“Follow your dream”. It’s the basic idea that has permeated the American culture today. But I want to present a new ideal. Your dreams aren’t good enough. And the American dream isn’t big enough.
I could have easily told you what my dream was a year ago. They consisted of a clean apartment, a romantic boyfriend, an efficient car, a well paying job, several published books, a movie in production about my book, and a little fame for the heck of it.
If you had told me a year ago that my dreams would change to travel on a mission trip, I’d have called you crazy. And if you had told me that I would love it, I’d have recommended you to an insane asylum. My dreams did not include isolation from my family, total dependence on people that spoke a different language, a bunk bed as my room, a fan as my AC, cold showers, and constant bugs. But apparently, that’s what God had planned for me. And he knows me better than I know myself.
“ “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”- Jeremiah 29:11
And watching the people of this poverty stricken nation, I see that Americans have a huge problem; the dreams they offer are not big enough, and they are stuck in those dreams. I don’t know if “follow your dreams” is even a concept within this nation. And for sure they have much less than we do. But they are more content and relaxed and stress-free than I have ever seen in the American nation. And I am starting to wonder which of these nations is truly the poorest.
