Ihave a one-year-old and a three-year-old, so I still remember when they were tiny little babies. Could you imagine if I held them in my hands and told them right out of the womb, “Because you are little, you are insignificant. You mean nothing. You won’t amount to anything. You are less than. You are not a factor.” What loving parent would ever say that to a newborn or any child or person for that matter?! Just because babies are small doesn’t mean they are insignificant. They are in the beginning stages of life with so much of their purpose to be unfolded- so much growth, and we, as parents, aunts, uncles, and adults in general, get to witness the greatness they can achieve with each passing year!
If we wouldn’t call our own children insignificant and worthless, why do we say and think those things about the cause, change, and platform we are to give birth to? I like to call them our “Dream Babies.” We are constantly bombarded with insecure thoughts and doubts because our beginning doesn’t measure up to someone’s intermediate stages. We aren’t moving fast enough, so what happens? We quit. We stop. We lose hope.
But small beginnings don’t mean insignificant: working in your garage to produce and package homemade products instead of a huge factory that automates everything isn’t insignificant. Speaking in front of two or three instead of a sea of people isn’t insignificant. Having a handful of people come to your event isn’t insignificant. Having a $20 media budget isn’t insignificant. Starting out with you and a guitarist when you want a full band isn’t insignificant. Small beginnings simply mean the place where you start. It’s not of lesser value or worth. It’s the commencing of something that is going to soar. And just like a child starts out as a wee little baby, so will your dreams…and so will it grow. You must get out of the headspace that says small beginnings mean falling short of optimal. Small beginnings is the foundation for optimum.
My beautiful mentor, Taquetta Baker, said this to me, “Rarely do people value the foundation. They only want to see the house.” This automatically made me think of a flower:
Oftentimes we don’t treasure the sowing that must be done before the bloom. After all, it’s the bloom that tells the world you made it. It’s the bloom that proves your dream has flourished. But why rush the bloom when you’ve yet to cherish the seed? It’s because of the seed that the flower exists at all. One thing about the seed is that it is hidden deep within the ground for a period of time before we SEE any evidence of growth. BUT, little do we know, there is actually growth underneath the ground.
Please know you will experience your time to bloom, but don’t discount the sowing. It may not be noticed, but it’s producing growth and a sturdy foundation. This season might be to serve before you are promoted to leadership, to pray for the miracles of others before you see your own, to clean up your eating before dramatic weight loss, to give and expect nothing in return, to spread love INSIDE your home. When you sow, you appreciate the bloom. Don’t discount the seed. It may not be noticed, but it’s producing growth and a sturdy foundation.
I’m not afraid of small beginnings. I remember as a Sophomore in 2004 (14 years ago), I wanted to start my own faith-based women’s group. As a student, I didn’t have much. I remember making a basic flyer in Word and took the last $10 out of my account to make as many black and white copies as I possibly could. I took a couple weeks to go door to door in a hand full of dormitories inviting several to come to the basement of my dorm for weekly lessons. For an entire semester, there was three to five woman who came. Yes, I got frustrated. Yes, I wondered if it was something I was supposed to do, but No, I didn’t give up! On top of my studies and job, I made sure that I gave those ladies my best. The next year, my numbers doubled. The year after that, my numbers doubled again. By the time I graduated, there were on average a total of 30 girls coming to weekly bible study. We’d pack out our small chapel with 60 people when the ladies could bring their male friends, which was the launching pad for College Night- a night where one or two hundred young adults (men and women) from surrounding universities would unite to deepen their faith. By the times those ministries reached their end, hundreds of people had been impacted by $10 and a dream.
So I am okay with the small beginnings and sowing that must be done in this season of Dream Again. I’m sowing deep. Typically when one sows, they later reap the harvest. I’m not even focused on the harvest. I know its coming, but it’s not my main objective. Instead, .I’m praying incessantly for others because they need it not because I want them to support Dream Again. I’m giving when no one is watching because people are without not because I want to eventually be blessed with millions. I’m exterminating bad habits that slow me down, loving people who have said horrible things about me, strengthening my weaknesses, and learning to consult God instead of making hasty decisions. My sowing isn’t even about my harvest, but God’s. The deeper I sow, the better anchor I become, and no matter what, there is no uprooting me. I’m bound to grow.
Starting small creates faith steps. If God multiplied that $10, certainly he will do the same for Dream Again. It creates trust. If God can trust me in the small (giving my best and not haphazardly doing things because I don’t have the audience I want), he can certainly trust me with the large. Starting small creates the ability to see God in action. With no control or power of my own, I have the honor of watching Him take limited resources to provide me with endless opportunities.
In short, there will be seasons you feel as though God has you in hiding. Sometimes you will feel overlooked and question if your message is embraced. Sometimes you will look at your resources and feel like its nothing. Sometimes you’ll witness others get to the “top” before you do. But you better work that thing now like you would if it were an empire. The day is coming. The bloom is coming. The harvest is coming, but the bloom and harvest don’t even exist without a small seed. When you think of it that way, that small seed is pretty darn important. Small doesn’t mean insignificant. It means a significant start to a magnificent destination. Speak life to your “Dream Baby” and watch it grow! For video, devotionals, and challenges, click here.