What's your dream?

Remember being little and dreaming about what your life would be when you grew up?  What you thought you'd be when you were grown, where'd you'd end up living, what your life's mission would be? What happened to those dreams as life took legs and ran away with you?

I watch my girls, all at different phases in their lives, and I see them dreaming of things to come.  Some big dreams, some little, but all important nontheless.  I want to see their dreams come true of course, but it also causes me to stop and wonder about my own dreams.  Honestly, from as far back as I can remember, all I ever wanted to be "when I grew up" was a mama.  I remember, even in a christian school, getting the question "Well, that's good, but what else do you want to be?"  For me there was never anything else.  I couldn't fathom life without children, without at least one daughter.  The Bible tells us that God knows the deepest desires of our hearts and will give them to us... does that mean He's like Santa Claus and all we need to do is send our annual wish list, then sit back to wait for everything to just be handed over?  No Way!  God created each of us uniquely, and He created us to bring glory to Him.  He ingrained each of us with unique gifts, talents, likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, passions, etc. so it's only natural that our deepest desires are going to differ from everyone elses.  I've had dear friends who have gone on to change the world in ways that I could have never imagined.  I've had friends who've lived their lives literally reaching the ends of the earth with the message of God's love and saving grace.  I've had friends who've put their lives on the line (and a couple have even paid the greatest sacrifice by giving their lives) in service to our country.  All because they each had a dream that may have sprouted when they were children.  So, this brings me back to my question... What's your dream?

Life has a way of getting in the way.  We fall off track or we just get so caught up in the busyness of our days that our dreams fall by the wayside.  It's a shame really; losing your ability to dream is like a part of you dying away.  No, all our dreams aren't going to come true but the ability to continue to dream is central to our spirit.  Without dreams, life is drudgery; there's no hope in our daily struggles and we even lose our joy without our dreams.  Dreams, ironically, can be our marker for where we are in life.  Not that they came true or not, but by showing where we find our joy and place our sense of importance.  You know the song that says:
I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance


That's it in a nutshell, really.  Without dreams, what is life really?  Without dreams, we won't take any chances, we won't put ourselves out there to touch other lives and allow our hearts to be touched by others.  Without dreams, we won't be able to see the wonder in our children's eyes, the gifts that abound around us each and every day, the joy just waiting in the simplest things.  Without dreams nobody will ever change the world; and as I look at my daughters and the dreams they have, I know that my simple dream of "just being a mama" really did change the world (at least it changed my little part of the world) for the better.  


Jeremiah 29:11 says... I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.  Plans to prosper you and not harm you, to give you a future and a hope. 
God gave us our ability to dream, don't lose it or throw it away because you think you're too old or that it doesn't matter anyway.  Find your dream again or maybe you can find a new dream; just give yourself that gift... close your eyes and search your heart and begin to dream again.