Don't Stop Dreaming

Codepoke over at Familyhood Church recently opined about how life is not always as we dreamed it to be. It reminded me about an unimpressive man that I went to church with in the 1980s. I lost track of this man, John, in the 1990s and when I attended his funeral a few years ago I was shocked to learn what this 77 year old man did after he retired. This unimpressive guy:
  • retired at 65 and moved to his dream home in the country,
  • felt a call to the nations at 67 and, with his wife, sold everything they had,
  • moved to Dallas to live in student housing as he,
  • attended bible college in Dallas with his wife,
  • graduated, with his wife, when he was 70 years old (oldest graduate in the college's history),
  • moved to the Philippines and started a school to train pastors.
Hundreds of Filipinos came to Jesus over the next few years and pastors were trained for ministry. Pretty good for this guy who I didn't give a second thought to. Who would have guessed the impact that John would have in the kingdom.

In January of last year I visited over coffee with my good friend Bill. Bill started to ask me about my dreams. I told him about my dream to pastor hurting and brokenhearted people. Bill looked in my eyes and asked me a question that pierced through me. He asked "Bob, Why aren't you doing it?" A God moment for KB. That day I had lunch with my wife and we agreed that I would begin to pursue this dream. A few months later in April, at 55, I resigned my software consulting position and joined the pastoral staff of my church.

You know, living out your dream is an interesting phenomenon. I am sure, like me, John and his wife had some challenging moments ... times when they questioned God's call on their life. For me this past season of dreaming has been one where I have had to deal with many of my fears and insecurities. God's call to "embrace my heart" has been so challenging - it continues to call me into courage and faith. My challenge to you today is to not give up on your dreams. Don't let hardship and difficulty throw water on the fire of your heart. I have found that past hardships have uniquely prepared me to help hurting people. I encourage you to take this scripture to heart ...
'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
... and begin to dream again.

7 comments:

  1. This is a great post; you are right that we really won’t know what gifts or talents folks may have if we don’t take the time to look and see. It’s a good lesson that we should always take time to notice; as William Stringfellow wrote, “…for a Christian…There is no place which is more urgent to be than the place where he is, no work more significant than whatever is at hand, no person in greater need than the one immediately present, no issue more pressing than the one he now confronts.”

    As for questioning God’s call, I can most certainly relate – earlier this year, the nudges that I’ve gotten off-and-on through my life turned into feeling like I was being grabbed the lapels and shaken. I’m going through a discernment process now to find out where this will lead me – it’s been and exciting journey, and there’s a lot more of the road to experience!

    - Matt

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  2. I'll be 40 in 25 days--and I have the second half of my life to live. You're never too old to pursue your dream.

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  3. That was absolutely inspiring.

    Thanks for sharing him.

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  4. Bob,
    You are a wonderful vessel.
    Thank you

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  5. What if we would see ourselves the way God sees us? Look how He saw so many ancients who felt they were too old, too washed up, too this or that...

    Great post.

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  6. More... More! I want to hear more of this story of yours.

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  7. My dream...to be like you. To rise against the world. To go from the bottom to the top. I want to be able to provide what I want for the kids and not have any financial problems. My dream is to be sucessful.

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