It was the same routine day after day. Waking up to go to a job I was uninterested in, staring at the clock hoping time would move faster, and finally getting home only to dread repeating it all over again the next day. I felt unmotivated…purposeless…and unfulfilled. Monday through Friday was something I wanted to fast forward through so that I could get to what I loved. The weekend. My free time to do whatever it was that I wanted. And for me that was everything fashion.

My idea of a perfect day was scavenging the sale racks of Zara or Nordstrom and spending hours browsing fashion blogs and Pinterest for inspiration. I loved the challenge of putting together different pieces and creating a stylish look with a limited budget. I dreamt of working in the fashion industry and doing exactly that. But Monday showed up again, and that was just a hobby. I mean surely it could never be a career. At least not one that I could possibly make a living off of and get a college degree for, right? And surely not something I could do if I wanted to live my life honoring God.

I was in college and was very undecided on what career path I was going to take. I loved fashion, but I couldn’t help but worry that fashion was just “for fun” and that my college degree and career needed to be something more “important”. I knew God wanted me to do something meaningful and I didn’t think it involved fashion. I then decided that I needed to handle my life’s dreams on my own so I continued to work jobs and take classes that made me feel successful. I worked hard and advanced in every professional position I held. There was something missing. I was just going through the motions. Frustrated, I prayed and prayed for God to show me what it was that he wanted me to do in life and to put me on that career path.

It was then that I heard him ask me, “What is your true dream? Why is it that you are not pursuing that dream?” I was shocked! There was no way that God could want me to pursue fashion. I was so sure that THAT dream was way too small for God to care about. How would a career in fashion and living life as a Christian align? What if I really went for it and failed? Plus, I wanted to bring others to know God; how exactly was he going to make that work with fashion?

I needed a step-by-step plan of how that could be possible. Yes, I confess that I was questioning God and demanding that he give me answers! Horrible, I know! I was leaning on my own understanding and not having faith that he would work everything out. I doubted that our God of the universe had put a specific dream in my heart early on and had been putting together the pieces to fulfill it all along.

It was then that I decided to trust God and change my major to fashion. I was finally ready to let God into all areas of my life, and not let fear continue to get in the way. One year later at a career forum, I met Heather, the founder of Created Woman, and God showed me exactly how he planned on using my dream. What I had been picturing turned out to be so much smaller than what God had in mind. He opened my eyes to a whole new way of viewing my dreams and introduced me to my life’s ministry - evangelism, bringing other women to know Christ through my God given gifts. It is amazing the way God used my dream and turned it into a life of honoring him. He took my career field and turned it into my mission field. In a place that I wasn’t expecting to see him in, he showed me that there are no limits to his reach. When I gave God control over everything, he gave my dreams purpose and fulfillment.

If you are longing to know the deeper purpose of your dreams, know that God has placed it on your heart for a reason. If you are unsure of how your dreams honor God, pray that he would reveal that to you, and trust that he is already working out the plan. God knows the desires of our hearts and longs for us to come to him with them. When we give our dreams to God, the results are bigger and better than anything we could ever imagine!