God Sized Dreams...

When I was in my first year of Seminary, I got my first volleyball coaching job.  I was a barista at the local Starbucks in the community and quickly came to know the Athletic Director at the private school right down the street.  Within a few months of working, he found out I was a volleyball player and offered me a coaching job.  Although I felt inadequate...story of my life...I took the job, and it wound up being an amazing experience.  I not only had the chance to teach girls how to play volleyball, but I was given the privilege of speaking into their life in ways I wouldn't have imagined.  That job was the start to my love for coaching.

When we moved to Maryland, I was quickly given another opportunity to coach, this time as a volunteer at a local high school.  A couple of years later, a friend invited me to be the assistant coach at another high school.  I took the position and wound up coaching at that school for 8 seasons with a coach who became a good friend to me and taught me a lot.  It was an amazing experience that shaped me in ways that I continue to be grateful for.  Once again, I not only got to teach volleyball, but God opened so many doors to share my faith and the journey he was taking me on.

When the head coach stepped down from her position, I decided to apply.  I figured that since I had been coaching at the school for that long, naturally, I would get the job.  When I got the call that I didn't, I was devastated.  In fact, I remember getting the call in my office and bawling my eyes out frustrated that what I had dreamed about wasn't going to happen.  Several months later, I received another call.  It was our adoption agency saying after 25 months of waiting we had been matched with a baby boy.  We would bring him home 2 weeks before that volleyball season would have started.

Thankfully, the new coach, who turned out to be an awesome friend, invited me to volunteer and help her out for the season when I could.  It was a great experience and allowed me to continue my love for coaching and learn to be a mom...something I couldn't have done as a head coach that season.

About a year later, my friend tipped me off that they were hiring a head coach at a local private school.  It seemed to be a great fit, and although I was nervous, I decided to submit my resume and interview for the job.  Low and behold, several weeks later, I received the phone call I had been waiting for.  Once again, I didn't get the job.  I was offered the assistant coaching position and several weeks later would take it believing that I could somehow make a difference at that school, even if it wasn't the coaching position I had dreamed about.  Several months later, I received another phone call.  With it would come an invitation to go on an all expense paid trip to Mozambique, Africa, with an incredible group of people to look at clean water projects.  The trip was right in the middle of volleyball season.

Thankfully, the head coach not only allowed me to miss volleyball for two weeks, but covered my coaching and cheered me on as I left for a trip that would change my life...something that never could have taken place if I had been the head coach.

Sometimes we think we know what's best for us, or we think we deserve certain things.  We dream up these plans and we do everything we can to make sure they happen.  When things don't turn out quite the way we expect we struggle.  We struggle to ourselves as valuable, we struggle to see ourselves as capable people, and we struggle to see the bigger picture.

What if God is working behind the scenes on something better than we could dream up ourselves?

What if we are dreaming too small?

What if we started dreaming "God-Sized" Dreams for our life?

God wants to blow our expectations out of the water with this thing we call life and he's dreaming big things for us.  His dreams aren't boxy, typical, expected, or safe.  They are adventurous, gutsy, unconventional, and surprising.  They are dreams worth chasing.

Several months ago, my friend called to invite me to coach with her at the Community College in town.  When she asked me, my first response was, "I am so not qualified."  But inside, I was thinking, "This is a dream job!"  I probably gave her a thousand reasons why she should change her mind in asking me, but she didn't back down.  She felt like I had something to offer.

"God sized" dreams aren't always for the "qualified."

To be honest, every day I walk into the gym, I have to pinch myself that I have actually been given the opportunity I have.  I have prayed daily over these months that God would use me in that space.  I have no idea what lays ahead, but I am praying for one thing.  "God...blow my expectations out of the water and dream big for me."