Super Saturday: Let's Focus on Dreams

I don't try to find meaning in every dream I have.

Some are interesting and some are just plain goofy.

Half the time, I forget my dreams before I even get to the breakfast table.

But every once in a while, I have a dream that I remember vividly when I wake up, and I feel the need to record it so I can analyze it a little more and see if my subconscious is trying to tell me something.

That happened last night. 

I was dreaming some strange things, it's true (giant fish that were eating lots of things they weren't supposed to eat, children that were behaving badly, sightings of childhood friends and old crushes, among other things). All of that blurred together, but part of the dream got clearer. I saw a group of three glitzy singers. One of them suddenly announced that she was going to do something new, and she launched into a Francesca Battistelli song, giving it a new latino flair. She encouraged the other two singers to follow her lead and they wowed the crowd with their rendition.

I lost sight of the girls and dealt with the giant fish problem for a while, but then I saw them standing in a doorway. I went over and raved about how much I liked their version of the song, until I started to doubt myself and trailed off uncertainly. I looked around, then looked back at them and said, "Oh wait, you're not the singers, are you? Sorry, I must have gotten confused and you just look a little like them." I got all embarrassed and looked for a chance to escape.

One of the women, the one who started the spicy version of Francesca's song, stopped me and assured me that I had the right group. She put her hands on each side of my face and told me earnestly, "I'm not going to be someone who wandered out of her debut."

I uttered back, with tear-filled eyes, "That's who I've been so far."

That's it. The dream didn't go any further and I woke up. I almost went back to sleep, but I knew those words would be gone forever if I drifted back to dreamland.

So I started repeating them to myself, and I kept it up until I could get to a pad of paper in the kitchen. I scribbled the lines down and then went back to bed for a little while. 

I don't know exactly what that dream meant, but I have a feeling God will show me if I take some time to think about it.

My first thoughts go to my writing, as they often do. I'm afraid my subconscious may be pointing out that I'm continuing to "wander" away from my calling to write. God is giving me ideas and the desire to share things with a wider audience, but I find lots of activities and excuses that keep me from accomplishing any projects.

Wandering out of my debut...that's who I've been so far.

Sounds like a good wake-up call for this aspiring author. 

Either that or I ate too much right before bed. Who knows?

"The king asked Daniel..., "Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?" Daniel replied, "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries." (Daniel 2:26-28a NIV)

Have you ever had a dream that seemed to have a special message for you? How can focusing on God help you to discern what He wants to show you through the things you sometimes dream?

Focus Friday: Let's Focus on What We Can Do

Sorry to brag, but I just had to share this banner about this year's win at NaNoWriMo. Don't know what that is? Well, it stands for National Novel Writing Month and lots of people sign up to attempt writing 50,000 words of a novel in the month of November. I do it every year. I usually win, but this year was a little more challenging.

By Saturday morning, November 28, I had written only 20,534 words. Yes, I had skipped many days and hadn't pushed myself to keep up with the 1,667 daily word goal. But I determined that I would win, so I had lots of typing to do in three days. 

By typing like crazy most of the day, I had 30,060 by Saturday night. By Sunday night I had 42,220 words. On Monday at 7:04 p.m. I verified my word count at NaNoWriMo's website and was a winner with 50,178 words. Whew! I did it!

The funny thing is, I did not sit constantly at the computer for those three days. I would write for a while and then take a break to get something else done. I went to church on Sunday morning and took time to eat and talk to my family. I typed as fast as I could when I was working. Anything to get my word count up. That means sometimes I typed things like this: Laura read some magazines before her hair appointment. She read People and Time and Newsweek and Reader's Digest and Our Iowa and Woman's Day and Redbook.

You get the picture. There was lots of junk like that. But there were also some pretty wonderful lines that came out as I was typing madly. Things happened in my very rough first draft of a novel that surprised me and made me think Hey! This has some potential.

I found myself thinking something like this when I was done: Wow! Look what I got done just by sitting down and working hard. There's no reason I can't edit my novel and submit it for publication. There's no reason I can't get those things done that are on my "To Do" list. All it takes is some focus and dedication. 

We can do much more than we think we can when we really work at it. So really, I just took away all of my excuses for not accomplishing everything I feel God calling me to do. I have the time, I have the talents, I have the motivation if I just decide that I want to get it done.

Now I just have to decide if I really want to edit all of the junk I wrote in the month of November.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13 NIV)

Are there things you've been thinking you can't do? How can focusing on God help you to really apply yourself and get done whatever He is calling you to do?