Developing Dreams and BIG Goals

Maybe you're out of practice and haven't dreamt any wonderful dreams for a while? Maybe life has beat you down so much that you've just forgotten how? Here are some thoughts on how to begin that process again. Try it this week!

Relax. Take a deep breath and find a place where you can be alone. Somewhere that is as quiet and peaceful as you can. Maybe it’s your prayer closet, or off somewhere by a lake or hillside. You may want to play soft music, or light some candles or arrange some flowers nearby that will scent the air and remind you of the beauty of God’s creation. Maybe your retreat is no further than your bathroom, and you can just draw a warm bath and settle in as the tension flows out of you and is replaced by a sense of inner peace and tranquility.

Close your eyes and open up your heart to your loving Father. He knows why you are here and is pleased that you are willing to once again lay your life down before Him. In Psalm 37 David say’s “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it.” Now, try to picture yourself as you’ll be twenty years from now. Think about how you’ll feel, the important relationships in your life, where you’ll be living, your walk with the Lord, career accomplishments, places you’ll have traveled . . . begin to dream and envision what could be.

Faith

Consider how you grew in faith and your relationship with God. Look back over the past years and the path God had planned out for you. Did you follow His leading? Did you see miracles along the way? Have you shared God’s love with others, helped orphans and widows, mentored children, or led many people to a knowledge of Christ? How much have you been able to sow into the kingdom to further the gospel and expand the church? What great adventures have you seen in Him and with Him? How deeply have you felt his warm loving embrace?

Can you see how you’ve learned to forgive yourself for failings and past sin, just as He has forgiven you? Envision how you have completely forgiven others who hurt you in the past, in order to gain inner peace and enable God to have free reign in your life. Imagine what your church friends and family will be saying about you at a memorial service for you many many years from now. How is the world a better place because you were a part of it. How is the Kingdom of Heaven a fuller, richer place for your obedience, kindness, and wisdom? You have been placed into this world for a purpose, called by name by the God of creation to do great and wondrous things in His name, to prosper and lead others into a better future with great joy and fulfillment and inner peace.

Dream about your spirit-man and your faith walk and how it will be . . . now, write it down. . . .

Family

Dream about your children, or a future family, as they will be twenty years from now. They will be grown up. Can you picture them as successful, happy people who have all of the skills and attributes to live their lives building upon the things you’ve imparted to them? What kinds of things do you want them to be thankful to you for? What life-lessons have you taught them to help mold them into the people they’ve become?

Did you laugh a lot as the children were growing up. Think about the silly jokes they told and the way you kidded with them and praised them when they did little skits for you. How many times did you use a kind word or a little laughter to help them over a hard time? Did they grow up reading the comics in the newspaper with you, and were your dinner time’s wonderful opportunities to kid around and share the funny things that happened during the day? How happy were those days together as a family?

Did you get them braces? Did you home-school them or have them attend private schools? Have they become skilled musicians because you helped them with lessons and encouraged practice and positive reinforcement of their talent? Did they become great athletes, fit and successful at track or tennis or football?

Have they grown in faith with strong moral values and deep commitment to God and His church? Are they serving others with their gifts? Have they been healed of any problems and learned how to trust God as their source of all good gifts?

Are they intelligent and learning to become wise? Have you cultivated in them a love for learning and a discipline to study? Have you shown them how the world of finance and investments work so that they can prosper? Do they have goals and dreams for themselves, and can you see what they are doing to fulfill them?

Think about your spouse or a spouse that you’ll have someday, and your relationship as it will be. Are you still in love? Do they support and nurture, encouraging you to be the best you can possibly be? Look back at the special moments you’ve had over the past twenty years; the places you’ve been together, the long walks and tender conversations? Has your love making been passionate and intense and as beautiful as when you first married and fell in love? Do they go the extra mile for you to delight you, and have you done the same for them?

Can you feel the respect your spouse has for you, and pride for whom you’ve become? What things have you taught each other? How much individual space have you built into your relationship, and how has that made you grow as a person, and in trust of each other?

Describe how interested your spouse is in you, and you in them, twenty years from now. How much have you shared together about the deep things of life, core beliefs, desires, ambitions, frustrations? Think about how they’ve responded with empathy and love, when you’ve shared your heart, supporting, caring, and enabling you to grow and be successful. Consider the things you’ve openly shared with them; your dreams, your fears, the embarrassing moments, your preferences and what pleases you. Have your communications been an open book together, or have you held part of your self back to protect something? In the future, how will your dream relationship look and feel?

Have you laughed a lot together and played, free to be silly around each other, enjoying the commonalities that pull you together? Do you still cuddle and laugh at the bad jokes and puns, no matter how bad they are?

What has happened in your immediate and extended family? How close are you to them? Do you see each other often? Do you live close to them or call them frequently? How have you celebrated birthdays and Christmas, and the 4th of July each year? How much richer are their lives for what you’ve imparted to them, and how much richer is yours because of their support and love?

Dream about your family and how it could be . . . . now, write down your dream . . . .


Home

Can you picture where you’ll be living? Where is it? Is it in the city or country, or perhaps a cottage by the water? Is it a townhouse, a contemporary home or maybe a large estate with a vineyard out back? Will you have a circular driveway leading to a three-car garage with nice cars or maybe a workshop? Maybe your home will be small and cozy, and easy to take care of, or perhaps God’s call for your perfect life is free of any fixed home. Maybe you’re dream takes you to the mission field.

