DREAM(ing) BIG!

Today, I am one-step ahead of the game.  In my American world, I'm usally a FEW steps ahead...but we won't go there.  Let me just relish the moment! :)

Since, I am ahead, my mind began to wonder about what the Lord is up to with the Davidsons.  My mind went back a few months to the beginning of this great adventure.

I realize some of you don't know the whole story of how this came to be--us picking up and moving halfway across the world. 

You see, "what had happened wuzzz" (those of you who know us best can hear how we are saying that line hahaha).  It was a Sunday in March that Greg read on the AJC about a TeachAway job fair that was held in ATL.  Well, we obviously had MISSED the job fair (which led to us having to FLY to Denver weeks later---but that's ANOTHER story :)).  Greg read me the article and I went to church having what I call an Experiencing God "Crisis of Belief" right there in the pew. I began "battling" with the Lord....."would You REALLY give me my dream?  was this article really meant for me/us?  I mean seriously, it's on the front page for all of GA to read? Is this FOR REAL?  You wouldn't really let me live my BIG dream, would you?  I don't deserve it. ....etc etc..."  You know how the conversation goes. 

This continued on the ENTIRE day.  Even later that night when I had to pull over on the way to Walmart b/c I was crying so hard.  I asked the Lord again, "okay Lord, what is going on with me?"

Turns out, that day marked the beginning of the reality of a childhood dream being fulfilled! 

So again...... well, 8 months later..... I'm sitting on my "almost new" red couch in what's beginning to feel like home...a little less slightly overwhelmed by the culture and chaos of our new life, but speechless again as I reflect on HIS love and grace for us.

My mind keeps thinking about the new opportunities for my amazing hubby!  I'm not going to spoil his surprise.....that will be for his next blog!  (so please don't get mad at us or me for hinting but not revealing--hahha)  Details will come in time. :)  Teaching overseas was NOT Greg's dream.  It was Amy's (since childhood).  The funny part of that March Sunday was that I told Greg he had to send my application in for me if he thought we should do this.  His response to that was, "Amy, if you can't fill out an application, we have bigger problems than we realize! HA!  The reasoning behind this was, if HE sent it in, it wouldn't be about ME chasing a fantasy.  It would mean that he was behind me 100%.  Two days later...he informed me that he sent in my papers.  :):)  I LOVE THAT MAN! :)

Back to today......I'm sitting here smiling thanking the Lord for being so good to us. The thought of Greg getting to live out his dream while over here is BEYOND exciting!  It's the opportunity of a lifetime! I cannot wait for to watch and see how the Lord plays this one out!  It's an incredible thing to be able to SEE God's hand move mountains and place each stepping stone down right in front of you ready for you to take the next step!

 One of my motto's has always been DREAM BIG!  It began a long time ago when I heard a song by that title and adopted it as one of my own. 

Then, life happens.....mistakes are made..... time has passed and memory fades of those dreams and desires and vows to the Lord.  Families grow.....some dreams are shattered.  LIFE happens.  We forget.

We forget what we dreamed.
We forget that we believed we could reach for the stars.
We forget who MADE those stars!
We forget who gave us the DESIRE and EQUIPPED us to do so!
We forget that NOTHING IS TOO HARD FOR OUR GOD!
We forget to KEEP DREAMING!!!

And sometimes we think, He already gave us one dream....could we really get this one too?!?!?!?

WHY-- YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES YOU CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My prayer for you right now is that you BELIEVE God for your dream!
 I pray that you won't forget. 
And if you don't have one right now...DREAM BIG!!!!!!!!!!!   And it can be CRAZY CRAZY , or CRAZY GYNORMOUS--- just dream it, pray and seek the Lord!   Seek Him whole heartedly! 

And then.....ENJOY THE RIDE!!!!!! :) (But keep in mind, I'm not saying it will happen overnight or anything like that.....ours has taken over 20 years of preparing, teaching us and training us ...eh-hemmm and growing us up a bit as well :/)

but LIVING OUT YOUR DREAMS FOR THE ONE WHO GAVE THEM TO YOU -------- is well worth all the time, tears, growing pains, training, discipline, failures, closed doors and all other opportunities leading up to it.

DREAM BIG!!!!! :)


 

Top of the Morning to you......

Thank you Mandisa and Toby Mac for being the song in my head waking me up before sunrise!!! (the title of this blog is one of their songs that we love).

