I was recently thinking about dreams and how they are portrayed in reality. The thought made me realize that where we are living out in Virginia has actually fulfilled quite a few dreams that I have had for my life:
A wrap around porch.
A beautiful farmhouse in the country.
A small town where children get picked up on their street by the school bus.
Time away from it all where we can just focus on our little family.
A child of my own.
A caring husband.
And yet in reality there have been times where I have felt the opposite:
Isolation. Loneliness. Stress. Anxiety. Busyness.
And I had to stop myself and remember that many of my dreams that I have had for years are being lived out right now. They just aren't necessarily how I imagined it would be.
And so it got me thinking about dreams. Why we have them and why they are important.
I realized that without any dreams this whole scenario of moving could be really sad and disappointing. But it has been in realizing and acknowledging that some of my dreams are unfolding that help make this transition bearable...and maybe even joyful.
I feel like too often we are afraid to dream. As if we are fearful that if we put it out there, we will only be disappointed if it doesn't happen.
A couple of years ago my husband and I wrote out some of our dreams. No limits. But they were realistic in the sense that they were things we truly wanted - like taking a trip to Paris versus winning the lottery. We have some control over the opportunity to travel versus the luck of winning a bunch of money.
And while what we wrote on that list is not exact, I see our current life being portrayed in some of those things that we had hoped for. It just has come packaged differently that we probably hoped or imagined.
So it got me thinking - maybe our dreams are put on our hearts for a reason. Maybe God gave me these dreams as a gift. He knew that this move would be hard but these gifts of dreams fulfilled were almost like a lifeline. Something to get me through the day. Something to find joy in the transition.
And I wondered how much harder things might have been if I didn't allow myself to dream a little. Curious of the disservice we are doing to ourselves by being overwhelmed by our circumstances when we have small little nuggets of hope and joy right in front of us.
So I am going to keep on dreaming. Not because I want it all. But because I want to be true to my heart's desires. I want to acknowledge how I am wired, what brings me happiness, and how I was designed to live.
