Dream Big

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and are enjoying bringing in the new year. We are officially in 2018!

With the new year comes new beginnings. People look at the new year as a time to start fresh and achieve goals they didn't in the past. That is for sure something to be celebrated! But, if I'm honest, I'm not the biggest fan of new year's resolutions. I feel like the ones I've created were always too vague or didn't stick.

However, the idea of dreaming for the new year is something that I definitely want to use in my life. So, this year I've decided to focus on dreams, rather than resolutions, for 2018. Of course, I'm not hating on resolutions; your dreams may be nearly the same as your resolutions. I just love dreams, because they allow us to imagine life beyond our understanding.

Think about it! Have you ever had a dream that you thought would never happen, yet you still had faith and worked towards it on the off chance that it might happen? And, have you ever had a crazy dream that actually became a reality? At the time you would've never imagined that being your reality, but now you can say it is.

Consider the Swamp and all the places it has been over the years. Camp has been to places no one would have ever dreamed it could go, miles and miles away from a little town in Georgia. Do you think the people who laid the foundations of camp ever imagined it spreading to nine nations and counting by the end of 2017? While they probably had some idea of the impact it would make on their children, they probably had no clue of how far it would spread! That's what makes dreams amazing. They just keep building on top of one another. One dream becomes the new reality, and the unthinkable becomes the new dream.

*Swamp Corps Nicaragua Year 2

This week I asked a couple friends to share some of their dreams for the new year with you. Remember, your dream can be whatever you want, big or small.

"My dream is to be finished with my junior year of college and starting, hopefully, my last year with a major I will stick with by the end of 2018. I also want to start eating and exercising to treat my body better."
-Sara Brooks, Charleston, SC

"I want to gain a more positive outlook on life without letting past burdens weigh me down."
-Jimmy Ngo, Greensboro, NC

Those are awesome dreams. For myself, I want to go on more adventures with God, as well as to to take some steps towards my future post-grad career. I like having those as dreams, because they are things that I can't make happen purely on my own power. And, it's exciting, because I don't know exactly what those dreams will lead to. I hope sharing about dreams has given you even the slightest bit of inspiration for your New Year. If you have a dream you want to share, write it in a comment below!

P.S. stay tuned for more information on Swamp's Performing Arts camp coming up this Summer! ALSO, please keep the Swamp Corps team and the camp in Nicaragua in your prayers as Year 3 is currently happening.

Much Love & Respect,
Julie