I'm up WAAAAY too early for a weekend day (it's Friday, yes, but here, it's our Sunday), but I think that means I have begun to adjust to our "new normal".  I have always been a VERY early riser, but since moving to the other side of the world, I haven't found "my groove" yet.  So, being up at the first call to prayer time makes me smile and fills my heart with HOPE that I am HERE.

Which brings me to the point of this blog.  I have been pondering (meditating and chewing on as good 'ole southern Christians call it)  a saying for over a week now.  It goes like this:
                     
                         Wherever you go,
            Go with ALL your heart.

I've been "writing this blog" in my head for over a week and yet I'm still sitting here staring at these words not able to begin typing.  My mind is racing with all kinds of thoughts on this. 

When you move, begin a new project, start a new relationship, try something for the first time.....whatever it is.... you have COMMITTED yourself to a certain degree, right?  Some things we are able to jump in full force with enormous amounts of energy and excitement.  We are easily productive and navigate through with speed and grace.  Other tasks...not so much.  We wake up each day with dread or we find ourselves frequently asking the Lord for the motivation to begin, continue, or to finish the task. 

The task (which is more realistically---a BUNDLE of tasks wrapped into one)  for the Davidson family was moving and beginning a new life overseas. 

Many thoughts hit me at once as I read this quote. 

We are living our dream! 

Guess what.....our dreams don't always look, smell or taste like what we imagined it would.  In the past 7 weeks, I've had many conversations with the Lord.  Some are thankful prayers.  Some are "Lord, what was I thinking???" Others go more like this...."Lord?  I asked for this?  THIS is my dream?"  and I'm reminded that He has allowed me the opportunity to live out my dream and GO and DO something I believe with all my heart I was born to do. 

With that being said.... HOW INVESTED AM I?  WHERE IS MY HEART in all of this? 

Here's the main point that has stuck with me since my first week in the schools here and the Lord connected the dots for me when I saw the quote above. 

Someone told me "the only way to make it here is to go home and drink every night and then just become numb to it all". 

That sits heavy on my heart even at this moment. 

Being numb is NO WAY to live life.  Neither is drinking to "cope".  I refuse to do either.  I am not that girl and I WILL NOT BECOME that girl. 

I see numbness all around me.  I see the blank stares of  expats (westerner/foreigners).  It breaks my heart. 

It's so easy to sit and dream your dreams and start out on new adventures.  We start out so committed and bubbling with excitement.  Then the reality sets in.  The first "brick walls of conflict/struggle or glitch in the plan" pops up.  Then  the second.  Then the mornings of "ughhh I have to wake up and do this again?"  Our excitement dwindles.  Motivation fades.  Hearts become.............hard....cold.....numb.   Maybe we still go through the motions because we are "good Christians" like that.  But really? 

Are we really "going there with all our heart?" 

Wherever I go, I want to GO THERE with every bit of me---with every bit of Jesus in me----with ALL of my heart!  I want to give it all I've got.  TO THE VERY END!  

The workout plans for the year always start out great.  By February, it's not the "cool" thing anymore.  Moving to a new place is exciting....but not being able to go to Target for matching sheets packaged together nicely in a LOGICAL place in the store---gets OLD!  Starting a new job or a new relationship is WONDERFULLY AMAZING until the "honeymoon period" is over.  EVEN STILL we have to GO THERE with ALL of our hearts. 
Fully committed. 
            Totally invested. 
Happy all the time?  Not necessarily.  Bubbly and bouncy every day? (this may only apply to me :)).  Maybe not.
But each day we must ask ourselves....did I give it my all?  Did I hold back?  Am I in this with all of my heart? 

Some say "just do the bare minimum to just get by.  Don't be too good and make us look bad, it'll just be more work for us....etc etc."

I don't know about you......but that doesn't set well with me.  Yes, there have been times that I have been guilty of this.  In the end, it never paid off.  Deep down, I felt that pain of knowing I was just mediocre. 

I think I was at a middle school camp, maybe high school, when I heard a message challenging us to not settling for mediocrity.  That challenge has stayed with me my entire life.  I don't want to be in the middle, or less than or just getting by.  I want to be EXCELLENT and ABOVE AVERAGE!  Let's be honest....I'm way too competitive....I want to WIN! :) 

As my Mama says, I'm the extreme one.  I'm either hot or cold.  High or low.  In or out.  I don't do the middle very well or for very long. 

