My Highest Dream

"Shattered dreams are never random.
They are always a piece in a larger puzzle, a chapter in a larger story.
The Holy Spirit uses the pain of shattered dreams to help us discover our desire for God, to help us begin dreaming the highest dream. They are ordained opportunities for the Spirit to awaken, then to satisfy our highest dream."
~ Larry Crabb, Shattered Dreams


20 We put our hope in the Lord.
He is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord,
for our hope is in you alone.
Psalm 33:20-22, NLT
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April L. Diaz

April has been a visionary activist her entire life. She has made it her mission to lead high performing teams and develop leaders in the margins of society while caring for our bodies, mind, and spirit. Secretly, she’s a mix of a total girly girl and a tomboy, and is still crazy about her high school sweetheart, Brian. Together, they co-parent 3 fabulous kiddos and live in Orange County, CA.

A Dream :: "Orphan" Becomes Personal

This is a message I got from one of my oldest friends, Laura. We have been friends since 8th grade. Although we've only lived in the same city for 1 year, God's knit our hearts together and bound us together for over half our lives. We were bridesmaids in each other's weddings. She sent me this dream God gave her a couple weeks ago about her 2 daughters. I absolutely LOVE how God personalizes the plight of orphans and vulnerable children for his people...


Kate and Ella were on some adventure which involved catching large sea slugs [don't think that even exists] and all sorts of other mayhem, but Ella was being sneaky and brought one of the sea creatures into the large room that she and Kate were sleeping in. In that room were a bunch of bunk beds lined up. They had nothing in their possession, Kate only had some silly bands on her arm. A woman entered the room where they were sleeping and saw that Ella had disobeyed a rule by bringing in the sea creature [ok strange I know], upon seeing this she kicked Ella and Kate out. At that moment I realized they were orphans...I weep as I write this. I saw the sweet amazing eyes of my Kate and the tender gentle spirit of her big sis, and there they were- all alone in the world. And I woke up.

It was 4:30 this morning and all I could do was run into their room and lay my hands on my 2 oldest girls. In that moment, the plight of orphans went from my head, past my heart, directly into my GUT! I literally felt sick. I realized that in a different place in the world or a different set of circumstances, that could by the life my daughters faced. The image of my sweet little 2yr old, w/ her big brown eyes, all alone in the world, was more than I could handle. And I pray that if they were in that circumstance, someone would scoop them up and love them, someone would choose them, someone would spend whatever money, sacrifice whatever it took, travel any distance to rescue my little loves.

I wonder how God's made adoption personal to you. I LOVE the private conversations I've had with so many readers about how God's expanded your heart toward adoption. Please share. It's so encouraging to hear and see how God's mobilizing his people toward orphan care!

2 Comments

April L. Diaz

April has been a visionary activist her entire life. She has made it her mission to lead high performing teams and develop leaders in the margins of society while caring for our bodies, mind, and spirit. Secretly, she’s a mix of a total girly girl and a tomboy, and is still crazy about her high school sweetheart, Brian. Together, they co-parent 3 fabulous kiddos and live in Orange County, CA.

Learning from the Next Generation

For my day job, I'm the next generation pastor at Newsong Church. But it's my day job because to the core of my being in believe in the next generation. I spend the better parts of my days dreaming, praying, developing, planning, and cheering for those under 22 years old AND inspiring those over 22 years old to do the same. I can't think of anything more valuable and Kingdom shaping than investing in the next generation.

My friend and our college pastor, Abe Park, just shared this 8 minute TED talk with me. It's by 12 year old Adora Svitak about "what adults can learn from kids". She's wickedly smart, stupendously witty, and painfully wise about what kids have to offer the world. Enjoy!

1 Comment

April L. Diaz

April has been a visionary activist her entire life. She has made it her mission to lead high performing teams and develop leaders in the margins of society while caring for our bodies, mind, and spirit. Secretly, she’s a mix of a total girly girl and a tomboy, and is still crazy about her high school sweetheart, Brian. Together, they co-parent 3 fabulous kiddos and live in Orange County, CA.