My oldest daughter and I were in the kitchen. I don’t remember exactly what I was doing – probably whipping up some gourmet lunch of peanut butter sandwiches and Spaghetti O’s. Suddenly, she turned to me and asked, “Do dreams really come true?” I paused for a moment; she was looking so serious. “Did your dreams come true?”

That will really get a gal thinking on a random Tuesday afternoon. I began thinking of some of my “dreams.” When I was in college pursuing a degree in Criminal Justice, I had dreams of practicing law and living in a studio apartment in New York City. I also went through a phase where I envisioned myself as a writer who spent her days sipping cappuccinos at a cafe in Paris. I was going to do big things.

I looked back at my sweet girl who was still staring at me. “I was just wondering if dreams really come true or if it’s just something kids pretend will happen,” she says.

I think of the artwork hanging on our wall declaring that we will be a family that “dreams big.” One of the things I love about my husband is that he is a big dreamer. I tell my children that there is no limit to what God can do through them. I looked that girl straight in the eye and told her that she can dream big things because she has a really big God. Yes, I told her, dreams do come true.

She went back to playing, but I thought about it the rest of the day. Did my dreams come true? I’m certain that I’m not the only one who had big plans for the future. I know that someone out there, like me, looks around and thinks, “what happened?”

This is the verse that God brought to my mind.

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! – Ephesians 3:20

Maybe I imagined myself having a bagel on the streets of France, but God envisioned me sitting around a wooden kitchen table eating Pop Tarts and drinking milk with four of the sweetest little girls you could imagine.

God’s dream for me was bigger.

Maybe I pictured myself hobnobbing with lawyers and judges, but God decided to surround me with girls and giggles.

God’s dream for me was bigger.

Maybe I thought I would be in a high rise apartment surrounded by fancy things, but God saw fit for me to live in the suburbs surrounded by toys.

God’s dream, my friends, was bigger.

So, yes, dreams do come true. Sometimes, the ones you have dreamed for yourself. And, sometimes, those even bigger ones that God dreamed of for you.