Big, God-Inspired Dreams
I’m a dreamer.
I’ve always been one. I’ve dreamed of everything from being a princess with a magical winged unicorn to being a teacher who inspires kids to love learning. I’ve dreamed of discovering new species of dinosaurs and of striking it rich with a diamond mine hidden on my property.
I’ve dreamed of writing books for a living. Of getting married and starting a family.
I dream of making a difference in the world.
If you were to listen in on the conversations my husband I have during the course of a normal week, you’d realize we’re still both big dreamers. We dream of growing our publishing company, of starting a film company, of traveling the world telling stories. We dream of being the hands and feet of Christ, of inspiring others to dig deeper, to #BeBetter, of joining together to change our culture. We never want for dreams.
We’ve both been reading Dream Big by Bob Goff the last couple weeks and have been loving it–because Mr. Goff puts words and actionable steps to what we’ve always been trying to do, and to inspire others to do. To know who you are, to know where you are, and to know where you’re supposed to be going.
This requires self-awareness…and it also requires vision. It requires never being content with where you are NOW, but instead always looking toward where you’re going. Because we’re never called to a stagnant life, right? We’re called to go. We’re called to walk worthy of our calling. We’re called to act.
But how do we know what we’re supposed to do? Where we’re supposed to go?
Well, you can read Dream Big to get a more thorough explanation, LOL, but as I was pondering how we know which dreams are worth pursuing…which dreams are inspired by the Lord…I remembered a line from Hannah Currie’s Heart of a Princess. Toward the end of this amazing book, the heroine has this epiphany:
It wouldn’t be a God-dream if you could do it alone.
I wrote that down on a sticky note when I read it, because it’s something I know is true, but something I sometimes forget.
God rarely ever calls us to a totally solitary path. The dreams He instills in us are meant to be shared with others. To be built with others. To be sought and lost and cried over and rebuilt with others. Because ultimately, He isn’t out to build a person here and a person there–He’s out to build a Church, a Kingdom.
We all have dreams small and large, silly and serious, material and eternal. How do we choose which ones to pursue? The question I’m going to be asking as I look at each of mine is, “How can this help others? How can this build community?”
The fun thing is that as I view things through this lens, I’m starting to get ideas for how to take the humdrum and turn it into something that can impact other people. Have you always dreamed of owning a hot rod? Maybe you could use it to give rides to underprivileged or ill children (or adults!). Do you love to collect books? Maybe you could start a Little Library in your neighborhood and fill it with titles that could touch hearts. Do you love to bake? Maybe (when the world isn’t pandemic crazy) you could make it a point to take something to a neighbor once a week.
What’s a dream you’ve always had that you’ve been waiting for “the right time” to chase? Or given up on? What’s a dream you’re chasing now?
How can you make it lasting and impactful? How can it help others to #BeBetter?
An exciting announcement for writers and readers who are Catholic or Orthodox! WhiteFire Publishing is acquiring titles for a brand new imprint ~ 
I’ve long wanted to try those beautiful little cookies, but I never have…in part because they’re described as a meringue, and I historically haven’t cared for anything in that family. But I’ve subscribed to the 
Have you seen the whipped coffee craze? I hadn’t until about a month ago, when Xoë asked if we could make it. It’s quite simply equal parts instant coffee, sugar, and boiling water, whisked to a stiff peak and then poured over milk. But it makes for a really rich flavor and a thicker drink that mere coffee alone, thanks to the whipping. We make it regularly now as a fun, quick treat!
As someone who has been in the homeschooling life for ten years already, I’m keenly aware of all the times I want to read for fun and am just too tired, and hence of the TBR pile that just grows and grows. It’s made me think I don’t really read that many books anymore. So in 2020, I began keeping a list. I include the novels I read to my son for school, as well as those I edit and read for fun. If you’d asked me before I started the list, I would have said I only manage 1-2 books a month. In fact, I read 4-5 a month, sometimes more (not counting my own when I edit them). Not so shabby!
News flash, right? We’ve had 2 cats for nearly 10 years, but then we rescued a stray kitten last September, and oh my gracious. I’d forgotten how adorable kittens are. It was a challenge to get the older cats to warm up to her, but she makes us smile and laugh every single day. And she’s also worked herself into the first book in my new series, in which her name is Darling (for realsies, she’s Sammy).
Thanks to the #TeaPartyBookClub, my kitchen has become a bit of a tea room, LOL. I have no fewer than a dozen varieties of loose leaf tea at any given time, and I adore the cute little tea tins I got to store some of them. They double-seal for freshness, and lemme just tell you, it’s way easier (and less wasteful and messy) to scoop from them than from the zipper bags the tea comes in! But that also reminds me of…
My daughter stopped growing at 2 inches shorter than me, and she’s been that height for years. But Rowyn, at twelve, has officially caught up with her and is closing in fast on me. He’s always been short for his age, but now all of a sudden he’s a bit above average on the charts. It’s so weird to look over at him and basically look eye-to-eye! He keeps saying, “I’m not used to being this tall.” I replied, as any good mother would, that he now has no excuse not to put things away on high shelves. 😉
Our campfire discovery for the summer: use Chewy Chips Ahoy! chocolate chip cookies as your cracker, a Reese’s Cup Thin, and then a marshmallow. Oh. My. Gracious.
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. Having successfully launched two homeschool grads, she now spends her time writing fiction, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years, as well as a fantasy series and contemporary mysteries and romances. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.