Do you ever find yourself waiting?
You know, like a kid waiting for Christmas … a nine months pregnant woman waiting for D-day … a husband waiting at Macy’s (or a wife at Cabela’s).
Or maybe your waiting is for a dream; something you have wanted, wished for, prayed for, maybe even planned and prepared for.
And still you wait.
Favorite daughter and I have sung together since she was a toddler on my lap at the piano while I played and we sang. Hundreds of songs and dozens of venues later, we arrived at her senior year in high school. We had just learned the Charlotte Church/Josh Groban arrangement of “The Prayer,” and sang it at a local community gathering (Chamber of Commerce, I think; it was 9 years ago). It was an immediate hit and became a much requested duet around our hometown. From that very first performance, people began asking us to record it. About 5 years later, we finally recorded it, but with two kids in college at the time, I couldn’t afford the licensing to release it.
So, it sat simmering in my digital recorder for 4 more years.
We FINALLY released it in July of this year. There really hasn’t been a public announcement other than my Facebook and Twitter feeds. We are not looking to go on the road, but we would love for people to have it and, if we manage to sell our supply, we are going to use the proceeds to fund a mission trip to Punjab, India that we are going on in 2016. To check out the music and/or purchase, please click here.
I’m not writing to sell a product. I’m writing to encourage you not to give up on God-given dreams. I used to dream of traveling the world and singing for thousands. I finally concluded that dream originated with me, not with God. But the dream of encouraging people through the gift of music, as a part of my life’s mission of encouraging and empowering people in many ways, continues to be realized through the course of serving Him.
Maybe your dream is bigger. I’m thinking about Dottie. I became her pastor in 1988, at Trinity Baptist Church in Tucumcari, NM. In early 1989, I had the privilege of being there when her husband, Roland, trusted Christ as Savior. Dottie had been waiting and praying for that day for 40 YEARS!
Our lives and our dreams matter to God. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” That doesn’t mean we get what we want. That means that our desires will originate WITH Him when our hearts delight IN Him.
By the way, through the Singing Men of North Central Texas, since 2009 I have traveled the world and sung for thousands. I’ve just been a nameless member of a group, so God gets all the glory.
His timing really is perfect.
Question: What God-given dream still has you waiting?
Leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
