This past week, I had one of THOSE moments.  You know one of those moments where you look around and realize something special is happening.  True to my recent book project, I could call this a Defining Moment, however I will stop shy of that.  You see, this past week I walked into a post office in Lubbock with seven copies of my book in hand, signed each of them with a personal note to the designated recipient, and sent them on their way.  It was the first book order that I had processed and shipped myself.  I don’t know how the folks at Xulon Press, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble feel when they process an order of my book, but for me I was overwhelmed that this moment was even real.  A book with my name on it actually being purchased?  I mean seriously, almost every single person that knows me was a totally surprised upon hearing that I even wrote a book!

The truth is we ALL have a story.  We’ve all had big dreams, and most of us have experienced great heartache and disappointment.  In the midst of THOSE moments lies our unique story.  For so many, it’s easy to walk away from those dreams and associate them with our silly childhood or even disregard them altogether, but I want to remind you that big dreams and even big disappointments are the very fabric that makes up our unique story.

For me, I actually didn’t sit around as a kid and dream about writing a book.  I didn’t even like writing all that much growing up, and in college I did everything I could to AVOID writing!   It became clear to me, though, a couple of years ago that something special was happening in my life and God was leading the way.  I began to have dreams again of what “could be.”  All of a sudden the nice and comfortable life path I was on just didn’t seem to be enough anymore.  On a certain day in August of 2011, I began to dream again.  What quickly followed was a pursuit of that dream – a dream of making a radical difference in this world for the Kingdom of God.  I guess you could say that I took a leap of faith and followed my heart.

While there were indeed many subsequent days filled with fear and doubt, I wasn’t willing to stop dreaming again.  I love the words of King David in Psalm 37:4-5. “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”  This brought great hope and encouragement to me to know that the very reason God will give me the desires of my heart is because He is the very one who has placed them there in the first place!

So on this Easter Eve, I want to remind you to dream.  Dream big!  The very One whose resurrection we celebrate this weekend is the very One who is passionately pouring dreams into your heart.  Sure… there will be bumps and bruises along the pathway ahead, but that’s the very place where our story’s excitement grows.  Everyone faces difficulty.  It’s those who are willing to ride out the storm, knowing that it will pass, that have the greatest stories to tell.

Follow your heart and dream.  Something special will happen.  Your story needs to be told.  Who knows, you too may just have a book order to fill one day!