(February 7, 2010)

To review, life is too short, our calling to too great for us to miss it. We can't be haphazard about it. We can't just be a hearer of the word, we have to be a doer of the word. The Great Dreamweaver--God--wants to take your dream and my dream and weave them into something greater than ourselves. The Zion Quilt--the patchwork of our dreams--will say Without Your Dream, Zion's Vision Is Incomplete. Last week, the creation and commencement of the dream leads us to be closer and closer to God, doing His work, His agenda.

From birth, you've been given some movement patterns that are engrained in you. But, as we grow into adulthood, we lose some of those basic movements. However, we never forget them and it may take a moment, but we soon can relearn how to crawl on the ground.

In our spiritual lives, there are people who play Spiritual Price Is Right. They either play Safecracker, using skills they have developed over time and using the help of the audience to get to the Promised Land with work. But, many Christians play Plinko instead; let the chips fall where they may. That is not God's destiny for you and your dream. Your dream takes work.

Relationships: These can help you find missing pieces to crack the safe, that is, people can aid you to find your dream and affirm you that your path is heading in the right direction. While others are the missing pieces for us, we are the missing piece for others. That's powerful. We can either be the dream affirmer or the dream shatterer.

What Do You Love To Do?: Jim Abbott was born without a hand and he became one of the greatest major league pitchers of the 1990s. He said "I learned that you can do things differently, but that you can do things well. We have the obligations to the things we do have, not the disability. I loved throwing a baseball. Go out and find what you love...never let (anything) stop you. Don't listen to what you can't do. Work hard, don't look back and celebrate the blessings in your life." He didn't care when others said he couldn't do something. Jim Abbott epitomizes this: It won't be work if it's your dream.

Your Unique Stamp: Your dream can be achieved in various ways. It may not be the same path as what "normal" people would take, but if God gave you a certain path to take, blaze the trail. It is your dream code to do so. Embrace your uniqueness...it is the way that God made you.

Dig deep beneath the surface. Identify what experiences are meant to be teaching tools. Sometimes God wants you to experience some things in which pain may be a teaching tool to be a better person later. It's hard to accept that, but God loves us so much that he wants to build our spiritual strength.

Know And Embrace Yourself. Take off your masks. Take off your cover-ups. Be happy about you. Be thrilled about your uniqueness. See the positive things about yourself. Know who you are. God does.

- Jon Bruney
(credit to Mark Cherona)