His Dreams...

Most every day I wake up and say, “Lord, what are we gonna do today?  Because I’ve got nothing on my calendar.  All I see is a big, blank space under Tuesday.  Yeck.   And you know me, I need something on my calendar.  So how can you use me today?”

So on those days when I have no Target runs or chemo appointments scheduled, I pray, “Please use me.  Use my words or my hands.  Put me where you want me to be.  Allow me to say what you want me to say.  Put my feet on your path, not mine.”  And then I see where the day takes me. 
 I mean takes us.

I prayed this prayer Tuesday morning as I dropped my daughter off at school.  I then ran a few errands, and decided to text a friend and ask her to meet me for lunch.  While we were eating, she said, “You have no idea how much I needed this today.”  She went on to tell me how challenging her life has been lately.  And just by listening to that little voice inside me that said, “text her and invite her to lunch,” I feel God truly showed up at our lunch table.   The three of us shared a great meal.  

I told her I’m reading a wonderful book titled, “Just Walk Across the Room” by Bill Hybels.  I loved what I had just read.

Hybels writes about a man in the Bible who had a withered, deformed hand and is brought before Jesus for healing.  Without any hesitation, Jesus heals him.  

He writes, “I envision Jesus saying to the good-as-new man, ‘Listen, now that you have two good hands, what are your plans?  Juggling?  Piano?  What is it that you dream of doing, my friend?’  In my imagination, they chat about this man’s long-awaited passion pursuits.  And possibly the man then turns to Jesus and says, ‘Well, what are your dreams?’”  

Hybels goes onto explain the rest of the story, but that question got me thinking.  What if I added the words, “for me.”  What are your dreams for me, Lord?

Do we ever stop and ask God what His dreams are for us?  Or do we just run out ahead of Him and plan everything ourselves?  
I know that’s what I did.

For the majority of my life, I have always had dreams.  In fact, I probably thought about my dreams more than I thought about my reality.  I had dreams of opening a store, of owning a bed and breakfast, of being a writer.  Yada yada yada.  And yada again. And then a thing called cancer entered my life, and I realized that none of those dreams hold any value to me anymore.  

My new dreams pretty much center around eternal, not temporary pursuits.  I now dream of raising my kids into adults who love and trust Jesus, of introducing anyone I know or will ever know to the Lord who I cherish, and of one day sporting gray hair and a face full of wrinkles while using the gifts He has given me to honor His name.  By the way, I mean a lot of gray hair and wrinkles -- way more than I already have.  I'm talkin' grandma gray and wrinkles!

But I love the concept of being healed, or forgiven, or given a second chance, and giving it right back to Jesus by asking, “What do you want to do with my newly healed life?  What amazing things can we do together?  What do you want my Tuesday afternoon to look like next week?

It just might be as simple as lunch with a friend.  Or a lot more challenging, like stepping out of your comfort zone for a day.  Or for the rest of your life.  
  Who knows.  


All I know is that His dreams are now my dreams.  I seek His will above mine.   And I can guarantee you, His dreams are so much grander than mine.