Thursday, October 29, 2026
Good morning from Colorado!
A friend once told me that I am always dreaming but do not always follow through. Her comments were difficult to hear, and for a time, I believed them. Later, I reminded myself, “She’s wrong about you. You do know that. Right?” Why did she misunderstand my commitment to my dreams?
I realized she could not see my actions—only God can. She heard my dreams, but we did not speak often enough for her to know the steps I took to pursue them. What she missed is something God already knows about me. As a Black person, I am often navigating new challenges, while she, as a white woman, may not understand the obstacles I face daily, especially when seeking financial support for even simple goals.
Since childhood, I have always seen what could be. I am constantly reminded that Black dreams are often cut short due to a lack of knowledge, and I am no exception. It is painful when someone shares an idea with me, and my ability to see its potential, yet have no outlet for realization, feels both familiar and discouraging.
But the truth is, not all dreams come true!
Think about a great baseball player. When he steps up to the plate, he doesn’t expect to strike out. He’s sure he’ll hit the ball. He watches it come in, makes his move, and swings. Sometimes he hits a home run, sometimes he just gets on base, and sometimes he misses.
But missing one pitch doesn’t mean he’s not a good player. We don’t judge his whole career by just one swing.
Missing one ball doesn’t erase all his past hits, and it doesn’t decide what he’ll do with the next pitch.
I think life is a lot like that too.
Sometimes we come across an opportunity and don’t take it. Or we try something and later see it didn’t go as we hoped. We might start something and then walk away, make a mistake, change our minds, or realize the timing wasn’t right. That doesn’t mean we’ve failed at life.
Most of the time, we’re too hard on ourselves. We think every opportunity has to be a win. When we look back at what we didn’t do, we use it against ourselves and forget about everything we actually tried.
My friend looked at my dreams in terms of action. I understand why. She’s a therapist, trained to help people see what’s holding them back and get moving. So to her, having lots of dreams but not chasing every one probably seemed like a problem.
But God can see things we can’t.
He knows about the conversations I started that went nowhere. He saw the effort I put in, even when no one else did. He knows why I changed direction, which doors I walked toward, and which ones I left behind. Most of all, He knows what was happening inside me while I tried to figure out my next step.
That’s why I’m okay with not every dream coming true.
Some dreams never get past the starting line. Others take me places I didn’t expect. A few turn out bigger than I imagined. And some just stay tucked away as a beautiful possibility God once put in my heart.
That doesn’t mean the dream wasn’t worth having.
Maybe it gave me a reason to explore. Maybe it taught me something about myself. Maybe it brought someone new into my life. Maybe it made me brave enough to try something different. Or maybe it just reminded me that my imagination still has room to grow.
There’s one more thing I want to mention. Our value isn’t tied to hitting every pitch that comes our way.
God didn’t create us with a batting average that decides our worth.
We’re going to miss some things, make the wrong call, and let chances pass by. Sometimes we’ll wish we had swung differently, waited longer, or noticed the pitch sooner.
That’s just part of being human.
Faith doesn’t mean we’ll never miss, but it does give us somewhere to land when we do.
We can bring those missed chances to God, learn from them without letting them define us, and then step up to the plate again when the next opportunity comes. That last pitch doesn’t decide what happens next.
Maybe my friend only saw the swings I didn’t take, but God saw the whole game.
That thought brings me a lot of peace.
I don’t have to prove every dream was worth it. I don’t need to turn every idea into a business, a book, a job, or a finished project. I can be grateful for the gift God gave me to dream, and trust Him with what happens to those dreams.
In fact, He is the Creator.
There are things I know that you don’t, and vice versa.
I don’t have to walk away from the plate thinking I’m a failure just because I missed.
Maybe I was the one who missed that before.
There will be another pitch.
And if it comes, I hope I’ll have enough faith to see it. Or maybe just another fifteen minutes with God.
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