Sharon @ Hiking Toward Home
About the Author

Sharon, just a lass hiking with Jesus, writes about her trek and photographs her view at Hiking Toward Home. She is thankful for God's amazing grace as she hikes along the narrow trail following the blazes in His Word while headed toward her home in Heaven. She is grateful for...

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
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  1. I dream of making a scrapbook for my extended family. I take photographs with a really good camera but the pics sit on my computer or Facebook. I may have an opportunity to start with some friends.

  2. I dream of making a scrapbook for my extended family. I take photographs with a really good camera but the pictures sit on my computer or Facebook. I may have an opportunity to start with some friends.

    • Ahh… the scrap book thing. I have so much set aside in bags and boxes and stored up on external harddrives, and I keep saying I am going to put it all in a scrap book one day… but one step at a time… paint first… then we will see what else.
      Thanks for commenting.

  3. I dream of “enjoying” a once in a lifetime trip to Hawaii. I haven’t flown since I was a small child, and have started in the last 5 years having panic attacks in new, stressful situations. My husband and I were given a 6 day trip to Hawaii and I want to be all there, all in, savoring it, rather than feeling sick, faint and afraid. I know it seems a little dream, to get over fears like this, bit it would be a fine example for my four daughters, that mom can live in the moment, grateful to God for it all. It is really a big, big dream, And if I get a little woozy and embarrass myself with a panic attack? Well, I will have to accept that, too, as part of me–and laugh and go on…still enjoying.

  4. I think we are faced with a choice to get over our excuses and choose to deliberately focus on worshiping Him in our living how He created us. As Emily has written about, it’s the promptings and the nudging inside of us that speaks so much of what we will surely be a part of in some way. We honor Him when we step out and do what He’s already prompted us to do; this shows we trust that He will refine us each step of the way. I think of what I learned in my professional world about strengths–how a strength isn’t necessarily something you’re *good at*, it’s what gives you energy, and it’s what gets refined and grown in us.

    I dream of a few things that currently don’t make sense–one of them is writing and it begins with doing more of it and having courage (maybe even to reach out and be a contributing writer somewhere…maybe (in)courage…and facing the fear that there are too many voices that sound like me, or that are better than me…).

    I also dream of traveling to France with my little boy. And one day, by golly, I hope it happens. I can’t make other people’s excuses not to, my choice to live.

    Rich blessings, Sharon, as you move forward in His calling for your life…with courage, grace, trust and worship…

  5. Thank you so much for that wonderful reminder this morning!

    Blessings to you as you walk in His perfect love that casts out fear.

  6. I have also been in fear about putting my brush to the paper. I have also been putting it off.

    I think today is the day!

    • I put it off for 20 YEARS. Pick it up!! It is not too late.
      I love that now that I am working on it, my children are very into it with me. Not only are the interested in how it is coming along… they want to paint along with me! and I have faced another fear… allowing the messy: their messy… getting out the paint and smocks and letting them go for it and not worrying so much about the mess!! 🙂

  7. I dream of traveling with my family to Kenya and Norway, and possibly staying long term to minister to the people. I also dream of living in a teeny tiny house with my husband overlooking a lake and just sitting on our back porch adirondacks and holding hands while we read anything but parenting books!

  8. I have stories that I’ve submitted for printing and been rejected and don’t know where to proceed. I dream of seeing them published. I have a tearry story relating to my mom and the bear I gited her with before she died, and am only half finished. Perhaps the pain of finishing it is too great to feel, but it’s been 20 years since she died. I dream of honoring her memory and blessings others with the story.
    I dream of moving back to the US with my English husband and living in a house in the mountains and enjoy the tranquility of not owning a business and running whenever and wherever we wish, and being closer to family.

  9. You are a girl after my own heart, Sharon. I’m working on a God-sized dream today, a book due next March. And the topic for the chapter I’m on? Fear. You’ve just given me the spark I needed–and you will probably see your name in this book! 🙂 Thank you!

  10. Several of the examples you mentioned apply to me. I’m also an amateur photographer who would like to do more with my images. I’ve kind of started an online business on Etsy to sell notecards and magnets that I’ve begun to make, but I have yet to list my first item for sale. I started a blog a while back and decided it wasn’t going in the direction I wanted, so I posted months ago that I was going to take it a new way, and yet, I have not posted anything since then. I keep thinking about getting involved in some volunteer work, but then I’m afraid I’ll overcommit myself and not be up to going in on days they need me due to my fibromyalgia.

    I think it is fear of failure for sure, but maybe also a fear of being judged and not found good enough. Putting your creative self out there and waiting to see how others respond is scary stuff.

    Thank you for this post Sharon (and your photos are beautiful). I will ask God to help me silence the excuses and just do it … all.

  11. Thank you, this was an added blessing this morning when the aniexty of tackling a BIG project of cleaning up and going through boxes of stuff, piles of junk, things that have accumulated for years is upon me, I needed to hear again that through Christ I can do all things even this unpleasant job.

