As mentioned in my post last Sunday, I have felt God calling me to pray more DANGEROUS prayers, dream BIGGER dreams, and have a more WILD faith than ever before in this new month and season. So, I’ve been writing things down in my journal and lifting them up to God, asking Him to do His WONDER-FULL work in my life. But, in addition to putting pen to paper, I felt compelled this week to give these heart-stirrings a more visual representation – something I can look at every day to keep me on track, focused, and inspired as I trust God for the dreams, goals, and hopes I have for my future.
Therefore, I developed a mini vision board for summer. I’ve done this in the past, usually at the beginning of each year, and I love how it brings to life and color those things that are most important to me. As you’ll see from the above picture, I focus my board on the categories of faith, marriage, career, hobbies, and adventures. Seeing the various pictures triggers the reminder to pray for and keep going after the goals within those areas of my life. And the thing is: it WORKS! I have found that if you have a dream, can see it clearly, are willing to believe in God for it to be accomplished and put the necessary work into it – it HAPPENS – and usually in a way that’s even better than you could have ever imagined!
I’ll share a perfect personal example that actually just happened this weekend. I returned to running this past week after being out for a month recovering from tendonitis. I’ve been so looking forward to getting back into my running routine, but know I need to ease back into it so as not to re-injure myself. I trained Tuesday and Thursday and felt great, and decided at the last minute to register for a local race up north – one I actually completed last year. I ran and completed the race with no pain (aside from the normal burn that comes with getting back in shape) and while I didn’t set a PR, I felt happy with just getting to the finish line and knowing I’m on my way back to the sport I love so much. Then I wake up this morning and check the official race results, only to learn that I actually earned First Place for my age group! Am I surprised? Happy? Encouraged? Overwhelmed and in AWE? You bet! This is what I’m talking about! I didn’t expect anything like that at all – and yet I placed my faith and trust in God as I took the risk to run the race – and He blessed me far beyond what I envisioned for myself! I love it!
I’m sure all of you have similar stories that you could share. I encourage you to cling to those reminders of God’s amazingness in your own life and to continue dreaming BIG, naming and putting images to those things you feel so deeply about, and letting nothing stop you as you go after them! “The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24, NIV).”
Wishing all of you a dream-come-true and week of inspiration ahead! Happy Sunday, friends!