My kids have big dreams, dreams that are bigger than life itself. For instance, over the last several months my daughter has been building a "rocket ship" in our living room out of cardboard boxes. For Christmas, my kids got an upgrade to a 5 foot long rocket ship. Below is a video of my kids preparing to launch off to space.
Their dreams have expanded my horizons and have taught me child-like faith. There is something about "getting older" that allows the practicality of life and the limits life offers to begin to bury those youthful dreams we once had.
My daughter has another dream and her dream has inspired me to dust off some of my own dreams. When she was 4 1/2 years old she took paper, scissor, tape and a pencil and made a little book. She couldn't read or write at this point in time but she drew pictures. The book ended up having a story line of a princess captured by a witch and saved by a hero. It was very cute and I was amazed at her creativity. The hero of the story, Tot began to take shape and form.
Tot was not a one time incidence. She began creating more and more books. However, her creations much like her personality, were spread all over the place. I began to help her "organize" her little books. Last time we organized, Tot was up to 11 "books." I began to realize that this was a significant moment in her little life and I made sure it was kept together and not thrown away which is what I like to do when there are too many papers (remember practicality). I still did not understand or realize the depths of her dreams.
One night, she and I were driving alone in the car. In the backseat, her little voice spoke up,
"Tot will be in the library when I'm 26 years old."
"What?" I asked.
"Tot will be in the library when I'm 26 years old. I'll have to probably have other jobs until then, but he will be in the library when I'm 26."
I was astounded at the depths and the practicality of her dreams. In her young mind, she was going to have her books published when she is 26 and she understood that it will take time, effort, and perhaps pursuing other things in the process. After our recent trip to Disney World, she added another element to her dream. She announced that Tot's wife, Micah would be the next Disney princess and Tot would be the next prince. (So you heard it here first!)
Wow! I began to pray to the Lord after all this. How in the world do you harness the depths of these dreams to keep them alive, so that she can accomplish some of her dreams? And then the Lord began to quietly remind me of some of my own dreams. You see in my younger years I used to dream, too. Every New Year, I would journal and write out what I hoped to accomplish in the upcoming year. As we know, the practicality of life gets in the way and those dreams get dusty. Now that I'm older and "wiser" I no longer keep up with this tradition of writing down dreams that will never happen, what's the point?
The point, I've been learning, is that it is okay to fail and that failure is often a road to reality. So after seeing the dreams of my kids, the Lord has challenged me to dust off one my forgotten dreams. One of the ways I can help my daughter achieve her dreams is to show her that it is okay to try, fail and then try again. Maybe every dream won't reach reality, but as the video above showed, it is sure fun to dream.
So yes, for this New Year, I'm dusting off some old dreams. I am returning to the wonderment of childhood and realizing through the eyes of my daughter that you can have huge dreams and be practical at the same time.
In Christ,
Their dreams have expanded my horizons and have taught me child-like faith. There is something about "getting older" that allows the practicality of life and the limits life offers to begin to bury those youthful dreams we once had.
My daughter has another dream and her dream has inspired me to dust off some of my own dreams. When she was 4 1/2 years old she took paper, scissor, tape and a pencil and made a little book. She couldn't read or write at this point in time but she drew pictures. The book ended up having a story line of a princess captured by a witch and saved by a hero. It was very cute and I was amazed at her creativity. The hero of the story, Tot began to take shape and form.
Tot was not a one time incidence. She began creating more and more books. However, her creations much like her personality, were spread all over the place. I began to help her "organize" her little books. Last time we organized, Tot was up to 11 "books." I began to realize that this was a significant moment in her little life and I made sure it was kept together and not thrown away which is what I like to do when there are too many papers (remember practicality). I still did not understand or realize the depths of her dreams.
One night, she and I were driving alone in the car. In the backseat, her little voice spoke up,
"Tot will be in the library when I'm 26 years old."
"What?" I asked.
"Tot will be in the library when I'm 26 years old. I'll have to probably have other jobs until then, but he will be in the library when I'm 26."
I was astounded at the depths and the practicality of her dreams. In her young mind, she was going to have her books published when she is 26 and she understood that it will take time, effort, and perhaps pursuing other things in the process. After our recent trip to Disney World, she added another element to her dream. She announced that Tot's wife, Micah would be the next Disney princess and Tot would be the next prince. (So you heard it here first!)
Wow! I began to pray to the Lord after all this. How in the world do you harness the depths of these dreams to keep them alive, so that she can accomplish some of her dreams? And then the Lord began to quietly remind me of some of my own dreams. You see in my younger years I used to dream, too. Every New Year, I would journal and write out what I hoped to accomplish in the upcoming year. As we know, the practicality of life gets in the way and those dreams get dusty. Now that I'm older and "wiser" I no longer keep up with this tradition of writing down dreams that will never happen, what's the point?
The point, I've been learning, is that it is okay to fail and that failure is often a road to reality. So after seeing the dreams of my kids, the Lord has challenged me to dust off one my forgotten dreams. One of the ways I can help my daughter achieve her dreams is to show her that it is okay to try, fail and then try again. Maybe every dream won't reach reality, but as the video above showed, it is sure fun to dream.
So yes, for this New Year, I'm dusting off some old dreams. I am returning to the wonderment of childhood and realizing through the eyes of my daughter that you can have huge dreams and be practical at the same time.
Where are the dreamers?
Where have they gone?
They are the melody to life's song.
In Christ,
I just discovered your blog this morning, what a wonderful discovery for the new year, 2012, another sister in the Lord that enjoys and has a passion to lift up the Name of Jesus .....I grabbed your button and you have a new follower! Blessings to your home ....from mine through our Saviour Jesus Christ
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