Resurrected Dreams

Enjoy this devotional from FlourishWriters student Laura Pettit

No way! I am not a fearful person! Or am I? Is it okay to step into my dream?

These were my journaling reflections as I sat alone at my kitchen table, allowing anxiety to rise like a volcano spewing its lethal contents. Doubts shadowing my thoughts, holding me captive as the rays of sunlight crept through the window.

The slivers of light illuminated the words on my iPad screen, causing me to hold my breath as I clicked the register link on the email. 

That click began a resurrection of a writing dream.

When I was six years old, my family moved from the Midwest to the West Coast. My first-grade teacher began reading Charlotte’s Web to the class. It was a balm to my spirit because Wilbur, the farm pig, became friends with Charlotte, the spider. Wilbur didn’t want food; he wanted a friend. That was the craving of my uncertain heart, and I found friendship in the words of books.

This teacher nurtured and cultivated the seed that she planted with Charlotte’s Web. She was the first-word gardener of my life.

As an introverted child, I escaped into numerous adventures through books. The words sprung out with spirit-fueled power, jolting me to grab a pen. I found myself writing my own words, yet my words were unknown, like the seed under the soil, experiencing drought, and refusing to surface.

Self-doubt creeped in, stunting the seed until a creative writing teacher became another word gardener, pouring nourishment on my parched seed. This time the seed busted through to become a bud, striving to grow, change, and show all the beauty that awaited inside the bud.

My dream was sprouting. 

As the seasons of life unfolded, the sprout became overcrowded with the weeds of unbelief. My budding writing dream remained buried by layers of fear and insecurity.

The internal beauty of the bud stayed hidden until I courageously stepped into the FlourishWriters garden with a click on the screen.

FlourishWriters, gardeners of words, tended to the bud with their tools. Slowly, the dirt shifted as the ground was tilled by spades of coaching, watered by teaching, and fertilized with words of encouragement from the garden community.

From the positive feedback, the constructive insight lifted my heart and provided the opportunity for my budding writing dream to develop once again. 

There was growth in my confidence as I attended the live video coaching calls. During one session, as I was sitting in my family room with my iPad connected to the TV, my words appeared on the screen. I did not realize I was holding my breath as a Flourish Writers coach acknowledged me by name. I braced myself as she reviewed my draft, using it as a teaching example.

Instantaneously, tears sprung to my eyes as the words of my story were spoken out loud. I was seen, no longer invisible with a buried dream. The minuscule sprout that was just peeking out of the ground developed and flourished.

Through the season of cultivation, FlourishWriters gardeners were instruments for the connection to the Master Gardener, who cuts, trims, and prunes to bring life. It was as if a kinked garden hose was straightened, and living water was soaking my dream into a plant.

How validating it was to hear my stories were meant to be God’s stories for speaking truth, encouragement, and a guide to healing.

How could I not believe when God, the Master Creator’s, mere words resulted in astounding beauty in the universe? 

If I am to believe Him, that means I am worthy and capable of realizing my blossoming dream. That I was made to come alive, designed, and equipped to move into my heart’s desire.

I wrestled between hope and fear. 

God nurtured and led me to Isaiah 43:1, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” (ESV).

Exhaling, as if I was spitting out the anxiety and the lie that I am not worthy, I inhaled the truth that God is still in the resurrection business and is calling me to abundant life.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

As His masterpiece, you are beautiful and beloved, you are a living work of art displaying His creativity and grace. 

He holds your future. Even before you were born, God planned your destiny.  

You are His masterpiece, and He is already in your future.

Sit with that a moment.

Can you remember your dreams? Did you bury them, or are they seemingly out of reach? 

Maybe you poured more dirt on your speck of a seed, or you cannot find the nozzle to the garden hose, or the handles are broken on the gardening tools.

Is it because you feel they are not meant for you?

Mustering up a brave moment will not make you able. You can walk into your dreams because of who Jesus is, and what He has already done.

He sees you as His beloved, worthy of resurrected, unrealized dreams.

It’s time to bloom. 

Laura Pettit is an imperfect person loved by a perfect God. Born and raised in the Chicago area, she met her husband when they were children. She is a reader, a learner, an information collector, a listener, an encourager, and a talker who enjoys laughing and sharing life. God has blessed her with a career in the insurance industry where she has worked her whole adult life while always dreaming of writing. She is passionate about healing, wholeness, and walking in victory with Jesus. During the 2020 pandemic, they moved to Colorado Springs to be near their grown daughter and enjoy an active lifestyle.