bucket list

I've never made a bucket list, but I have always wanted to. 

There are things that I've had on my "mental" bucket list, 

but I figured it was time to actually write them down. 

I believe when you write you dreams out on paper (or computer), 

you become more motivated to actually see your dreams come to fruition. 

Once I started, I couldn't stop! So many new & exciting things came to mind. 

I don't plan on stopping at just 40 things to do before I die, but it will do for now. 

I think what I will do is revisit this post and add things 

as well as cross them off my list as I complete tasks. 

1. Write a Bucket List   7/26/2013
2. Bungee jump
3. Skydive
4. Visit every state in the USA
5. See Death Cab For Cutie live
6. Publish a book, &/or a piece of my writing
7. Have complete tattoo sleeves on both arms & have both of my thighs done
8. Go in a hot air balloon
9. Learn to sew
10. Travel the country in an RV with my husband (& kids, if applicable)
11. Eat pizza in Italy
12. Drink Framboise in Belgium
13. Get over my fear of the ocean
14. Take up photography as a hobby
15. Spin a globe, point my finger & travel to the place I've landed on
16. Have a pen pal
17. Go to a shooting range
18. Hang glide
19. Spend New Year's Eve in Times Square
20. Raise a family 
21. Climb Half Dome (Yosemite)
22. Be a professional Blogger
23. Go on a cruise
24. Go to Israel, and walk where Jesus walked
25. Live in another state
26. Go sailing
27. Climb up the Statue of Liberty
28. Graduate from College
29. Learn to make candles &/or soap
30. Learn to garden
31. Eat a meal & talk about life with my favorite author, Shauna Niequist
32. Retire comfortably
33. Have an all-natural, at home (or birth center) delivery
34. Have a home with a wrap around porch
35. See the Northern Lights in Iceland
36. See one of my favorite bands from backstage/side stage
37. Have a White Christmas
38. Go to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day
39. Be fluent in American Sign Language
40. Visit where my ancestors are from in Romania
41. Plant an Avocado Tree

>>>>

Do you have a bucket list? 

If you end up writing one, share a link in the comments below so I can see!

XO

Brenda

Dreams

Last week during our small group meeting, I left being motivated to pray over my dreams and record them for the entire week.

This is something I've never done, and to be honest, I've never even thought about doing. Sure, I have had certain dreams that really stood out to me and led me to write them down. But this time it was different. Every night, I would pray before I went to sleep and ask the Lord to both protect my dreams and also to open up my dreams as a platform for Him to speak to me. The first few times I did it, I felt a little funny, not because I was uncomfortable or not confident that God could truly speak to me through my dreams, but because it was just something out of 'the norm' for me.

The morning after my first time doing this, I was amazed that I not only remembered my dreams from the night before, but I remembered them in full detail. This is huge, because I rarely even ever recall my dreams. So, before I could forget, I wrote them down. I am not sure if they held any significance, but the fact that I was able to remember them, made me so excited! So for the next week, I did this (almost) everyday.

I really want to make a strong habit of doing this. What a beautiful way for our God to speak to us! I am not doing this with the expectation that God is going to speak something profound to me in every dream, but it's awesome to be open to Him in that way.

It's already been neat to read through my dream journal and see the little and big things that God is doing in my life.

"For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it.

In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds."
Job 33:14-15 

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Do you have a dream journal? Or, have you ever felt God speak to you through your dreams?