Picture This: You Can Dream Again

Is it something you envisioned for yourself since you were a little kid , or maybe even something for your kids ?

Is it something that kept you up at night with excitement , with anticipation of the day that it would come true , whether it was a song , a book , a home , a husband , world , travel , a career , retirement , your figure or a certain number of figures in your bank account ? But now , now that you are a single parent , have you forgotten it or even let it go ?

Have you squashed it , given it to someone else , thinking it wasn't for you or even it wasn't meant to be ? Picture this what if I told you you can dream again , no matter your season or single situation ? Oh yes , you can . Welcome to another episode of it's a Single Mom Thing .

So before we dream again , I encourage you to press pause for this cause , as you may want to get a pen and paper in hand as we go over some information and inspiration Now , if you're driving , come back again when you have time to be still and jot down what inspires you to go higher from our conversation today . Life is but a dream .

As a child , you probably remember this phrase from a nursery rhyme that you heard many times , much like the well-known phrase happily ever after . I think this one has also misled us into thinking that if our life was anything but happily ever after , there was something wrong with it .

I mean , you were married need I say more , in my opinion , and so you don't need to make this yours but the phrase life is but a dream . Well , first of all , what does that mean To me ? I think it leaves our dreams stuck in a dream state instead of becoming part of our reality .

It stays stuck in some far off place , much like a fairy tale that we can't reach . So it , too , keeps us stuck , believing in something that we think is impossible . Well , how exactly does that make you feel ? I know for me , it has left me defeated , discouraged , depressed and many times wondering well , what is the point ?

If you remember our episode last week on brokenness ? This , then , can lead me to thoughts of I don't know jealousy , judgment , comparison , coveting and doubting the plans God has for me . Can you relate to the experience these thoughts create for your life ?

Let me ask you does your life look like how you dreamed it to be , or does it feel more like a nightmare at times ? Don't get me wrong . I am grateful for all of the details of my life up until this point , and I hope you are too , or at least God is working that out in you , otherwise I wouldn't be here talking to you .

But like you , I have dreams , lots of them , many of which God planted in my heart in some really difficult times in my life that have taken root in other seasons of my life . Did you hear that ? Well , the same is true for you .

So today , if you will join me , I want to flip the script on the phrase that life is but a dream , and change it to my life is what I dreamed , even if at this very moment , it doesn't look that way . Trust me , your tomorrow's will so stay with me . Please , please , I beg you . Don't shut this off like you have shut off your dreams .

Remember , I too have walked in your shoes , and if my dreams have come true , so too can yours , pipe dream . So when I first started out my single parent season you know , you've heard this before I was out of a job for 13 months . My family , my friends , they all left me .

True story Someone very dear to me said do not talk to me until your divorce is final , which , listen y'all took two years before it was final , which left me with just me and my son and whatever money I had in my retirement account Best retirement ever More on that , though , in a second During this season .

Even though I didn't know God , as I wasn't saved yet , he knew me . He knew what I was going to go through the loneliness , the heartache , the confusion , the sadness , the despair and frustration that my life was not what I had dreamed it to be . Are you there now ?

Looking back now , 17 years later , I can see that God was there and he had planted some dreams in my heart . He was also repurposing dreams that I had forgotten a long time ago . You see , when I went off to college and let me tell you , I worked my fanny off to get into the University of Florida College of Journalism I had dreams .

Get this to be the next Oprah Winfrey dreams . Get this to be the next Oprah Winfrey . I'm talking the early on Oprah Winfrey . I just love the way she encouraged women . After five years of hard work , I finally got into the College of Journalism , even when my high school teachers thought I would never even attend college .

College , my dad and mom went to UF and now I'm there . I was so pumped . Well , in the first month of classes , my boyfriend of four years , who I was to marry , cheated on me .

My professors all professed that if you think you want a family someday , you're going to get married , look young forever and be the boss of your own time then this career isn't for you . Poof in a puff , all my dreams went up in a smoke and were gone . I was crushed .

You see , at the time I valued who , man or who in this case Dr Fleppy head at the university . Even my emotions , my single situation , say who I am , what I can do , what dreams can or cannot come true . And that , my friends , is not true . I know that now and I'm teaching you that now , so you understand that for your now . You see , god had a dream .

God knew my dream and God knew one day I was going to be his adopted child . He had , and still does have great plans for me . He planted those dreams . God causes everything to work together for good of those who love God and who are called according to his purpose for them .

That's why we can be sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good Romans 8 , 28 . So let's go back . I'm now going through the process of divorce . Right , that's where we're picking up . I'm alone and alone with my thoughts and what comes to mind ? A poem , a story and another .

And then I found a camera that I got when we were married which we never used , by the way and I started photographing the world around me . Wow , how different it looks from behind the eyes of a lens . At this time , the stock market crashed and I was out of work , not knowing . A I was working , albeit not drawing a paycheck yet .

B God was working all things for my good . And C my dreams were starting to develop , much like the photographs I took , even though I wouldn't see them come to pass for some time . They were for an appointed time Dream , an impossible dream . What I'm learning about dreams is that they are much like seeds that are planted . They need water , fertilizer , light .

They need some attention and , most importantly , and listen to this . Say amen if you're listening . They need faith that they will grow . Mark 9 , 23 says everything is possible for one who believes and listen . If you didn't know , then how can you grow ?

Sometimes , just like my olive tree I affectionately like to call Oliver that I've had , for goodness , at least five years now . They need time to grow before they bear fruit . Much like the olive tree , there's a process we must go through to bring our dreams to reality before our dreams bear fruit .

