In the Trees
This is a guest post from Jenn’s roommate, me, Emily. It is a part of my journey of dreaming. Will you join me?
“Good morning, Gorgeous.”
“Good morning, Gorgeous to you too,” says the bright-eyed four-year-old to her Grandpa, the farmer.
Growing up, I began most mornings with this routine as I said good-bye to my parents as they travelled on to work. After we ate Granny’s homemade breakfast, Grandpa and I headed off to the farm. Daily chores spanned from bottle feeding the calves to shucking the corn. Of course, there was always much time for climbing trees and playing in the woods. I think often of those times on the farm, the memories, the lessons learned, and I have realized over the years, this is where all my dreaming began.
In the trees.
 |
| Granny and Grandpa |
Looking far beyond what my little self could see from the ground. I dreamed of something much bigger than myself, and so did Grandpa. He began spending a month out of the year in the Ukraine when He was 70, and he continued to do so for the next fourteen years. Why? He got it. He never stopped dreaming of something bigger than himself. He was known as the Gospel Man, because He shared the Gospel, the Good News, wherever he went. My Grandpa was slow to speak, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy, and this leads me to believe it wasn’t His words that gave him this name, but rather his life. I want that. I dream of that. To live a life that in such a way that reflects Him.
What about you? Where did your dreaming begin?
I take you back to the farm, because often to begin dreaming again, we must go back to where it all began.
Throughout the years as family grew ill and passed on, I went from being the little girl who lived in a dream world to the girl who tucked each dream deeper and deeper. You know what? No matter how deeply you have tucked your dreams, they are still there. Waiting. Waiting for you to come out of your shame of dreaming or your fear of disappointment. Waiting for you to remember you were made for something more than mundane. You were made for extraordinary, because your God is not a God of mundane and average. He is God of the exceedingly, abundantly more. He is the God of goodness. He longs for you to dream again.
Occasionally, I drive back to the farm (going the speed limit of course). Though the farm may have changed over the years, my little-girl dreams of more have not. You want to know a secret? Sometimes I climb.
In the trees.
When I was ten, my uncle passed away, and I was the last one to see him before he went in the hospital. That day, he played the piano, and I sang, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound…” Shortly after, my Grandmother passed away. I still believed in His goodness. I still dreamed. I still threw my head back in unabashed laughter. In the years following, my sweet Mom had cancer twice, my Dad was in a head on collision and broke his back, my Grandpa, Granny, and my little five-year-old cousin all passed away. And I grew up. I pushed all the dreams deeply inside. Tucked them away. Locked the door. Now, I still loved life, but I loved it without dreaming fully. Honestly, I began to not trust my sweet Creator. He is faithful, and He never stopped pursuing my heart no matter how tightly I locked the door.
He continued to tell me, “Emily, if you want to be close to Me, you must let Me in. I love you. I died for you. I am safe. True intimacy requires trust.”
In You’re Made for a God-sized Dream, Holley speaks much of dreaming leading to intimacy with Him. ALL of your dreams, my dreams, ourdreams stem from a desire our goodGod places inside. I am learning more of dreaming and less of hiding, more of freedom and less of shame, more of victory and less of defeat, more of Him and less of me.
How about you? What holds you back from dreaming?
He is safe. I promise. He is good. I know. Your Beloved longs for your intimacy. To walk with you in the cool of the day, just like He did with Adam and Eve. Come away with Him.
Scary? Yes, of course. Trusting always is. Risky? Not one ounce, because He is perfectly safe.
Will you join me, my friend? Come out of your hiding. Throw away the key that locks the door. Tell others to do the same.
As I am writing, my phone went off. A random text message came through from my sweet Daddy, (who is much like Grandpa): “Love you! I pray you have a great day! I believe God has great things in store for you!” And so are my words for you, sweet friends. He doeshave great things in store for YOU.
Go back to where you began dreaming.
And know you are always welcome to join me and come alive.
 |
| In the trees |
In the trees.
Much love,
Emily
Emily
Beautiful post and thank you so much for sharing Emily!!
Thank you for sharing! What you said about "if you want to be close to me you have to let me in" really struck a cord with me. I seem to always be asking God to be close to Him, never considered that I wasn't letting HIm. You have given me lots to pray about. Thank you for your openness.
Terrific article! This is the type of info that should be shared across the
net. Shame on the seek engines for no longer positioning this publish
higher! Come on over and seek advice from my web site .
Thanks =)
Here is my weblog gsa search engine ranker
Oh Emily… This post ministered to a place deep inside me! It is truly not by accident I read your post. I have been holding back my trust, not letting God in and trusting his will for me. Thank you for reminding there is a safe place to explore dreams in my Father's ARMS. I love your grandfather just from reading what you wrote about him.
Thanks to each of you for sharing your hearts with me. So glad you were encouraged, and I am praying that each of you will continue to trust Him with your God-sized dreams. Oh, TJ, he would have loved you too! We will all get some Brewsters together I. Heaven;)
Many of insecticides are strong, including botanical ones.
Check their background, prices, and different plans before signing
onto.
Also visit my web blog; szamba
Emily thank you so much. This was awesome!