Day 9: Dreams

I was kind of wired to be good with kids.  Clearly God intended for that to be so, because from my earliest memories I can recall thinking that all I wanted to be when I grew up was a mommy (except for that short time period when I wanted to be a model, but well . . .)

From my earliest days I was good with kids.  I was already babysitting by the age of 10 (I was mature for my age).  My decision to become a teacher surprised no one.  My calling into full time vocational children's ministry didn't seem too surprising either.  And even when Mike and I decided to adopt the girls, my dad and step-mom said, "It's like you two were created to parent."

For over 20 years, I worked in some form or fashion in Children's Ministry, so never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would stop.  But I did.  And the man we hired to replace me was an answer to prayer.  No really.  An actual answer.  Well maybe more the fulfillment of a dream than an answer to prayer.

I decided to blog this story because two weeks ago, our Children's Ministry was rebranded. Revamped.  Redesigned. Recharged.   It looks nothing like the Children's Ministry that I led just one short year ago.  On the weekend of its launch, several people asked, "Is this hard for you to watch?  Everything that you were instrumental in doing just changing right before your eyes?" 

And my reply? 

"No, not at all.  In fact, it's the opposite of difficult.  It's like watching God tell you something and then seeing it come to fruition."

Here's the story.

About 1.5 years ago, I dreamed a dream several nights in a row.  I was being chased by a band of demons,  and at the end of that dream, I hid from them in the attic of a quiet family.  As I sat and watched the family interact with each other, I felt completely safe.  And then a big angel appeared next to me and simply said, "You can stay.  And you'll be safe here.  But they'll all die."

Dreams like that freak me out.  Especially when I dream them over and over and over.  But finally I figured out that God meant the Children's Ministry.  He was telling me that I needed to leave the Children's Ministry.   I had long since realized that if we were going to go to the next level, we needed someone who possessed a skill set that I didn't have, namely a creative production ability.  I'm creative in a lot of ways, but the ability to create a dynamic, Children's Worship Environment was just not in me.  And I knew that I needed to leave.  So I did.

So watching us go through the process of hiring my replacement, and then seeing the Children's Ministry come to life in an INCREDIBLE way, because he had the skills I didn't have. . .  well, it was pretty amazing.  I got to watch God fulfill a dream that He showed me.

Maybe all that sounds crazy to you, but truly, it was amazing that He let me stick around to see it unfold.

All that to say, pay attention to your dreams.  They might be telling you more than to "skip the pizza before bed."