For the Family Who Dreams
On any given Friday during the school year, you can count on the fact that my husband and I will have tucked ourselves away in a cozy corner of a local coffee shop. “Getting coffee” has become our thing during this season of life which is ironic because my husband can’t stand the stuff and I’m trying to cut down on my caffeine intake.
I realized the other day as we sat with warm drinks in hand and a gooey brownie between us, that this habit we have formed has little to do with coffee and everything to do with our relationship. It forces us to talk, creates an environment that is different from our day to day, and often it becomes a sacred space between us where life-changing conversations occur.
One of our favorite topics of conversation is the future. Sure we tackle the topics of the present and often we sit and laugh together at the past, but it’s imagining and dreaming about the future that seems to spark something in us.
Maybe it has something to do with the progression of a relationship. Late in the dating stages and into engagement most couples’ conversations are marked by dreams. We imagine together a picture-perfect wedding and dream about our future home and jobs. We smirk about our future kids. Will they have his eyes or hers?
At some point, the newlywed stage rolls into the next season of life and then the next and before you know it, you’re driving a minivan around town and spending your once-leisurely Saturday mornings at the soccer fields.
This season of life is often where routine sets in for many relationships and the art of conversation begins to get lost. We stop dreaming together because we are too busy so we put our heads down and resolve to push through the day to day that is now our lives.
Please don’t give in and don’t get lost. Fight for time and intentionally set it aside to dream with your spouse. As you do this, inviting the Holy Spirit in as your guide, the Lord will begin to align your steps with His desires.
“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” (Proverbs 19:21)
When we regularly carve out time to come together before the Lord with our spouse and ask the question “what’s next?” we allow a quiet space for the Holy Spirit to speak. He gives us hopes, dreams, and desires and while they may not always play out in the way that we expect, God still wants us to dream and imagine together. So ask Him, imagine together, and watch in awe as His power transforms and He does immeasurably more in your family’s life.
“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)
Blessings,
Nicki
reallifeinreverse.blogspot.com
