While writing this message, I seemed to have lots of starts but no finishes. So much has happened recently that I had difficulty untangling my thoughts.

Then one evening I fell asleep on the couch with the TV going. I was awakened around 3:00 AM to the voice of Joel Osteen, a Baptist minister and author from Houston, Texas.

He spoke about how we needed to always dare to ask for our highest dreams and not put our dreams on a storeroom shelf. He emphasized we needed to be bold in our prayers and ask for an enlarged territory to become a better person.

He said we need to get our fire back and realize when one door closes another one will open. We need to show God we depend on Him and not pray for small things, but dream and dare to ask, “Give me ways to make this dream grow.”

It came to me as he was speaking that when we use our theme, “Dream High,” we must dare to ask, “Give us ways to make their dreams grow.”

In these uncertain times, when we are all concerned about the price of gas and food, and when we are all concerned about the future of funding for current services, we can’t forget that there are 200 people right here in our home communities that have hopes but no security for a future.

There are many needing our help in realizing their dreams. So please dare to dream your highest dreams, and while you’re at it, dream a little higher to help the 200 bring their dreams to fruition.