I want to finish out my ATTA GIRL series on pursuing your dreams. It began with the first letter A here. Today we move to the end our letter L.
In your rush to the end of the rainbow, don’t forget to “Listen.”
Seek God’s face.
In her book Feast of Life, Jo Kadlecek tells the story of going to visit some old college friends (pg. 33ff)
It was time to catch up with these friends and get reacquainted with their youngsters. While their mother and father were cooking dinner, I followed the three children into their family room to play with them.
But three-year-old Rachel didn’t seem to care that her siblings had chosen a cartoon video as their source of entertainment. She had suddenly found another source of fascinating amusement: my face.
This little girl kneeled on my lap, her big brown eyes only inches from mine, searching every part of my face. Her tiny hands pushed part of my cheek or jaw into strange shapes, and she giggled and laughed until she discovered another shape. When this became dull, she traced my eyebrows and forehead with her index finger and giggled again. No matter what her strategy, for fifteen minutes straight, her face never turned from mine. No matter how loud her brother and sister got, no matter what happened in the video, Rachel’s attention was not diverted. She was intent—for some strange reason—on studying my face.
If ever there was a grand image of what our relationship with God could look like, Rachel showed it to me that day she became infatuated with my face. In the same way, we need to learn to “get into God’s face,” tracing his eyebrows, squeezing his cheeks until we giggle and laugh and know what he looks like. We must not allow our attention to be diverted; instead we need to develop a “childlike” intensity for gazing on the face of God.
We’ve come full circle. We begin by talking with God and we continue on by talking with God. We must continually seek His face so we know His dreams for us. We need to listen so we move forward at the pace he desires.
And we need to listen because he may want to fulfill our dreams in ways we can’t even imagine.
In Ephesians 3:20 and 21, Paul says:
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
God wants the fulfillment of your dreams to bring him glory, and he has amazing ways to do that. He wants the best for you. He designed you—you’re fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). God’s works are wonderful (that includes YOU), and he wants you to know that well. Find out how he wants to use your dream to fulfill his mission.
So there’s our ATTA GIRL!
Maybe it’s time to move forward in pursuing your dream.
A couple of weeks ago I received the kind of email blog writers and speakers love to receive. It said this:
I enrolled in culinary classes this fall, with the goal of eventually opening my own tea shop! I had been getting messages from various places, your blog included, that encouraged following your dream, so I took the first step to get educated in the business. Thanks for your part in this! It is equally exciting and terrifying, but I trust that God is guiding me in this path.
Becky has embarked on the journey to follow her dream. How about you?
Take a moment to right now talk to God about your dream.
Tell Him what your first step is going to be.
Now listen. . . . Do you hear it? . . . He’s saying, “ATTA GIRL.”
Excellent! This was so well written that in the midst of my busy day, I couldn’t stop reading it. Thank you Carol for sharing your ideas in a way that is interesting and thought provoking. I truly enjoyed this reading!
Thanks, Jennie!