Big Dreams??

How many of you have big dreams? I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could survive without having dreams. I have a whole lot of dreams that I would like to accomplish in my lifetime. Some are small, but most are fairly big dreams. Is there anything wrong with having dreams? Not at all. In fact, the Bible even talks about “without a vision, the people perish.” I think it’s a very good thing to have dreams. They don’t all have to be huge, but a dream in itself is a good thing.

A dream is something that gets us up in the morning and motivates us to keep going. If we had no dreams, what would motivate you to work throughout the day? Yes, our family (namely children) are a very good source of motivation. But what else would make you want to exert that extra little bit of energy each day? If your family and children are your dream (they are definitely my first dream), then you maybe don’t need anything else to get you out of bed each day. And that is amazing!

For me, my dreams are compound. I have a big picture in my head of what my “overall dream” would be. My dream is to have my large family (our sixth baby will be here before we know it), to live on a farm/homestead, and to teach my children how to be godly members of society. There are quite a few other things mixed into that dream that I would also like to accomplish, but I will spare you the time at the moment. That could probably get seriously long and drawn-out if I tried to explain all of that right now. Hopefully in the future I will be able to let you in on those dreams as well. Hopefully as they are being accomplished!

Sometimes our dreams end up being put on hold. And that’s perfectly fine too. Sometimes God has different plans for us that we never could have possibly thought up on our own. God’s plans are always better than our own. Sometimes God just wants us to wait on our dreams for one reason or another. Again, God knows best. Even if it’s frustrating to us at the time, God knows the future. We don’t. I keep having to remind myself of that fact as I’m waiting (sometimes not so patiently) for the next part of my dream to come to fruition.

So, in the meantime, I am trying to figure out how I can work toward my next step while I’m waiting for the pieces to fall into place. What could I possibly do to work toward my homestead?? There isn’t a whole lot that I can do without having land to work with. I can’t put a garden in without a place to plant. I am hoping to try to put a few things in pots, but I’m not 100% sure that will work well. I can’t get any animals with where we are living right now. We have a postage stamp for a yard and we live on a main road in town. I don’t think the city would appreciate chickens running through the streets! So, what does that leave?? The only thing I can think to do at this moment is to study. Yes, study.

Study what? That is a good question. I have been starting to read up on everything that I could possibly want to do. I have been making lists of all the animals I want to raise and why I want to raise them. I have been starting to read books on each of these to better understand what they need from me, how to care for them and house them, and any other pertinent information that I would need once I am able to bring said animal home. I haven’t gotten terribly far in my studies yet, but I can’t wait to keep going!

Let me tell you, lists are my best friend. I make lists for everything. I even make lists of lists that I need to make. Did that make any sense at all?! Anyway, my husband laughs at my list making, but believe me, it helps me sleep at night when my brain has been semi-cleared by writing it all down in lists.

I have lists of different animals that I want to have on the farm. I have lists of different breeds of each of these animals and the pros and cons of each of those breeds. I have lists of equipment that we would need. And I’m not just talking about large equipment. I’m talking about EVERYTHING we could possibly need. Right down to bottles for baby goats if we ended up needing to bottle feed for some reason. And as I’m reading and learning, I keep adding to my lists. You are probably understanding now why my husband laughs at me.

Another thing that I can do while I’m waiting is to try to make us as financially ready as possible. This is the really tricky part, but we are slowly working on this. We have been working tirelessly and studiously at paying off every last cent of debt we have. We are hoping to be completely debt free within the next year or so. That plan has been derailed a few times already, but we are still hoping to get it accomplished. This is one of those dreams wrapped up in the big overall dream.

I have been researching ways to earn extra money and creative ways to save money. Both of those will help us in the long run. That is a part of it that, even if the rest of the dream doesn’t happen, it will benefit our family immensely. I hate paying bills, so any time I can get rid of one of those, I am ecstatic!

Dreams are such amazing things. I know some people don’t like dreams and goals, but I thrive off them. I need something to work toward or I will get bored and depressed. I always have to have a goal. Even if the goal is just to keep the kids alive for the day, I need a goal!

God has given us our dreams and goals. There is nothing wrong with either of those things. We must be willing to give them up if God asks us to give them up, but there is a reason why He gave us those dreams. He wants us to be happy and enjoy life, but He also wants us to follow His will for our lives. Sometimes those two don’t always match up. At least not in our timing. God knows who we are and what our talents are. Usually our dreams match up with our talents. God has given us both our dreams and talents. He wants us to be willing to use both of them for His plan and glory. We just need to be willing. Even if we need to give up our dreams to follow God’s will, we will be more than happy. If we are willing to follow God, we will be happy in any situation.

Sometimes we don’t have a clue what God wants. Sometimes it’s really hard to understand what He is asking of us. I have been asking God for years to allow us to purchase land and build our home on it. So far, the answer has either been “no” or “wait.” I’m not sure which answer is the correct one, but I’m leaning toward “wait.” Why am I thinking wait instead of no? Because of my prayers.

I have been wondering for a few years now if God was saying “no” to my farm dreams. I have been searching Scripture and praying fervently about it trying to find the correct answer. I have been bluntly asking God to take away my desire for a farm if He wants me to give up that dream. So far, my desire is still there and as strong as ever. I have not gotten any peace about giving up on that dream. Even on the days when life gets overwhelming and frustrating things keep piling on, I haven’t had that peace. I have spoken the words to my husband that I should just give up on ever getting a farm to raise our children on, and every single time I’ve said it, I have broken down in tears. I really don’t think giving up on that dream is the correct answer. I do believe God is asking me to wait for some reason. I just don’t know the reason. And I maybe never will know. But, I do believe that God is asking me to wait for right now. Maybe in the future it will be a flat out “no,” but right now, I’m working on patience. That’s a hard one for me!

So, what do you do when you are being told to wait when it comes to your dreams? Learn as much as possible. Study up on your desired dream. Read as many books as you possibly can. Learn, learn, learn. You can never have too much knowledge. The other thing is to put yourself in the best position possible to be ready once that dream is finally able to be completed. Whether that means financially ready or otherwise, work toward being as ready as possible. One of my husband’s favorite quotes goes something like this: “Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.” I have no idea who said that, but it is so true. I am currently working on the preparation portion of that since I have not yet crossed over the opportunity. Lord willing, I will be ready when the opportunity does present itself. I pray that God has prepared me for the opportunity!!

Leave me a comment with some of your dreams and how you have accomplished them or are currently preparing for them. Also if you have any creative ways to earn extra money or save money, drop those in the comments as well.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!