The story of everywoman's emotional and spiritual journey, helping her release stored up false hopes and preconceived notions by replacing them with the wonderful reality God is weaving into her life. Every morning we face the day with a set of expectations about how things will or should be.  Author Paula Rinehart says, "The oddest part about our mental images is that we don't know they are there until the video of our lives plays out in a different fashion." Offering a radical shift in perspective, Paula guides readers to a fresh discovery that the story of our lives may look vastly different than what we anticipated-but that it's a good thing. Better Than My Dreams charts a course that enables a woman to jettison her old baggage and to discover that what God is creating might be better than she ever dreamed for herself, where fellowship with Christ, rather than fulfillment of dreams, is the real prize. This deeper awareness, that God knows what He's doing with our lives, allows us to truly let go and enjoy the trip as we learn to live, love, and embrace whatever comes. Better Than My Dreams helps women: face their fear of disappointment - deal with life's disturbing interruptions - own their own stuff - find the freedom to love difficult people Paula Rinehart is the author of Strong Women, Soft Hearts; Better Than My Dreams; and What's He Really Thinking? As a professional Christian counselor, she divides her time between counseling, writing and speaking to women's groups nationally and internationally. She and her husband have two grown children and live in Raleigh, North Carolina. BETTER THAN MY DREAMS Finding What You Long For Where You Might Not Think to Look By PAULA RINEHART Thomas Nelson Copyright © 2007 Paula Rinehart All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8499-1867-4 Contents Acknowledgments.....................................................................................xvA RITE OF PASSAGE1. A Different Kind of Wonderful Something Better Than the Life You Dreamed Of.....................32. The Danger of Settling The Fear of Disappointment Can Rule Your Life............................193. Disturbing Interruptions God Chooses Such Unexpected Paths......................................37THE REAL ADVENTURE4. Owning Your Stuff Grace That Allows You to Come Clean...........................................575. Growing Up Together Relationships Where You Can Know ... and Be Known...........................756. Coming in Second Resting in the Shade of the Sovereignty of God.................................917. The Empathy of Jesus When You No Longer Wonder If God Cares.....................................1138. Loving (Difficult) People Finding the Freedom to Love...........................................133THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY9. The Place Meant for You Discovering the Joy of Your Small Part..................................15310. Journey Well Fellowship with Him Is the Prize..................................................171Reflection and Study Guide..........................................................................185Notes...............................................................................................233About the Author....................................................................................238 Chapter One A DIFFERENT KIND OF WONDERFUL SOMETHING BETTER THAN THE LI FE YOU DREAMED OF Our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings And our peace is put in impossible things. -G. K. CHESTERTON This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. -LAMENTATIONS 3:21-23 KJV In recent years I have begun to notice unexpected moments where I feel a delicious stirring of hope. It's a wild and unusual feeling, as it often occurs in situations that, humanly speaking, look pretty bleak. Let me explain a little more. As a counselor, I listen to women share their stories all day long. I hear about the real stuff of their lives, which is not unlike my own. And as I listen to stories of, say, a father's death or a mother's drinking problem or a spouse's neglect, I am discovering that no matter what the specific circumstances may be, truly, we are all telling the same story-of loves and hopes, of our failures and our fears. Our stories are like patchwork quilts we stitch together during seasons of joy or duress into a kind of security blanket we carry through life. As I listen to a woman talk about her quilt or as I consider my own, two words often come to mind. But God. If, in trying to face our lives head-on, all we had in our hands were a few psychological tools and a smattering of the best human self-help, just how lost would we stay? How condemned would we be to an endless repeating of the same-old, same-old, stuck forever in a morass of (mostly) our own making? But God. Perhaps this is why s