and let the ground rest. In these moments where it looks barren God is working. He brings the seeds to harvest when we are faithful with today. Move forward in love, do what the Holy Spirit tells you to do, and let the ground rest. A harvest is coming, I can see it.

Present Day

This was written over a year ago. I’m happy to report that after letting the ground rest God is speaking more and I’m getting doors opened for me that needed time. That is the great part of our journey. We never outgrow our need to trust God with the unknown as we step down a foggy path. Through loving others and living our best in the moment He will reveal in His time. Be blessed on your journey.

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Celebrate on the Way to Your Dreams

The beauty of the sunset caught my eyes tonight like most nights. We picked out or I should say God picked out a house for us that faces west. It faces the coastal mountains here in the Umpqua Valley of Oregon. On these spring days the sunset is just breathtaking. God created the world saying, “It is good.” I feel that today. After a day of creating, God gives his stamp of approval. He lays out a beauty at the end of the day just to show off a little. God celebrated every day and every work. I struggle to do the same. Often, I miss what is good that God has done through me. I walk in false humility, “Nothing good to see here.” How do you celebrate on the way to your dreams?

Seeing What’s Wrong

I see what is broken or morphed and totally miss out on the good that God has created all around me. He is good and the works of His hands are good. He has given us good works to do. It is not a sin to acknowledge that. The question becomes, how do we honor what God has done instead of wallowing in our self-righteous false humility?

You are Holy

As the sun sets while I am typing, I just want to tell you good job. You have done well and you are more prized than you give yourself credit for. God loves you and knit you together in a certain way for such a time as this. You are not an accident or malformity. You are a righteous son or daughter of the King because of what He has done and not because of our works. It’s okay to celebrate on the way to your dreams.

I miss this beauty in-between the sunrise and the sunset. I can get trapped by the low, gray clouds or burnt by the scorching sun, easily swayed by the world around me. If you aren’t, well props to you. This man is swayed, and I have found that a few things remind me of my identity in Christ and keep me on the center line of Christ and His Glory.

List of Your Identity Helps to Celebrate on the Way to Your dreams

I must keep a list of my identity in Christ. I have to say the words out loud because I often feel like the opposite of what He has said I am when I trust Him with my life. Write a list of the areas you have the strongest doubt. Neal T. Anderson wrote a great book on this that will help you called, Victory Over Darkness. This powerful, life-changing book will help you if you struggle with your identity in Christ.

Godly Friends

I need people to speak the truth of the Gospel over me when I don’t believe it for myself. We need friends the most when we don’t have time to build those relationships. If you don’t have Godly friends in your circle at the moment, that’s okay. It happens to all of us. Start today in building relationships. Join a small group, attend church, reach out to old friends. Everyone is lonely right now. Don’t give up on trying to attain a tight knit group; it will be worth the price.

Silence and Solitude Helps to Celebrate on the Way to Our Dreams

Getting alone with God allows His Spirit to be heard. He is speaking, are you listening? We are busy running around chasing dreams. I’m worried that we are too busy to hear our Father whisper His plans He has for our lives. Get alone with God and listen to who He says you are to celebrate what He has done through you in the day.

Worship

Worship is to celebrate Him in all we do. He was there in the mundane and the big moments of the day. Did you slow down enough to see Him in it? As we worship through word and deed we see Him in all things and can celebrate what He has done.

Well done today, you did your best. God is big enough to handle your worst moments and your best. Your undying faith and your wavering doubt. Some moments you will walk away proud and others with your head low, but in it all I want you to hear your Father saying, “It is good, give it to me and sleep.” Be blessed on your journey as you follow God and do what He has told you to do. It’s okay to celebrate on the way to your dreams.

What helps you to celebrate the journey?

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4 Keys to Navigate Change While Pursuing Your Calling

Spring is in the air. Yesterday it was in the mid-sixties in Southern Oregon and today it is dreary with a chance of snow tonight. Fall and spring are my favorite times of the year. Summer is too hot and winter is too dark. Maybe that says something about my personality; I am not really settled. Change is constant and very few things are a lifetime. Deep rooted callings and values are much more concrete, but those values play out in our vocation often differently at different stages. Change is inevitable when we chase dreams and if we aren’t ready for them, we can get caught standing still when we should move or moving when we should stand still. We need to navigate change well to reach our dreams.

