Interrupted Dreams

This past Sunday, Pastor Steve preached from the book of Genesis and how Joseph's dreams were "interrupted".

"You meant to hurt me, but God turned your evil into good..." - Genesis 50:20

Our homework was to go home and write down all our own interrupted dreams, disappointments, and heartaches and then beside each one write how it was used for "good". Here are mine...

1. Moving to Borger from south Texas - Raymondville, Tx (beloved hometown) - the summer between freshman and sophomore year....brought salvation to all of my family and college opportunities
2. Moving away from ALL family and friends and living in the Philippines for 3 years.....maturity, independence, growth in my faith
3. Divorce....brought me super close to Christ, made me focus 100% on Ben and Anna, made me realize the importance of my family as well my church family.
4. My mom and dad's illness....growth in humility, mercy, self sacrifice, and servanthood.
5. Ben and Anna's Dad's non-involvement.....sheltered them from being around self destructive actions.
6. My Dad's drinking when I was young....made me tender, cautious, and steered me away from doing anything close to that.
7. My financial struggles....made me non-materialistic , made me want to live simply without heavy debt and steered me away from extravagant/irresponsible spending.
8. My working 2-3 jobs all the time...helped Ben and Anna to "step up" and made them realize that I was working for them. Also taught them financial stewardship and not to take "splurges" for granted.
9. Long dating period with Bobby....made me see what a godly man he is as well as seeing how wonderfully he loved me. We also gave our children time to "blend" and get used to the idea of a blended family.
10. Getting married in the middle of a school year...made Bobby and I know we could tackle love & hecticness (Anna's wedding, Ben's graduation, etc) and still love life and each other!