Category Archives: God Sized Dreams

Who We Are In Christ

The office of my old high school was a wall of windows and gave those that passed by a glimpse to what was happening inside. And no day was more full of activity than Valentine’s Day. Flowers lined the desk and balloons swayed back and forth, the colors and fragrances beckoned all who walked by.

If you were one of the lucky recipients, the office staff would announce your name over the loud speaker so you would know there was something for you to pick up. As a teenager I wanted nothing more than to have my name called. Because those flowers and such were an indication that you meant something to someone else.

When the call didn’t come for me I translated it to mean that I didn’t have any value at all. Period.

Big leap I know, but it was one that I made time and time again.

Not invited to the party, can’t make the cheerleading squad, don’t have a boyfriend…all signs to me that I was a failure and I didn’t fit in.

I have shared here before that I have carried those lies and misperceptions about myself around with me for years. It is hard to walk in the dreams that God has for me when I can’t see myself for anything more than a continual failure.

I hadn’t realized just how much those lies I had believed had followed me into adulthood. How they had blanketed me with shame and kept me bound in fear. I had played the role of victim for so many years, believing I wasn’t good enough for God.

But friends, I need you to hear me on this…it isn’t true. And this is not the way that God wants us to live!

Shrouded in fear and failure…that isn’t abundant living!

I am sharing more about all God is teaching me over at God-sized Dreams today – will you join me?!

Original Photo Credit: via modified for GSD

The Revealing – a GSD Post

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Oh friends what a journey I have been on this year. I have said it before but please DO NOT chose the word DEPEND as your One Word if you don’t want a year full of stretching! 😉

I feel like I have been on a bit of a roller coaster lately, but you know it is ok. I do know that God is working out some beauty in all of this and am trusting that He will be the One on which I can depend through it all.

He is faithful. He is steady.

When I am not, I can trust that He is.

I discovered this even more when I was on a family vacation in early June and I am sharing some of the newest things God has been revealing to me about myself over at God-sized Dreams today. Will you join me there?!

When Community Looks Like a Rally Cry – A God-sized Dreams Post

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Community has been on my heart since I attended Allume in October. I have always had a longing to build community, but I hadn’t yet felt the calling to really implement it in my own home town. It is scary and exciting all at the same time. We are introducing some really fun things at our church here in MN and I wait in eager anticipation to see what God will do with and through all of it.

I thought that was what I was going to write about this month, until I experienced community in a completely overwhelming and different way recently. It was unexpected and born out of a trial, but sometimes community looks like a rally cry. And through this I have learned that we are stronger together.

I felt desperate.

But even with the people that I am most comfortable with, I want there to be the appearance of having it all together. (<====Click to Tweet)

Especially as the “leader” of this fine group of women, if I shared my reality…what would they all think?

But God has been showing me all year that I must have full dependence on Him, and sometimes it means that I need to be willing to ask for help.

So I sucked up my pride and sent a message to the women on this team here at GSD’s.

Honestly, I just got chills again as I think about what happened next…..

I am sharing the rest of this story over at God-sized Dreams today. Will you join me there?!

Circling Your Dreams

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On my way to Houston to celebrate my birthday, I had a short layover in Chicago. It was just getting dark as we were flying into the Chicago area. Lights below were starting to twinkle and it was a beautiful sight.

Looking out my window, I could see the airport below, and watched as we flew right past it, headed out to the edge of the city, and finally over the waters of Lake Michigan below.

Then there were a couple of what seemed like sharp turns to get us headed back toward the airport. It likely seemed a little more scary because we could see the frozen waters below, dark and uninviting.

But as we started back towards the city we straightened out and the view that I saw was breathtaking.

Sometimes in this dream-chasing journey, I get stuck. My focus is on the end result, the destination. How soon will I get there? When will my dream ever come to fruition? “Are we there yet, mom”….oh wait, that is another type of trip! 😉

But really, have you been there?

