DREAMS THAT KEEP US ALIVE

Last year I had the pleasure of attending the annual Dream Week at Christian Revival Church. Although I am not a member at this church, I make it a point to attend this annual conference because of the powerful speakers that they invite to give sermons every year. What has stood out for me over the years is that the sermons sound more like motivational talks than sermons and that is what I love about them. So last year was no different, I went because one of my favourite pastors, Ps Chris Hill was going to be one of the speakers.




Of all the sermons he gave during that week long conference, the one that particularly stood out for me, was the sermon he gave on rekindling our dreams. He went on to say that when life has thrown everything our way to defeat us, we should bounce back like a tennis ball that been hit against a wall and bounce back higher than the level we were when we were thrown off balance.

I've lost count of the many times that it has happened to me or the people egard the very things that made us want to wake up in the mornings, we listen to all the voices that we were taught to ignore, those voices that said we will never be good enough, the voices that said that our dreams are crazy and impossible to attain.


We start to live a life of settling, settling for a paying job, a nice enough house, a career path that doesn't make us happy, as long as it pays the bills. It seems better to postpone chasing our dreams because the timing is not right, we have children to feed, family to look after, so the postponement turns to totally forgetting what it is that kept us alive. We go on living, for everyone else around us but neglect to take care of ourselves. Somehow what we want is not as important anymore as opposed to the needs of everyone else around us.


You wake up everyday, you smile and laugh and do what you must and it appears you are happy but the truth is, a large part of who you are is suppressed, hidden beneath the surface, melting under the pressure of obligations and duty. The very dreams that make you crazy, that made you want to do well at school, those were the dreams that formed a part of who you are. And in most cases, the dreams engraved in us correspond to the purpose we have been created for. So when we deny these dreams, its almost like we are turning a blind eye to the purpose we are meant to fulfill.



It was a lunch date with a friend this afternoon that acted as a prompt for me. We were casually chatting about her new job and relationships when she said...."I am chasing my dreams, the dreams of my boys and I don't need someone to drag me down." I am not sure she realised the impact that those words had on me, at that exact moment. Not only has she decided to do what she's always wanted to do, to build a legacy for her children, she also acknowledged in the sentence, the importance of surrounding yourself with people who will support your dreams and those who will build you up.



I needed that little reminder to go after what I want, to chase my dreams and more importantly, to share my dreams with people who will support me no matter who crazy I sound. Those who will give me the platform to be me and in that way, work towards attaining my God-given purpose. Whether it is the dreams we had as little ones or the ones we developed as we matured, we should preserve the dreams that kept us alive. But more than preserve them, we should actively work towards attaining them.