Dreams and Awards

Photo courtesy of Mary Freeman Denman

Have you ever pictured a moment in your mind—over and over—with great expectation and then when it happens, you can hardly believe it? Like a dream come true.

That happened to me last week at the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer's Conference.

• Spending time with my fellow writer peeps—spectacular. 

• Worshipping our Father together—amazing. 

• Learning from the best Christian writers and teachers in the industry—invaluable.

• Pitching my book in one-on-one appointments—couldn't have been better. 

But Wednesday night at the awards ceremony was beyond belief.

My book—Divine Connection—placed third in Contemporary Women's fiction and my short story—Flesh and Blood—placed second in short story.  My mind could barely comprehend my name being called. And my heart melted with gratitude and humility that my writing garnered an award.

Leading up to the awards, with the help of a fellow writer in the same situation, we fought to keep our egos in check and remember to give the results to God.

In last week's blog I wrote, "I believe some big dreams are realized by a series of small dreams that happen along the way to the big dream, sort of like checkpoints along the road. These mini-dream achievements happen on the journey to reaching the big dream."

Winning an award is the dream checkpoint I had in mind. I felt like God reached down from heaven and rubber stamped my dream of being a writer, "Validated!"

But these were not the results I had three years ago.

I entered the contest but in a different category. I left home with my ego in check but after arriving at the conference, I found it engaging like a hot air balloon filling up. I desperately wanted to win—some for the right reasons, but mostly for selfish ones. And when my name wasn't called, I was devastated.

I felt ashamed of my super ego and yes, I was disappointed in God. He knew how bad I wanted to win. But that's when I felt Him saying, "Seek my face first and I will provide what is best, not your ego-driven wish list." Finally, this year I felt ready to try again.

With hindsight, I'm grateful for the experience of that loss and His perfect timing. Today, this is how I see it. I had prayed for the sweet babbling creek, but God had in mind to give me the mighty Amazon River. 

So take heart if you are in the midst of defeat over a loss, or not receiving the answer to a prayer, or waiting on an unfulfilled dream. God is there with you, waiting for the right time to place the Amazon River at your feet. Stay active in the pursuit of the dream and leave the results to Him. To God be the glory…always.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33 NIV.

Have you had a time when God blessed you with validation of a dream, or a dilemma you've been praying for, or confirmed a path for you to take? Has He answered in a mighty way that left you in awe and astounded? Please share. Let's glean fresh insight for our life journey from each other.