Lady Traveler Found her Faith For Forgotten Dreams...have you?

I had a dream to travel the world...

Perhaps because it's Sunday that I find myself thinking on the subject of faith.

Finding Faith For Forgotten Dreams is one of the main themes of my book, Lady and the Sea, so I thought we'd chat about it today.  We all dream.  We all have dreamed (past tense).  We often lay those dreams aside, thinking that our circumstances govern where our dreams will end up ... tucked away in a closet, or tossed away in the trash.  When I was young my dream was to travel the world, but after two failed marriages and two children to raise, I threw that dream aside.  My mistake.  But through the years I have found that by activating these few simple steps, dreams can actually come true ... in God's perfect timing ... not ours.  So here's our little Sunday School lesson:

But without faith it is impossible to please Him...  Hebrews  11:6a

Faith is a combination of several things:

TRUST:  It causes us to say by our actions, "Lord, I trust you.  Your Word says You can be trusted and I believe it."  Faith in God is trust in God.

CONFIDENCE:  Our confidence is not in the abilities or cleverness of man -- but of God.  Faith is confidence that God will keep His promises.

ASSURANCE:  Assurance tells us that God is everything His Word says He is.  It tells us that He is intervening on our behalf.  Faith is assurance.

COURAGE:  Faith is the courage needed to approach God with a list of needs and know He hears our prayers and answers them for His glory and honor ... not ours.  It's the courage to look to the Lord in any time of need and not allow our circumstances to intimidate or dictate to us.

ACTION:  Faith has a passive side.  It can be received as a gift of God, but it also has an active side.  Faith prompts action.  Hebrews 11:33 tells us that faith subdued, faith worked, faith obtained, and faith even stopped the mouth of lions.

Until I put my faith into action in my own life, these were only words not understood in my mind.  Faith in action allows your heart and mind to see the fullness of the Lord working in your behalf.  How exciting is that?  The living God hears us, listens to us, and answers us ... all in His perfect timing.  My life is a testimony of God's faithfulness ... my dream of traveling the world for God came true and you can read my story in my novel, Lady and the Sea.

In the days ahead, let's all begin to live by faith in a more alive, exciting way!  Until next time...

Istanbul, Turkey 2008

I wish you smooth sailing and 
oceans of faith for those forgotten dreams!

On board Restoration 1995
Stockholm, Sweden

Read, wRite, Relax

Reading, wRiting and Research

I'm starting the year off Right,

focusing on Reading, wRiting, and Relaxing.

Walking more, Worrying less.

Focusing on Faith For Forgotten dreams, Family, and Friends.

less Tv, more Trivia and Thoughtfulness.

less Facebook, more FaceTime

no Resolutions, more Random thoughts.

Cafe Chartier, my cozy writing corner.

There. I think that's enough to get the year kick-started.  Rob will be going back to work next week, after his shoulder surgery two months ago.  I'll miss him, but hopefully I will become more organized.  Hmm, scratch that.  I've always been a spur-of-the-moment kind of gal, so why change now?



Lady and the Sea is staying afloat, but I'm doing some marketing research and praying circles around her, thanks to the book I'm reading, The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson.  I'm excited to hear that Lady and the Sea is being sold in Sweden and Norway.  Friends say that I need to talk more about Lady, mention her more on Facebook, blogs, and such.  My dilemma is I don't want to 'overkill' anyone.  However, Valentine's Day is coming up and Lady would be a perfect gift for a wife, girlfriend (or co-worker who is having a birthday).  There, I did it!  That wasn't so bad, was it?

Stay on course and keep dreaming, and always beLeaf.

...Skate more...
My winter tree filled with ice skating ornaments