mantras

"I want to talk to you about the subject of plans. Not so much my plan for this column, but life plans, and how we all make them. And how we hope that our kids make good, smart, safe plans of their own. But if we're really honest with ourselves, our plans usually don't work out as we had hoped. So instead of asking our young people "What are you plans? What do you plan to do with your life?" maybe we should tell them this: Plan to be surprised." -Dan in Real Life

I have these dreams. Big ones. They're always changing, I add, subtract, and alter as God shows me His heart and a little of my own. If you see me, you should ask me about some of them. Some of them, I can't tell you because they're like those rare bubbles, the huge, perfect bubble, that wobbles and shakes and you try to keep it alive but once somebody else sees that huge bubble, all the want to do is come pop that big bubble. I don't think you want to kill my bubble, I just think that the more people that know, the more likely it is that it will die. And I also, I will feel silly saying them aloud. Here is somewhat of a photo representation of maybe some of what I want in my life, in some sort of weird combination, pick and choose type way. In a nutshell, I can say "My dream is to bring glory to God"- and I mean it- I just like to picture it, to go a little further and nail down the exact desires of my heart. After that point, I can say "That's what I want. Now, God, what can You do with that?" Then, its up to Him. And from that point on, I can move forward, enjoy the journey, know with absolute uncertainty where I'm going and at the same time know with absolute certainty, that I'll be okay along the way.

In no particular order, chronological or priority wise.