Making Room for New Dreams

Hello everyone,

Spring is finally here in Ontario.   The daffodils in my garden are out in full, along with the hyacinths, snow drops and hellebores.  (It has the most beautiful flowers, but the name sounds a bit like a swear word.)   The tulips are coming up.   The trees all have buds.   The promise of new life can be seen everywhere.

With spring, many of us take the opportunity to clean out closets or garages, and clean up our gardens.   We should also take the time to clean out our minds.

During the book launch at the beginning of April, I talked about overcoming fear, and how it can creep back into our lives.   Having a healthy fear is good.   It stops us from putting our hand into a fire, or stepping off a cliff.   But fear that stops us from having emotional peace is not good for us.  We call fear many different things:  anxiety, dread, worry, stress and insecurity are a few of them.    They all boil down to us being afraid of something.

Recently, I took off my wedding ring.   It has been five years since Bruce went to be with Jesus, but I was still reluctant to take it off.   It’s not about forgetting Bruce, and it’s definitely not about moving on.   But I really felt the Lord telling me to let go – to let go of the dreams we had that I can’t do on my own – to let go of the disappointment.    The flipside of doing that is that there will be room for new dreams, and that is the part that brings a little bit of fear.   I am comfortable with the old dreams.   Like a cluttered house, they fill every corner of my mind and there is no room for anything new.   And that is the problem.  If I don’t clean out my mental house, nothing will change.   I will just keep doing what I have always done.   Even though there is a little bit of fear because I don’t know what will happen next, I’m asking the Lord for new dreams.   

Taking life coach training for the last two years started me on that journey of finding new dreams.   Finishing the ‘Choices’ book also helped me along that journey.   But now it’s time to write the dreams down, set some goals, pray about it, and actually do something.

What about you?   You may not need to take off a wedding ring, but do you need to declutter your mind of things that you can’t do anymore? Are you willing to make room for new dreams?  Philippians 4:13 says ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ (NKJV).   Rely on Him and don’t let fear hold you back.

As all the spring flowers bloom here in Ontario, I hope that your life will also blossom into something new this year.

Praying for you,

… Gayle