My Navigating Change Story

I have been part owner and operator of a pizza restaurant for seventeen years in June. The last five years, I have served full time at a church and spent the last year and a half as the Spiritual Development Pastor. It has been a challenging, yet rewarding journey doing both. I have recently decided to resign from my pastoral position and that has not been an easy choice. In fact, I may pastor again someday, however, this is the right decision for now. Change; it’s messy and hard when you have two good choices. I have found that there is some crucial ingredients that make change a lot easier for me and I think they will help you as well.

Navigate change with these 4 tips.

Trusted Circle

We need a trusted circle of friends. I’m not talking about all of your friends, rather a group that you are 100 with and they are the same with you. This group is needed for counsel, encouragement, or to smack you in the back of the head when you’re being an idiot. We are all idiots sometimes. If you have not spent the time to build trusted friendships, it’s not too late to start now. Who can you take a chance in trusting? In the end that’s what it’s going to take, faith. If someone breaks your trust, forgive them and try someone else. Building a circle of friends is not easy, however, it is a must to navigating change in the best way possible. Open yourself up to the possibility that you don’t have all of the answers and others could be helpful.

Prayer Helps Navigate Change Well

Pray a lot to navigate change the way God intended you to. Not stupid fake prayers, rather real, raw ones that are honest. There are going to be times that you are angry with God. Tell Him. There are going to be times that you are overcome with gratitude. Tell Him. Your thoughts are not hidden from Him. Let the good and the bad ones always drive you to the feet of Jesus and He will restore you. Change will not be easy when you have put your heart and soul into something and you will need Him to guide you through and protect your heart from offense and pride. Pray to your Father in Heaven to navigate change with grace.

Surrender to Navigate Change

When you are running a marathon there is a saying that says, “Let the hill come to you.” It’s tempting to zoom up the hill and run out of energy or walk because it’s hard. Letting the hill come to you means that you maintain a steady stride and don’t force anything. When you are making a change, it will be easy to want to procrastinate to avoid the pain or to quit suddenly and speed up that hill. Surrender to God and the process and let the change come to you. Change is a gradual turn in the corner, not a jerky motion that scares your family and leaves you depleted. Surrender to the uncomfortable time frame to navigate change in a healthy way.

Talk and Listen to Navigate Change Well

I’m a verbal processor so no one needs to tell me to talk. Maybe you’re not and I want you to know that the people close to you can’t hear your thoughts. No one feels the same about change. I embrace change and my wife hates it. We have talked a lot about that and how our lives will look. Unity happens the more we share with each other and then compromise. If you are compromising without sharing where you stand, stop it. Talk about the uncomfortable things before they become a fight. Talk and listen to have healthy relationships as you navigate change.

Change is challenging and change is exciting. Embrace the sun and the dreariness on the way to the life that you envision. One thing I know for sure is that change is on your horizon and it’s up to you to make that change a beautiful thing or one that you hate. Stay curious about what God has for you next and be blessed on your journey.

What helps you to navigate change?

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5 Keys to Overcoming Rejection to Reach Your Dreams

Rejection feels like the end of a dream. It feels like someone’s disapproval of our art is everyone’s disapproval. I feel foolish when I am rejected. I wonder why I am not enough in the moment. It feels isolating even though all of us have come face to face with rejection. We are all at one time or another not chosen or told what we love doesn’t matter. In those moments when you feel rejection deep in your soul I don’t want you to quit, heck I don’t want to quit. I want you to overcome rejection.

When rejection comes everything in you is going to scream that the pain is not worth continuing. It feels personal, I know it does, but rejection says more about the rejector than you. Man that’s a lot easier to type than believe. It sounds like a famous break up line, “It’s not you, it’s me.” It sounds cheesy, but it is true.

Life is a mix of art and science. There is rock solid truth and a bunch of art. Art is in the eye of the beholder. I love the country. It’s why I live in a town of under 1,000 people. You may live and love the city. Two different points of view. I mean I’m right and your wrong. 😉

Rise and fight for your dreams by doing these five things.

Identity in Christ Helps us Overcome Rejection

Our identity comes from God, the one who created us. He names us and the name He stamped us with is Royalty. When we surrendered our lives to Him, we were given His identity. We can take rejection as who we are, however, we are royal priests and not less than in some way. When you are feeling the pain of rejection remember whose you are to rise from the ashes.

Stillness

I tend to try to prove people wrong when I get rejected. This is terrible fuel. I want to move on quick, but we need to still our hearts so we don’t run on that junk fuel. Sitting with Jesus in silence helps me to hear Him. In our sitting with the Spirit of God, we can hear Him whisper to us our true identity. We can feel His love towards us and He will cause us to dream dreams again. Sit with Jesus and rise in His strength to overcome rejection.

