graphic: Martha G. Brady
i love to dream
about possibilities.
about what could be.
but in the dreaming
i need to have a detail person
close by.
i don’t do dreams in detail.
my dreams are only in broad strokes
and big pictures.
they don’t include fine details…at all!
i need to work with people who are good administrators.
you know the kind?
they can fill in the colors.
ask and answer the detail questions.
make the complicated, simple so that each person
knows what is expected of them.
the working out of spiritual gifts has nothing to do with
our extroversion/introversion.
it has everything to do with our love of Christ stop
and the specific gifts He has given us individually.
i don’t know about you, but i can’t dream apart from community.
Do i care who gets the credit for the job i did?
Do i care who is ministered to as long as it is in the name of Jesus?
Do i care about my reputation in terms of success or failure?
Then i am free to follow the dream GOD has for me in community as i use the gifts He has given.
I love the simplicity and strength of your words. I could feel my heart say, “Yes, yes, yes!” Having the people we need in our lives is so necessary. We get to be fully us, each with our own gifts and abilities, rather than trying to filling the gaps of who we are not. Together, we connect with each other to further our dreams–the dreams Christ gives us.
thanks cheryl:) i’m glad you found it helpful. living in true community with each other helps grow all of us in deeper stronger ways doesn’t it? and builds up the body as well! what a delightful plan:)
Martha, I love that you know your strengths and weaknesses. Dreamers need those detail-oriented people. And detail people need dreamers because they don’t tend to be visionaries. 🙂 I LOVE how God created us to need each other in this way. And the questions you closed with? Perfect for dreamers. 🙂
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend!
jeanne, it was fun getting to meet you today on the video. glad you enjoyed the post. yes, i love the fact that we need each other this way too. sad how long it often takes for us to realize the wisdom of our differences instead of chafing at them so often:(
You know, I’ve never had detail dreams for life…. ever. I’ve never really thought about it. This is probably why!
haha:) cyndi i’m having to laugh at this one. i don’t think those of us who dream think of the details. we need good friends to help us with those.
Hi Martha. I’m with you in this though I’ve never articulated it as dreaming in community. To have dreams become real we do need others. And that’s just how God intended because through others he uses the dreams can become real. Thanks for your clear perspective on this.
thanks for stopping by debby:) yes, i speak from experience here! i come up with a lot of wild ideas. often my husband is the first filter. i used to get upset hearing his rational questions that related to implementation…until my more grounded friends would ask the same ones. then i realized it wasn’t personal. they were just being realistic. if we change x, how will y be affected. well of course i hadn’t thought of that.
it helped me in my dreaming to write dreams down and get some reality mixed in before coming to a group with THE answer to their solutions like i often had done before. it also helped me understand how much i needed their help with implementation. my idea might be a good one in seed form, but it often needed considerable work to get it worked out into reality. it helped to humble me and realize i needed community…both their creativity and their reality to get ideas to work out…or decide they really weren’t going to work at all!