A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

So maybe it was the 3 trips I took to Disney last year where they literally brain wash you into believing that "Dreams really do come true!"  It is the most pleasant brain washing ever.  Something about the smell of powered sugar and the 20 minute show that runs every hour called "Dream Along With Mickey" has you downright believing that ansolutely anything is possible!  Or maybe it was the loss of my Grandpa last March.  Loss makes you realize how short even a long and wonderful life is.  Loss makes you realize the importance of family.  Or maybe it was the crazy break-down I had about turning 26 (25 was awesome "the world is my oyster!" 26 was terrifying "what am I doing with my liiiiifffeee?!") where I got out my old journals that I have kept since middle school and scoured bucket list after bucket list and dream after dream and cried because my life looks nothing like I thought it would.  Or just maybe it's that Psalm 20 spent all of 2014 popping up in devotions, sermons and random falling from the sky into my life.  {"May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.  We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up banners in the name of our God.  May the Lord grant all your request."}

Somehow the culmination of all these things that happend in 2014 have profoundly influenced the start of my 2015.  Regardless of the reason, I have decided to stake a claim on 2015 as the year my dreams are coming true.  I am planting a giant sparkly monogrammed flag on every day of this year that says "mine!"  They may not be the exact same dreams I had when I was 16, but they are my true dreams non-the less. 

And you know what?  Almost the instant I made that decision, my dreams started coming true.  January has been awesome!  

One of my dreams from adolescents was to open a boutique to sell my creations. I thought this would mean a store front in some charming area of town, but the 21st century is above and beyond what I dreamed 10 years ago so Hello etsy site! 

  www.etsy.com/sell/thesunshinehut 

Another dream from 9th grade was to help people who were "disfigured" in one way or another and thus "outcasts".   I know, I know, could I have been any more dramatic? I thought this meant serving on Mercy Ship Africa and removing tumors from people. I thought I would have to live over seas or do street ministry.   In reality, the Lord has opened the door for me to get my lymphedema certification through OT to decrease and manage what is commonly known as elephantiasis here in the states.

A dream I never even wrote down but had held in my heart was that of being a real seamstress.  Not just a crafter, but someone who really sews well and is hired for things like amazing princess ball gowns.  And as I mentioned in my corset dress post, that dream is coming true too!  

This is not a post to brag, instead this is a post about gratitude.  This is a post where can see how some of the puzzle pieces fit together, how all things work together for good. People always say that when you become a believer you have to give up all your dreams for yourself, and I had bought into that.  Psalm 20 was crazy to me because I wanted to pray it for other people and not accept that God really does want to make my plans succeed and give me the desires of my heart. And I am posting to share how grateful I am that I am living a life fulfilled. I am not married and I do not have babies like I thought I would at 26, but my life is so much more wonderful than I could have ever imagined at 16.   And for that, I am so grateful.