Worship

Sometimes, when I’m rejected I get a little ticked at God. I know I’m a smart guy. I don’t know if you do that, however, I do it because I’m ticked that He made me in a certain way. Not logical, but it’s where I go. When we worship God at points when everything in us doesn’t want to, our hearts turn to Him in adoration. When I worship God I stop looking at my circumstances and I’m reminded of why I run after dreams. I run after dreams because I’m running after HIM. Worship Jesus and get the power to run again.

Dust Off

I was reading in the gospel of Luke and was reminded of when Jesus sent out the disciples to heal and cast out demons. Jesus gave them instructions and told them if they are rejected to dust themselves off and go to the next town. You aren’t going to be received by everyone. You aren’t going to be understood by most. We should dust ourselves off and move forward. If we don’t we end up sitting in our state and miss out on what God has for us ahead in the next “town.” Dust off and serve the next one.

Focus on Legacy to Overcome Rejection

I have three wonderful kids, okay they are wonderful most of the time. I want them to shoot for the stars and they are bound to have some pain leaving the atmosphere for those stars. One thing that gets me to grind toward dreams is that I’m not doing it for me. I’m sowing seeds into the next generation. Your kids watch you. They are little sponges soaking up what we do more than what we say we will do. We want to raise kids that are overcomers and fighters, not ones that bend to someone’s opinion of something they have done.

Rejection especially in the early stages of chasing after a dream feels bigger than it really is. I know it hurts and honestly rejection I faced in my childhood still hurts when I think about it today. Rejection only defines you when you allow it to. Remember whose you are and rise from rejection to work towards those dreams. Rise and get a reward from it instead of wallowing in it. Rise and move forward into the brighter future stronger for it.

What helps you rise from rejection?

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Curiosity Gives You Courage to Chase Your Dreams

Curiosity gives you courage and as you’ve heard, curiosity killed the cat. Well, curiosity almost killed me. Okay, a little over exaggerated. I get into a lot of stupid situations because of curiosity. About a month ago, I had a predator barge through my electrical netting and kill a turkey on our little acreage. The next day, I made sure my electrical netting was up and working well. Nonetheless, the next night everything was gone. EVERYTHING!

The next morning, three turkeys and four chickens came back. I gathered them up and moved them to a more secure location. All except two chickens was what this chicken ninja couldn’t catch. I planned to get them at night when they went up to roost.

That night I went to fetch the fugitive chickens down the hill in our backyard with my cell phone light and that’s when I saw the glowing eyes staring at me. Me being the night and shinning armor, yelled at the mystery intruder. Suddenly, it ran a few yards away and crouched low to the ground. This wouldn’t do, so I kept screaming at the thing to get out and walked straight at it. Maybe it’s a racoon? I thought. No, too big. Maybe a bobcat? I had to find out what was lurking in my back yard and snatching up my poultry.

Slowly walking toward the trespasser while yelling at it until I got five yards away. I still couldn’t tell what it was and as I yelled, it crouched down but didn’t move. Then nothing, not a move. Suspicious and out of nowhere, I quickly hissed at it. I have no idea why I chose to hiss, except isn’t that what people do? Hiss at big glowing eyes in the dark? Well, it turned it’s head to the side and it was a flipping COUGAR! My curiosity turned to evacuation and I backed out of there like no one’s business. In case you are wondering, I can walk backwards really fast.

Curiosity Gives You Courage and Bravery

I was curious about what the eyes were and I walked right up to it and hissed at a cougar. Over time I have found that with my dreams too. I can do scary sometimes as dumb looking as hissing at a cat that could claw my face off things. Often in my curiosity, I dive in like when I jumped into my first restaurant. I didn’t know that I should be afraid. Unafraid, I dove in and ran the store, even slept in the back sometimes while working crazy hours. I didn’t know what was “normal” then. I was curious. Curiosity gives you courage in the unknown. Well, my second restaurant was harder and frankly I don’t know if I want to go through that again. Curiosity is gone and pain is seen.

Curiosity Takes the Emphasis Off of Me

When we are curious, we don’t think about our own safety. For example, giant flesh eating cat anyone?! In fact, I’m not thinking about myself at all when I am curious. I’m thinking about whatever I’m studying. It may be glowing eyes in the dark or my wife sitting across the table from me. When I am curious about her and what she is thinking or feeling, I don’t think about myself. Curiosity, in fact, drives my connection to her. The good thing is that she is a moving target and there is always more to find out! Curiosity takes the focus off me and puts it on others.

