Breath, Hope, and Dreams

Hello! I apologize again for being late with this post. I'm currently seeing my doctor in ID. I'm so thankful that he has been helpful once again with the challenges I've been having, especially with the difficulty breathing. It's been two months now that I've struggled to breathe, almost every day. Praise God that the air here in ID is better, and overall I've been breathing much better. I'm still having some difficulty at times though.

When you aren't breathing well, everything else seems unimportant compared to taking the next breath. It's been hard for me to think about much else besides breathing. And at times I didn't know if I would make it through the day. Thankfully, my mom kept telling me that God isn't done with me yet, and I will live through this. She was the voice of hope that kept telling me not to give up.

I don't know what challenges you're experiencing today, but I hope you'll be encouraged that if you are breathing, you have life. You have hope. And I hope you will be able to dream again. Because God isn't done with you yet either. Let's take one breath at a time, hold on to hope, and ask God what dreams He still has for us.

Blessings friends,
-Joanna


(This is something I posted a couple of years ago. I hope it encourages you.)

The Gift of Dreams

Today I'm celebrating the gift of dreams. 

When I was a kid there were various things I imagined would be fun or fulfilling to do in my life, but I had one big dream - to be a missionary. God let me live that dream for two amazing years! And then my health collapsed. As year followed year, all my dreams died. 

If you haven't been in a place like that, I can't explain to you in words what it's like. If you've been there, you understand. I will say that living with no dreams isn't really living. 

Looking back, I can see that God had to take me through that valley. He was doing a necessary and mighty work in me. In His eternal ways, often things have to "die" before they can live again. 

How I praise God that the day finally came when He said, "My child, it's time to dream again!" 

At first my heart was afraid to dream again. Every time another dream had died, it was so painful. I didn't know if I could face that again. But God gave me courage to take one baby step at a time. He restored hope deep in my soul. I began once again to imagine possibilities and think about the future with anticipation.

In the process, God took my "little" dreams from long ago and transformed them into bigger dreams than I ever could have imagined! And He added new dreams on top of those! 

At this point I feel like I'm overflowing with God-given, God-sized dreams! And I can't wait to see how He is going to bring them all to pass!

Whatever happens, I've learned that the best dream of all is that of drawing closer to my Savior each day. No matter what circumstances I go through, enjoying Jesus is the sweetest dream that I want to live every day. 

God created us with the ability and the longing to dream big dreams. If life has trampled on your dreams, please take heart! Please don't give up on dreaming. You may go through a dark season, but hold on to hope my friend. God really does have greater dreams for you than anything you've imagined! Let Him be your first dream through it all, and trust Him with each step. One day you'll stand in awe of the awesome dreams He gives you and then fulfills in your life! 

Today will you do something with me? Will you take a few minutes by yourself to do this?

Take a big, deep breath. Exhale slowly. Close your eyes, and dream again.... Little or big dreams, it doesn't matter. Tell yourself to imagine again. Let yourself smile. Let yourself hope. Let your heart dream again.