When Your Dreams Are Forgotten

Are you a dreamer? Did God write something on your heart years ago, yet it has gone unfulfilled?

Sometimes God gives us a desire. For me, my first passion was to have a family. To be a mom. I had no desire to climb the corporate ladder. I didn’t want to be a career woman. I just wanted to be a mom.

And the Lord has blessed me with three beautiful children. The path to these precious little ones wasn’t easy, but here I am, fulfilling my calling to be a wife and mother. It isn’t a glorious life. But it’s a good life. And it’s my life.

The Lord also gave me another dream. To write. What this calling actually looks like is yet to be seen. At this moment, I write for myself. And I write to encourage you, my reader. I have been published on other sites, and maybe one day I will write and publish our family’s story. Or a different message that Christ gives me. I honestly don’t know how this will play out, and that’s okay.

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Because in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I fulfill the calling in front of me – whether it’s ministering to my family, participating in overseas missions, advocating for orphans, or encouraging other women in their journey of motherhood.

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the She Speaks writing conference hosted by Proverbs 31 Ministries. It was a sweet time of encouragement, teaching, and new friendships. I learned a lot, had a great meeting with a publisher about a book idea, and enjoyed some precious worship time. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but what I experienced far exceeded anything I could have imagined.

Because I found myself in the presence of Jesus.

As I participated in worship and as I listened to each amazing speaker, I was encouraged to pursue my dreams. My dream of writing, to be sure. But I was also inspired to pursue my dream of motherhood. Of family.

You see, sometimes when we begin to pursue

one dream that God lays on our heart, we forget

about the other dreams He has given us.

I have been writing for four years, and I love it. Writing is my outlet. It’s my way to process all that God is doing in my life. It’s also (hopefully) how I encourage others.

And while that is all well and good, if I’m not careful, I will neglect the ones that God put in my life every day. I was reminded of this truth on the first morning of the conference as Shauna Niequist talked to us about making room for margin in our lives. She spoke with us about building friendships, making time to renew our souls.

And then she said this:

“The most important beautiful thing is what you are

building around your dinner table.” 

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I was later reminded of this truth again by Jill Savage from Hearts at Home. She said something along these lines:

“If we write 2000 words a day, or have a successful business, or cook a gourmet meal, but we can’t stop for five minutes to watch our daughter perform a new gymnastics trick or listen to a story from our teenager, we have nothing.”

Sweet friends, in the hustle of your life, don’t forget that your most important ministry is right in front of you. Your husband. Your children. Your friends. They are what matters.

Slow down and make room for margin in your life.

One verse kept appearing to me during the conference. In my own personal Bible study, in our conference notebook, in a message. A verse I’m not sure I had ever taken the time to dwell on before.

“I am the sweet fragrance of Christ to God.” (1 Cor 2:15)

I want to be the sweet fragrance of Christ to my family. To those God puts in my path. This week I will slow down, be who God created me to be, and see the needs in front of me as my ministry.

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As you pursue your dreams and calling, be sure to make time for the ministry that is right in front of you. Because when you are loving your family and loving Jesus, everything else will fall into place.

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13 thoughts on “When Your Dreams Are Forgotten

  1. Loved your writing. I never hear some things too many times! To take time for recharging, time with Jesus & His word, & time with the loved ones God has brought & continues to bless me with. Keep writing. ?

    1. Thank you so much for the encouragement, Sharon! I often need reminders of these things myself.

  2. Thanks, Adrienne, for sharing! I am blessed all over again reading your post. I am sure you encourage many with your writing. The Lord impressed something very similar on my heart at She Speaks: If you don’t have time for your family and people, Shauna, you don’t have time for ministry. And so, because of your post (thank you!), I’m going to go swim with my youngest daughter for a little while. She asked. I was too busy. Now I’m not. Everything else can wait. Blessings! Shauna

    1. It’s so easy to get caught up in all we “need” to do, isn’t it? I hope you enjoyed your swim! And thank you for the encouraging words. 🙂

  3. Beautiful! So glad that you have embraced your life-shaping ministry of motherhood…you will never regret the effort and energy that you expend on your family. Lovely blog.

  4. I was at She Speaks too and I absolutely loved the message and the move of the Spirit during our time there. I am so glad God reminded you of your dream and gave you permission to embrace your family and what happens at the dinner table .. I can’t remember who said it – but God doesn’t have an expiration date on His destiny/dream for you. Such a great powerful conference. Blessings, stopping by from #RaRaLinkup

    1. I was surprised at the holiness of the conference. Thank you for the encouraging words!

  5. So thankful that God is helping you to invest in those ones surrounding you! My nest is empty now, but I can remember all too well those days when I let the busyness overtake my moments. I can still hear my 3 year old daughter saying, “Mommy, don’t say uh-huh…” which was my classic way of responding when I was not fully present with them! Those littles can sense when we aren’t engaged! May God Bless you as you share His heart with those you love!!

    1. Oh I love your story about your daughter! It is true – they can definitely sense when we aren’t all in. Thanks for stopping by!

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