Curiosity Leads to New Opportunity

I could have opened a cougar spray company after that incident! In all reality when we ask why and why again we can find opportunity that we didn’t know was there. When we maintain curiosity we open ourselves up to new ideas, thoughts, and problems. Every entrepreneur knows the value of a problem. A problem is a business in waiting. Curiosity gives you courage to act on that opportunity. As you stay curious it will lead you into new opportunity that you never knew was possible.

Curiosity can be one of the most valuable things in the world or it can put you eye to eye with a she cat. Be wise about what you are curious about but never stop exploring new ideas and new thoughts. Breakthrough is just on the other side of a good question or a pondering thought. Dreams come true when we look at things differently.

What keeps you curious?

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How to Hit Goals and Dreams Instead of Quitting

Most goals and dreams don’t come to fruition. Most of the time we give up before the result we desire. That can be a depressing statement, but I believe it’s fixable. I want you to hit your goals and dreams. You want to hit your goals and dreams. Mind blown, I know.

 I have been thinking about one of my favorite quotes from Jon Acuff, “Give the grave only bones.” Steward well all that God has given to you. God has given you tasks to do, dreams to reach, and goals to hit.

Goals and Dreams Don’t Have Constant Returns

Often times we think of goal outcomes as having a constant state of return, however, I have not found that to be true. When we change behavior on the way to a target we need to have a realistic time frame for visual change. Physically it’s easiest for us to understand this concept of slow change. I could lose five pounds and you wouldn’t be able to tell that I had changed physically. What’s more difficult is it takes a long time for me to lose five pounds. Somehow it’s not so long for me to gain that pesky five though. It’s funny how that works.

Any goal is the same slow growth. Actions for a period of time are required for change and change is hard to see until it’s not. Somehow one day all of a sudden change is visible and people start wanting to know your secret. When you are tempted to quit on your goals remember that change will happen in time, but probably not as quick as you would like.

Fall in Love With the Process

Process matters more than the end results. If we are only shooting at targets when we hit that target, we will stop. I have ran a few marathons and guess what happens when I finish those races? You guessed it. I stop running cold turkey with no effort; I’m that good. I hit the target and it is over. No race to aim for so no running for this guy. Same things happen when we aim at the target of a certain weight. People usually yo yo back to the old weight because the target is reached.

Make the target more about the process and you can maintain a new habit that you can build upon. A great example is to process out things that you enjoy that will help you lose weight. Workout a half hour a day six days a week and cut drinks that aren’t water and you will hit the goal and keep sailing on. Don’t fall for the yo yo of goal, hit, and done. Aim in a direction and make a habit that will last.

Goals and Dreams Need to be Yours

People that love you have great ideas for your life. They love you and want the best for you. Many times people form their goals that other people want them to have and not what they want. When my wife and I were first married she really wanted to pray together so I made it a goal. It never worked because I was too insecure about praying out loud and I failed at the goal. I have grown now and want to pray with her. I now don’t struggle to pray with her because I’m ready. Goals inspired by God and that burn deep in your heart are goals that have a chance. Pursue goals and dreams that you have, not what others want you to do, and you will have a chance at reaching them.

You can reach your goals and dreams that are brewing in your heart. You are full of potential, you have achieved some of those things, but if you have breathe in your lungs there is more work for you to do. Make goals and dreams yours, fall in love with the process, and be patient with the time they take. Keep God in focus and chase those dreams.

What helps you to not quit your dreams and goals?

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Overcome Failure to Reach your Dreams

“I just love failing,”said no one ever and if they did, they are an insane in the membrane. We do not like to fail, but failure is part of the dream chasing journey. If you are going to chase a dream you are going to fail. The key is not letting failure stop you so that you can overcome failure to reach your dreams. There have been times in my life that I have failed and quit and there have been times that I have pressed on and achieved what was in my heart. I’m sure the same thing can be said for you.

As I look back on my journey, I have discovered some differences in my bounce rate on failure. So how do you go from defeated to a hopeful dream chaser again? As Winston Churchill said, “Success is going from failure to failure without the losing your enthusiasm.”

These 4 things will help you overcome failure to achieve your dreams.

