Put Action behind Your Dreams
I want to tell you about a teenage boy who grew up in Pennsylvania on a farm in a little town many years ago. Nobody in his family had ever left that little town. Generation after generation, they just stayed and worked the farm. But this young man knew that he had something different inside him. He had a dream to go to college; but in the natural, it didn’t look like he had much of a chance. His family was very poor, and they didn’t seem to have any connections. But instead of just sitting back and letting that dream turn into an empty wish, the young man went down to the local telephone company and got the phone directory for New York City. He searched that directory and found a certain department store that had 393 locations in and around New York City. He thought, “They’re so big, surely they will have a job for me.” He decided he was going to write every one of those stores and ask for a job.
Back then of course, they didn’t have computers, and he didn’t even have a typewriter. He had to write 393 letters by hand. His goal was to write about 15 letters a day until he had written to each of those store managers. He told them he’d do everything from sweeping the floors to stocking the warehouse.
A month went by, and he didn’t hear anything. A few more months, still nothing. Six months later, still no word. He was so discouraged and tempted to give up, but instead, he came up with another idea. He decided to catch a train to New York City so he could meet with some of those store managers in person, and hopefully, get a job. His family mustered up enough money for him to stay about a week or so and off he went.
When he arrived in New York, he went to one of the bigger locations in Times Square. He found the manager and said, “My name is so-and-so. I was wondering if you got the letter that I wrote you about a job.”
The manager said, “No. Even if you had written it to this address, we wouldn’t have gotten it. It would have gone to our main headquarters about five blocks away to the Personnel Department.”
The young man walked over there and told the receptionist who he was and asked if he could speak to someone about a job. They took him into a big, fancy office where there was an executive sitting behind the desk. The young man was so nervous. He said, “Sir, my name is so-and-so. I was wondering if you got the letter I sent asking for a job.”
The executive turned from his desk and put his hand on a big stack of papers. He said, “Yes, we got your letter, all 393 of them.” He smiled and said, “We knew you’d be coming soon. You can start this afternoon.”
Well as it turns out, that young man not only went to college, but he ended up coming back to manage a whole region of that company’s department stores. What’s my point? The young man had a goal, a dream; but when he put action behind it, that’s when he saw his dream come to pass.
When you take a step of faith, when you do what you can, God will direct your steps. He’ll make sure you come across the right people, the right opportunities, and the right breaks. As you keep pressing forward, God will keep leading and guiding you into the life of blessing He has prepared for you!
Back then of course, they didn’t have computers, and he didn’t even have a typewriter. He had to write 393 letters by hand. His goal was to write about 15 letters a day until he had written to each of those store managers. He told them he’d do everything from sweeping the floors to stocking the warehouse.
A month went by, and he didn’t hear anything. A few more months, still nothing. Six months later, still no word. He was so discouraged and tempted to give up, but instead, he came up with another idea. He decided to catch a train to New York City so he could meet with some of those store managers in person, and hopefully, get a job. His family mustered up enough money for him to stay about a week or so and off he went.
When he arrived in New York, he went to one of the bigger locations in Times Square. He found the manager and said, “My name is so-and-so. I was wondering if you got the letter that I wrote you about a job.”
The manager said, “No. Even if you had written it to this address, we wouldn’t have gotten it. It would have gone to our main headquarters about five blocks away to the Personnel Department.”
The young man walked over there and told the receptionist who he was and asked if he could speak to someone about a job. They took him into a big, fancy office where there was an executive sitting behind the desk. The young man was so nervous. He said, “Sir, my name is so-and-so. I was wondering if you got the letter I sent asking for a job.”
The executive turned from his desk and put his hand on a big stack of papers. He said, “Yes, we got your letter, all 393 of them.” He smiled and said, “We knew you’d be coming soon. You can start this afternoon.”
Well as it turns out, that young man not only went to college, but he ended up coming back to manage a whole region of that company’s department stores. What’s my point? The young man had a goal, a dream; but when he put action behind it, that’s when he saw his dream come to pass.
When you take a step of faith, when you do what you can, God will direct your steps. He’ll make sure you come across the right people, the right opportunities, and the right breaks. As you keep pressing forward, God will keep leading and guiding you into the life of blessing He has prepared for you!