Paris Bound :-)

My mom always told me that I could grow up to be anything I wanted to be. So, of course, when I was three, I either wanted to be a singer, a painter, a writer, or an actress. Or maybe I could be all of those things. As I grew up, I decided I wanted to be lots of other really fun things. Like a princess, a cheerleader, a newspaper intern, a psychologist, etc. I believed I could be and do anything and everything. Walt Disney told me so. The Bible told me so. My mom told me so. And I believed it.
Years later, I was convinced by a man that this was not the case. He said that moms were wrong when they told their kids that . . . that actually, moms should tell their kids that they could be what God wanted them to be, and they might not like it, it would be really hard, it would not be fun, but they would be blessed for it. So . . . some kids I know, gave up their dreams, and did the things that “god” (or this man playing God) told them to do. . . I was one of those kids. . .
The thing is, is that this man had it all wrong. The things I want or desire to do - is the thing I was created to do. The career that brings passion and purpose to my life - is the career that I will use to show God to the world. The dreams that are dreamt without trying – those are how I will bless this world. The desires that burn within me, are the desires He placed in me. God is in the middle of my dreams, not void in them.
I love to look at the dreamers around me. When Drew Kropff discusses the effects of the sources of funding on grades and attendance in college students, he lights up. Have you seen Andrea McKinney run? You can’t tell me the girl hasn’t found something she was MADE for. We can do the things we want to do. We can grow up to be all the things we want to be. We can make the portion of the world we have influence in better by loving our lives (Love my life = LML) and living big and following our hearts. And we should. The ability is in all of us to live lives that we absolutely love. We weren’t “called” to live a life we hate. It’s hard most days, but that’s just part of it. Living takes work . . . might as well live big. It makes the work, worth it.
I know that I sound idealistic, dreamy, and crazy. But I am proof that dreams come true. From getting out of St Augustine, to completing ORU in two years, getting into grad school, and going to Europe. . . I believe in me. And I want everyone else in the world to believe in them too. We’re worth it.
I am not on a flight to Europe right now because I am wealthy, or lucky, or special – I am not those things. I am blessed. I prayed and asked God and believed that I could do anything. I sat in an IHOP in Orlando three years ago and made a checklist with several European cities on it and called it Mission Dream BIG and now my uncle has so generously given me his frequent flier miles. I had just enough to get to Europe. A few semesters ago I sat in the Language Lab at school and watched videos about French culture each day after class and now I’ll be in Paris in a few hours. A few months ago I only got into one graduate school program. That program only has two international classes a year and now the class which is held in Italy starts the same day my tour of my Mission Dream BIG cities ends. It ends one hour away from where the class starts. Three hours before it starts. When I booked the tour, I had no idea SMU would let me start a summer early. It’s not coincidental or accidental. It’s fate. I don’t have it all figured out, but I know that I love God, am fortunate to have so many magnificent, inspiring people in my life, and I’m living the dream. I know that I’m following my heart and that I’m making a difference. I know that if I can dream it, I can do it.
I think you should all try.    LML