Dreams

Sometimes I just feel like giving up on my dreams.  Dreams of being in shape, dreams of being better off financially, dreams of travel or of renewed relationships with friends.  Dreams of new friends, of old friends, of better time management or of less hatred for the alarm clock.  

Whatever the dream, it's so easy to just give up on it.  To feel stuck and bound tightly to whatever situation you are dealing with.  I've carried these extra pounds for so many years now, I'll never get them off.  We've struggled with money for so long, why should I think it will change.  This has been this way or that has been that way, that's how it's always been and how it always will be.  

Ugh. 

I am preaching to myself here.  Satan wants us to stay down, defeated, to give up and accept the crap life has thrown on us, forgetting not who we are but WHOSE we are.  The Bible tells us that we were bought with a price. That we are special and loved and that once we become Christians, once we are baptized into Christ and live for Him, we are heirs to His throne. Heirs to His palace.  Heirs to Heaven! 

And while He never said live on Earth would be easy, He doesn't want us to be miserable either.  He wants us to live joyfully, to be dreamers and doers.  To see a need and attend to it. To see an opportunity and seize it.  To do these things for the good of the kingdom.  

God does not want us living in fear.  He tells us not to worry about tomorrow, for he has already taken care of it.  That's hard for me.  I am a worrier. I want to know that this meal is cooked and this bill is paid and my kids have what they need and that life is gonna all work out lovely.  

I know that God can and will and does take care of these things for me and for you.  And I don't think He wants us to give up on our dreams either.  I think He lays these dreams in our hearts and we are supposed to use them for His glory.  

In Jeremiah he says he plans for us to prosper, and to have HOPE! Hope is not a spirit of giving up (which I tweeted today I was doing, giving up).  Hope is not constant worry and self loathing.  Hope is joyful and happy and excited about things to come.  Dreams to come. Life to come.  

Jeremiah 29:11

New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Travel Much?

I LOVE to travel! I haven't gotten to travel much compared to the majority of people, but that doesn't stop me from dreaming.  I've been to Florida beaches, Alabama beaches, Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Vegas (as a teen..blah!), and on a Disney Cruise to Nassau and Castaway Cay in the Bahamas.  I've been through several other states of course, but not for any length of time or vacationing.  So yeah, my list of check marks for travel is pretty short.  But my bucket list, my wide open list of places to go, is just that...wide open.  Literally, there is no where I don't want to see, so long as its safe to go there!
I just read this article on travel, and with summer break just 17school days and 23 calendar days away I can already smell the ocean and feel the butterflies in my stomach that you feel when you arrive at your destination!
http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/places-to-visit-while-they-re-still-cheap-210759594.html?page=all
Where have you traveled?  What was your favorite place? Where is your next trip set for?  Any bucket list destinations for you that you feel you HAVE TO SEE before you die?