This blog post has been inspired by words, dreams and the Indian jungle.
As I was sitting in the back of the car that was trudging up a very curvy, bumpy “road” to get to Manipour I spent a few hours staring out the window trying not to vomit and thinking to myself “I will never ever ever complain about potholes in Oklahoma ever again.” That is when I realized I was in stinking India and I was staring at THE JUNGLE (you know where tigers and elephants and all kinds of other wild life that isnt found in the U.S. live). This is a part of the world that I truly never ever expected to get to experience with my own two feet. But I am here. I am in stinking India!?
As I looked back at what got me here my mind traveled back to a conversation I had with a woman I really admire and look up to, before I had ever thought about the world race, we were sitting in her living room and I was sharing coffee with her and her oldest daughter. We were discussing Skylar’s plans and thoughts for the future as I was sitting, enjoying their company, Lynne looks at me and tells me “Ryan you can do whatever you want, you know that right? You can travel the world if you want to” I quickly brushed that thought off because that’s big. That was too big for me. I’m just Ryan. Just small Ryan in small town Owasso. My life was small. I couldn’t travel the world. That dream is too big for me. Right?
And in that moment, a year and a half ago, a little shriveled up seed was watered.
I say watered and not planted because the seed to travel the world has been in my garden since my childhood when missionaries from all over the world would come visit our church. But that was too big for me. Toooo big. So it stayed in the corner and I never watered it. I never wanted to chance something so big dying. In my mind I was okay with it just staying a dream. There was no risk involved with it just staying a seed.
But the seed kept getting watered and before I knew it the dream was in full bloom.
Two other people who watered my big dream little seed were my sweet grandparents and my spiritual mama, Sadia.
The very first instance that I remember words watering this little seed was at the Target Starbucks with Sadia. It was in the midst of my world being shaken up a little bit and dreams and plans changing in the blink of an eye. I was just throwing out ideas of what the next season in my life might look like. I kept going back and forth about travel and missions and kind of just writing it off because it seemed so massive and I felt so small. In a moment of confusion and a little desperation I looked at her and asked what do you think? And she replied “I think it’s not a coincidence that you are passionate about other cultures and people. I think you should pray about pursuing missions a little more” That was it. That was what I needed to hear.
My grandparents caught me off guard at my cousins wedding rehearsal when my grandpa looked at me and said “When you decide to to on another trip know that your grandma and I want to support you financially”
This was at a time in my life when I really felt lost and confused and honestly a little broken. At this point the seed started taking root and I had enough courage to just start looking into what a trip around the world would look like. The question of being too small still crept in the back of my mind but my grandpa believed in me and you have no idea what that does for a girl.
It only took me a couple months after that to find and commit to the world race.
All three of these people love me and I know that. I trust their words and opinions. They truly have the power to either build me up and encourage me with their words or cut me down with their words. Man, words are powerful. I want to be a seed waterer with my words. I want to encourage others to dream the big dreams. To step into their true identities. I will forever be thankful for these three individuals plus so many others who have spoken life over me and my dreams. God is using this trip to show me even bigger dreams and adventures He has in store for me. I really hope this blog encourages you to dream. It’s so beautiful and can change your life in so many ways. Dream and then go for it.
So I want to leave you with one question and one statement;
- Are you speaking life or death over your friends, family and children?
- 2. Dream bigger.
