A Prayer

What a great prayer ... it's time to find a dream worth giving our lives to ...

A Prayer by Erwin McManus

"Lord, I need a dream worth giving my life to.
I need a life worth waking up to each morning.
I need a mission bigger than me.
I want to believe for not only me, but also for this world.
Amen."

Don't be afraid that your life will end. Be afraid that it will never begin.

What are you dreaming about?

Humans are most fully alive when they dream.

Do you believe that? Somewhere along the way, we decided that as we get older, our dreams can no longer become reality. Why?

Dreams make life exciting!

DreamLab - Host Invite from Awaken on Vimeo.

I'm ready to imagine again. I want to pursue a dream that makes this world a better place. Do you?

Wide Awake

Got a chance to share this video with the class I've been helping to lead this summer. I don't know about you, but I find it really inspiring.

There's a reason we have aspirations, ambitions, and dreams. I wonder what it would look like if everyone pursued their dreams. Don't you think the world would be a better place?



Human history is dramatically affected by the dreams that we try to live out. The dream of one person can create a different future for so many people. It’s amazing how a dream can have the power to change an entire planet.

What would happen if ... all of us began to discover our God-given dreams? What would happen if all of us began to live wide awake and began to live our lives in such a way that everything we did ... every choice, every act, if all of it was used to fulfill those dreams and make the world a different place?

If all of us began to live wide-awake, if all of us began to live out the dreams that God created us to live, the world would never be the same again.

Oh, and the book by the same title, is pretty good too (only $8 on Amazon ... sweet!). Definitely challenging if you've ever wanted to stop living a mundane life.

Live Inspired!

This blog update is coming a little late, but last Sunday, I got a chance to lead on one of my favorite topics ever. I've been helping to co-lead a college/young adult class and while the material has been really good, there are some lessons that you love just a little bit more. Mainly because it connects with you so much. This was definitely one of those times.

I had an opportunity to ask the question, "If you could do anything with your life, assuming time and money were no object, what would you do?" It's always fun to read the responses to this question because you get serious answers and some not so serious answers. Here's a sampling of what people wrote down on post-it-notes ...

• Create a cure for cancer
• Eat every kind of meat on earth (except humans)
• Work with youth in ministry
• Go to a culinary school & work at a restaurant or open up a patisserie/shop
• Inspire young & old to do hard things to restore & repair the world
• Become a concert pianist
• Go to outer space
• Work for Dunder Mifflin
• Discover & eat the world's best chocolate chip cookie
• Eat at every expensive restaurant in the world!
• Travel around the world & serve God along the way

Don't you love it when people share their dreams? There's a reason we have dreams and passions in life. I truly believe we have these desires not by accident, but for a greater purpose. And when we pursue our passions and do them for something bigger than ourselves, that's when life truly starts to get exciting.

The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness
and the world’s deep hunger meet.
~ Frederick Buechner

It was really beautiful to try to inspire these students to go for their passions with a greater purpose: to glorify God. Like the quote from Frederick Buechner says ... The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need most to do and (b) that the world most needs to have done.

I just know I want to be a champion of that. We, as the church, should be the ones who are unleashing others to pursue their God-given passions, gifts, and abilities for a higher calling. It was never meant to be for ourselves. Life is truly found when we give ourselves away. And the beauty of it is that we'll find it was God's will for us all along.

How about you? If you could do anything with your life, assuming time and money were no object, what would you do?