Everyone needs a dream to believe in-Faith and Values-Sunday, April 29, 2012

I’ve tried very hard to resist the urge to go online and spend hours looking at the crazy things people do. I have committed to looking only at those YouTube selections that friends email me; the ones they had already judged worthy of time and attention. For the most part I have succeeded, with one exception. I often find myself looking at the YouTube selection, “Paul sings Nessun Dorma”. Let me share with you the story behind my one indulgence. Paul was a mobile phone salesman from South Wales. He decided, at the urging of his wife, to try-out for the television show, “Britain’s Got Talent”. When the judges asked him why he was trying-out for the show he said, “My dream is doing what I feel I was born to do”. Then the judges ask him what that was and he said, “To sing opera”. They discreetly hid their amusement because Paul did not look like an opera singer. Paul looked like a shy, vocally untrained, mobile phone salesman with a missing tooth! When Paul opened his mouth to sing, the audience and the judges were amazed at the vocal quality and passion of performance that came forth from this unlikely contestant. Paul continued through the competition and won at the finale with a standing ovation from the audience and the judges. No one was more surprised than Paul Potts. His childhood dream had become a reality. The week following the competition he was in the recording studio laying down the tracts to an album that has sold over one million copies. Paul’s YouTube video has been watched by 92 million viewers. It impacts me every time I watch it. It encourages me to dream. I believe everyone needs a dream. In the story of Joseph in Genesis chapters 37 – 47 his dream got him into trouble. His dream also sustained him during the years of waiting for its fulfillment. His dream impacted his life and the life of thousands of Hebrews during a nationwide famine. Joseph’s dream was larger than himself and greater than comprehension by those closest to him. That’s the way dreams are. If you could simply reach out and acquire your dream it would not mature you in passion and purpose. If dreams were not defined by struggle and self-doubt, their fulfillment would not be life changing. I believe every family and every family member needs to a have a dream. The dreams of the family unit will serve to unify and bring closeness. The dreams of the individual will bring personal satisfaction and touch a great number of people outside the family unit. Dreamers are always inventing, making better, and changing the world they live in. Dreams protect you from making unwise decisions. When the reality of your dream is more real to you than the temporary pleasure of drugs, alcohol, and pre-marital sex, it becomes easier to say no. Mistakes will not keep you from realizing your dream but they will frustrate and delay the process. Proverbs 29:18 states, “Where there is no dream the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law”. I recently talked to a young man who made a surprise visit to the emergency room with chest pains. He told me that he knew his family was financially in good shape, that his wife and children were secure in their relationship with the Lord and that his life was in order. He said, “The thing I realized lying in the ER was that I had not fulfilled my lifelong dream of writing and recording songs. If I had died in those crucial moments, I would have not fulfilled my dream”. He had an “ah-ha moment”. I have watched him pursue his dream over the past few months. He has obtained financial backing and is planning a week of recording in early May with a producer who has helped launched many Christian artists. I believe his dream is about to come true. Does your family have a dream? Have you encouraged each of your children to dream big dreams about their future? Do they have dreams that will help them say no to immediate temptations? Do you have a dream that awaits fulfillment? A healthy family is a dreaming family. A healthy individual is a dreaming individual. Sweet dreams!

#Love #Dreams #AnnNunnally #Faith #determination #God #Encoragement #Victory #Overcoming