JOY in the Journey, Discovering your God-sized Dreams

Today, aboard our God-sized Dreams ship, Gindi Vincent has asked us to answer a series of questions regarding her topic of what to do if you do NOT know what your God-sized Dreams are anymore. 

Vincent’s questions: What about you? What do you love? What makes you happy? Would you share your story about what to do if you don’t know what your God-sized dream is here in the link up?

I would like to answer Gindi's questions in an open letter.

~*~

Dear Gindi,

My God-sized dream has always been to work as a writer and producer. I want to create and produce work that will inspire people, point them to God and help them to realize their true value and worth.

Along the way to my original God-sized Dreams, other pursuits were born that took me on detours—being a teacher, working as a journalist, hoping to turn my photography skills and love for the digital camera into a full-time photography business—and I’m grateful for every detour God’s blessed me with, yes I say"blessed me with" because at the time, I was deeply troubled because I wanted to reach my destination so badly that I almost forgot the joy is in the journey.

Serving God and reaching people for Jesus Christ makes me very HAPPY, dare I say I even love it more than I love food? And girl, I LOVE GOOD FOOD! But yes, as long as I’m in a capacity of helping people I’m happy, even if I’m not paid a six-figure salary for my work (though I would LOVE that too)!

So my dream job would be using all of my talents for writing, producing, educating and photography in a capacity that serves people in a creative and therapeutic sense.

But to answer your last question, Gindi, on what to do if I did NOT know my God-sized Dream or felt like I had lost the capacity to dream, I will say this—God hears your heart. When you don’t have the words to say or energy to pray and when you feel like our dreams are dead, don’t let those lies fill your head because God still hears your heart. God gave you those dreams for a REASON and a VERY GOOD REASON at that, a mission only YOU can accomplish in this life. So don’t give up, hold on to God’s promises found in His Word (The Holy Bible) such as Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 37:4 and Proverbs 3:5-6, experience the blessing of life day-by-day and watch God lead the way.

Remember, the joy is in the journey! And the DREAM destination is WORK but you will be prepared for it as you allow God to teach you and equip you with what you need to succeed each day in the journey toward your wildest God-sized DREAMS. Sometimes our destination may be a dream you did not know you had deep in your heart. But dear Gindi, GOD KNOWS and will help you reach your destination in His perfect time, so continue to TRUST HIM!

God bless you!

Sincerely,

Alexis

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Now here’s a question for my “God is Love” blog readers: They say in this life, you need to find what makes you “come alive” and then do it. I say that’s the same thing as discovering your God-sized Dream! So tell me, what makes you HAPPY and what are you doing about it?

Song spotlight: Do Something

Standing at The Podium, sharing my God-sized DREAM

Today, the sailors on our God-sized Dreams ship have asked us to answer this question:

“Have you struggled to give words to your dream?”

My answer is "No" and…"Yes!" Allow me to share my story:

My dream since childhood was always to be a writer. I started penning stories at the age of 9 and later on that year, I began typing my stories into a word processor document on the family computer. Anyone who asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up received the same answer, “A writer.” Growing up, my dad would take my brother and me to the library and we’d pour into books. My brother would borrow books about dinosaurs and puppies while I would explore series like Sweet Valley High. As we got older, my brother’s interest in books faded a bit as he became involved in sports but my passion for the written word grew stronger to the point where my mom would make time to take me to the local bookstore where I discovered the Love Stories series. As a young adult you can often to this day, find me spending my free time at Barnes & Noble which for me is the mecca of bookstores. Whenever I step foot into that store, my dreams fill my mind—dreams of writing books that are displayed on their Christian fiction and Literature shelves, dreams of doing author book tours and having book signings in the store.

God allowed my dream to have a book signing to come true—twice! After writing my first book, Hope in My Heart: A Collection of Heartwarming Stories, I pitched it to the manager of my favorite Christian bookstore and he not only bought the book for the shelves but he agreed to host a book signing then a few months later invited me to return for a second (book signing)!

I want everyone who reads this post and takes this God-sized Dream journey to know that God is in the business of answering prayers! He takes all sorts of requests and does not mind if they’re big or small. God wants you to have faith in Him to answer your prayers in a way that’s best for you. Now back to my story…

My passion for writing led me to diving head first into writing classes once in college and pursuing a degree in Print Journalism. My thinking was that majoring in Print Journalism would help me to sharpen my writing skills and it did but along the journey, I found that in addition to my creative writing dreams, a new dream was being birthed—to be a journalist.

I found that I LOVE the interview process and writing news and feature stories felt like a breath of fresh air! My second passion, for photography, grew during this time as I found out how much I loved learning how to use a professional camera. My first camera was a manual Canon Rebel that used a special brand of Black/White film. Yes, this was before the digital camera wave. I’d always loved taking pictures of people and places but as I learned the skills of the trade in photography class, I began dreaming of (in addition to writing books and being a journalist) becoming a wedding and lifestyle photographer.

There it is—a dream that has not yet come true. It is a dream that I have not spoken about except to a trusted few. But now for the journey of God-sized Dreams, I am telling you! They say you have to speak LIFE to your DREAMS so that’s what I’m doing today. Yes, I still want to be a celebrated creative writer and yes, I still want to be an award-winning journalist. But YES I still dream of becoming a wedding/lifestyle photographer!

In closing, I’d like to circle back to today’s question- “Have you struggled to give words to your dream?” I’ve showed you what I meant by my initial answer “no” and now I will explain why I also said “yes.” While I love wedding and lifestyle photography, I have not pursued it yet for two main reasons: finance and fear. I cannot afford (finance) the necessary equipment right now such as the most vital piece, a DSLR camera (Canon is my brand of choice) and I have a fear of failure. But as soon as I am able to afford it, I most definitely will buy the camera and the only hurdle to get over then will me my fear of failure. And of course, I will need a steady stream of clients to keep my photography business afloat once it is established. Please pray for me.

So today I’ve spoken life to a dream I’ve kept quiet. I encourage you, my readers, to do the same. You don’t have to publish it online for the whole world to see. But you can start by praying to God about it and sharing your God-sized dream with people you trust. If you mention your dream in the comment section of my blog, I promise you I will pray for your dreams to come true according to God’s will, plan and purpose for your life. Always keep in mind Jeremiah 29:11.

Here’s hoping for dreams to come true in 2014!