Recently I was asked a question: "What is your dream?", and "If you had no limits, what would you do?"
Simple questions, right? Well, 10 years ago I had good answers! But now, I'm amazed to realise that my dreams from 10 years ago have all come to pass! Admittedly, my life didn't go the way I planned, but these delays in fulfilling dreams were all part of God's plan for my life! Now, as I said, I'm amazed...I had big dreams!
So, what were these dreams? I hear you ask...
1. I wanted to find the love of my life
2. I wanted to go to Europe....London, Italy & Ireland - to discover my roots.
3. I wanted to work in ministry serving children with disabilities
4. I wanted a 'real' job.
The first of these to be fulfilled was No.3. Through God's leading and placing the right people in my path, I was able to set up a successful ministry serving children with disabilities in my local church. This ministry ran for about 6 years. It was just me to begin with- volunteering in a Tamil speaking church with gorgeous children - 1 had autism and 2 had cerebral palsy. It was an afternoon service. I was also thrown in the deep end and ended up running the Sunday school class at the same time - until a new leader was found. After a few years, I moved the ministry into the main church for morning services. The boy with autism and I were together for the whole life of this ministry - other children came and went, but he was the only one who stayed. We have a special bond....I don't think I will ever be able to forget about him :) I had some wonderful leaders join my team, which was great, but there did come a time when God said he would remove his grace from the ministry, that it was time to move on.
The second dream to be fulfilled was my overseas trip. For 10 years I dreamed and yearned to go....in the end I just took the plunge and booked my tickets! I went alone and it was one of the best things I've ever done! I arrived in London and met some wonderful people who helped me settle in. I spent a week there before boarding a plane to Rome, where I joined a 2 week tour of Italy, then I returned to London before boarding a ferry to Ireland....after 9 nights in South-East Ireland I returned home....
This is where dream No. 1 was realised! The man of my dreams was staring me in the face! He had been in the picture for 3 years, but I just wasn't ready to see it....until I was on the other side of the world!
So, of course the last dream was finding a 'real' job. I had been working casual and agency for about 10 years, and I finally found myself in a good, permanent position.
So....now....I have everything I dreamed for.... so what's next???
I have so much more than what I dreamed for...but I guess the dreams I have now are simply to have a family and pay off our house. Isn't it funny how life changes.... I never thought I'd say goodbye to my ministry, but God opened the door and requested I walk through. There was no easy way to walk out, but I knew I needed to do it - I would have been working in my own strength to keep it going.
This also gave me the opportunity to listen to God's leading us out of that church. The One thing holding me back from moving on was that ministry. Once the ministry was gone, the strings were cut....it was time to walk through the new door. What a wonderful door that was! We found ourselves 'home' in a new church. Nobody told us to go there, we just felt led there. We have been there about a year now, and have not once looked back on our decision. We are where God wants us "for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14).
So, that's a bit on my dreams. I can't believe, even though it took much longer than I'd anticipated, that I've fulfilled all my major dreams! Of course there are some new ones, but the biggest ones seem to have been ticked off. I know I will have more as I get older. I look forward to seeing what the future holds:)
Simple questions, right? Well, 10 years ago I had good answers! But now, I'm amazed to realise that my dreams from 10 years ago have all come to pass! Admittedly, my life didn't go the way I planned, but these delays in fulfilling dreams were all part of God's plan for my life! Now, as I said, I'm amazed...I had big dreams!
So, what were these dreams? I hear you ask...
1. I wanted to find the love of my life
2. I wanted to go to Europe....London, Italy & Ireland - to discover my roots.
3. I wanted to work in ministry serving children with disabilities
4. I wanted a 'real' job.
The first of these to be fulfilled was No.3. Through God's leading and placing the right people in my path, I was able to set up a successful ministry serving children with disabilities in my local church. This ministry ran for about 6 years. It was just me to begin with- volunteering in a Tamil speaking church with gorgeous children - 1 had autism and 2 had cerebral palsy. It was an afternoon service. I was also thrown in the deep end and ended up running the Sunday school class at the same time - until a new leader was found. After a few years, I moved the ministry into the main church for morning services. The boy with autism and I were together for the whole life of this ministry - other children came and went, but he was the only one who stayed. We have a special bond....I don't think I will ever be able to forget about him :) I had some wonderful leaders join my team, which was great, but there did come a time when God said he would remove his grace from the ministry, that it was time to move on.
The second dream to be fulfilled was my overseas trip. For 10 years I dreamed and yearned to go....in the end I just took the plunge and booked my tickets! I went alone and it was one of the best things I've ever done! I arrived in London and met some wonderful people who helped me settle in. I spent a week there before boarding a plane to Rome, where I joined a 2 week tour of Italy, then I returned to London before boarding a ferry to Ireland....after 9 nights in South-East Ireland I returned home....
This is where dream No. 1 was realised! The man of my dreams was staring me in the face! He had been in the picture for 3 years, but I just wasn't ready to see it....until I was on the other side of the world!
So, of course the last dream was finding a 'real' job. I had been working casual and agency for about 10 years, and I finally found myself in a good, permanent position.
So....now....I have everything I dreamed for.... so what's next???
I have so much more than what I dreamed for...but I guess the dreams I have now are simply to have a family and pay off our house. Isn't it funny how life changes.... I never thought I'd say goodbye to my ministry, but God opened the door and requested I walk through. There was no easy way to walk out, but I knew I needed to do it - I would have been working in my own strength to keep it going.
This also gave me the opportunity to listen to God's leading us out of that church. The One thing holding me back from moving on was that ministry. Once the ministry was gone, the strings were cut....it was time to walk through the new door. What a wonderful door that was! We found ourselves 'home' in a new church. Nobody told us to go there, we just felt led there. We have been there about a year now, and have not once looked back on our decision. We are where God wants us "for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14).
So, that's a bit on my dreams. I can't believe, even though it took much longer than I'd anticipated, that I've fulfilled all my major dreams! Of course there are some new ones, but the biggest ones seem to have been ticked off. I know I will have more as I get older. I look forward to seeing what the future holds:)
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