Dreaming

This morning I woke up with some thoughts about "dreaming" swirling around in my head. Not the dreaming about bedtime dreams, but rather than of aspirations, hopes, desires, etc.

As children, people have lots of dreams, desires, etc. My 3 kids regularly express them. My son currently wants to become a veterinarian. My daughters talk about becoming mothers. They talk about places they want to visit and people whom they want to see.

As we get older, the "realities" of life can be harsh and crush our dreams. Sometimes they can even prevent us from dreaming, as "it's just not possible." That probably happens in France more than in the U.S. One current phrase kids learn is "ce n'est pas possible" ("it's just not possible").

One notion of Erwin Raphael McManus that struck me several years ago is that God is not only looking for people to find out where He is moving and move into that, but also that God also is looking for people who will dream His dreams. These are pioneering people. Sometimes they will be seen as eccentric. But they will also "boldly go where no man has gone before" (to use Star Trek language) and accomplish new things.

In the Day of the Lord in Joel 2, it talks about God's Spirit being poured out on all people. Sons and daughters will prophesy. Old men will dream dreams. Young men will see visions.

As I get older, I think that getting older people to dream dreams can be a hard thing. Of course, there are some young people with "old" mindsets that already are stuck in the mud. And there are some older people with very "young" spirits full of adventure and willingness to try new things. But the old often are those who fight change the most.

God can give us dreams for particular things such as:
--Our marraige
--Our children (or nieces, nephews, grandchildren, etc.)
--Our faith community (or the need to be part of starting a new one)
--Our neighborhood and its particular challenges & needs
--Our city
--Our professional career
--Our education/training, as well as our intellectual development
--Our nation
--Our world and its needs

Of course, dreams aren't necessarily that useful if they don't lead to action steps to help them come about. However, one action step that is the minimum at least is to pray for these dreams. We can pray for that particular neighbor or family member or work mate to come to personal faith in Christ. We can pray for our neighbor struggling with unemployment, as well as for those victims of flooding in Manila.

However, if we don't have worthwhile dreams, then our everyday activities can sometimes not be very significant in the overall scheme of God's plan. We can lack purpose or energy or follow through if we don't see how preparing and eating a balanced diet will help our children grow up to become veterinarians.

But tasks that can seem trivial or boring can be energizing if we see how they fit into the big picture of accomplishing a dream. I'm reminded of this when I'm helping my kids with French homework or math. It takes time to sit down with them and watch them struggle with "easy" spelling words or simple addition. However, they need these as building blocks for other information that will enable them to become veterinarians or whatever else.

My 6 year old just came in the room, so I need to close this down & get to the reality of my dreams for her.