Learning to Dream Bigger - A Divine Discontent

The last few months have been an education in faith. God has taken a woman who dreamt of only what she could see and taught her to dream with her heart instead of her mind. My mind perceived life in black and white. The Lord has been showing me that life isn't meant to be lived based upon my own perceptions of what can be achieved. With God, anything is possible. I knew I wanted to go on a Summer Project with Campus Crusade for Christ. I researched and found one that fit my idea of good.

Two weeks in Monterrey, Mexico working at an orphanage. $1500. Simple. Would look great in a support letter.

There I went, telling God exactly what kind of box I was putting Him in. He must have laughed, or at least chuckled. I started the application process. A few days later, I received a facebook message from Steve and Megan Yen. The message basically said that they were leading a team of about ten students on the Siena, Italy Summer Project. They had dreamed up names of people who the Lord was telling them might be a good fit for Italy. I was one of them.

As I scrolled down and read the message, I started to laugh. Giggle actually. When I got to the end of the message, I just sat there staring at my computer.

"I am going to Siena, Italy," I said to myself. There was no question, I just KNEW this is where God wanted me to go. There was no doubt, I can't adequately describe how I felt in that moment...only that I was going, and that was that. Going to Siena meant A LOT more support to raise, more time away from my family and my summer job, more challenges, and more faith. I had serious doubts about travelling to a foreign country for six weeks...I have never left the country. I haven't even been to Canada. But here I am, preparing to embark upon a great adventure where I will travel across the world.

To go on a Summer Project, you must apply. To make sure the main reason you are going is to share the Gospel, I suppose. Oh, and to make sure you aren't a total psycho probably. Who knows. I applied to the Siena project and was accepted a few days ago. Two days I received an email from my summer employer saying they would love to work around my schedule and that I would have my amazing (and well paid) summer job when I get back.

The Lord is providing.

And its amazing. This is just the beginning of my Siena adventure and one of the reasons I started this blog. I will update as often as possible. Thanks for the prayers, and thanks to God Almighty, for knowing that I was a dreamer who needed the push to dream bigger with Him.


"A Story. An Epic.
Something hidden in the ancient past.
Something dangerous now unfolding.
Something waiting in the future for us to discover.
Some crucial role for us to play.
Christianity, in its true form, tells us that there is an Author and that he is good, the essence of all that is good and beautiful and true, for he is the source of all these things...It calls us up into a Story that is truer and deeper than any other, and assures us that there we will find the meaning of our lives.

What if?

What if all the great stories that have ever moved you, brought you joy or tears--what if they are telling you something about the true Story into which you were born, the Epic into which you have been cast?"

-Epic by John Eldredge (pages 14-15)