Childhood dreams

I remember being a senior in high school. It was exciting to rule the roost of  the school. But along with all of the fun, there was also an immense amount of pressure. Throughout that last year of high school I was asked time and again what I wanted to do with our lives. People expected me to already know what college I was going to and exactly what I wanted to do for the next 50ish years of my life. Such pressure!

But I had dreams even then. Some of those dreams have changed drastically over time. Others are there on the back burners, waiting for the right time to be fulfilled.

And some have been realized.

I had always dreamed about being a wife and mother. In my dream we lived in a little blue house with a picket fence. My husband worked a 9 to 5 job and walked through the door promptly on time for dinner each evening. My babies went down easily for her naps and played nicely on their own. Oh, and did I mention that we lived close enough to see my parents for Sunday dinner each week?

It's funny to think about the pictures we painted as a child, isn't it?

Reality is often far different.

No, we don't live close to family, we don't own our own little house, and the military often puts demands on my husband that keep him from walking promptly through the door at 5 pm. In fact, sometimes there are weeks upon weeks that I don't see him at all. Sigh.

That child that I dreamed so much about has been much harder than I imagined as well. She's an imperfect human being that takes up so much of my time. I often wonder if I'll ever get completely caught up on housework ever again! (So much for those dreams of being a perfect housewife, ha!).

But the God I serve is an amazing God! He looked at the dreams of my heart and crafted them into something more beautiful then I could imagine.Yes, there are times of loneliness and pain, but the beautiful times far out weigh them! There are days when I desperately miss my loved ones, but then I take my little girl outside to enjoy the sunshine, I look at the beautiful house that we are renting, and I'm once again blessed by the great friends we've made in this town.

The plans God has for me sometimes coincide with my childhood dreams. Other times those plans grow and evolve out of what I thought I once wanted. They grow into something far more beautiful then I could have ever imagined.

Today has been anything but a perfect day. That's why I needed to think about my dreams for a few minutes and remind myself how far I've come, and how much God still has to do in my life!

What dreams did you dream as a child? Have those dreams been realized, or have they changed over time?

"May He give you what your heart desire and fulfill your whole purpose" (Psalm 20:4, HCSB)

"'For I know the plans I have for you' —[this is] the LORD's declaration—'plans for [your] welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope'" (Jeremiah 29:11, HCSB).