My wife and I like to go out to eat on the weekends. There are several restaurants that we enjoy and where you will find us on a regular basis. There are always certain waitresses or waiters that we prefer because they take good care of us. One such waiter works in a restaurant in downtown Salisbury.
I happened to be in a different restaurant one day with some friends and I noticed this waiter was working there also. Naturally, I spoke to him, or should I say teased him about being in the wrong place. He laughed and told me that he had three jobs. I couldn’t believe it, but he said he needed to work.
Last weekend, we went to our favorite little restaurant in downtown Salisbury and got him as our waiter. While he was taking our order, I told my wife that he had three jobs. He got a little embarrassed and then told my wife where else he worked. We told him we admired his work ethic. When he then told us he also went to college, our jaws nearly hit the table.
I asked him what he was studying in college. He told us that he wanted to become a physician assistant or possibly a physician. He knows he wants to do something in the medical field. He explained that it was his dream and his dream was pushing him hard to succeed. Our respect for him skyrocketed. As much work as he is putting into achieving his dream and the way he is attentive to his customers, I am convinced he will be great at whatever he does in the medical field.
Being around him stirred the passion I have to pursue my dreams. I have to admit that I go through cycles of wanting to work on my dreams and, well, laziness. I have a deep desire and passion to write, but that takes a lot of creative energy and after teaching all day, I am usually on empty when I get home. After watching how hard this waiter is working on his dreams, I believe I could work harder to achieve my own dreams.
I believe that dreams come from God. Sometimes we are lucky enough to see those dreams come true and other times those dreams and passions are meant to drive us on in life. King David wanted to build God a temple; it was a dream, if you will. But God did not allow him to see or touch his dream. I believe David communicated that special dream to his children and you know what happened: Solomon built the temple.
I also believe that God gives us dreams that call us to work very hard to achieve. In the Bible, we are told about Nehemiah who wanted to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls of the city. As he and the people were working to fulfill this great dream, they met lots of opposition. They had to carry their swords and weapons while they worked to fight off the enemy who was trying to stop them. It required a lot of sweat and hard work from these people, but they persevered and accomplished their dreams.
I think some people are misled into believing that when God gives you dreams that He will just hand them to you. He won’t expect anything of you, just stand there and wait for Him to give everything to you. My parents raised me to believe the opposite. They taught me that you have to work hard to accomplish anything worthwhile.
At school, I show my students videos about famous entrepreneurs. People like Dave Thomas from Wendy’s and Sam Walton from Wal-Mart weren’t handed their success. They worked tirelessly to achieve what they had. They literally built their empire from the ground up. This is what I believe about most dreams, that God expects us to work hard to achieve them. He isn’t going to just give you everything without some personal sacrifice.
If what I am writing is stirring you up inside, then I want to encourage you to pursue your dreams. I believe you will need to roll up your sleeves and be prepared to do some hard work. Pursuing and fulfilling your dreams comes with a price tag that will include hard work, valuable time, and some personal investment, but the reward is priceless. Don’t let anything hold you back, just go for it!
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Doug Creamer’s Web site is www.dougcreamer.com. He lives in Faith.