Tag Archive | dreams

Recipe for Sweet Dreams

This is my third blog entry here on Wet Feet. If this is your third time reading, you know all about my daughter’s dream of going to Disney World, and I hope you’ve been able to spend some time reflecting on your own dreams or how you can help someone else experience the blessing of having a dream fulfilled. If this is your first visit to Wet Feet, there are always the archives.

Our dreams are important to God. He authored many of them.

I put my dreams to the test by asking six investigative questions I learned back in high school: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How? Whether it’s wild and ambitious or practical and common, I find myself using those questions to determine what to do with a dream.

If a politician can’t or won’t answer each and every one of those questions, they might be hiding something. I won’t get started on politics. That’s for another blog, but think about those six questions. Our English teachers were right. Those six are the basic questions we need answered in any situation.

Extra words are merely filler. Answering five of the questions twice or two-thousand times can’t make up for the one left unanswered. Politicians shouldn’t get by without answering all six and neither should we – even in our dreams.

Most of my dreams are like marshmallows. They’re soft, sweet, harmless, and have a limited shelf life. They bounce around in my head, doing little more than take up space. Need an example?

Okay.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about our unfinished basement. I imagine a finished ceiling, walls, flooring, great lighting, and electrical outlets in all the right places. Oh – and a bathroom with an oversized whirlpool tub.

My marshmallow dream is too much for our budget to swallow in one bite. That’s why it remains a dream. As long as we have a higher priority financially, it won’t happen. Do I plan to squelch that dream? No way. Because I dreamed it, and have answers to the six basic questions. I know exactly the best place to start following through on my dream, if and when my financial priorities change.

Other dreams are like peaches. Timing is important. I give them a home in my heart and brain, waiting for them to reach their peak of ripeness. They look appetizing. I’m tempted, but I love a perfect, juicy peach, and most often, that requires restraint.

Several years ago I had a peach of a dream. If I had followed through on a small business idea, it could have made me a millionaire. (Probably not, but as long as we’re dreaming, give me this one.)

I worked on my plan, knew who would be involved, what I would produce, where my customers were, why this product was needed, and how things should to be done. I struggled with only one question. When? My idea, my research, my effort, and my prayers led me to take the first big step into my dream. Then, for lots of reasons, I waited for the right time to take another step.

While I waited, a major organization came out with a similar product, and my peach of an idea got wrinkled and mushy overnight. I didn’t get to taste success, and the remnants of my dream are currently stored in my unfinished basement.

Wealth, fame, and power are often the impetus behind dreams. I call them ground beef dreams. No matter what flavor of sauce we pour over it, it’s still ground beef. If there are 101 recipes for a tasty ground beef meal, there are a million and one dreams of wealth, fame, or power disguised as ministry or not for profit.

We all know (or we should) it’s not that wealth, fame, and power are bad. (I Timothy 6:9-10). God provides all three to be used for his purposes. But the scale tips too easily for most of us. It’s hard to keep our dreams focused on God’s original plan when we get close to any of those three things.

Answering the “why” question about a dream can be harder than all the other questions put together. I know. I’m in the process of putting a dream through the six questions, and feel the need to frequently remind myself of the why. I want to make sure no ground beef gets added.

I did a brief search, looking for some biblical teaching about dreams. You know, I couldn’t find one whole chapter devoted to teaching on dreams. Not that dreams aren’t scattered from Genesis, with the mention of Abimelech’s dream, to Revelation, where John records his most important dream.

The sort of dreams I wanted instruction for are not the involuntary kind of dreams, but what we refer to as aspirations, ambitions, desires, or perhaps brainchildren. For those who don’t dare to dream, let’s call them goals, intentions, or objectives.

It wasn’t long before my search brought me to the realization I would not find a simple checklist of do’s and don’ts for dreaming, but I wasn’t ready to end my search. There had to be something in that worn, leather-bound book. There is, and it’s good news.

The passage I found had no “Thou shalt not’s.” Philippians 4:4-9, with little creativity, can be made into a list of ingredients for some pretty sweet dreams. If I were a list maker, I would have fun with this one. (I’m not a list maker, but don’t let that stop you.)

If we don’t honestly assess our dreams we’ll be disappointed, and probably disappoint those around us. At the very least, we will have stolen time away from a better dream. Sometimes I don’t like an answer to one of the six questions. In the past, I’ve settled for a good answer to four or five out of six. Those dreams didn’t turn out so well.

Funny thing. Lately, I still ask my pragmatic questions, but I’ve also been measuring my simple goals and outrageous wants against the instruction from that chapter in Philippians.

Is anyone surprised that God has been offering grace? I can’t always answer my own questions, but God can. He’s been giving me new and sweeter dreams.

Read: Philippians 4:4-9

1. Name one of your dreams, aspirations, ambitions, or desires.
2. Is it a marshmallow, peach, ground beef or some other kind of dream?
3. Do you have answers for: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?
4. Start dreaming sweet dreams!

Lord, Thank you for the dreams we hold in our hearts. Help me to align my dreams with your truth. Keep me honest, just, pure, and lovely. Continue to show me value in virtue and sharing of good reports. Remind me of the things I’ve seen in you and learned from you. Amen.

To Fulfill a Dream

Oct2

My daughter Aimee’s dream of riding The Teacups at Disney World was big, especially for a five-year old. All that was needed to fulfill her dream was a mother who was willing to provide her time, use of a credit card, a ride from Central Illinois to Central Florida and, of course, a God who provided for her mother.

