My List of 100 Dreams

Today I was reading one of my new favorite blogs, Modern Mrs. Darcy.  On my pursuit to finally become a reader, I usually quickly skim through what great books she’s reading right now for ideas of what to add to my local library queue, but today I was stopped dead in my tracks by her list of 100 dreams.  After reading through a selection from her list, I was compelled to write my own.  Really I don’t think I’ve ever written a blog post so quickly in my life.

It was surprisingly easier than I had thought, but also very emotionally challenging. I don’t know why exactly, but I was brought to tears many times while composing this list.  Maybe it was because it brought to the forefront the things that really matter in life, and it was a good exercise of reflecting on how I’m currently spending my time.

Reading over my unedited, off-the-cuff list again, it perfectly illustrates my heart’s desires and gives a great picture of my personality, love languages, and values.  If you can’t tell, I’m one that values and desires deep relationships, family, solitude, God’s creation/nature, travel/global picture, service, and hospitality.  I was very much surprised by how my dreams revealed things about my heart that I had put aside and forgotten for a season.  I imagine if I were to write another list in ten years, my dreams would be even more different than what they are right now.  It’s funny how time, experiences, maturity, and season of life change a person.

I encourage you all to make your own list of 100 dreams.  I’d love to hear from you a few of yours.

My List of 100 Dreams

1. Go on a six month RV road trip with my family traveling the US.
2. Visit South America.
3. Visit Europe.
4. Visit Asia.
5. Visit Africa.
6. Visit Australia.
7. Visit Canada.
8. Travel for a year with my family over seas.
9. Stay in a bungalow over crystal clear water.
10. Scuba dive
11. Take a helicopter ride in Hawaii
12. Visit Israel and surrounding areas.
13. Keep bees in my backyard.
14. Care for chickens in my backyard.
15. Grow grapes.
16. Plant more fruit trees.
17. Preserve enough food in the summer to supply half of our food for the winter months.
18. Learn to can.
19. Plant a community garden at my church for people that we serve in our food pantry.
20. Read 1-2 books a month.
21. Write a published book
22. Write a published cookbook.
23. Take a family vacation yearly.
24. Take a girl’s trip yearly.
25. Host a neighborhood party yearly.
26. Foster children.
27. Adopt a child through the foster system.
28. Perform in a community theatre production.
29. Complete a triathalon.
30. Hike part of the Pacific Crest Trail
31. Start a business that helps strengthen impoverished communities either in the US or abroad.
32. Public speak professionally
33. Take a photography class
34. Learn to speak a foreign language fluently
35. Learn to play the piano.
36. See my kids come to know Christ and live reckless lives for him.
37. Grow a garden from all seeds that I saved the year before.
38. Start a monthly community meal to feed the homeless and hungry.
39. Create recipe cards and meal ideas using staples in our food pantry for our monthly ministry.
40. Teach local cooking classes.
41. Have my kids serve along side my husband and me in difficult situations
42. Learn to sew without a pattern.
43. Learn to crochet without a pattern.
44. Learn to knit.
45. Take an herbalist class.
46. Eat at a new farm to table restaurant in my city once a month for a year.
47. Support my family financially through my online business.
48. Make a living from my writing.
49. Take a painting class.
50. Disciple and pour into a single young lady.
51. Have a mentor disciple and pour into me.
52. Have a regular dinner club with friends.
53. Host missionaries on furlow or pastors’ families on sabbatical in my home as a place of rest.
54. Visit with a widow weekly and “adopt” her into our family.
55. Make an appearance on a tv news station.
56. Swim with dolphins
57. Visit every park in my city.  (There are a LOT of them.)
58. Participate in Operation Christmas Child gift giving.
59. Use my current business to really make a difference in the world
60. Keep fresh cut flowers on my table
61. Have a vacation lake home to host big family vacations.
62. Live by the beach.
63. Record a cd.
64. Regular special “dates” with my children.
65. Give away a house to someone in need.
66. Stay up late or get up early to witness a meteor shower.
67. Take a cooking class.
68. Participate in a private blogger retreat.
69. Take one photo a day for a year.
70. Help my children develop their God given talents to see how they can impact their world.
71. Foster an environment where my children always want to come home and invite others.
72. Cultivate a relationship with my children, in which they always feel comfortable talking to me about anything.  Nothing off limits.
73. Read aloud with my children and grandkids until the day I die.
74. Become part of a church that love each other deeply and makes a real difference in their community and globally.
75. Say no to more of the things that I only feel obligated to do, to make more time for the things that actually matter.
76. Take regular family walks.
77. Take regular bike rides.
78. Dance regularly.
79. Spend less time talking online and more time living real life.
80. Get published in a magazine.
81. See those that I love come to know the Lord.
82. See old broken family relationships healed.
83. Go on regular dates and vacations with my husband.
84. Own a great pair of jeans.  (Why is that so hard for a short curvy girl?)
85. See the Nutcracker with my daughter.
86. Become familiar with classical music.
87. Become familiar with classic art.
88. Own fewer items but more of what I truly love.
89. Have regular days where I am just alone.
90. Keep a regular journal.
91. Take a hot air balloon ride.
92. Live in a home with a wrap around porch.
93. Create a home where people love to visit.
94. Regularly get together with my closest friends.
95. Find a circle of close families and regularly do life with them.
96. Own 5-10 acres of land.
97. Have a gorgeous homey kitchen that begs to be cooked in.
98. Create a beautiful outdoor space (fire pit, patio, swing, eating area, etc).  It doesn’t have to be spendy, just lovely.
99. Re-educate myself on history that I never paid attention to in school.
100. Spend time with my SIL and BIL in Kenya.

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