Been headed towards that goal, maybe even been to the place where you can see the end in sight and then there is what seems to be a detour? You fly right past and think wait…where were the brakes?!

I am sharing some encouragement over at God-sized Dreams today, will you join me there?!

Come As You Are – A GSD Welcome Invitation

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As you may have seen from our posts and pictures, several of our core writing team traveled from across the country and met at Allume this past October. It was fun to spend time together as a team, and an amazing opportunity to meet with so many new friends and dreamers as well.

We decided to host a little “meet-up” so we could visit with some of these new friends in person. While the majority of us who gathered ended up being part of the original God-sized Dream team, it was a wonderful time to come together and share about where we have been and how we see God leading and moving in our lives and dreams going forward.

Prior to the meet-up, I was up in my hotel room with one of my roommates and fellow GSD writer, Delonna. We were gathering up everything we needed to bring downstairs. Before we walked out the door, Delonna asked me if I thought she should change her shirt.

Now Delonna is a die-hard Ohio Buckeyes fan. DIE-HARD. Whooo, watching a game with this woman was an experience, especially when the game went into overtime. Yikes! 😉

She had been wearing her Ohio State T-shirt all day and wondered if she should change it. I probably looked at her with my crazy eyes and asked her why she would do that?

She said she wanted to make sure that she was making the right impression at the meet-up.

I told her she looked beautiful and to keep the T-shirt on! 🙂

This got me to thinking the next morning in the shower (that IS where I do my best thinking…I really need a recorder in my shower so I can get all these thoughts and prayers down during that time!!)

We always want this space to be a place where you can come as you are.

I am sharing the rest of this post over at God-sized Dreams, will you join me there?!

31 Days of Finding God – A GSD Post On Being Deeply Rooted

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I love how nature can teach me so many lessons about my life and my faith walk.

When my family and I were vacationing this summer we took a drive through Spearfish Canyon, in Spearfish, South Dakota. It is a beautiful drive with several places to stop and explore. The canyon walls in places were very steep, and trees littered the landscape.

I started to notice that there were several places where very large trees stood standing with the majority of their roots fully exposed. Rain and washout of the canyon foundations left the roots open to the elements.

And yet the trees stood strong, seemingly unfazed.

At one point in our drive we pulled off to hike to a small waterfall. Here too I found several places where the trees foundations had been washed away, yet the roots seemed firmly planted deep in the ground.

Ephesians 3:14-19 “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family[c] in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

I am sharing the rest of this story over at God-sized Dreams today, will you join me there?!

In Him, Kristin

Finding Beauty in the Abandoned Dream

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In late July my family and I took a road trip out to the Black Hills of South Dakota. As we were driving I noticed several abandoned homes scattered throughout the landscape.

High on a hill the house stood, windows broken, door weathered. The once straight roof was wavy with time and wear. Gaps between the boards in the walls were visible. Clearly this place had been long since abandoned.

And I couldn’t help but wonder who had graced the spaces of that home?

A newly married husband and wife, seeking to start a new adventure on the plains? Did children run in the adjacent fields? Young men eager to farm the land and provide for their families?

Dreams start that way don’t they?

We feel the trill of a new start, we anticipate all of the positives and try not to focus on any of the negatives. We push forward in faith, maybe with a little fear, but filled with hope and the promise of what’s to come.

And if we are lucky all those hopes, those dreams and ideas are fulfilled. But it doesn’t always end that way does it?

I am sharing more over at the God-sized Dreams website – will you come and join me there?!

Shared by: Kristin Smith

Photo Credit: sub35089 (If using sunset pic it is Kadek Susanto)Ka

Strong Enough

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Music is one of those things that really speaks to my soul. I hear and connect with a song on a deep level and during particularly difficult times in my life, music was the one thing that helped me feel close to God.

I stopped listening to “secular” music years ago for this reason. When I listen to “Christian” music I am reminded of truths, I sing out Bible verses and praise the God that has walked me through some of the darkest times of my life.