    • I feel for you. I have to face that unpleasant job very soon. and pack it all for moving.
      One box at a time. That’s how you and I will get through it. One box at a time.
      Thanks for your sweet words.

  12. I dream of having my design firm.. more than just me.. but always wonder if that’s what I’m supposed to do. I want to do it, but I underestimate myself and question my talent. I do wander if I should do it full-time because it will then be a stress factor more than a passion and a love. It’s something I pray about daily and look to God to give me the answer. If he sends work my way, then I guess I know what I’m supposed to do! Right?

    • Right! I have spent an awful lot of time underestimating myself and questioning my talent… and I am reminded it is the talent HE has given me… so it really isn’t mine to question. I am to use it and leave the results in His hands.

  13. I dream of working freelance as an interior decorator to help people create a home they love so they get to experience being surrounded by what they love everyday. I also would like to paint as a hobby, but I am too busy and afraid to try (so your post really spoke to me!).

    • I am seeking for God to allow me just a few minutes a day… not looking for huge chunks of time… just a few moments here and there.
      It has also taken me a long time to come to this.. baby steps… the paper was bought and stretched in January, I think, and I am just now applying paint.
      Baby steps!

  14. This dreaming has been a significant theme for me for a while and more specifically, this week. Just this morning in my devotions, I was journaling and as I was talking to God I thought, ok, why don’t I just write down those dream words that come spring so readily to my mind and my heart? And they are:

    Speaking. Singing, Writing, Traveling.

    Took me about 2 seconds to write them down on paper.

    Easy peasy.

    The first three, to me, are more difficult dreams to “make happen” because they can only come about if others want what I have to offer. As I spoke with someone living out those dreams earlier this week, she said, “What God wants from you, He will bring to you.” I realized I don’t have to control, orchestrate, or manipulate. Those dreams are in my heart- and have been for a very long time- for a reason. God is in control and I want His timing, because it’s perfect!

  15. Oh wow… how do you know just what to say!!

    This is exactly what i was struggling with this month… I have a degree in photography but feel a complete fraud, i still get mixed up with technical aspects of photography, my brain works artisticaly not technically! Therefore teaching myself more i always have this fear to be ‘found out’ that i dont know this stuff already and this fear has stopped me so long actally just learning quite simple stuff. Oh how powerful that is!

    Ive just had a lightbulb moment with your post.. thank you so much! I also paint and have the thing of just going for it… having the time.. and making excuses.

    Oh how the enemy loves to rob our creativity. Probably because he is unable to have any or to in essense even…create!

    My biggy is submitting my photographs (yes that are all sitting in hundreds of files on my laptop) to a picture library….. Any advice?

    God bless you xx

    • My degree is in Fine Art and have never. used. it. It has taken me 20 years to pick up the paint brush again.
      And that photo thing you speak of… ITS ME! exactly. Trying to face down that one too. Praying about how to market and get them out there too.

  16. God has already helped me conquer my fear – fear of being in front of people performing. Oh, sure I can do it alone or in front of my hubby just fine. Yes the fear comes back each and every time I get up there.

    I do sign language to music for my small church. Is it scary yes – will I fail sometimes – yes. But the best part is people loving/enjoying what you do & bringing tears to their eyes. I’ll keep doing it if you try to sell those photos and put paint to brush and canvas.

    Take a chance – what have you got to lose?

  17. I have SO many dreams that I feel have been placed in my heart, my own self-doubt, my own, not just fear of failing, but fear of succeeding keep me from doing. Will be praying to gain confidence in His knowledge of my workings to conquer these fears.

    • Heavenly Father, Please surround Amy with your love and peace and encourage her to step out on your strength to conquer the fears she faces. Help her to find your dreams for her and live them out through you. Amen.

  18. Fear can so easily paralyze us all. I can become so fearful about something that I will literally stay stuck in my unhappiness b/c somehow (in my mind) that is more comfortable than taking a leap and making a move in a new direction.

    This post only reaffirms a recent decision I made. I have been (for many months now) contemplating a job change for various reasons. The main reason it has taken me so long….. fear! I have been fearful of how my coworkers & boss will react to my decision. Fearful that they will be upset, not understand, not be supportive, etc. Fearful that I will leave my current job only to regret my decision later. It is easy for me to come up with a million reasons why I should remain paralyzed. BUT I feel confident that this is the new direction God has for my life. I have felt Him urging me for a while; I know he will walk this new road with me. I need to GET OVER IT and take God’s hand as I embrace this new journey!!!!

    Thanks for such a motivating post!

