Ship of Adventure
As children my sister and I attended a holiday club run by St. Matthew's (in the 1970's!) in their scout hall, it was called "Ship of Adventure!" and we so enjoyed our time there, although I'm not sure the leaders enjoyed our mischievous ways – God bless them! Little did I know many years later I would be embarking on my own Ship of Adventure. https://www.mercyships.org/
I believe we all have God-given dreams that are locked away in our Spirit, often that feeling of Deja-vu. From a child the shipping forecast has always brought me a sense of security, of being home, and I believe it was for a time such as this.
God is always on the move. He created us to have goals and dreams, to be reaching for more in our life in Christ. When God gives you a dream, it's like becoming pregnant: you conceive (think or imagine) a vision of the "new thing" He's planned for you.
Ecclesiastes 5:3 says (as interpreted by Joyce Meyers) "For a dream comes with much business and painful effort.… This is why many people abort their dreams before they reach full-term. God plants a seed (dream) in them and they become pregnant. But when they find out it will take effort, be costly and uncomfortable to complete their preparation for the birth, they decide it wasn't really God's will after all and go and do something else."
I want to encourage you to go through the hard part because if you give up, you will never be completely satisfied. There will also be a part of you that doesn't feel settled or fulfilled.
Before leaving for Africa my brother joked about us having a 'stateroom' cabin with balcony next to the pool deck and a sea view window. Incredibly, we have a family cabin of a couple who have gone ashore for 4 months to adopt another local child, we have a starboard sea view window at the aft and there is even an old shipping container which has been converted into a swimming pool directly above us! But it has not been plain sailing for me, the first 2 weeks I felt l was drowning, reception was so short staffed it was necessary to work long shifts with little time off, I was at my wits end.
One uplifting moment was the Carols by Candlelight service when 'Silent Night' was sung in many languages – just heavenly. If you feel overwhelmed right now, hang in there
"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."
Lamentations 3:22-23 [KJV]
Dawn Milward | |
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