Entry: Reach for your Dreams

DREAMS OF A HOPE AND A FUTURE
By Debbie Roome

Our dream was to give our children a better start in life. To move to a country where there were opportunities for all of us. It was a dream God gave us and confirmed in many ways, but one that was hard to follow.

To reach for our dream entailed sacrifice. To grasp something new and different you have to release what is currently in your hand. For us that was fifteen years of life in South Africa. The familiarity of everything around us. The closeness of family and friends, our pets, our careers and business and our home.

Conversely, it was easy to let go of the terrible oppression we lived under. To leave behind the crime ridden society that dictated our every move. Our lives had been controlled by fears of varying kinds. The fear of being attacked and murdered in our beds, the fear of driving alone on the highways, the fear for our children as they grew older and started socializing at night. The fears were not ungrounded as we incurred huge losses through theft, our son was held up with a broken bottle and robbed and my husband injured in an attempted hijacking.

In January 2006, I boarded a plane with our five children to join my husband in New Zealand. It was just a dot on the map to us. A place down under that looked good in photographs. However, God had planted it into our hearts and we followed His leading.

We can say now that pursuing our dream has been the best thing we ever did. We love our new country and are settled and secure. The children are thriving and my husband loves his job. I am following my life-long dream of writing full time. Besides this, God is giving us opportunities to speak and minister to His church and wider afield.

Our dream cost us dearly but God has given us so much back to us. He has surrounded us with dear friends and church family and we live in peace and tranquility. We are successful in what we are doing and most importantly, God is using us to touch the lives of people in New Zealand. Of course, there are days when we think of Africa. When a song triggers a memory or an email arrives from family. When we yearn to be back there just for a day. To revisit familiar places and renew friendships. God understands this and on such days, wraps us in His peace and love.

Every one of us have dreams in our heart. Dreams that God has placed there. Dreams that may have been simmering under the surface for years. Don’t stifle what God wants to do through you. He always knows best and has amazing things planned for each of us. Take the first step towards fulfilling your dream today and don’t be afraid to follow where He leads.

Submitted by

Debbie Roome