Change is hard and it's tough especially in regards to dreams. No one probably knows this more than me whether it be self-prescribed change or ordained by God (I recommend the latter). The tough part about change is the fact that it destroys your personal comfort, it sometimes even recreates our inner dreams. It comes in like a whirlwind and picks you up and dumps you in Kansas with your friend Toto(wait other way around) and requests of you to thrive in these new circumstances. For a guy who loves new things change is still never easy and always shakes me to my core. Yet in the end the place I find the most joy is in change because even though it might bring pain and discomfort, it takes me to a whole new level; a whole new place within God that is filled with life and his goodness. A whole new place with others that creates a more healthy me.
I write this to remind myself it's okay to change. It's okay that the way you see a dream come to fruition is completely different then in the beginning. It's okay to reach beyond your comfort zone and go jump off a cliff. Much like what my brother in law Caleb says, "imagination makes you jump off a cliff sometimes." (or something like that). I whole heartedly recommend jumping off a cliff with others.
For the past several months, along with working two jobs and loving my family, I have been working on a project for the church. The idea is to begin to promote growth and life within the church through the use of both relational and purpose driven groups. Throughout this process I have been as giddy as a school kid on a playground. I love being creative and administrating that creativity. Most of all I love helping people. This has offered me both which has been very exciting but as with some things in life there is a catch twenty-two. Lately it's been difficult to relay that vision to the church. I figured to be another Smith Wiggelsworth, in that all I had to do was enter a room and everyone was filled with the glory of God and immediately jumped on board and started creating the vision God placed on my heart. I am finding, however that even though I see it as the shekinah(hope I spelled it right)glory of God, the ultimate vision of success, and the perfect solution for growth and life, not everyone else sees it that way. Not everyone else is as giddy as a school kid about my idea. Some are still in the change and don't necessarily see the same things I am seeing. So now the way I have envisioned the dream playing out is not necessarily how it is going to happen.
Most of my young adult life once jumping off the cliff, as in the situation above, I would continue falling until I hit the rocks on the bottom, ignoring the wings that God purposefully gave me to fly over those deadly rocks. I would shelter myself in one of those crevices in the rock and not come out again until I felt comfortable and safe or choose to just move to greener pastures. This time though it's different. It's different because family is important and people are important. Even though the steps are a bit wobbly and treacherous (insert National Treasure 1) the find at the end of the process is to important to dismiss. The find is more important than me or anyone else. This is what change does. It makes you think beyond yourself and begin to realize that you don't have all the answers. You can't do everything alone and that family is very important.
Family is so important that sometimes things change with the process of creating dreams. Plans change, people change, and dreams change. They change not because you necessarily hear the word of God but because it's important for family to be united. It's important that the family feels safe and secure. It's far more important that they build a relationship with God then to do the next awesome, creative thing you can come up with.
So I write this as a reminder to everyone who has big dreams that our dreams are never about ourselves or about what we can accomplish. The dreams are there for family and for everyone else, which means sometimes change in our dreams to incorporate others is a good thing if in the end it means you have a stronger, healthier family that is in a vibrant relationship with Christ.
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