Dreaming
Do you dream of doing something? Perhaps you dream of going someplace special? I suppose we all have had moments when we were young that we said, "I dream of _____". Have your dreams come true? Some of mine have, well, perhaps most of mine have come true. I always dreamed of having a good marriage, a happy home, and lots of children. Those are dreams that came true, but then I have had other dreams that drifted away and became a faded memory.
Where I sometimes went wrong with my dreams was not going to the Lord and seeking his will concerning my hopes, aspirations, and dreams. Then too, at other times, I just quit. I gave up before I began, and never gave the Lord opportunity to work in my life. Life is filled with quandaries.
One of the quandaries for me concerns encouraging others to pursue their dreams in a world that is filled with obstacles that can hurt. How do we point out the difficulties in the road ahead, and not discourage the dreams and hopes they have? This is indeed a quandary. Long ago during my first year in college, I wrote a poem about a child wanting to venture out and crying out the parent, "I will have dreams, I want them to be yours." I so wanted my mother to want for me what I desired. Now, I stand on the other side of the fence. I am now the parent and I know the walls children must climb, and the stones that lie in the road, and the heart wants to cry out, "stop." The same feeling come when friends share what their dreams are. It's so easy to point out all the things that can go wrong, that I fail to encourage. How to point out the dangers, which may be real, without destroying the hope and joy in pursuing what God may truly want them to do?
My children have dreams and hopes and I long to encourage them as I wrote so long ago, I want their dreams to be mine as well, so that I might encourage them. What do I do when I know they may walk a rough road? Well there can be only one answer, prayer. God knows the way that I take, and He knows the way they take, and He will guide them with His eye. (Psalm 32; 8,9) Let go; we all must do it. Sometimes we let go of our own dreams in order to help others pursue theirs. Sometimes we find our dreams cannot be realized and we have to cut the tie to the dream. But in it all, God is there. His purpose and plan for our lives is perfect and learning to rest in that brings peace and joy. Isn't that what real dreams are about anyway?
Where I sometimes went wrong with my dreams was not going to the Lord and seeking his will concerning my hopes, aspirations, and dreams. Then too, at other times, I just quit. I gave up before I began, and never gave the Lord opportunity to work in my life. Life is filled with quandaries.
One of the quandaries for me concerns encouraging others to pursue their dreams in a world that is filled with obstacles that can hurt. How do we point out the difficulties in the road ahead, and not discourage the dreams and hopes they have? This is indeed a quandary. Long ago during my first year in college, I wrote a poem about a child wanting to venture out and crying out the parent, "I will have dreams, I want them to be yours." I so wanted my mother to want for me what I desired. Now, I stand on the other side of the fence. I am now the parent and I know the walls children must climb, and the stones that lie in the road, and the heart wants to cry out, "stop." The same feeling come when friends share what their dreams are. It's so easy to point out all the things that can go wrong, that I fail to encourage. How to point out the dangers, which may be real, without destroying the hope and joy in pursuing what God may truly want them to do?
My children have dreams and hopes and I long to encourage them as I wrote so long ago, I want their dreams to be mine as well, so that I might encourage them. What do I do when I know they may walk a rough road? Well there can be only one answer, prayer. God knows the way that I take, and He knows the way they take, and He will guide them with His eye. (Psalm 32; 8,9) Let go; we all must do it. Sometimes we let go of our own dreams in order to help others pursue theirs. Sometimes we find our dreams cannot be realized and we have to cut the tie to the dream. But in it all, God is there. His purpose and plan for our lives is perfect and learning to rest in that brings peace and joy. Isn't that what real dreams are about anyway?
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