I'M A DREAMER
Dr. Beverly Peterson
Director, Planned Giving for Institutional Advancement at University of South Florida | Entrepreneur | Clergy
Martin Luther King, Jr. is known for saying, “I have a dream.”
General Colin Powell said, “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.”
Eleanor Roosevelt stated, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
Yesterday in church I realized, like Joseph (Genesis 37:18), I am a dreamer. I believe in dreams as goals, in dreams as visions, and in dreams as God’s way of directing my life. My pastor, Major Mark Martsolf of The Salvation Army Rockford Temple Corps, in his sermon stated, “God’s dream in your heart will never be squelched if it’s God’s dream for you.”
Recently, I thought my dreams (goals) were going to be squelched. For over 2 years, I have been studying at Olivet Nazarene University for my doctorate degree in Ethical Leadership. Part of the degree program is completing my dissertation at the same time. Dissertation requires methodology and analysis. During the course of four stressful months earlier this year, in my Research and Methods II class, I felt I was always a month behind and it resulted in my failing the course.
Failed. Flunked. Incomplete.
These words are the hardest for me to say, to write, and to see in print because it shows my humanness. It signifies a weakness, and I am NOT a weak woman. Life has tested me several times and I have come out stronger each time, but not without loss, feelings of fear, or self-doubt.
Now I can blame the failure on my dad dying in January and the fact that I was conducting his funeral on the first day of lectures. Or I could blame it on the fact that at the same period I started a new job and reorganized a department. Or I can say the statistical course itself stressed me out. For whatever excuse, the results were the same and my dream was gone.
However, I have a dream because God called me to it. I don’t know why or where it’s going in the future, but it’s there even in my human failure. My responsibility is to be faithful to God’s dream for my life. As painful as it is to think about doing the course again, I am proceeding forward with my degree. In my faithfulness, God has provided the answers to my prayers so that I can afford it financially, emotionally, and physically.
To you today I say, believe in dreams and be a dreamer!
Blessings, Beverly