Autopsy a Failure

This can be hard to do, however, is critical to learning from failure. Failure is good IF we learn from the situation. Often times it’s our expectations that are off and we need to address that otherwise we will have the feeling of failure more than we are actually failing. In other instances there are key mistakes that we made. Sometimes to know if we made a mistake we need to get an outside perspective because it’s too personal. Look back and see what went right and what went wrong and how you can fix the problem in the future.

To Overcome Failure to Reach your Dream Know Your Identity

We can over identify with failure and it leads to discouragement and worse yet it can cause us to give up. You are a son or daughter of the King of the Universe. No matter if you succeed or fail at something your identity never changes. This is so important because when we over emphasize failure or success we close our eyes and our ears to things we need to hear or see. When we know that we are righteous men and women of God regardless of our production, we bounce back from failure much faster.

Do You Need to Change Your Path?

We need to ask ourselves if we are on the right path when we fail. Sometimes I have failed because I don’t have the talent or ability to do something. I don’t want to dedicate the time and energy to become better. Sometimes I don’t want it bad enough. Ask yourself if you would chase the dream regardless of “success.” If you would even if it didn’t work out wipe those tears and get back up! If you wouldn’t chase the dream wipe those tears and try to find a dream you would and try that.

To Overcome Failure to Reach your Dreams Take a Break or get Busy

Sometimes when you “fail” you just need to take a break. I took a hiatus away from writing a few months after releasing my book. You can get it here. The launch didn’t go as planned and I was tired. I needed to take a break from writing to find my voice again. On another occasion when an editor told me I didn’t have what it takes to write, I wrote ten posts in a few days and got featured in Entrepreneur Magazine. Sometimes you will need to break for a season and it’s okay. Other times you need to put the pedal to the metal and get busy. Take some time to look inward and then do what you feel called to do.

When you fail and you will remember that it’s not who you are. You can rise from the ashes and be different. Be kind to yourself in these moments. Take some time to encourage another dreamer because we all could use it. Dream big, fail small, and never lose that glimmer of dream chaser in your eye.

What causes you to overcome failure to reach your dreams?

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4 Tips to Figure out Which Dream to Follow

Often we wait for answers that we won’t ever get. We wait for one hundred percent clarity. I was reminded of this today as the fog was thick on my way to work. I could sit there, but the reality is that I won’t have any better vision of what’s ahead by sitting still. The same is true for our dreams; clarity on the direction we should go happens when we move. We will not find out which dream to follow sitting still.

The uncomfortable truth is that direction is usually better seen looking back rather than forward. It’s uncomfortable because people crave certainty and the life of a dreamer chasing God’s direction is that faith is not certainty. Actually faith requires doubt otherwise it is certain.  

For many the roadblock to chasing dreams is two good paths. The options can be overwhelming and freeze our motion and send us into a spiral downward in the mind. It’s easy to get stuck in a back and forth battle one day choosing one option and the next a different. Multiple good options can lead to decision overload.

In Acts 15:28 it states, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements.” These early leaders were building foundation to modern day Christianity and they were deciding major doctrine. Their response is that they went with, “seemed good to the Holy Spirit and us.” Seemed good! If it would have been me, I would have waited until they knew it was good.

 In our search for direction, we want a path with no failure and zero setbacks. Sign me up for that one! However, the path looks a little scarier with lots of setbacks and failure. That’s a lot of why we don’t get shown the whole picture because we never would do it! Too many creepy mice and other scary things on that path. I’ll stay right here and wait on God.

When paths become available we need to do a few things to choose the “right” one.

There is NO Right Dream to Follow

The first rule is there is no RIGHT one. When we make a decision that isn’t a sin issue or an all-encompassing one, we give too much weight to the decision. Yes, I’m sure that it is important, but I don’t think that if you choose the wrong good option your world is over. If you go and it turns out to be “wrong” you can pick a new path. Maybe God wanted to teach you something on that path for a while. Most decisions are not final or fatal. Finally, if you go down the way a little bit and realize it’s not the dream you thought it was, just make a new decision. Shrink the size of the mountain to actually choose.

Ask God

Pray about it and seek God. The writer of Acts said that it seemed right to the Holy Spirit and to them. They were talking with God and did what they thought God was telling them to do. Listen more than you speak when you ask. Sometimes we ask and plead instead of asking Him and waiting for Him to speak. Asking God and doing what you think He is telling you is the only way to have joy and peace on your journey.

Get Council

There are people that have struggled with decisions and know you well. Ask them what they think and what they notice. It could be that you are actually excited about one career, but you’re scared. Your family or friends will be able to pick up on things like that. They can also tell you their stories about why they chose different jobs and what the messy middle was like before it worked out. Glean from experience and wisdom to help you make the decision.

