When Dreams Come True
THE CONCEPT//
new year. new dreams
I’ve always been a big fan of making New Year’s resolutions. I love the feeling of having a fresh start on life! January 2018, I took my New Year’s resolutions to another level. I actually spent time reflecting on the past year, acknowledging the highlights and disappointments, before officially letting go of the the past to begin focusing on the future (thank you, Lynette Ross!). Then, I spent time quieting my heart to just listen to what I thought God might have for me in the upcoming year. It was a wonderful gift to be able to take the time to reflect, listen and dream. I highly recommend it!
I left that day feeling like God was asking me to seek him for a new way to share the good news story of Jesus with kids. I wanted to find a way that would be culturally relevant, simple, non-religious and easy for them to share with their friends.
This idea for a new way of presenting the gospel to kids would need resources that could be available for other kids’ ministry leaders, parents, and kids, themselves. God would have to connect me with the people he wanted me to partner with for creating these resources! And he would need to give me the story!!!
THE DESIGN//
on the journey
I struggle with believing that what God can do for someone else, he will do for me. I had to choose to push past the fear and ask him to share with me an idea for a story. Coming up with a story was the most intimidating part of the whole journey. Every time I feel like God is asking me to take a risk and step outside my comfort zone, I get super intimidated. It is always a step of faith to believe that I can tune-in to God’s plan and purpose.
God, of course, is always faithful! He gave me an idea as I was out walking one morning. I went home and began to formulate a story of God’s heart for kids. I shared my ideas with some of my co-workers. Even sharing my ideas out loud was a little intimidating. Working together is always better than being a “lone ranger”.
I would need to try out this new good news presentation with kids in various settings to see how well the story would connect with kids. I was thinking I could use it at large events, or with large groups of kids, or smaller groups of kids, or even one on one. I wanted to get feedback from people I respected theologically, to see if they felt I was on the right track.
Several opportunities came my way to share the new story with kids. I was so blown away how God used this simple story to draw kids to himself. I realized that the power of the story wasn’t in me, the storyteller, but it’s in the Holy Spirit drawing kids to himself!
The power is in the seed, not the sower.
God so desperately wants kids to know and experience his love and power that he is drawing kids to himself in whatever way he can. Over the course of sharing with kids the good news of Jesus, I saw hundreds of kids respond to God’s invitation to say “yes” to receiving his gift of love.
What started out as a simple story to share with kids grew into an idea to produce a book. If I wanted others to be able to share the story, including kids, this story needed to be written as a book. A story is only as good as it’s illustrator. Without a compelling visual design there is no way people will ever read it! God had an illustrator for this book. He connected me with a very gifted graphic artist. Little did I realize the extent of the talent she had! She worked with an extremely talented creative editor to put together The Best News Ever! They took my simple story and worked tirelessly to make it into a copyrighted, beautifully designed, presentation of God’s love for kids. (Thank you Nina and Karen!!)
THE GOLD//
God is truly amazing
I am so glad that I pushed past my intimidation and fear, and chose to believe that I could be used by him. I got to be his instrument to pen his heart for this young generation.
I know that sometimes God gives a dream that takes a long time to come to fruition. What was just a dream that cold January day was now a reality!
Trust him to hold your dreams for you, and to be faithful to give them back to in his perfect timing.