A 5-Year Plan ... Sort of.

I sit cuddling my infant while pondering Day 5 of Misty's new e-book.  The topic?  My goals and dreams.    What are my hopes for where I'll be in twenty years, ten, five ... next year?  Spiritually, physically, academically, etc?

I'm feeling so free!  It's so fun to dream!!  Holding a precious wee one while thinking she'll be half way through college in twenty years is doing this mama good on this hot summer afternoon (indoors in the AC, of course!)  I'm reminded not only that God's given me these tender souls to nurture and guide into their futures, but also that God wants to nurture and guide me into mine.  Super cool.  My life is not put on hold while I "raise - my part of - the next generation."  No, I can be thinking about, growing in, and moving toward whatever the Lord has put on my heart for me, too!  I can also trust that God is using these years to form in me character and faith that are imperative for the coming years.  If we're not trusting Him now, how can we expect to in the future?

Not only is it freeing to dream, but it's also freeing to be reminded there is TIME!*

• I don't have to smash everything into the next week.  My children, husband, and I have many years together to grow & learn and love & serve.
• I don't have to despair, because there's time to work toward personal goals little by little over these years that seem to be flying by in baskets of laundry, sinks-full of dishes, pages of workbooks, and trips to parks and museums.  All of these dreams can be broken down into smaller parts.  And God will use what I'm learning in the middle of real life, too.
• I don't have to worry, because God gives dreams and promises to fulfill the desires of or hearts.  Usually this does not come about as we expect, but He's got our good and His purposes in mind.  We need not worry!

Have you spent any time dreaming lately?  Are there some skills you'd like to develop, a career you'd like to pursue, places you'd like to go?  What do you want to do in the next 1, 5, 10, 20 years?  These are great questions, not for making set-in-stone plans, but for propelling you forward into what God has for you.  He'll speak to your heart as you dream!

It's the summer, a great season for evaluating, rearranging, rethinking, and dreaming!

Will you join me?

*I do realize that the Good Lord has numbered my days and yours.  Perhaps we don't have as many as 20 years.  But I know deep down we all want to use whatever time we have well.  Thinking ahead a little, dreaming, planning, allows us to do that.