We were on a road trip to visit family for the day when “Strong Enough” by Matthew West came on the radio. It is a familiar song and at times I can miss the deeper meaning…but the words took on new life for me this time.

I know I’m not strong enough to be
everything that I’m supposed to be
I give up
I’m not strong enough
Hands of mercy won’t you cover me
Lord right now I’m asking you to be
strong enough
strong enough
for the both of us

There are times that we are faced with hard decisions, tough parenting moments, job insecurity or financial difficulty and doors slamming shut in our dream chasing. I am sure that each person reading here has their own list, that thing that comes at you and brings you to your knees?

Well meaning people, myself included, often like to say that God won’t give us more than we can handle.

But hearing these song lyrics gave me a fresh perspective. There WILL be times that we are not strong enough. Times that we want to throw our hands up, throw in the towel, and walk away because it is just too much.

So what can we do in times like these? Just like the lyrics of the song, we need to cry out to God and ask Him to be strong enough for us.

I would love for you to join me over at God-sized Dreams to read the rest of this post!

The Layers and In Between

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The take-off began in the haze that had settled over Houston. The higher we climbed the cloudier it got.

It was bumpy at the onset, so my eyes were closed for a few minutes, and as I opened them we were just rising above the cloud line. Land was visible below in small spaces between the fluffy white clouds. I had a strong sense of the emerging that had just occurred. The layer that just minutes before been hazy and difficult to see through, was now clear and beautiful.

I started taking pictures with my phone, it may or may not have been “legal” at that point, but I couldn’t stop taking in Gods beauty.

The tops of the clouds looked like cotton balls that had been stretched apart for the beard of a Kindergarten Santa project. Soft and inviting, comfortable even!

As the plane rose, the skyline changed once again. I am not a meteorologist (BIG shocker I know!!) so I don’t know the technical term, but the next layer of clouds was flat, like fog almost. But off in the distance were spots where clouds were shooting up into the sky above in billowy formations.

I wondered if storms were brewing below them.

Have you ever been in a place that right where you are is flat and calm but you were able to see the storms on the horizon? You are sure something is happening just below the surface but you aren’t positive what it is. Will it bring a difficulty? A time of testing? Maybe an opportunity to trust in God?

Would you join me over at God-sized Dreams to read the rest of the post?!

Dream Because of Your Children!

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Hey friends, lean in close, and let me tell you a secret. I can be a wonderful encourager of others to follow their dreams, but when it comes to my own? Well let’s just say that I often find myself making excuses and shaking in my boots!

I had the rare opportunity to spend a little bit of time at the park with my sister and our kids one weekend recently, and as we talked I realized once again that this dreaming business is hard for so many of us!

Beth, who is younger and has the beautiful straight hair I always wished for, is doing a little dream chasing herself very soon. But it wasn’t easy for her to come to that jumping off point and go for it. Beth has a beautiful voice. She was part of concert choir and show choir in high school, and even took voices lessons at one point along the way, but somewhere I believe that her faith in her abilities faded and she stopped singing for and in front of others.

I completely understand the feeling.

I sing on the worship team at church and want to throw up every Sunday that I stand on the altar at the front – all those eyes looking at me.

I once had a 3 line “solo”, if you can call it that when the congregation is singing along with you, and my voice started to shake so bad…it simultaneously terrifies and exhilarates me. I love to sing, I have always loved it but somewhere along the way my confidence in any talent I may have, went down the drain.

Beth shared with me that since American Idol first came on the air she thought about auditioning. When she turned 27 and officially was “too old” to try she felt a sadness about it. Then she heard about the show The Voice. Twice she signed up to go and audition, but life and maybe a little fear got in the way, and she didn’t follow through with it.

She said that every time she thought about the fact that she hadn’t done it, she felt a pit in her stomach. (Sounds like a dream trying to bust out to me!!)

I am so excited to share the rest of this story with you over at God-sized Dreams – please join me and leave a little encouragement for my amazing sister! 🙂