With council, make sure that you don’t abdicate the decision to them and that you listen to God above all else.

Get Away to Figure Out What Dream to Follow

When making decisions I need time away by myself. This world is really noisy and it’s hard to get silence and solitude. However, it is super important to remove yourself from your environment to get a clear view and listening ears to hear God. The bigger the decision, the more time away from the noise I recommend. Get out of town, go for a hike, take long walks in the morning or evening, sit next to a river. There are many ways to get away; we just have to make time and space to do it. Get out of the noise to have clarity on the dream.

Shrink the size of the decision to get you moving, pray to God, ask wise people, and get alone with God. In the end, know when you are searching for certainty and when you’re using wisdom. Chase after God and you will be able to figure out what dream to follow in time. If you need more help reaching your dreams, my book goes into further detail and you can get that here.

What helps you figure out what dream to follow?

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Dreams and Goals for a New Year

I had a Facebook memory pop up today from December 31, 2019. I was so excited about 2020 in that memory. The new year is awesome, not so much staying up until midnight though. This guy usually rings in the new year asleep. When a new year begins, I love dreaming about what we are going to do and accomplish as a family and for myself. I’m a goal and dream nerd and I want you to accomplish your dreams and goals too. Everything is possible, hope is palpable.

While 2020 put a beat down on a lot of my plans, how did it affect yours?

One of my favorite quotes, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Mike Tyson said that and I’m pretty sure he is the one that gave us all a right cross to the chin. As I talk to people and examine my own heart, I don’t like what that punch to the face has done to my dreaming heart. I feel and see an insidious invader enter 2020.

Passiveness

I believe we are struggling with a disillusionment hangover and its turned us into a bunch of passive disheartened zombies. Why plan for 2021? Look what happened this last year. From virus to forced shutdowns, its been a year. We can get so drawn to what has been taken away or knocked upside the head, that we wait to plan goals and dream, and most of all HOPE.

Zechariah 9:12 says, “Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.” Prisoners of hope! How can we be prisoners of hope instead of prisoners of despair?

God is bigger

A lack of hope is when I get my eyes off of the greatness of God and put my eyes on my problems and all the scary unknowns out there. I’m sure you had a lot of hard things this last year and I also know that God was not surprised by this year. I don’t know a lot of why things happened to us, but I do know the greatness and vastness of the Creator. He holds the world in the palm of His hands and sits with us in the moment. When I reach my final destination in Heaven, I’m excited to get a lot of my questions answered. In the meantime, I will choose to remind myself that He has this, He has me, and He has you in the palm of His hands no matter what it looks like.

What can I control?

I like to talk about and think about a lot of what I have no control over. It’s easier to make excuses that way. When I sit in passiveness excuses are comforting, however, I don’t want that for me and I don’t want that for you. I want us to be prisoners of hope, not prisoners of excuses. When we fixate on what we can control, we see even in 2020 most of our goals and dreams could have still been accomplished. I don’t say this to shame you or I, but to remind us that we can do more than we think. The coronavirus didn’t make me gain ten pounds, my stress eating of chips and salsa did that. What can you control? Plan and dream around those things.

Goals and Dreams Need an Eternal Perspective

We get drawn to passiveness when we look at the world or spend our days watching the news. We could be informed on world events in five minutes, yet some of us sit watching the news getting all worked up for an hour or more. Likewise, some get sucked into news on Facebook and Twitter. It gets our minds off of the eternal and onto this fallen world. God has things for you and I to do and we need to get in the business of doing them. This only happens when I remember that God has good works for me to do. It is then that I seek Him and His kingdom. Heaven is where our hope comes from, not current events.

Dreams and Goals Happen with Hope Filled Friends

I have days of struggle and I know that you do too. We need to surround ourselves with friends that remind us of Jesus and that He has things for us to do. We don’t need more friends that complain all day about a plethora of things. If you don’t have friends that remind you to have goals and dreams, maybe this could be one of your goals this year. Surround yourself with other prisoners of hope that raise your mood and expectations about what God will do.

Dare to dream today! If you want help reaching your goals and dreams, I did write a book about it which you can get here. Look to where our hope comes from, focus on what you can control, and move with hope and faith like a child. This year can be your best year yet. I believe God has great things in front of you. I believe the question is, do you? This year be chained and imprisoned to hope.

What helps you live in hope?