Dream Stealer
Posted in Daily Focus on Wednesday, December 18, 2013
"No," I said again to my daughter for the hundredth time. "We don't have the money to buy a horse." As I heard myself saying the words, I felt like I was bursting her bubble, although I knew what I was saying was true. Any homeschooling family living on one income knows the careful planning and budgeting that has to be implemented just to pay for day-to-day living expenses.
A heart without dreams is like a house without windows, and I was beginning to realize the truth of that saying every time I told my daughter she couldn't have a horse. Then, an important question came to my mind. "Was I limiting and superseding what God may want?" Instead of automatically saying "no" to my daughter, I decided to go with her to God in prayer. We placed her dream of a horse into His hands and waited for God's answer.
Two months later, I received an unusual phone call from a lady in our town. She wanted to know if she could have permission to give her grown daughter's old 4-H horse to my daughter as a Christmas present. I couldn't believe what she was saying and was humbled by God and her offer. Needless to say, that Christmas was one my daughter never forgot. Not only did she receive a new horse, but this same lady also bought my daughter a new bridle, breast collar, halter, and matching saddle pad!
I don't know who learned the greater lesson that Christmas, my daughter or me. She had tenaciously hung onto her dream, and I had learned that God is much bigger than my faith or pocketbook. What about you? Are you automatically saying "no" to your children, or are you leading them to the Lord and saying, "Let's pray"? "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory" (Ephesians 3:20-21a).
Father, what a great and mighty God You are! Forgive me for failing to lead my children to You, the Creator and giver of every good and perfect gift. This Christmas, open our eyes to see Your love and give thanks again for the gift of Your Son, Jesus. In His name we pray, Amen.
Comments(25 comments)
LYNDA B 12/18/2008 04:15:48
This really touched my heart,it's so true. In Jesus name.
DANA H 12/18/2008 06:07:08
Boy, did this one hit home. I find myself all too often saying "No!" The truth is we just do not have the money. The fact is, I should have more faith in the Lord's abundant wisdom, grace, and goodness. All too often I fall short! I needed to hear this one. Thank you AOP. May the Lord continue to bless you all for this service you provide and the Christian education products you produce. Thank you!
MAGGIE M 12/18/2008 06:39:37
Thank you I needed to hear this.
DONNA J 12/18/2008 08:05:12
This article was right on point. The Holy Spirit has also dealt with my husband and I about the same thing. When our kids ask for something, instead of saying that we can't afford it, we encourage them to pray about it and offer to pray with them.
SHERI M 12/03/2009 07:21:38
Ok..I just cried my eyes out. That is the most precious story I have ever heard! I am seriously crying right now.....this just goes to show how much God loves us and is in our lives if we let him and pray to him with faith on a constant level. He said in the Bible to give him all of our troubles as each day has its own. God is AWESOME!!
LINDA P 12/05/2009 13:24:15
I touched the wrong key by mistake and voted 2 stars. My correct rating was 5 stars. I thought the article was an excellent reminder of God's love and concern for us. He not only supplies our needs, but also gives us the desires of our hearts. Thank you for the inspiration and encouragement. God bless you.
ELISHA H 12/18/2009 03:22:45
Thank you for the reminder! I needed it! Obviously God has the things my little ones have requested! Praise the Lord, from whom, all blessings flow!
DEBORAH S 12/18/2009 04:55:20
OK; I'm crying. Partly because we so often tell our kids and ourselves "No" and forget that God can do all things that line up with His Word, and, secondly because this actually happened this year to a homeschool friend of mine. Her daughter was blessed, beyond abundantly, with a horse and all the trimmings, from a couple with the abilitiy and the heart. Praise God!
RENEE C 12/20/2009 20:37:26
Thank you, not just for my children's sake but also for mine. I had forgotten as an adult that I am still God's child and he cares about the desires of our heart just as much now as when we were little. God cares!
EILEEN M 12/18/2010 05:52:18
What a beautiful testimony! The lesson your family and all of us can learn from this is great indeed. It reminds me to go to the Lord in prayer more often.
KIMBERLY B 12/18/2010 07:23:46
My heart is so pricked and convicted, I have tears in my eyes. In my son's NIV children's bible, Hebrews 11:1 reads this way, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for being certain of what we do not see." I am thankful to the LORD for speaking-correcting me- through this post! Thank you. Let us not forget or undermine the greatness of our God!
Joy G 12/18/2010 07:33:21
This is a great lesson to keep in mind, our God is so big and sometimes we need to be reminded in a big way!
