Ah yes, goal setting. In some ways that was easy for me. I wanted to lose 50 pounds, fit into my skinny jeans, have glowing skin that made me look 10 years younger, silky hair that is never frizzy. Oh and yeah..have abounding energy and sleep 8 hours every night. And just for good measure, look great in a bathing suit. I mean, this is Dream Big, Girl..right??

The truth is, I really, really want that list to be true for myself and for you. I want every single one of those goals to be a reality in my life. But waking up on Monday morning and saying “I’m going to lose 50 pounds in 3 months” just wasn’t a reality.

But what did work was setting short-term goals alongside that big goal. I started with a goal to lose 5 pounds and then another 5 and another. Low and behold, 8 months later, I had actually lost the 50 pounds! It was life changing for me because I was overweight most of my adult life. But I stopped and celebrated each small victory because each small goal that was met gave me great confidence and motivation to keep going. They propelled me towards that long-term goal.

What goals have you set for yourself lately? Finish college, get a promotion, run a marathon, find time to read the Bible each day, reconnect with friends? Goals are important. But goals without a plan is just a dream. Ah but a dream can be a great start. So let’s start there. What are your dreams? What would you do if money were not an issue? What makes your heart feel fulfilled? I’ve mentioned before that in the last 5+ years, I stopped dreaming. I was entering my 50s and all my dreams of being in ministry full time and doing missionary work around the world was a distant thought. I had ties and commitments, family obligations and consequences of poor business choices that held me in a place that I saw no way out of.

But then God. Dear reader, you will never experience anything quite like the power those three words can bring. But then God heard my cries and in His timing, not mine, made a way where there was no way. He did the impossible. And He did it over and over again. What I had been striving and struggling to do on my own for years, He did in a matter of months. Suddenly all that was needed for me to be released, just fell into place.

As we were packing up our 30+ years of life in New Orleans, I came across some written goals we had made together many years ago for ourselves and for our businesses. They were actually big dreams at the time. But no matter what we did, we couldn’t get the plan to work. We realize now that it was not in His timing and it was not in the way He wanted to accomplish them. Had we moved 5 years ago, or even 2 years ago, everything would be very, very different. He knew those things. We didn’t. Over the last few years, leading up to this move, we learned trust in a completely new level. And without those lessons, without that journey, this new adventure would be very different. We got some bad news just yesterday about a very unexpected medical bill that was 5 times larger than we thought it would be. Five years ago, 2 years ago we would have been in a panic. Today we know Who we belong to. We trust that He knew what we didn’t know was coming but more than that, we know He will provide a way where there was no way. Because He’s done it before and He’s never let us down. I chose this picture because it was our first trip back to Louisiana after our big move. It was surreal to be back home yet long to be in our new home as well. I never thought it would be possible for us be so at home in a new place. But our hearts have expanded so that we can embrace the new journey and still love the old one.

Dream big, girl. Dream big audacious dreams. Set goals that seem impossible. Make a plan and set steps towards that goal. But more than anything, get God involved. Pray over those goals. Be watchful for His moving and guiding and directing. Trust His hand, no matter what happens as you wait. And just watch and see what He can do in and through you!