surrender.

my hands hold safely to my dreams
clutching tightly not one has fallen
so many years i've shapen each one
will you take them away forever,
or can i dream again?

"surrender, surrender"
you whisper gently.
you say i will be free.
i know but can't you see
my dreams are me.
- from Barlow Girl's Surrender

I've always had these great notions of "dreaming big," of spending my life on something bigger than myself.  Here I find myself pursuing yet another one of those things.  Along the way, however, I've picked up more than I can chew, I think.  There are things I dream of doing and being that seem entirely unrelated and I find myself time and time again surrendering them to the Lord.

Each time I think I've found a way to fulfill them, I am reminded yet again that I cannot possibly do so on my own.
No, my life is not my own; my dreams are not my own; my plans are not my own.
They come from a greater God who designs each step.  He is the one who gives us life, who gives us purpose, who takes every move we make and gives it meaning.
And yet we so easily forget.  I so easily forget.

Lord, help us surrender even our deepest longings to you.  Help me not to fear that those dreams will be taken away, but instead made better by your grace and power.