by By Tricia Goyer, author of Generation NeXt Parenting
Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you. (Ephesians 1:9)
Through the years of seeking my own goals and dreams-for myself, my career and my family-I’ve discovered one more thing. God wants us to be obedient to the purposes He has for us, no matter what stage of life we’re in. Even the parenting stage.
The question is, whose dream are you sweating over? Yours or God’s? If we are chasing only our own dreams we will be frustrated. But, if we are chasing the dreams that God has planned for us, we will find more than we ever thought possible. The choice seems clear to me — clear, but not always easy to follow.
So how can you know you’re on the right track? What dreams should we follow? As children of God who are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” God has granted us unique gifts for the benefit of His kingdom. The important words here are “for the benefit of His Kingdom”. God gives us the dreams of our hearts; it is up to us to obediently pursue those dreams to the glory of God, not the glory of man. There is no better way for your children to learn about their gifts than by seeing us fulfill ours — through the grace and strength found in God alone.
So don’t be afraid to seek God concerning His dreams, not only for yourself as a mother, but also as a child of the Most High. Trust that His dreams for you are immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine!
Verses to narrow your focus:
John 6:38
Philippians 1:6
Ephesians 1:9
Ephesians 3:20
Ephesians 5:17-18
Psalm 84:10
© Tricia Goyer
At this point in my life, chasing my dream is over. But I will do my best to encourage the dreams and aspirations of my two boys.
Has God closed the door to your dreams, Leticia, or can you just put them off until your boys are grown?
I guess I’m at the point where my “dreams” (pursuing fiction writing) are still there, they’re just hibernating somewhat, waiting on better timing. I feel like I’m living my dream too, marriage and motherhood being all I ever wanted out of life, so that helps. Writing full-time at this time in my life would be more of a nightmare probably. So I have something to look forward to in my “empty nest” years!
I understand…I think once we have children our dreams are put on hold for awhile. Although, in saying that, I think as we go through Life we slowly realise that the dreams we put on hold don’t even compare to what we get instead-a family. I still think of my old dreams and aspirations at times and sometimes the old dreams overwhelm me and I am full of wishing…but all it takes is one look at my happy Lil Man and I can’t even seem to remember what I wanted all that stuff for in the first place. Most of my dreams are one’s that cannot be accomplished now that I have a family but I have a few that over time I can pursue.
That’s exactly how I feel too, Geri. At one time there was really a tug of war within me to have time for everything, but God has really given me happiness and contentment for where I’m at, a kind of renewing of my priorities that I’m grateful to sink into and go with the flow!
Testing out the commentluv thing!
Cool comment edit thingy, but I don’t see the last blog post. Should I be more patient?
There it is! Too cool!
Gina’s last blog post..Reevaluation
There it is! Cool! Thanks for testing it out, Gina!