Livin' the Dream - Jenn Fromke

The waiter approached our table and asked us, “How ya’ll doin’ tonight?” We said, “Great!” and added, “How are you?” His answer took me aback. His face broke into a huge smile and he said, “Livin’ the Dream!”

Now there might have been a tinge of sarcasm in his voice, but as we watched him work that night, we saw that he was mostly serious. He threw himself into the work, his demeanor lifted the spirits of his customers, and he performed every task with flair and skill. The work appeared to give him deep satisfaction, a thing that is visibly missing in too many lives.

How refreshing it was to hear that someone is living their dream! It made me wonder if I am living my dream. And where did the dream come from? And what SHOULD be the dream? And how do I live it? So I decided to dream about dreams a little bit.

I boiled my thoughts down to two simple questions. The first question is this: Am I LIVIN’ the dream, or walking through a nightmare? I think sometimes God dreams a dream for us and He puts us right in the middle of it before we even know what’s going on. Then He walks with us step by step and reveals His plan to us piece by piece until suddenly one day we wake up and realize that everything we are dreaming of is right before our eyes.

Mark 8:22-26 tells a story about a blind man that received his sight from Jesus one day. Jesus spit on his eyes and put his hands on the man, then asked if he could see anything. The guy said he saw people, but they looked like trees walking around. So Jesus put his hands on his eyes again and then he could see normally.

Sometimes it takes more than one touch from Jesus before everything becomes clear to us. A friend of mine, let’s call her Penny, moved away from her hometown, her friends, and family to a new city. Penny knew that God wanted this, but she did not want to go. It all seemed like a nightmare to her at first.

But a funny thing happened. As Penny sought the Lord for comfort and direction, she began to see what good things there were in this new city. After a long process, she came to realize that God had moved her to a wonderful place full of opportunities to serve Him. God revealed his dream, made it her dream, and now she is LIVIN’ the dream that God dreamed for her and it brings her great joy.

The second question about dreams that I have to ask is this: Am I livin’ THE DREAM or just livin’? I think sometimes God will give us a dream and He will guide us step by step in pursuit of that dream until it is accomplished. I think so many times the dream is a part of who we are, it engages our passions, our talents and the spiritual gifts we have received from the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we probably don’t even acknowledge that the dream is from God, it just becomes a part of our goals, or gets stuck on the back burner called “maybe someday.”

The thing about those dreams God gives us, is that he intends for us to pursue them. When we are walking with him and seeking him daily for direction, God will guide us toward the realization of that dream.

However, if we have that dream but get distracted by life, work, or pleasure, then we stick that dream on the shelf and work toward other things that are less fulfilling. We settle for less than what God wants for us. It’s like being invited to a banquet, but only staying for the appetizers.
When Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, he wanted to try, and Jesus told him to do it. But he only took a few steps. I wonder if Jesus would have walked all the way across the lake with him had he not lost faith. I wonder what they would have talked about on that walk. Peter got a piece of the dream, but cut it short.

God gives us big dreams and he wants those dreams to come true because His dreams for us make us into the people we were created to be. I want to do more than just live. I want to pursue and live the dreams God gives me and tomorrow when you ask me how I’m doing, I might just say, “LIVIN’ THE DREAM, BABY!”

Jenn Fromke loves to teach Bible study and currently teaches for the One Heart ministry at Crossroads Church. She writes Bible studies and is currently at work on her first novel. She lives in Concord, NC with her incredibly supportive husband and three amazing kids.