First off , in some cases there's a specific season before it will come to pass . In my case I didn't know podcasting was possible . Listen , when I went to college they didn't even exist , but God knew one day they would . He also knew I would have something to talk about to encourage women .

But first I had to walk through several difficult seasons of divorce and a single situation . Funny now that I really think about it , because I am everything Dr Fluffyhead said . I couldn't be to have my dream come to pass . You see , everything grows when you grow .

Secondly , this I just learned and I love it Don't share your big dreams with small minds , much like my high school teachers , dr Fluffyhead , family members and friends . There are people who said I't , and I believe them . God says you can . Jesus said with God , all things are possible . Matthew 19 , 26 . This is far more than the power of positive thinking .

It is the power of God that makes what seems impossible possible . Nothing is impossible with God . Luke 1 , 37 . Those are his words to us , found in his word , the Bible . My dreams may have been delayed , with a little interference from me and the good opinions of others , but they were not destroyed .

Now , several years later , they look different , as times are different and , quite frankly , I'm different . So you see , my single peeps , just because you've not seen your dreams come to pass yet does not mean that it won't , nor that it is not on its way .

Believe it and receive it , even if it comes in some strange wrapping paper , just like my desire and dream to do journalism and encourage women . Thirdly , your job is to believe so God can do his job . Nothing's too impossible for our God . Sometimes we make him and our dreams small . We need to go tall y'all . We need to dream and ask for bigger .

He's not the God of . I'm going to bless you with a little . He is the God of abundance , he who knows how to give good gifts , who gives us the desires of our heart when we delight in him , when we seek the kingdom of heaven first . And how do we receive gifts ? Y'all With our arms and hands open . Are your hands closed ? Is your mind closed off ?

Maybe because of your single situation ? Lastly , proverbs 29 , 18 says where there is no dream , people perish . How sad would it be if your dreams died in you . Just because your marriage , your spouse or your relationship may have died does not mean your dreams have to .

I know mine almost did , if I hadn't got frustrated enough and asked God to show me what mountain was in the way of my dreams coming to pass . Do you know what he showed me Me ? I was in the way , the words I spoke , that said like this that's not possible , that's for someone else .

Oh , I never have enough , I am always broke , I will never get married again . Or why did they get blessed and I have not ? Do you say similar things to yourself and speak that over your life ? Things to yourself and speak that over your life ? And you know what he then put on my heart ?

He said you have not because you ask not and , quite frankly , you don't believe . Ouch Jesus , that hurt . You're done . Hurting , sherry is kind of what he put on my heart . Friends , are you done hurting ? Do you need to believe again ? Picture this . So I want you to picture this as I walk the line between single parent and empty nest seasons .

Now I have started to believe , even if it's just the size of a mustard seed . Right now I believe my dreams will come to pass . So let me ask you faith is what Faith is , believing what you don't see right . Some of my dreams may not have come to pass , some of yours too , but that does not mean that they're not real .

We need to make room for them , and that's exactly what I started to do Make room for them . I turned my son's room into my upper room , my creative space where I create with the creator of the universe who spoke life with just one word . I am choosing to speak life into my dreams .

I have hung on my walls prints , drawings and artwork that I have created , some of which as early as high school , some even from my single season . I even hung my son's artwork up . It's what I call my life-size vision board of where I've been , where I want to go and the God who has been with me the whole time .

Do you have a space where you can do the same ? A corner , even a closet behind a bathroom door , a designated space where you can hang your dreams , your ideas , your inspirations on a wall or a door , somewhere where you can see it , speak life into it , pray over it and ask God for it ? Something else I've started is on the notes section of my phone .

I started recording my accomplishments and dreams that have become a reality , so I can see them and be grateful for the prayers and cares that have been answered . I've also started , in my quiet time , a small prayer journal . I used to do this a while ago , but I forgot how good this is .

So now , in my quiet time with God , first of all , I'm simply that quiet and I wait and listen for what he has for me . What I'm finding is that he is directing my steps and fulfilling my dreams . I don't have to sit and labor over them . He does all the work to lay it out for me . My job is simply to abide and follow .

I'm recording , let's say , his action steps . Another thing you can do for you once your kids have gone to bed is take an hour before bed and listen . Y'all need to do this to shut off the TV , social media or even the notifications on your phone . Taking time to learn something new .

Read a book , listen to a podcast , take an e-course , something positive to grow you , something that pours into you and keeps you excited to keep going and growing through these dreams .

Even maybe writing your declarations down over your life , writing your goals down and speaking them out for like 30 days like a habit , because you know when you do something for 30 days , it now becomes part of your normal routine . You see , when you learn , you earn . So what do we say ?

It may be a single mom thing , but it's not the single thing that stops you . Right that my friends ? God gave me to share and teach you over 100 episodes ago . The single hasn't stopped me . It hasn't been easy . I'll be honest with you , but don't let it stop you . So picture this you can dream again . Got an hour before you , rest your head ?

Want to invest in a little higher education ? Sign up for Shepherd's Village faith-based e-course by visiting sb-universityorg . It's self-paced and it's free . Start , stop and come back on your own time . Have a wonderful week and remember it's a single mom thing your own time .

Have a wonderful week and remember it's a single mom thing and not the single thing that stops you . Thanks for listening to . It's a Single Mom Thing . I hope you enjoyed our time together . If you have more questions on how to have a relationship with Jesus or need prayer , visit us at wwwshepherdsvillagecom . Backslash prayer .

For more information and resources , check out our show notes .