When we visit my mom we are forced to deal with a television which is turned on first thing in the morning and off, last thing at night. As a viewing compromise we often will watch house/cottage (real estate) finding programs. Over the last 45 years our family has lived in church provided housing, so we have never owned our own place. Since my wife is getting ready to create a new vision board, the topic of what kind of a house would we like to have came up. Since our finances have always been based on a creatively, find a way to get through the month basis, to this point, there has never been savings to consider owning our own home.
We began to think about the features, room sizes, layouts, etc. and my daughter spent some time checking out floor plans from various sources. My mom stills lives in the house her and dad bought almost 70 years ago. So house hunting has never been something I have experienced. Having never been called upon to think about these issues it was interesting to discover that the floor plan a person really wants, likely does not exist. Certainly, not very often.
If a person had unlimited resources and the time to wait, you might be able to find an architect who could provide the exact plans you wanted and a builder who would build it with quality. Also to be considered, would the features and floor plan have lasting appeal, or would it fall short of expectations as changes came into your life?
This brought us back to the general pattern of doing what most people do, house hunting. Since we are not in the market to move, or buy at this time, we did not take the time to get involved in that focus of exploration.
When was the last time you went dream building? Have you identified goals, dreams, and activities which you would like to see become a reality in your life? In this process, remember to include those items in which you seek to benefit the lives of others. It should never be a “gimme more, just for me” mentality. Responsible stewardship of the resources God provides should be part of our thinking in this process. For me, this includes providing clean fresh water for those who do not have access to it.
I challenge you to dream and plan for what it is you are wanting God to do in your life and apply faith to believe it can happen, even if in this moment of time, you do not see how.