But this is how I view it.  If you're gonna GO THERE ..... then do it for real. GO THERE with all of your heart, with all of your soul and all of your mind.  Train your heart and your brain to be fully committed even on the bad days or as you muddle through doing the Death Crawl (remember Facing the Giants?) to the ENDZONE baby!!!!!!!!!!!!  See your ENDZONE and run towards it! 

Now my heart is dancing and my face it smiling b/c that thought is exciting and makes me wanna shout for JOY!!! 

We love you guys! 
whatever you find to do today......wherever you go.......GO WITH ALL YOUR HEART! :)
 

Worth Noting

Tonight we received a BLESSING that brought tears to ALL of our eyes (Hayden and Riley included). 

However, before showing you the BLESSING, we need to give a little history. 

Our adventure in a foreign land among MANY foreigners from all across the world has opened our eyes and hearts to new discoveries.  Discoveries about people, cultures and ourselves. 

Since being here, our hearts have been bent towards the workers.  They are the true servants of this land.  Some are more accurately defined as slaves.  While others, have come to the UAE because working here for less than 1000 dirhams ($273 U.S.) a month is better than the life their own countries have to offer.

We find ourselves being drawn to these people on a daily basis.  Whether it be the 5 that surround you when you are simply looking at washer or a stove.  Or the ladies that live inside our schools and clean up after us.  Or our dear friends, Cliff and Jimi, the doormen at our first hotel who knew us by name immediately and served us as if they desired nothing more than to take care of our every need.  Or our favorite waiters, Rowell and the sweet girl I have NO IDEA how to pronounce or spell her name, at 'Lil Italianos. 

These people have NOTHING--especially in comparison to those whose country this belongs to.  Yet, they have the BIGGEST hearts and the smiles that melt your heart!  They know you by name and remember things you've told them from previous conversations.  Bottom line:  THEY CARE!   They serve with a smile.  They still smile even when they are doing the nasty jobs none of us want to do.  They make eye contact with you.  These are the ones that don't look THROUGH you as if you are less than or don't even exist.  AND YET they treat those that snub them, run over them, ignore them and act as if they are less than human with the same servant's heart and ear to ear smiles. 

Are we humbled?  Yes.

Have we said more than once---"Think about this----even on our WORST day, we have it soooo much better than that busload of people driving to the Workers Compound that just worked 18 hours straight." 

Yes we have.
  
Here we have constant reminders that wealth does NOT make you happy.
                   I wish you could see the faces. 
Reminders of what TRUE servant's hearts look like and act like.
                I wish you could see THEIR faces.  The two are night and day. 
Reminders of who we WANT to be like and who we pray we NEVER resemble.

We could go on and on with stories.  But it is WORTH NOTING that our Filapino, Ugandan, and Bangladesh friends have touched our lives to the very core.

 

Tonight, Rowell, our waiter friend  (he is our friend we mentioned in an earlier post that asked Greg's permission to shake my hand and ask my name) ran out of the restaurant to catch me.  He had a gift to give us.  Here it is:

 

As we walked away, tears were in all of our eyes and Hayden even said "that made me cry Mom"..

 

 

Let this challenge you as it has already challenged us: 

 

Look for ways to SERVE others rather than be taken care of.

 

Do your SERVICE with a SMILE and not just for show but because you CARE.

 

Look AT people ----not THROUGH them.   

 

Because EVERYthing you do/say

 

----good OR bad-----

 

 MATTERS !!!

 

......and leaves a LASTING IMPRESSION!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

This is what we know.....

After 6 weeks in a foreign land..........

   Teaching in an ALL BOYS school............
 
         Teaching Middle School for the first time EVER........................

               Driving roundabouts.......................

                       Living in hotels for over 4 weeks................

                              Surviving the malls............................

Having every important meeting with instructions you are held accountable for  IMMEDIATELY spoken only in ARABIC..................

 

Getting to the right place in a taxi with drivers who don't understand English.............

                   Following the 134 steps and 14 different stamps to process ONE document...then REPEAT for the next 214 documents needed..........................

                   Establising an ENTIRE house ALL WHILE working full time...........................

(this is our bedroom so far from PAN Emirates) 

Searching for sheets and comforters with only 2 major cuts and injuries..........................

                          Surviving IKEA without TOO MUCH marriage counseling afterwards...........

                                  Putting IKEA furntiture together.................................

 

 

THIS IS WHAT WE KNOW..............

 

 

 THE DAVIDSONS CAN DO

 

ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!