March 01, 2021

Lost Dreams: How to recognize, embrace, and grieve them well.

Have you set yourself aside instead of embracing who God has called you to be?

In this episode of Life in Motion, Heather and Jamie discuss the loss of dreams; recognizing and coping with them, and how to properly grieve them.

Heather recalls a story where she wanted to wear a feather boa out on a date with Whit one night when they were in college. But Whit, being introverted and not wanting to draw attention, told her he wouldn’t go out with her if she wore the boa, so she took it off. That moment marked and changed her because she unintentionally set herself aside and lost part of her fun and carefree self in the giving up of her feather boa.

For Jamie, her dream loss came in the form of giving up a career in a field she really loved. Although she wanted to do media relations for a sports team, her career severely pivoted when she became a believer and started to sense the call of God to pursue working at a church. However, it was the loss of that dream that saved her marriage and made her into the woman God has called her to be.

Have you set yourself aside instead of embracing who God has called you to be?

Maybe you’re like Heather and you had a moment in your past that marked you, and you lost of a piece of who you were. Take some time to recall and truly embrace who you are. Be fully who God has created and called you to be! Have you tried for years to be who you thought others wanted you to be, and trying to meet unrealistic expectations of yourself? Here is your permission to be your whole, authentic self because it’s who God made you to be.

For Jamie, she needed to lose her dream because her dream wasn’t rooted in what God had for her. Her ambitions in career were motivated by fame, money, and success. Gods plan for her was to lay those dreams down for a higher calling, and maybe that’s true for you too. But that often comes with grieving the loss of your dream.

Grieving the loss of your dream

It can be difficult to pinpoint your “feather boa moment” or to fully recognize the dream that was lost. Whether it be a lost relationship, infertility, a hope or expectation of where you would be in life by now, it’s vital to acknowledge that a dream was lost and needs to be properly grieved.

So, how do we grieve the loss of a dream? Let God be God in your life. Allow His spirit to enter in and transform you from the inside out. Don’t pretend like it never happened, because that will only cause the grief to multiply. Instead, give it to God and be honest with Him. And finally, don’t do life alone. The pain of walking through the grief in the loss of your dream is real, but you’re not alone. Share with your friends, community, small group, or a professional counselor. God is so good, and there is hope on the other side of your lost dream.

Call in to leave a voicemail: 918-270-8590

Heather and Jamie are committed to helping you and meeting you where you are. No question or comment is off-limits, so call in to leave a voicemail if you want to chat with us!

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Read last week’s blog: Questions about Parenting and Pornography

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