100 Days to Brave, day 25: Dream in Pieces

 There was a man named David in the Bible who is kinda a big deal in the McFive household. My oldest son, Zeplin, has been told by more than one person that he has a heart like David- a heart of worship and Godly-abandon. It makes him ultra precious to watch. 

In David's youth, he fought a lion...and a bear. I have a difficult time imagining which would be more dangerous, but he fought them both and one prepared him for the other. Ultimately, they both prepared him for Goliath, the Philistine giant. David lived his life in honor of God and each step lead him to the next position, which was ultimately King, first over Judah and eventually over all of Israel.  The Bible exhorts David as, "a man after God's own heart". Acts 13:22

It is great that Annie has made the connection that each portion happened as a piece. She states, "He [God] knows we need dreams in pieces because we would be too scared of the whole puzzle.".

If you know me or have been following along on these devotions, you already know that I ended-up getting accepted into the ONLY college I applied to, when my grades, and finances, were rather humbling. 

After that initial year in Virginia at Bible college, the one which closed down, I accepted the invitation to transfer to LIFE Pacific, which was the hip and trendy California-version to our Virginia-based L.I.F.E. East. 

One year, that is how long I remained at LIFE Pacific. During the second semester, I was commuting from Los Angeles where I had officially moved to begin life at the Dream Center. I became an official Bible college drop-out. 

A year and a half of living on campus at the D.C. and it was time to move on. 

Walking out of Angela's Temple one Sunday, I met a German girl who was living in LA as an au-pair and I was utterly convinced that I knew my next step. 

So, of course, I moved to Germany and lived with Joyce, Joann, Stefan and Inga, and their gray cat named Mickey. 

Here's the thing, I didn't think college was in the cards for me. 

Or Californ-I-A.

I had no idea I would drop-out of college after praying that God would allow me to go in the first place. 

And Germany was no where in my thought process through all of this.

Pieces. 

God only revealed a piece at a time to me, because it was exactly what I needed for that time. 

Eventually I returned home from Germany, where I was a student at the Volkeshochschule, Bad Doberan, and decided that, three colleges and no degrees meant it was time to finish something and prioritize education. Today I have my Associates degree in Criminal Justice. 

That degree landed me a job wherein I was able to re-connect with Big Strong Man, my now hubby. 

When we were engaged he presented me with a gift, a puzzle piece ornament which reads, "the missing piece is you".

Big Strong Man and I are the very proud parents of the three coolest sons, Zeplin, Demitri, and Thatcher. All three of whom I had dream-up and imagined but could never had know then as I do now. Pieces. 

      

Be Brave: 

What's one are of your life where you know you are being brave right now? 

Right now, being brave looks like being content to not have a clean house all the time, and saying no to extras which either don't make sense for my family or I am not passionate about. With so many good things, it is important to save myself for the great things, even when others don't understand or like my decisions.