I spent most of yesterday assuring smart kids that they did well on the AP exam. It’s normal with this population. After a test, they focus on all the problems they missed instead of all the problems they got right.

As I was walking to my car to go home, I thought, “I wonder why kids are so prone to focus on the ones they missed. The Holly Spirit asked, “Why do you do it?”

This year has been crazy. One deadline after another. One fire after another. One battle after another. But when I think about the past five months, my mind can immediately tell you all the things that have gone wrong. But actually, the good has outweighed the bad.

I am living the dream. Every deadline I have faced is an answer to a prayer I prayed. Every fire has been extinguished. Every battle has made me stronger. This is the dream. No it doesn’t look like what I thought it would. Yes, it’s hard.

When Jesus came, He was not the Messiah many expected. He was the fulfillment of their prayers and dreams, yet unrecognizable to most. The very person they had prayed for, anticipated, dreamt about, walked in their midst yet they rejected Him because He didn’t look like they expected. Our dream doesn’t always look like what we thought.

So let me give myself the same pep talk I gave my students yesterday. “Don’t focus on the things in your life that are seemingly going awry. Focus on the blessings. Focus on the victories. Focus on the Father. And remember, God grades on a grace curve. His curve is skewed to the right.”

Are you living the dream and don’t realize it because your dream is wrapped in hard work, or hidden behind a circumstance or is being overshadowed by distractions? I invite you to look around and see your dream is unfolding before your eyes little by little.

“And the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭7:22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