During the GateWay Pastor Appreciation Breakfast, we were privileged to hear a presentation from Phillip Kelley, chaplain of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Using an acrostic for DREAM, Phillip presented some inspiring ideas for how we can move toward our dreams. Although we’re adding some nuggets of text in this blog post – information we share with our GateWay women – we give credit for the original acrostic to Phillip Kelley.
D = Desire – the WHAT of your dream
Knowing what we truly desire helps us focus on the details of our dreams. Then as we focus on what the dreams entails, it can also expand into new territory.
As we focus also on God and the desires he has for us, we begin seeing him show up everywhere. When we are more aware of God and his presence all around us, it helps us confirm our dreams and move forward.
We also realize our dreams DO count for something. As the Psalmist wrote, “Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4 TNIV).
R = Reason – the WHY of your dream
Sometimes we may wonder why we are so focused on an idea or why we feel a particular nudge in our hearts.
That inner voice is definitely worth listening to, because it might be the Holy Spirit urging us to listen and obey – to march forward and accomplish our dreams.
Michael Hyatt wrote, “When you know your why, you’ll know your way.”
Our “why” – the reason for our dreams – gives us the motivation we need to keep moving toward the goal.
E = Experience – the WHO of your dream
Each of us owns a personal experience story, the bumps and bruises along the way as well as the joys and exciting events that have happened to us.
God can use each one of those experiences to move us toward our dreams. Like stepping stones advancing us toward the next experience and the next goal.
How we own those experiences and how we react to them determines how successfully we navigate. We can become bitter or we can learn and grow better.
The Bible also confirms the importance of our experiences, “God comforts us in all our troubles, so we can comfort others with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:4 TNIV).
As God comforts us and teaches us, we learn. Then we can pass on that learning to others and use it as a springboard for our own dreams.
A = Abilities – the HOW of your dream
We have each been given talents and giftings unique to our personalities. Often, we take these abilities for granted.
For example: the stay-at-home mom who organizes birthday parties has a gift of administration and detail-orientation. She may not realize how important she is to the family unit, but that gifting becomes the ability to get everyone to doctor appointments on time, to plan for meals and to make sure everyone in the family has a fun time on their birthdays.
Think of all the things you do in one day’s time. How do those activities line up with your abilities? When you feel energized by a certain activity, that’s a good sign you are operating out of your strengths and specific abilities.
Then those abilities become the action points for moving toward your dream. Lean your life into the abilities that strengthen you.
M = Maturity – the WHEN of your dream
Throughout our lives, God is in the process of growing us up. We become mature by moving through experiences and using our abilities to make progress.
Even though a dream may be realistic and so very important to us – we may not yet be ready to see it happen. God does stuff in us before he does stuff through us.
For example: it is rare for a person who carries the dream of writing to sit down and put together a best-selling novel. Writers learn how to write by practicing the craft of writing. That dream of writing and publishing a novel may come true, but for most writers – the dream becomes reality only after many hours of trial and error, rejections and starting over.
Are we defined by our circumstances or will we allow God to refine us because of our circumstances?
We may often feel as if we’re going backward instead of forward, but we need to remember that failure does not define a person – it is only an event.
As we learn from our failures, we become more mature. Then time determines the when of our dreams.
A good exercise would be to think about your current dreams, then journal through this acrostic. Check to see how you’re moving forward and perhaps what your next steps might be.
If you need help, call us at GateWay of Hope – 913.393.4283. We help women transform their lives and find that hopeful place where dreams come true.
©2017 GateWay of Hope – Hope, Healing and Wholeness for Women