Don't Give Up Your Dream

Spring break my freshman year of college I went to Springfield, Missouri to spend a week with my brother, Josiah, at his school, Central Bible College. Little did I know that that trip would forever change my life and that in just a few months I would move to Springfield as well. At that time in my life, I was really discouraged about several things, one being my calling. I didn't enjoy my first year of college like I thought I would and I was just questioning what I thought God wanted me to do. So many things were going on in my heart and in my head that week, but there's one thing that sticks out the most - something I don't think I'll ever forget. While I was there, I got to sit in on a few of Josiah's classes, but I was able to go to chapel with him everyday. Even though I am now an Evangel student and we pretend to be rivals with CBC, nothing will ever compare to one of the chapel services I attended that week. I have no idea who the speaker was that day - I don't remember anything about him - but his sermon really did change my life. I'm not big on taking sermon notes, but for some reason I had a note book with me that day and I now hang those notes in my dorm and in my room at home so I am constantly reminded of what he said. His sermon was entitled, "Don't Give Up Your Dream."

Now, anybody who knows me even a little bit knows that I want to be a doctor. I've wanted to be a doctor since I was four years old. All of the other little girls my age were saying they wanted to be a ballerina or a princess or something and I would literally, at the age of four, tell people I wanted to be a brain surgeon! The part about the brain surgeon has since changed, but I can never remember wanting to be anything else and I've always believed that's what God has called me to be. But it's a difficult dream. Even though I believe God has called me to be a doctor, Organic Chemistry is still hard! And the MCAT is the scariest thing I've ever had to face! I wish that since this is what God wants me to do He would have given me a few more brain cells, but He didn't. So, therefore, I have to work really hard. Again, anybody who knows me, knows that I study all the time. I have literally spent every minute of the past three years trying to get the grades and do everything necessary to get into medical school. And now the time has come - and I'm freaking out.

Back to the sermon at CBC. The guy who spoke that day had four points that have stuck with me ever since:
1. Don't give up on your dream even if nobody else believes it or supports it.
2. Don't give up on your dream even when things aren't going well - put yourself in a position where God can develop your gifts for that dream
3. Don't give up on your dream even when life is full of surprises - God will bring people into your life to encourage you in your dream
4. Don't give up on your dream even if it takes a long time to realize it - God's timing is perfect!

Aren't those awesome reminders?! I could give stories to show how I've been able to apply each one of those points at different times in my life, but I really doubt anybody wants to read a blog that long. But, the point is, I was discouraged. And terrified. And ready to give up. And God knew that. So He chose a chapel service at a Bible college that I was only visiting for a week that was a thousand miles from home to remind me that He cares. And to remind me that He has given me a dream and He is going to help me accomplish it! I am writing about this now, almost three years after it happened, because its 2 o'clock in the morning and I can't sleep. I've been having trouble sleeping all summer long because I get in bed and I just think and think and think! And sometimes I worry, and get scared, and feel ready to give up all over again. And tonight, as I angrily kicked off the covers and got out of bed, a piece of paper on my wall caught my eye. A piece of paper that, at the top, says, "Don't Give Up Your Dream!" And I was reminded, yet again, of that chapel service and the dream God has given me and was immediately filled with peace. At the very bottom of my paper, I have a note that I had written that says, "God has a dream for me! Will I catch it and run with it?" I think that's a good question for everybody to ask themselves. God has a dream for everybody - but are you willing to catch it and run with it?