Yesterday I saw an article in our town’s daily newspaper written by a local columnist that caught my attention. The article was about dreams.

I read this piece with great interest, as the topic of pursuing dreams is one I’m particularly drawn to.  I was curious what this local writer had to say about dreams.

As a parent of young children, the author wrote how all of her big, lofty (to use her term) dreams had been traded in for dreams of:

…the day when the white shower curtain stays white.  When no muddy hand prints appear two hours after its been bleached…I dream of the the day when the counters are free of milk that Nobody spilled.  When the Oreos don’t have to be locked into a cast iron safe to prevent “evaporation”. When a simple phone conversation isn’t broken up by an ominous game of charades.

Your Dream Matters

On one hand, I loved the honesty of the article!  I so get where she’s coming from and can relate entirely. On the other hand, the article reminded me of why we have to fight for those larger dreams that often lie deep within our hearts.  If we don’t hold onto those, even if they have to be put on the back burner for a different season of life, we will completely lose sight of them in the day to day of the immediate.

I would like to say to the author, “You can hold onto your ‘loftier’ dreams and still fulfill the dreams you have as a  parent.  You don’t have to trade them in.  In fact, you must not trade your dreams in.  Your dreams matter too much to just trade them in and leave them behind.  They are in your heart for a reason.

Don’t Let Life Get In The Way

Life has a way of causing us to forget our *loftier* dreams if we allow it. We can forget the *more* we were created for as we wipe the counters day in and day out, pick up the scattered socks, and make sure the homework gets done.

I’m reminded that there are short term and long term dreams. The long-term dreams don’t need to give way to the immediacy of the short term, but it takes intentionality to not lose sight of the bigger dreams in the midst of the day to day.

For me, writing for this blog is part of a larger, longer-term dream I have. Right now, there are about 50 things I can think of that I need to do, but those will have to wait because doing this, right now, is part of me acting on something that I believe I’m to be about.

The socks, the messy countertops and the grocery list will still be there later.  This moment, this hour, I will protect and guard and offer up as an act of resistance against the temptation to trade my dreams in.

So, today, in the midst of all we have to do, may we each take an intentional step towards the dreams on our hearts.  It matters.  Your dream is within you for a reason.  Do not trade it in for anything less.

Photo by Amy Treasure on Unsplash