There’s a sect of dreamers in the world that is always looking to bigger and better. They can’t be crushed. They think the word “no” means “try harder.” They’re made of a tenacious optimism that can truly conquer almost anything. Then there’s everyone else. The word “no” is a mountain, not an obstacle. It isn’t fun. It can even be life altering.
The range to which people dream is broad and so relative to their circumstances it’s hard to define what dreaming is and isn’t. For simplicity sake, I’ll define it this way… a dream is a vision of one’s future bigger and better than anything they can fathom accomplishing on their own.
For a third world child, born into poverty a dream might be owning a home with multiple bedrooms, feeding their family well and indoor plumbing. Becoming a professional like a doctor, teacher, or entrepreneur. For a child raised in abuse, the dream could be having a family that communicates with kind words and not yelling or punching. For a mother with a child with special needs, the dream could be that her child is able to function as a thriving adult one day with friends and a family of their own.
I find, however, that those who allow themselves to overcome and accomplish dreams like these they then move on to bigger things. Serving the poor, counseling families, writing books.
This post, however, is for those who experienced a broken dream at some point in their lives and in their brokenness they settled. This looks like “my relationship isn’t great but at least I’m not alone,” “I hate my job but it pays the bills,” “I wish I… but I could never do that,” “I guess I wasn’t meant to have children.”
The worst though are those who won’t even talk about it anymore. So many times I’ve pounded down my feelings and thoughts because I couldn’t dare to feel the disappointment anymore. I couldn’t bring myself to pray that prayer even one more time. It might challenge my view of the world, God and myself. In fact, it might bury me with it.
I’m a firm believer that we are all creators. The welder, the fisherman, the chef and the mother of three boys who claims she doesn’t have a creative bone in her body. Nonsense!
I have a story to tell… it’s painful to write and it isn’t about me.
She was always a leader, always driven to more and better. She has a sense of justice that draws her to make things right when they are wrong. She’s black and white but drawn by grace and compassion. This girl was eleven when she threw a few trash bags of clothing from her attic window and pushed her brother and sister to leave with her. ELEVEN.
After years of sadistic abuse, she’d had enough. How does a girl raise up against such abuse? Someone showed her it was wrong. Someone showed her it wasn’t the only way. There were weekends she’d visit her grandparents. God loving people who would love on her and her siblings. Back then no one broke up families for abuse. You kept your mouth shut and you didn’t tell anyone.
Being locked in a basement, with no food, for days and not allowed to use the bathroom while down there. Open wounds on their backs from being whipped then alcohol being poured on them. Forced to eat whole sticks of butter. Made to watch their step-siblings open Christmas presents and not receive anything themselves. Beaten and beaten and beaten. Their abuser took joy in harming them. How does one overcome this? She dared to dream. She dared to imagine her life in a much different light.
There were a billion layers of lies to work through. You probably have some of your own. We all do. But the first one to rip off is “I can’t.” I’m here to tell you that you can. If you’re drawn to create in some way there’s reason for it. One of my battles was “why does it matter?” Music was so important to me. It was so important to write and play music and I kept wondering why it mattered. In the grand scheme of life and loss and victory, why does music even matter? But it’s part of me. I’d be robbing myself of the fullness of life if I didn’t do it.
Imagine you spent months designing the perfect gift for a loved one. You put all of yourself into making it exactly what it’s supposed to be. It’s the perfect dress for your daughter. The perfect tool for your woodworker. The wisdom for your loved one to speak to others. But they never use it. In fact, they open the box to see what it is but they won’t even take it out of the box! “I can’t wear that.” “I can’t use that.” “I can’t do that.” That’s all you hear in return.
WHO YOU ARE MATTERS. You were designed with intent and care. On purpose. No mistakes were made. But you have to take it out of the box, overcome what keeps you from using it and then master it. Stop living under your potential. Stop burying your talents. You have to be you because no one else can. I heard TD Jakes say once that the world’s riches are in cemeteries because people took their potential to the grave. Don’t let that be you.
THERE’S NO GREATER FULFILLMENT than walking in who you are without burden’s attachments. The dream everyone should have is to max out their own potential before they walk into death’s door and when they do cross that doorstep to know they’re taking nothing with them.
? – shethepeople.tv
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About The Author
Wendy is a stay at home mom of four tiny humans ranging from ages one to nine and the wife of a former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant. In addition to music, Wendy, homeschools, teaches at her kids’ homeschooling co-op, volunteers with a ministry called SOZO that helps people overcome unhealthy habits, hang-ups and addictions and aspires, with her husband, to build a self-sustaining homestead.
She has always filled journals with poetry but nearly moments after learning her first three guitar chords she was writing songs. Her passions are two-fold. Write music that’s relatable and connect with the broken or downtrodden. She just plain loves people.
Having overcome deep brokenness herself she has a heart for those struggling to get out of unhealthy patterns and discover all the greatness that’s hidden underneath. She’s equipped with many power tools that she often shares in her writing but it’s important to know that all power tools need a source of power to function properly. For Wendy that source is God.
Wendy is an acoustic rock singer-songwriter with inspiring lyrics, soothing delivery, and intricate guitar. Her delicate truthfulness is known to hug the soul while articulating even the most difficult of topics. Her music has been called relatable and even healing.
