Dreams

I was reading back on my old blogs of all the dreams and aspirations I once had.  It made me kinda sad and disappointed, like what happened to all those dreams?  Did I hear God right or was I making it all up? Perhaps like Joseph in the Bible, sometimes dreams get put on hold or postponed, giving God time to orchestrate behind the scene all that is necessary for the dreams to be realized.  I once dreamed about starting a coffee shop ministry here in Kzoo, something from which I had hoped to gain experience and take with me to France someday.  I had a dream that I would be a missionary in France and serve the rising generation to help them find the truth they are searching for. So what happened to those dreams?

I was encouraged this past weekend. On our way down to visit my parent, Kyle and I had one of our typical conversations about our student loans and getting the money left in my World Team account transferred over to WEC.  Then out of nowhere we began wondering why we wouldn't just stay with World Team.  From what I know they don't require you to have all your student loans payed back before going on the field. They just include that in the amount you have to raise each month. We've been praying that God would do a miracle and pay off our loans or that He would give Kyle a promotion so that we could earn enough to pay them back quickly so that we could get on the field quickly.  We never really considered that God might just allow us to go on the field with our loans.  We had wanted to switch mission agencies for a variety of reasons but it seems like, over the past year, those reasons have changed.  What we want to do and where we want to serve seems to once again be lining up more with what World Team is doing.

It's kind of exciting when I think about it.  Perhaps the reason I went to training, learned French, and went to France when I did was so that I could have the training, language, and culture shock under my belt before having kids. Maybe I did hear God right.  Maybe the peace I had about joining World Team really was from the Lord.  Maybe the idea to pay for my training and go when I did really was God telling me to go.  Maybe the coffee shop ministry I wanted to start when I was single was really a desire from God but the time of it was off.  Kyle is now the one who recently came up with the idea of starting a coffee shop ministry here in Kzoo as a way to reach our non-saved friends and so that we can gain experience to take with us to France.  I'd much rather do that with someone rather than by myself. 

I think may be on the brink of seeing old dreams come to life.