Meet Jazmin.

I was headed for a night at the movies by myself. Instead of paying $4 for a box of candy at the theater, I decided to stop by the Dollar Store for a $1 bag of Sour Patch Kids. Jazmin helped me through checkout. And bless her soul, when I decided to ask her my question of the month, she agreed to chat!

So I asked Jazmin one question. “If you didn’t have to worry about money, what would you do with your life?”

This was her response.

Jazmin felt very clear that she’d “still work because otherwise life would be boring.” I agreed wholeheartedly with Jazmin on that one.

Jazmin would “first help other people, too.” Her dream was three-fold and as clear as it could be.

1) She’d make sure “other countries had food.”

2) She’d make sure “men at war had food.”

3) She’d make sure “homeless people have a place to stay.”

So what can we learn from Jazmin?

Jazmin is one awesome woman. She loves people,  is a servant at heart, and allows herself to dream big.

Jazmin might not solve hunger or homelessness in her lifetime. But I’m guessing she’s going to do her part – in her own way, in her own time, within her circles of influence. Heck, maybe she’s already achieving part of her dream by working at the Dollar Store? Who knows how many people she comes in contact with on a daily basis that might be hungry or need a safe place to fall?

When you really sit down and think about it, none of us know when we’re serving someone in need, do we? That person you just passed on the street? That person you caught a glimpse of across the public library? They might be hungry. Hungry for food,  friendship and companionship, hungry for peace, love and joy, hungry for something more. That person you think has it all together, has everything they need and relationship with everyone they could possibly imagine? They might, in fact, be lonely, isolated, in desperate need of someone to talk to. They might need you. And who knows? Maybe your dream to serve and help others could be fulfilled in an instant if you just reached out and provided for someone, anyone.

What if?

What if?

There’s no better way to spend your life than on behalf of others in need. So thank you, Jazmin, for reminding us of that truth.

Today I’m wondering if many of us have a tendency to view our dreams as too far-fetched, impossible to achieve. What if we viewed our dreams in a different light? What if we started fulfilling our dreams in tiny ways throughout our days. What if we lived our lives as if little things count as much as great big things? And what if a bunch of little things add up to great big things in God’s economy?

*This post is a part of a month-long 31 Days series titled Dreams from the Street. If you’d like to read more from my series, click here and you’ll be brought to the series landing page where all 31 posts are listed and linked! You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AmyBPederson where I’ll tweet links to all 31 posts using hashtag #write31days, and I’d LOVE to connect on Facebook at facebook.com/AmyBPederson! I’m so glad you stopped by. Make yourself comfortable and take a peek around the place. You’re welcome back anytime.