Many people have mentioned they’ve been inspired about my dreaming mind-map, and have asked questions as to how they start dreaming. So I thought I would write a post to share a little about my journey with dreaming…and maybe it will help you to start dreaming too! Now first let me be clear, I’m not talking about sleeping dreams. I’m one of those people that falls into a very deep sleep straight away and never remembers any dreams! But what I want to talk about is dreams of the future. God-sized dreams.
I’ve always been a dreamer, a visionary, fascinated by the future. I admit I often live in the future and forget that what I dreamt about and prayed about years ago is where I am now in the present! I remember growing up I had a jar where I wrote down all my dreams on small folded pieces of paper. But for many years, that’s where they stayed. Contained in a little jar on my bedside table. Little did I know that God had much bigger plans, and was already working in my life, growing my heart and my character for what was to come.
my dream map
At the beginning of 2019, my housemate Lucy told me that everything I was dreaming of was all just sitting in my mind, and I needed to get it down on paper. She suggested I make a mind-map of all my dreams. So I got 3 big pieces of A3 sized paper and began my dreaming mind-map. Nothing was off-limits – if it came to mind, it went down on the paper. I didn’t stop to think whether or not it would be possible, I just wrote it down. Everything from future ministry to business to church and family life went down on the paper. Suddenly what hadn’t really made sense in my mind began to fall into place. I realised where things were connected. Once it was all out of my mind I stuck it to the back of my door so that I would see it every day. And when I felt like a dreaming session, I would take it off and God would begin to expand on things I had written down.
So if you’re wanting to start dreaming, or maybe you used to but you were disappointed in the past and haven’t dared to dream again, I’m here to encourage you. God has far more in mind for your life than you do. His dreams for your life are far more exciting, far more crazy, far more challenging and far greater than anything you could ever come up with on your own. The thing about God-sized dreams is that they’re bigger than you, bigger than your current capacity. But as exciting as the end destination is, God is actually far more interested in the journey to get you there than He is in the end destination. Because it’s in the process where He will grow your character, your heart, your capacity and your maturity so that you can contain the promise that He has for you. God-sized dreams are designed to bring you closer to Jesus because you must rely on Him to get you there!
need some help?
So if you’re not sure where to start, here are my tips. Grab your phone, a piece of paper, your journal, something you can write on; and begin to answer some of these questions. They might not come straight away, and that’s okay. Take your time, think, and let Holy Spirit begin to speak to you.
- What do you see in your future?
- What are you passionate about?
- When you go on Instagram/Interest/Social media, what things do you find yourself looking at?
- What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
- What inspires you?
- What would your dream day/week/year look like?
- What do you value?
Once you’ve answered some of these questions, grab a big piece of A3 paper, write “DREAMS” in the middle, and begin to mind-map and brainstorm any dreams that come to mind. Don’t filter, don’t worry about whether or not they’re possible, doable, or even a good idea! Simply write them down. When you’re done, stick it somewhere you will see it often, and come back to it.
Later we’ll talk about how to start taking steps and turning these dreams into reality!
