Friday, May 23, 2008

Dreams VS Reality

God has had me up VERY early this morning. I wasn't happy to hear those angels knocking on my walls but none the less, I dragged myself out of bed! (Every time God has something for me to figure out early, I always hear a LOUD cracking noise in the walls, so I say it's angels knocking telling me to GET UP!) "But Lord.....it's summer time!!" And God said, "Mmmhmm, it's summer time........GET UP!"

Well, I'm glad I did, because friends, we need to talk this one out before the LOUD pitter patter of six feet hit the floor!

Where do you draw the line between dreams and reality? When do you say, "Ok, this was a dream of mine, but now reality has set in."

For example, on a light note, I dream of one day being able to go to Target and not having to buy three children and ICEE to "SHUSHA" their mouths! And in reality, there very much likely will come a day when that will happen. But for now....my reality is not that!

But on a more serious note, then there's the other dream of becoming a women's speaker, writing bible studies and leading women closer to the Lord by what God has brought me through. This could, Lord willing come into reality in my life. But maybe one day I will have to say, that's a dream, not reality?

And then I think about my husband's dreams, to run a marathon, to own his own company and to have a house that is perfectly clean EVER DAY! In reality.......his dreams COULD come true. (although the perfectly clean house thing just ain't happening until these girls are grown and GONE! I've accepted my reality, he hasn't yet, pray for him).

He could work really hard and run a marathon and he could also work SUPER DUPER hard (like he doesn't already!) and have his own company. And his wife COULD work really hard and never stop cleaning. Dreams could become reality.

But are those dreams reality when it's not now? When do dreams become reality? When do we accept reality and stop dreaming? These are big questions in my mind today.

And then I think about some people's reality's that wish they were in a dream. I think about the tragedy's that we hear of each day, diagnosis made by doctors each day, marriages that are broken from affairs, children's lives lost that seems so unfair and heartache that we all face on a daily basis. Serious things that we go to sleep at night praying to wake up and it be different!

But then I wonder........should we really ever stop dreaming? Should we continually be "dreaming" about something? But aren't dreams really wishes? And where do wishes line up with what God has planned? Or does the Lord give us those dreams to allow Him to let them become our reality through faith?

Oh ya'll......this is so confusing, I hope it even makes sense!

I know this is a heavy topic and ya'll don't like to talk about this stuff! =) You love to talk about decorating and silly girly's but when I get serious on ya'll the comments go........drrouuuuuuup. But, I would REALLY, REALLY love to hear your thoughts on this. Help me work this out in my head spinning mind!

I promise to have a much lighter post on Tuesday! We're heading up to Asheville to visit with my mom and dad for the weekend. Have a great weekend!

7 comments:

tammi said...

Oh Nicki, I think many moms of little ones struggle with balancing dreams and reality and trying to make the two meet. At least I do. So you know there's at least one other person!! ;)

I think it's important to keep dreaming. As soon as we quit, we start going through life as robots, simply plowing through one day at a time with no thought to our impact on the future. Dreams give us hope, develop goals, and help us learn and practice self-discipline.

And I think it's important to remember the dreams of yesterday. Remember when you were in high school? What did you dream about back then? Did you dream about being married to a wonderful man and having children? Then it's important to celebrate the fact that YOU'RE LIVING THE DREAM! Sure, our dreams change as our lives change, but it's good to reflect and see where we've come from.

Another thing I think it's important to do when dreaming for our futures is to check our motives. WHY are we dreaming and wishing for certain things? Many of my dreams are a little bit selfish, I must admit. They don't really line up necessarily with the person I know God wants me to be and the responsibilities He's given me. You know what I'm saying?

It's important to dream. But just like so many other aspects of our lives, it's important to dream within God's will.

Did that make sense? Of course, we're human and not all our dreams and hopes for the future will necessarily be God's will, but I guess what I mean is that we have to be willing to let go of some. Graceful acceptance that our lives are taking a different path than we'd hoped for, making the adjustment, and dreaming anew is a work we need to allow God to perform in our hearts sometimes.

Great thought-provoking post, Nicki!

ThreeGirlyGirls said...

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one!! =) Thanks for your thoughts on this one. I truly have never thought of the dreams I'm living out from day to day, thanks for showing me that! Great input!

My Army Brats and Me said...

Dreams are what drives us. That drive a lot of times will turn into reality! I never will stop dreaming. I tell my kids never to settle. If we keep dreaming and reaching for the stars the sky is the limit.

ThreeGirlyGirls said...

Love it Cindy! Great thoughts!!

Sharon Brumfield said...

First I want to say that I so understand your thoughts and hearts here. And you are right you won't find many who want to join you in these thoughts and questions.
I have dreams too. Some dreams that seems to be filed away in draws that are gathering dust. But I do believe that those dreams were put there by God. Dreams to be involved in waking the body of Christ. The sleeping giant.
With this move I can not but ask God how this move is going to get me any closer to being where I need to be to see this dream become a reality. But, I am not responsible for fulling the dream....He is.
Dreams keep us moving. Not manipulating but moving. Without a dream or a vision the people perish. We become stagnant.
Look at the life of Joseph. He did not understand the dreams he had...he was not prepared for the dreams he had to come to fulfillment at a young age. But he allowed God to take him where he had to go so that in the end he could be in the position to step into the reality of his dream. Even if what is in your head and heart does not seem possible we keep walking till death brings an end to them.
The reality is that God is looking for those who are willing to give their hearts to Him. Then He will begin to mold you. He is molding you now. If it is only one that you are meant to touch.....are you willing? I know the answer.
In this hurry up world we can be entrapped.People begin to move themselves into areas that they are not meant to be in yet...they are not ready.
I think that you can look at the life of the prodigal in a different way. What if what the prodigal was given was a ministry? The Father knew he was not ready for it yet...but it was what God was going to give him when he was ready. He wanted it NOW so the Father gave it to him. He took it and because his heart was still not prepared he drew to himself those that were only interested in the glitz of something big. When the prodigal could not keep things going because the Spirit was not in it....they left.
We want to be ready and we want the Holy Spirit to engulf and full fill the purpose God has for this ministry.
So keep walking....don't let the words of people who will gather influence you. Keep your eyes on Him and let Him open and shut doors.
I know you know these things...God has already spoken these things to you. Just listen.
I love these thoughts. He loves your heart.

nanatrish said...

Nicki, I have told you for a while now..you are special and God has a special destiny for you. I think one of the things we get caught up in is time. We think that if something is to be our destiny it has to be right now or yesterday. I think part of that is our society. We have so many things that are instant and immediate. God is doing a work in you and me. He will show you the path He is taking you on. In my estimation, your responsibility as mommy to those 3 precious girls in so huge and you are teaching them in the ways of the Lord and that is so important. I believe we should always keep dreaming like one of the other bloggers said. As ValleyGirl said, "You are living the dream" like my blogname. One habit I have to catch myself falling in is always thinking when I lose weight, when I pay off such and such, and I used to say when my daughter is older I will do so and so. I look back now and the things I was doing right that minute were meaningful and mattered. You seem like such a sweet mother and trying to think of fun things for those girls and taking them to church and teaching them about the Lord. Your reality sounds so neat to me. I think your dreams are great to. Both are important and I think we should be thankful that He gives us the hope for our dreams. Our dreams turn into reality in His time.

nanatrish said...

I am missing your blog. I am curious about the poll. Please come back on line and let us know what you're up to. Hugs, Trish