If you do have a home twenty years from now, what will it look like? Is there a big foyer when you enter the front door? Are there hardwood floors or Italian tile or perhaps a spiral stairway leading to a master bungalow bedroom? Do you see a big eat-in kitchen or a smaller one with a large formal dining room? Maybe you would love a double oven or a separate pantry to store all of the supplies and kitchen appliances out of sight. Do you have a large family room big enough to host many people for bible studies, or would you rather have a smaller den and a proper living room with a grand piano and a couple love seats? Are the walls decorated with original artwork or pictures of your family?

Does your master bedroom have walk in closets, a king-sized canopy bed or oriental rugs? Will your bathroom have a Jacuzzi or an oversized shower for two? When you look out the window can you see beautiful gardens, or perhaps a swimming pool? Maybe you have fruit trees or a garden, or perhaps a koi pond in your back yard.

Is there a vacation home, or a winter home in Florida or maybe in Aspen? Would you love a place at the beach for the summer, or would you prefer something in the south of France or Italy? Does your dream include a time-share in Hawaii, or a fishing hut somewhere in NY State?

Dream . . . . now, write down your thoughts of your home . . .


Career and Community

Will you be working twenty years from now? What accomplishments did you achieve in your career? Did you start a business, or work in the home, or maybe you became excellent in investing and made a fortune in real estate or the stock market?

Did you take classes to develop your work skills? What degrees did you attain over your career? Maybe you went to night school to get your Masters Degree, or perhaps you learned to speak French fluently. Did you learn accounting skills or become skilled in investing in real estate or stocks and bonds? Perhaps you learned how to breed dogs or do garden landscaping or design web pages?

Have you climbed a corporate ladder, or started the small business that you’d always wanted? What skills did you learn along the way to help you with this endeavor? When co-workers describe how you were to work with what terms do they use? Have you been tough, fair, smart, caring, driven, social, supportive, a great team leader, or perhaps a great mentor?

What was your role in the community? Were you active in your church, or in a civic association? Did your expertise in your career allow you to speak at meetings or perhaps conferences? Have you helped the homeless, or supported a great cause that you believed in either financially or by helping out physically? How gratifying was it to see the impact of your giving? Was it wonderful to see God pouring overflow into you because He knew you would be obedient with how you directed it? How many people have you mentored and helped to improve their lives and relationships? Did you help build your church up or go on mission trips to minister God’s love to others?

Dream about your church, your career and your social contributions . . . now, write down what it looks like . . .


The New You

Walk to a mirror. What do you look like in twenty years? Are you trim and fit? Are your clothes designer fashions or comfortable old friends? Picture the beautiful appearance of the person you’ve become, older but still attractive and healthy.

Have you picked up any hobbies that have brought great joy, and caused you to stretch over the years? Do you play an instrument or sing? How proficient did you become and where did you perform? How did it feel when you finished your performance and the audience applauded for you or were your talents used in church to lead others into worship of the great King? Did you enjoy the camaraderie of other musicians as you practiced? Did you become an artist and learn to blend colors and create wonderful paintings or computer generated images which captured the emotions and beauty God placed deep inside of you?

Do you have a library in your home? Have you read many books and magazines to grow your intellect? Have you used your wisdom to help others, or become wealthy? Have you learned how to fix or build things and repaired your own car or helped with skillful repairs on the widow’s home who lived down the street?

Where have you traveled to over the years and what have you seen? Have you traveled Europe, skied in the Alps, or perhaps spent summers on the Costa Brava in Spain or in the south of France. Have you walked on the Great Wall of China, or climbed Mount Washington, or perhaps taken a river cruise down the Danube River, or gone on a photo safari in the African tundra? Did you hike the entire Appellation Trail or ridden by burrow to the base of the Grand Canyon?

Did you become a proficient cook or baker and delighted people with your wonderful foods? Maybe you’ve entertained and had the finest chef’s cater those affairs, had wonderful jazz trios play for you, and had social events to share with your family and friends, or perhaps to raise money for the causes you believe in? How have you grown intellectually, emotionally, spiritually and experientially over the years?

Consider the sports you played or the distances you ran and walked. Over the years how many races did you run, or tennis matches did you play? Do you have any trophies on the desk in your office? Have sports helped you stay fit and has the social aspects of those activities brought you many new friends over the years?

Look at yourself again in your future mirror. Did you live the past years with integrity? Did you keep your word? Do people regard you as a giving person, or social, spiritual, or caring? How many people have relied upon your experience and wisdom to help them through the problems in their lives? Have you learned to love yourself? Are you self-confident and able to navigate the bumps in life’s road by yourself and through God’s grace, without a co-dependence on someone else?

Dream about the person that you’ll become . . . now write it down . . . .


Other areas?

What other things do you seen as you dream? What kinds of things have you accomplished looking back over a successful life?

Write down your responses to the questions above and consider other areas that you’ve thought about before. Ponder them and continue to imagine what your world can be like in twenty years time. Be sure to write them down and for at least a week, review them every day, adding to them or changing them. Don’t limit yourself in any way as you do this. God is huge and has placed good desires in you. And through Him and with changes in your daily activities, anything is possible. All things are possible!