Dream Big
As a little girl, I would lie on my yellow sunflower quilted bed and listen to the Chiffons sing “One Fine Day” through my red Discman, as the afternoon sunlight would stream through my window. I would dream about falling in love (what I would wear, what the weather would be, you know, the necessities). Of course, my prince charming would fall in love with me while my hair was in a ponytail and I was doing some impressive feat . . . like hitting a home run during a pickup game of baseball with the neighborhood boys. As all the boys would follow the ball with their eyes, my prince would look straight at me and know that I was his one true love.
The music in my red Discman would change to “Do You Believe in Magic” by The Lovin’ Spoonful, and I would run the bases as my prince would fall deeper and deeper in love with me. Obviously, this was all in slow motion. After I would slide into home base, the boys would hoist me onto their shoulders and cheer “Hip, hip, hooray!” for me as if I was the 12-year-old girl Barry Bonds. The boys would slowly lower me onto my feet again, and the love of my life would stand there with a big bouquet of blush peonies (I guess there was a florist next to the park?).
The music would change to Steve Tyrell singing “The Way You Look Tonight,” and the scene would change to a magical fairytale wedding within the bounds of my imagination, which really had no bounds. As I continued with my slightly ridiculous afternoon daydream, a slight smile would creep onto my face as the strings swelled throughout the song. Suddenly, I would be in a long, princess-cut wedding dress (10 foot train) with my fifteen best friends preceding me in the most extravagant bridesmaids dresses (of which the color changed on a consistent basis). I would recite my clever yet romantic vows and say, “I do” to the tall, dark, and handsome man of my daydream . . . with a BIG rock on my finger, of course. My daydream would conclude with everyone I’ve ever known and loved cheering us out the tall church doors as rice and confetti were thrown into the air, and we would be seen kissing through the back window of our long black limo right as the song ended on the tonic.
This all may sound ridiculous to you, but don’t tell me you didn’t do SOMETHING of the type when you were twelve years old! Maybe it contained trophies instead of diamond rings, or a professional uniform instead of a wedding dress.
But now the question is, do you still dream? Or did it stop when you were twelve? My dreams as a twenty-something haven’t changed much, except now they include more of a heart for the homeless and broken instead of just for myself. These days, when I sit at my desk and have time of “visioneering,” I dream of providing an intensely loving, explosively fun, and dynamically influential atmosphere for kiddos whom I want to be taught of Jesus and the dreams that He has for them.
What are your dreams?
Have you forgotten how to dream?
I wish I could hold your sweet face in my hands and emphatically say, “It’s not too late!” Pick up an old journal, open your Notes app, or maybe even call a friend who knows you and your vision for life. Remember what it feels like to dream!
Here’s the catch: you can’t necessarily just wait for your dreams to come true. If only we all had fairy godmothers who could change our entire life at the words, “Bibbidi, Bobbidi, Boo!” Instead, you may need to look at your dream and figure out what your next step is to making it happen. Show God (and maybe even yourself!) that you believe in your dream enough to be proactive. There's a heart rate-rising word for you. Pray for bravery and send out your resume. Pick up the phone and dial that number. Wake up early to powerwalk so eventually you can run that 5K!
Determine your next step, and DO it!
I know that it’s scary to dream. What if we’re disappointed? What if our dreams are unrealistic? Key word being "our," because you're not the only one dreaming here.
Thankfully, Jeremiah 32:27 says, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?”
Obviously, sometimes the road to our dreams may look different than our expectations. Don’t be discouraged if your life looks different than how you had planned. Reminisce on what God HAS fulfilled in your life, and you may just see little snippets of your dreams coming true.
“Now to Him Who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or dream, according to the power at work within us," Ephesians 3:20.
What a relief it is to know that God can do more than what I can dream. And I can dream pretty big.