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| Peyton, Laina, and I on our way to help serve the homeless |
I've had people in my past preach to me that day dreaming is a sinful thing. On most accounts.. I disagree with that. Obviously if you're day dreaming about you and your future husband and you're.. *cough cough* you get the idea. That my friends, is sinful. Or if you're day dreaming about hurting someone.. well.. Jesus said that if you think it, then you've done it. So there ya go.
But when it comes to the good stuff. The sweet aspects of your future with your husband, kids, career... it's not really sinful. But there comes a point when it's unhealthy and frankly.. it's holding you back.
God puts us in stages of life that I like to call "contentment" stages. These may also be referred to as a time of growth and learning. For those of you that might be wondering.. I am most definitely in that stage.
I am as guilty or perhaps even more so of day dreaming.. constantly. After talking to Laina about this.. we've come to a conclusion/ decision. Day dreaming keeps your mind firmly focused on the future, and while the future is extremely important, we only live each day once.. so if we spend it obsessed with the future, we will wake up one day and find ourselves unprepared and not ready for this future we've longed for.
Content: satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.
I'm going to fill you in on something a guest speaker at my church said this past Sunday about contentment: Being content isn't about giving up on getting something better. It's about relying on God in all situations and being happy with what you have.
So here's what Laina and I have decided to do. Instead of day dreaming we're going to pray. We're going to pray for those in need, whether they are someone we know personally or someone we just know of (government leaders ect..). I don't pray nearly as often as I should. Prayer shouldn't be an occasional thing, but rather a constant conversation with our Father in Heaven.
Whose with us?? Who will join us in our mission to focus on the now and as a result ready ourselves for the future?
Shalom,
Wow! What an amazing idea, Alana. I admire your commitment. Thank you for the inspiration.
ReplyDelete~ Rachael
I'm glad that I've inspired you, but God gave us the idea entirely :).
DeleteThank you for glorifying Him, as always... what a beautiful testimony!!! And thank you also for the courage to share in the first place. :) Again... wow... what an incredible idea! I do appreciate the clarification you added for Jay. Whether a story daydream (which I love and do constantly) or a life one, though, I most definitely need to remember to focus on Him. Thank you for the reminder, and the inspiration to pray. Imagine if our dreams for our lives were to do His will each day, love as He does, and bring glory to our Savior! Wow!
DeleteWow, unless your daydream involves something actually wrong I don't see how that could be sinful. Isn't that where the imagination for story's and hopes comes from? I daydreamed a lot in school and got in trouble for it but only because I wasn't doing my actual work.
ReplyDeleteI think we're talking about two different kinds of day dreaming :).
DeleteYou're right, the kind you're talking about is great, and necessary.
What I'm talking about is when people (me) get stuck on my specific future that I'm not payin any attention to where I'm at.
I have no intention. To somehow stop myself from getting lost in a fantasy land of a great book or movie from time to time. Heck, a lot of my past come from me daydreaming about a book or movie.
I hope this makes more sense now :).