Dreams...

God, You blow me away.

Per Dad's request, my family's been reading "Put Your Dream to the Test" by John Maxwell. He and Mom have been leading a small group through the book and it's been interesting to hear what the group's been learning.

Go buy this book. Like seriously.

For those of you familiar with the Life Purpose Planning booklet, John Maxwell's book takes it a step farther. LPP focuses on finding the "golden thread" of God's hand in your life as you write down people that have influenced you, verses that have stood out to you, books you've read, experiences you've enjoyed, the meaning of your names, your spiritual gifting... it's actually a rather exciting little booklet and it was a good tool to kind of figure out that God's been preparing me for a life of investing into younger girls and has called me to something in the medical field and that all the traveling I've done is in preparation for overseas missions.

But "Put Your Dream to the Test" comes at it from a little more of a secular side. Mr. Maxwell says, "go dream... what's the biggest thing you can imagine... now, let's make sure it's something that is actually feasible and what needs to happen to get you there?"

I'm only on the 3rd chapter, but I wanted to share what I've come up with for the answers to the 1st chapter's questions. Maxwell encourages the reader to write down their dream and share it with others. If I can succinctly communicate my dream to those I care about and show my passion in a coherent manner that's a big first step--and a necessary skill for raising the money, personnel, and resources I'll need to carry out my dream.

The following dream has been inspired by many things; but especially by a paper I had to write last year for school, the book "The Hospital By the River," and some subsequent research I've done about that hospital.

I realize that this is not the normal type of post you'd expect out on a blog for the world to see (not that this blog is followed/RSS subscribed to by more than a few dozen people), but I want your comments.

Is this something you could see me doing? Will ya'll remind me of this when I post how much I hate PT school and anatomy lab?

And expect to see more installments as I delve into more of "Put Your Dream to the Test."

My Dream (December 31, 2010)

I desire to be a wife and mom, first and foremost.

I will, Lord willing, spend my life in sub-Saharan Africa, using physical therapy full time until I have a family (after which PT will become a part time position). I foresee myself working at a missions hospital compound, not in a small remote village.

I want to use PT with the amputee and VVF outcasts of Africa as a follow-up to surgeries performed.

After I have spent several years in Africa, have made connections, gained their trust, and built my “dream team,” I want to build a village for my patients where they can live for as long as they need PT or if they cannot return home. New patients will come to the center of the “village” to the “PT hut” for therapy, longer term patients will assist new patients, and permanent residents will help teach patients to read/sew/make crafts to bring in money.

My ideas for this village are based off a project already in existence with the International Fistula Foundation’s branch in Ethiopia, which can be found here: http://www.fistulafoundation.org/wherewehelp/ethiopia/longtermcare.html

Questions from John Maxwell’s “Put Your Dream to the Test” book:

Chapter 1

1.    The Ownership Question: Is my dream really my dream?

A.   What would I do if I had no limitations?

·         Go train with the PTs at “The Hospital by the River” in Ethiopia

·         See answers to C

B.   What would I do if I had only five years to live?

·         Graduate from A&M

·         Go to Nigeria this summer and learn alongside the nationals how to make prosthetics, and then be a lay PT there in Africa.

·         Get married

C.   What would I do if I had unlimited resources?

·         Donate money to NGOs like Mercy Ships and International Fistula Foundation to provide VVF surgeries and housing/training for chronically incontinent women

·         Build a “village” for VVF women and amputees where they share a little “hut” and there’s a PT clinic in the middle to provide long-term care.

·         Create a “dream team” of international healthcare professionals to fully staff the “village” and set it up as a clinical/training site for both international and local healthcare professionals to come train.

D.   What would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail?

·         Complete PT school

·         Get specialized in women’s health PT and prosthetic gait training

·         See answers to C