Her first teacup ride became all about capturing the perfect photo. Her second teacup ride was to be simply for fun, but as it turned out, her idea of fun was to be in control of the wheel. Aimee was barely tall enough to keep her bottom in the seat and hold the wheel. Her skinny little arms could not cause the teacup to spin. She cried.

“One more ride Aimee. Let me pick the teacup this time. I’ll find one that you can spin.”

Her older brother, Rob, had bigger rides in mind, but whenever one of his sisters cried, he folded. While we waited in line, listening to the maddening music for the third time, Rob gave Paula (the often forgotten middle child) and me a wink and a nod. We knew he had a plan.

Aimee was still wiping tears. It’s a hard thing – finding out your dream was not worth the time spent dreaming.

Rob tested several teapots before deciding.

“This is it. This one has been oiled recently. Give it a try, Aimee. Make sure you can turn the wheel?”

Aimee grabbed the wheel and the teacup turned with little effort on her part. She used the hem of her shirt to wipe away her last tear.

The platform began to turn. Our teacup began to spin. Slowly at first. The obnoxious music seemed to get louder, and our teacup began to spin faster. Our hair blew in our faces. Paula raised her hands and her body swayed with each revolution. Aimee did have biceps and they were bulging.

Rob pressed one hand to his abdomen and moaned – loud enough that neighboring teacups could hear. His other hand remained hidden on the bottom side of the wheel.

“You can slow down now, Aimee. My stomach is feeling funny.”

“Noooo! This is too much fun!”

Paula, now with only one hand in the air, called out, “Faster!”

Aimee was working every muscle in her body, laughing and giving us the ride of her life. None of us wanted it to stop. The music, maybe. The spinning and Aimee’s thrill, no.

“We went faster than any of the other teacups, didn’t we Mom?”

Aimee’s feet couldn’t take her in a straight line, but she was smiling.

“Yes we did. We sure did.”

I decided Rob would be the one to choose our next ride, and promised we would return, at the end of the day, for one more exciting ride on The Teacups.

Read: 1 Corinthians 13:8-11
Reflection:
1. Have you ever dreamed a dream that turned out not to be worth dreaming?
2. Is there someone you can thank for giving one of your dreams a helping hand?
3. Have you set a new goal or dreamed a new dream lately?

Lord, I want to be obedient, even in my dreams and aspirations. Show me where my dreams are childish or selfish. Point me in the direction where I can show charity and be part of fulfilling another person’s dream today. Amen.

Just the Teacups

Sep22

Aimee talked mostly of the Teacups during our two day drive. She had seen, from a photo, something in the faces of her older brother and sister that made going to Disney World a goal since she was two years old. What was it about sitting in oversized buckets painted like fancy teacups that kept her dream alive for a lifetime? I still don’t know, but three years is a lifetime of anticipation according to any five year old.

It’s a mild ride. No seat belts. No fear. Only music and smiles. Aimee had been promised the wheel. She would be allowed to control how fast we would spin, or if we would spin at all.

“I can’t wait to ride the Teacups.”

“No. No. You’ve got to go on Magic Mountain!”

She wasn’t the least bit excited about roller coastering in the dark. She cupped her hands over her ears, refusing to listen to her brother’s advice.

“I just want to ride the Teacups.”

“I’ll take you to Typhoon Lagoon. It will be a blast!” Her sister’s promise of protection was ineffective.

“I just want to ride the Teacups.”

The previous two days had been spent in my compact car, with three kids continuously requesting salty food, sweet drinks, and bathroom stops. How many tanks of gas? Eight days of hotel room stays had been reserved on my credit card. Two weeks of grocery money was handed over to a teenager in a booth so we could walk through a gate. I was already perspiring, and the sun had barely climbed over the trees on the horizon.

Then I got it. With acres of theme park attractions and rides promising take her to the edge of the earth, Aimee wanted nothing more than a three minute ride in the slow moving teacups she’d seen in a photo.

What had I sacrificed to give my precious daughter the thrill of her short little lifetime?

She took my hand and pulled me through the turnstile. The four of us stood, amazed by our options, but the decision was easy. We followed our map to The Teacups.

That was in 1989. Aimee ended up riding not only the Teacups, but every other ride in the park where she met the height requirements. Some of the rides required her to stand extra tall or add some tip to her toes, but it was worth it. We had a fantastic vacation.

Over the past few years, a desire to write words that inspire and tell stories to encourage has become a simple pleasure and a hobby. No other hobby has caused me to save, plan, or sacrifice like my newfound adventure into writing. More importantly, everything involved in the process of writing, reminds me of all the riches provided to me from a most-loving, heavenly Father.

Preparing this, my first post for Wet Feet, caused me to feel some of what Aimee must have felt when she heard the music and gazed at the substance of her dream for the first time. Kathy Stanford, my friend and partner in this adventure, has pulled me through the turnstile where I stand amazed.

Read: Psalm 104:24

Until next time:
1. Can you name two things Jesus sacrificed to give you good things?
2. Do you prefer to ride slow and be in control, or do you tend to look for the thrill rides?
3. Can you recall a time where God clearly provided a way for you to reach a goal, fulfill a desire, or be thrilled by an experience?

Lord, I want to experience all of your riches. Remind me to look beyond my simple desires at your many amazing works. Help me to keep my eyes and my dreams focused on You. Amen.