When I was a little girl, I told my mom that something I wanted to do before I died was to see a firework from above. I don't know if I understood that fireworks are spherical rather than circular, but for some reason I thought it would be a cool perspective. Mom told me it probably wouldn't be that great of a view considering the background would be all the stuff on the ground rather than the plain black of the sky. I saw her point, and knew that my dream to ever see a firework from above would probably never happen, but for some reason I always remembered that conversation.
Some dreams are just not meant to come true.
I still continue to have impossible dreams. These are more than just items tossed on a bucket list, or simple prayer requests; these are things that I can only dream about, but doubt they could ever be a reality. They're too good to be true. Perhaps God can and does make "dreams come true," but is that something I can expect from him? Aren't those only for the blessed few?
God has made some of my dreams come true. I remember a few years ago desperately longing, out of the blue, to go to Jamaica. Soon, an opportunity to go there for a spring break mission trip was practically placed in my lap, as well as the funding from generous donors. God gave me such joy from this brief but poignant answer to a dream. A few months later, I got to go to Juneau, Alaska. A year later, I got to go back to Juneau. My point is not that I am well-travelled, because I'm not, but that God fulfilled the longing in my heart to be elsewhere. You can literally go back a couple years on this very blog and watch the story unfold.
A few months ago, there came a deep and troubling longing in my heart to be back in Juneau again. A third time. It seemed like such an impossible dream! I would be so far away from home and family and familiarity... But if only I could live there! If I could walk out my front door and see those stellar views again. I ached and I craved.
God has blessed me with all I dared ask for right here, where I am in the lower 48. He gave me a lovely place to live, a very meaningful job (which for a while was my fervent request, but not an impossible dream), an amazing church, and my family within arms' reach. How could I be discontent? How could I ask for more?
Many of you probably haven't heard yet, but it's happening. I'm moving there and I don't know how long I'll stay. Perhaps only a year. Perhaps forever.
I have faith in impossible dreams now. They may still seem just as impossible, but at least I can know in my head that God loves to give them to me. I have more impossible dreams that are too personal to mention here now and that I know are far from being granted, but I believe in God's pleasure in making impossible things come to life. So I don't give up as easily on the impossible anymore.
Let me close with this:
I was flying home from Juneau on July 5 this year. The sun and our plane parted ways over opposite horizons when traveling from Seattle to Chicago. I took pictures of the dazzling clouds despite knowing that those pictures could not compare to what was seen with the naked eye. Night fell. When we got near Chicago, I saw something that caused tears to roll down my cheeks and my heart to sing praises to God. I saw fireworks... lots and lots of fireworks, from above. The background was a beautiful, glittering city. It was positively stunning. God took care to grant me my silly childhood dream. Now, whenever I think of impossible dreams, I think: fireworks from above.
I sat in the Chicago airport that night and wrote a letter to Aunt Amy about what I had seen and the boost of faith that God had given me; that I doubted less now that God could and would do miraculous things in and through my life.
May God also put fireworks from above in your life. His sweet tenderness toward me is yours as well. His love for you is just as great as it is for me or anyone else.
God bless.
No comments:
Post a Comment