Dream Weavers

No, the title of this post has nothing to do with my family's surname.  And no, this post is not going to be about how dreamy my family members are.  Though they do have their moments.

It also does not refer to the Gary Wright song that haunts anyone with a '70's childhood. Great.  Now, it will be playing non-stop in my head for the next week.

Sitting in my cave, knowing I should work out, but wanting to bake cookies...I am thinking of dreams.

Not just mine or yours, but also those of our children.

I may be more focused than usual on dreams today because:  
1)  I have recently decided to full-on pursue my own dream of writing...in a big way.
2)  I had a dream last night that my friend, Peggy, and I were sitting in my car praying and eating donuts.  Seriously. And really, there's not much better than good friends, prayer and donuts.

Just last post, I referred to my middle son dreaming of being a soldier, but also...a ninja, a puppy or an Irish River Dancer.  As a 1st grader, my oldest dreamed of being a missionary artist to Texas who would spread the Gospel throughout the vast state via his purple Toyota Tacoma.  My youngest took the ninja dream one step further and 20 feet higher when he aspired to be a tree ninja.  Don't ask.

We all have dreams.  Or, had dreams.  Some of us started with dreams and let them fade away. Some of us had dreams crushed or stolen.  Some of you, like me, have experienced the birth of a dream, the death of a dream and then a resurrection of a dream.

This is where it all gets a little dicey. Dreams are really, really good.  Dreams motivate and elevate.  Dreamland is where most of our good life stuff starts.  But, then, one by one, we watch some of our dreams disappear...maybe with each passing year. I guess we simply grow up.

That's what we call it anyway. "Growing up."

Then, we get kids.  And with these kids, come more dreams. Theirs. Astronaut, archeologist, movie star, zoo keeper and even ninja.  "Cute," we tell ourselves.  Followed by, "She'll grow out of it."

A bit later on, kids' dreams change.  Evolve, if you will.  Teacher, business person, doctor, coach or mechanic.  "Good," we tell ourselves.  Followed by, "We'll see."

This is where the "weaver" comes in with the whole dream thing.  There are reasons dreams die.  Sometimes a reason is that it truly needs to.  Like in the case of tree ninja.  Trust me, that dream dying is a good thing.  Other times, though, dreams die for lack of a good weaver or two.

One definition of "weave" is this:  "Twist and turn from side to side while moving somewhere in order to avoid obstructions."

Isn't that awesome?  And isn't that what we should be helping our kids do in life?

I feel that I'm getting to live a dream just by writing something you might possibly stop to read during your busy day.  But, even in doing so, I need people to help me "avoid obstructions."  Obstructions like self-doubt, discouragement and distractions.  Same stinkin' obstructions that would love to throw our kids off.

That's why we need to weave, friends.  Don't be a dream crusher.  Be a dream weaver!

Oh, we have to use wisdom...I squashed that tree ninja dream like a bug.  But, too often we see the majority of our kids' aspirations (and maybe a few of our own) as tree ninja delusions instead of heart-felt dreams. And we squash them. 

I confess I have done that more than a time or two with my own boys. And myself.

Who knows? The Texas countryside might have really benefited from a nice, young man passing out paintings from a purple pick-up...

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