Barbie Loflin

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite shows was The Walton’s. It was simple, honest and filled with kids like the ones I went to school with. However, my favorite part of the show was the last 90 seconds. Every evening John Boy would go to his room, sit down at the desk beneath his window, and begin to write about his day. I used to imagine that I would one day write eloquent words telling about my life, my adventures, my thoughts and my dreams. As I listened to the Walton family calling out their signature good nights, I would reach for my journal, pretending that I, like John Boy, was a real writer. Thursday nights. Eight O’clock. Me and John Boy.

Nothing fancy, just a simple dream, but a dream I have now come to see as a God-dream. How very dear the memory is to my heart.

Now, many years later, I have come to realize that it was not merely a dream but an awakening and recognition of a deeper part of my spiritual identity. The eternity on my heart was whispering a love of words into my soul, and with every syllable the captivation became more complete. This was God rushing through would-be writers veins. You see, He gave me dreams that lined up with His plan for my life. And more than likely, he has done the same with you. Your dreams may well be the prompting of the Holy Spirit toward your particular calling or gift.

(I am pretty sure many first writing attempts were birthed while looking through John-Boys window. I gnawed through countless no. 2 pencils in my quest for the perfect word-dance.)

As a child, I could not get my mind around a dream quite so big. Becoming a writer was equivalent to… oh I don’t know… teaching a cat to run its own bath water and jump in. I simply could not dream that big. Just couldn’t imagine it. Oh, but He could. This wonderful God could not only imagine it, but could bring it to pass. Now, four books and countless opportunities later, I have come to understand that God’s plan is never limited by or to my abilities. Amazing, huh? I have truly come to see that my dream had very little to do with what I could do, and everything to do with His grace and goodness. In this, God is teaching me every day that the boundaries I have set for my life are not His boundaries (Thank you, Jesus!).

I believe with all of my heart that He’s is calling all of us to take a leap of faith and begin to believe Him for the big stuff…the things we used to dream about that may seem totally out of reach. It is time to stop relying on what we have and rely on all that He possesses. He’s got some stuff!

So, dear ones, anyone out there got a John-Boy dream hidden away in the dusty confines of a long locked hope chest?

Get it out.

Dust it off.

Ask God about it…

Then grab the cat and head for the bathtub.