You Want Me To Do What, God??

"God-sized dreams aren't easy. It's about who we become in the process,

 not how we get there."

~ Holley Gerth

Do you have a God-sized dream? You know, something that you know 100% that God is asking you to do, but you're scared silly. A dream that your tiny little human mind can't even grasp?

I've had or have a few of my own God-sized dreams....attending the University of Oklahoma, adopting a child, writing a book, going to Ethiopia, being an advocate for adoption and orphan care.

One of the God-sized dreams that I had for many years was to attend the SheSpeaks Conference in North Carolina. Seriously, I have dreamed of going for YEARS! Then, this spring, after I quit my job to stay home with Jackson, God made it pretty clear that this was the year I needed to attend. What??

I had just quit my job. The conference wasn't exactly cheap and even though I had watched God provide every penny for our adoption, I questioned how I could afford it. I'm sure God just shakes his head at my lack of faith.

I knew I had to go because I have another God-sized dream - writing a book about our adoption journey. SheSpeaks would be an amazing opportunity to learn more about publishing, meet with publishers, and invest in my writing.

John and I decided to tap into our savings account to pay for the conference, looking at it as an investment. I felt God nudging me to ask my Dad to help with my plane ticket. But truth be told, I was kind of hesitant to ask. I HATE asking my parents for money. But I swallowed my pride, called my dad, and spilled my guts about my dream of going to this conference and the opportunities that awaited me. Guess what, my Dad covered my plane ticket!

I spent several months working like crazy on my book proposal and praying for God to prepare my heart for all that He would do at the conference. I boarded a plane for North Carolina last Thursday and from the moment I stepped off the plane, God blew my mind.

I met amazing women. You would think that a group of 650 women, who are all speakers and writers, would be a bit competitive. Not. At. All. I have never experienced so much encouragement. On top of my brain being overloaded with information, life-long friendships were made.

I had the opportunity to meet with four of the biggest Christian publishers in the publishing world. This. Is. Huge. These publishers don't normally accept proposals unless you have an agent, but it was one of the many perks for writers at the conference. (I will write more about my publisher appointments later this week! They deserve a blog post of their own!)

I was filled to overflowing spiritually. Let's just say that my Bible reading and prayer time had been almost non-existent these past 7 months. Being a new mommy has many challenges and finding time to sit at the feet of Jesus is one of those challenges. I gained valuable resources for my writing during the conference, but more than anything God filled me up! He affirmed that I'm supposed to be writing this book. He kept His promise - I drew near to Him and He drew near to me.

It didn't dawn on me until the conference was in full swing, that God had fulfilled one of my God-sized dreams by allowing me the opportunity to attend SheSpeaks. It was a reminder that He will fulfill the other dreams He's placed on my heart in his perfect time.

What are your God-sized dreams? What's keeping you from fulfilling them? Praying you step out in faith and believe the One who has placed that dream on your heart! "Anything is possible for him who believes..." (Mark 9:23).