Winter 2020 Faulkner Lifestyle

feature
The Dream Launcher
“
A dream is a photograph that God imprints
on your mind, but it must be developed!
”
—Dana Davin-Ward
BY DANA DAVIN-WARD
a picture… it will lastlLonger.”
Everyone remembers that old
“Take
saying from our childhood! One
day in my prayer time, I heard those words
in my heart. I love looking at photographs
from the past. Memories of people, places
and of fun times had, of dreams fulfilled…
that’s what photographs do. They take
us back in time. But a dream is much
like a photograph, it’s just a photograph
of a monumental event that hasn’t yet
occurred, a picture of your future.
Habakkuk 2:2 says, “Write the vision and
engrave it so plainly upon the tablets that
everyone who passes by may be able to
read it easily and quickly as he hastens
by.” The dream is the vision engraved
and imprinted on your mind but it must
be developed.
We first see the dream in our minds eye,
then we develop the vision much like a
photographer develops their photographs.
Developing a photograph in most circles
is a foreign concept. In today’s world, we
just click a button on our phone or camera
and email or text the photo to anyone we
wish or print it out on our own computer,
but developing a photograph the oldfashioned
way is a process; much like the
developing of the dream that God has
imprinted on the inside of us.
First an image is taken. Then prints are
created by shining a light through a
negative onto special photo paper in a
dark room. In order to bring the negative,
light and paper together, a device
called an enlarger is needed. Creating
color prints requires working in total
darkness. The paper spends some length
of time in the developer before the image
appears clearly on paper.
The image is the dream or vision. The
enlarger is God and the developer
represents the situations and circumstances
in our lives that bring about the
dream or bring the dream that has been
lying dormant in our hearts and minds to
the forefront. God’s light shines through
our negative circumstances, often in the
dark places of our lives and the dream
is developed. He enlarges the vision
that He has placed in our hearts and the
dream comes to fruition.
“
A dream is a photograph
that God imprints on your mind,
but it must be developed! ”
Dreams are often born from negative
circumstances. Just like a photograph
started off as a negative before it became
the picture we love to enjoy, trials in our
lives may be the catalyst for the birth of
a dream. The light of God is shown into
our lives, often in the darkroom of the
unknown. God Himself is the enlarger
who develops the dream within us. How
often do we feel and see the dream and
then find ourselves stumbling in the dark,
feeling our way along, asking for guidance
and clear direction. We are in the
darkroom. The dream is being developed.
Have faith. The Enlarger is at work!
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Faith is
taking the first step even when you don’t see
the whole staircase.”
Be encouraged as we begin a new year…
a new decade. God is indeed the Dream
Launcher in our lives and you are not
forgotten. During your processing time
of the development of your dream,
remember that God is behind the scenes,
working in ways that you cannot see. He
is hard at work, developing the dream
inside of you!
Dana Davin-Ward founder and CEO of Isaiah 30:18 Ministries, a non-denominational
women’s ministry where “women helping women” is their motto. She is the co-founder
and Community Outreach Director of The Harbor Home for Women in Conway
and is passionate about helping see women once bound by sin, shame and
addiction find freedom through the love and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
faulknerlifestyle.com 49