SHEILAH S 12/18/2010 07:55:39
I have a photo of my first son at age 2 sitting on a fire engine. He is now 27, a full time firefighter, and is being offered the chief position. Ps 139 tells us that God has a plan for our babies, even before they are thought of by us. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS REMINDER! It is not up to us, it IS ALL ABOUT GOD AND HIS PLANS, and I am so glad :)
XABELINA V 12/18/2010 08:13:41
WOW!!!! That's all I kept saying out loud as I sat in my living room early this morning by myself! =) I'm so glad the Lord put this in your heart. Spoke loudly to me!
Blessings,
Lina
Donna L 12/18/2010 09:56:21
Within a minute of quietly reading this, my 7 y.o. daughter brought a book to me and said to me, 'That's what I want" as she pointed to a horse. So I asked her, "So what are you going to do about it?" She said, "Prray". Then, I read her this story and she had a huge smile on her face!
CHRISTINA L 12/18/2010 10:39:24
I was like you, I did not see how we could have a horse, even though we lived on a farm. All that I see was all the work I would have to do, I did not think my children were mature enough to handle the responsible working with a horse and the training it would take. Than thought my daughter's rescue ranch she was given two well trained horses and have not looked back. Other than to ask for my advice about how to saddle and train the animals, my children have done all the work. I should say I use to train horse for a living before moving to Alberta. I am humble at how hard my children work to do this extra work and how much their Heavenly father wants them to enjoy live.
Emily M 12/18/2010 11:49:02
You know, I was homeschooled by a single mother who had no regular employment, nor did she turn to the government for assistance. She lived a life of vibrant faith to sustain the lifestyle she felt so important for us as children and God always provided. Now I am a mother myself and homeschooling our children on one income, which is more than she ever had, and I find that there is much for me to learn about living faith, for myself, as an adult. This was a heart touching entry that jolted me back to the reality of Jehovah Jireh -- Praise His Name!
ELIZABETH R 12/18/2010 12:21:26
That's a great devotional. Isn't amazing that our God cares about everything even our wants? Not just our needs but those special dreams that we all have. What a blessing for your daughter to have that prayer answered. Thanks for the inspiration!
JULIA L 12/19/2010 00:49:34
Thank you, thank you, thank you! We always need to be reminded to go back to the basics of our faith and what we believe. It's true with our faith and also in our daily learning/teaching with our children in that many times if we are having a problem understanding a concept, it is many times extremely helpful to go back to the basic definition of the word or concept to help us see more clearly what we are needing to accomplish.
God loves us and nothing escapes the loving eyes and ears of our Heavenly Father. Sometimes we just need to remember what He has taught us to do and do it. "Ask and you shall receive"....basics. Thanks again!
Julia
ARLENE F 12/20/2010 01:02:53
Absolutely beautiful! A very powerful message. The truth has me on the verge of tears. This last year has been so wonderful and I have been witness to God's presence in our lives in many ways. Thank you!
Arlene
CHOW SOK LENG S 12/20/2010 23:03:07
Thank you for this wonderful sharing,nothing is to big for our God. :D Amen
LINDSEY G 12/18/2011 05:47:09
The Lord did the same thing for my daughter when she wanted to learn piano. I don\'t read music and we didn\'t have a piano. So, we prayed. A few days later, the phone rang and someone anonymously gave us a piano! Let\'s seek to bring our children to God, Himself, with their dreams. I don\'t have the money, time, skill and energy to fulfill them...but I was never supposed to be their hope in the first place. God alone is. This will be the BEST homeschooling legacy we can give our kids: their own connection to their Creator.
TERE G 12/20/2011 09:51:31
A heart without dreams is like a house without windows!!!!Oh my,how true......That defenitely hit home.thanks again for a great post
TABITHA J 12/19/2012 00:30:55
One time, my husband and I needed a new washer, dryer, and dishwasher because ours broke and did not have the money to buy new ones. One day, I received a text from my mother-in-law asking if we need a washer, dryer, and dishwasher. Of course, I said that we do need them and I still don\'t know why she knew that we needed them.
Soon Yew Boo 12/19/2014 14:02:33
Amazing !! This is how our God works in the background.. Remember he knows our thought even before we utter them with the lips of our mouth. (Psalm 139:2-4)
Just like last week I was helping an Indonesian brother whose wife was in Penang for cancer treatment. He works far from his home and seeing me struggle to charge my mobile phone with a mini power bank.. he gave me one big one that is given by his company for staff use.
Reciprocally, I was more than happy to bring this brother while waiting for his wife's 5 hour treatment to finish. Then I sent them to the airport, which they greatly appreciated as it would save them the transportation cost.
Again, with an openness to one another, more so when we are part of the family of God.. surely God will make his great and wonderful ways real to us all. :)