  19. Writing!!!! I have loved to write since I was a young child. I have been working on a book, but there is always something ‘more important’ to do, so the writing gets pushed aside. God gave me the dream, but the fear of where to go to it holds me back…

  20. we are over sea missionaries and my dream first is to find a little nest of a home to settle in. mountains are in my dreams, a huge fireplace with a nice small home over looking some great view. i want to talk off in a car and drive highway 1 up the coast, cut across to Montana, see those majestic mountains…drop in on some friends in Idaho, Colorado, just take a long pleasurably drive to get our hearts refresh after such a hard year. we never do vacation, we just work, so this year i am dreaming of a three week vacation.
    then the time will come to settle down and i want to take a writing class, and take all those speaking engagement i never can do because we live overseas. My heart is so full of wise hearted things God has been teaching me so i must write about them or speak them..it’s more then a dream, it’s a passion to help others become wise hearted. So I will keep on dreaming, it’s free.

  21. Your headline captured from…Fear of Failure. As a result of letting my guard down five years ago and ending up in a place I never thought I would be, hopelessness and severe depression, the Lord used this time in my life to GROW me into the woman He desires me to be. I have been reading and studying His Word diligently with a hunger & thirst for it like no other. He had called me out of my normal routine a year ago to take a private invitation to get to know Him intimately. Now all I want to do is talk God-talk and relate anything and everything to His Word. My BIG dream is to be accepted somewhere in the body of believers; to find other women who choose live out their faith. I have a passion for pointing others towards Christ, spurring women on to fight the good fight of faith, and praying for my children and their school administrtion (Moms In Touch International). It is so easily accepted, or just plain easier to do, to turn the cheek, accept the enemies lies, and fall victim and placate In our relationship with God. This is a dangerous place to be. I long to have a direct connection to other strong faithful godly women. My church does not know what to do with me. Where to place me. My heart bleeds because I have slipped thru the cracks. Thanksgiving be to God because I can trust Him like no other. He will give me the desires of my heart. In the meantime it is my job to exercise patience. I started a faith based blog and after finding (in) courage this week, my BIG Hairy Audacious prayer/dream is to have a similar place to blog/write, within a community of women, who live out their faith and inspire others in that way.

    God, please bless Shannon and fill her with Your strength and courage to put brush to paper and live out Your Kingship using her God-given abilities. In Jesus Name. Amen.

    I cling to the Word in 2 Timothy 1:7 and choose to courageously walk in His Spirit and strength in my weakness.

    • Lori, I appreciated your comment so I went to your blog but could not find any “contact” button. Sounds like you have walked through some dark places and deep waters. Coming out the other side you are a different person than the one who walked in. Finding others who have also walked a similar path can be difficult. So many times when you try to share people look at you like, “what planet are you from” or their eyes glaze over and you know that you are speaking a language they do not understand! On top of that you have been stretched to encompass a second culture. When we are stretched spiritually and psychologically, and emotionally we cannot snap back–kind of like over stretched elastic–no snap back! You can function fully and appropriately in Costa Rica but there is the American part of you that is very lonely. Then you come to the U.S. and the Costa Rican part of you is very lonely. The same goes for the spiritual–you can speak the language of those who have not walked your path, but the part of you that has grown beyond that is lonely. To be met in the deep parts of your being you need to find people who are at least bi-cultural on all those levels!

      There are lots of us out there; we tend to blend in very well, having learned the hard way that standing out mostly leads to standing alone! Gonna copy your URL!

  22. Thanks Sharon. This is a reminder I need more often than I care to admit! Doesn’t matter if it is my art or my life, I have this fear of making a mess. The process of mess making and living (even realizing I am still living) through it is slow but rewarding.

    My next step is submitting self-portraits to Shots Magazine….I’m telling you I will submit my photos on this Thursday. How’s that for a step in the right direction!

  23. Dear Sharon,

    I think your blog hit a mark! I have always dreamed of being a writer. Always. I have always had a gift for it too. My best-friend always said I would be a writer some day. In high school a short story of mine was even voted number 1 between the two creative writing classes. My teacher hated it, but the kids loved it 🙂

    I had a few webpages as a teenager when I had nothing but time on my hands. I wrote and wrote and wrote stories galore. Sadly, they all revolved around the Backstreet Boys who I so desperately loved. All of my stories were on a zip drive disk. I chucked it in the trash a few years ago. I’m not really sorry that I did it because the stories were pointless (other than to give me experience). I took a 2 year hiatus and started writing 2 stories. Both crashed with my computer. I finally started re-writing one of those stories 2 years ago. 60,000 words later I got pregnant and didn’t finish my book. Then this year I started re-writing the other- a children’s novel. I am going to finish it, and when I do, I’m going back to the other book to finish that one too. Oh yeah, and when I do finish it? Yes, I am going to get it published, even if only on amazon.com. 🙂

    I know that was completely disorganized, but I’m really excited because after I finish typing this guess what? Yes, I’m going to write some more. I’m at 40,00 words and counting. I might be half-way done but we’ll see where the twists and turns lead! Thanks for the much needed encouragement!

    Love,

    Ash

  24. Sharon, like everything I have ever read of yours, this was precious. It was your heart in words. From the very first time I read your words – on that post about the side door I think – I knew how your words touch souls. My dream – I do have one – I am following it – I’m following it hard. I hope all is well. God bless and keep you and each and every one of yours my friend.