Lost Dreams

Yesterday I read an email from my sister in which she reflected on our recent news, and passed along words from a friend of hers who had a baby at 16, and has since raised him to be a godly young man. In her email, she talked about all the changes, and the pain, and the lost dreams. Her words were soothing and brought me to deeper reflection. This is for Betty.

Lost Dreams
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard,and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9, NLT).

Did Eve dream of a lifetime of gardening with her lover, Adam, sharing the fellowship of their maker? Did Sarai dream of raising children with her husband, surrounded by her extended family? Did Hannah dream of having a son and seeing him to adulthood? Did Esther dream of living a quiet and normal life? Did Mary dream of her wedding to Joseph and the celebration that would follow as they had a family?

Whenever my Lord reaches into the mundane a dream is lost. Whenever He pushes life beyond what we envision, our hearts are forced to wrestle anew with faith in Him and belief in His plan. Whenever He tries to give us something bigger and better, we must let go of the small idea that we had for our lives.

It always hurts.

But--and I believe this by faith--as God gives us a glimpse of His beautiful plan, we nod and smile, knowing that all along He loved us. Knowing that even when we thought things were out of control, He never was. Knowing that had we understood the plan, we wouldn't have had the courage to volunteer for it, but once His will is known we fully appreciate that He knew what He was doing all along.

And a dream is born.

Where You Can Find Them

Yesterday morning my daughter dropped out of high school and took a full time job. As a dad filled with hopes and dreams for her, it was a pretty low moment. And though I had resolved myself to hold it together as I went to work, when my coworkers asked me about her I lost it. Hopelessness and despair had me by the throat.

In the afternoon I called my family physician and made an appointment for her to get some tests (the kind you never want to ask for). On the way there she was pretty quiet. We both were. But about half way there she said she wasn't sure she should drop out of school. I told her it wasn't too late, but that she needed to make up her mind. Five more minutes of silence followed. Then the miracle: "Dad, I want to stay in school."

With miracles these days, you take them where you can find them. I give all glory to God for answering the prayers of all my friends and family.

I shook loose the hopelessness and despair. I helped her quit her day old job, and find something part time. Things are looking up.

God is Bigger

Yesterday I was tempted to blog, but I'm glad I waited. Though many of you have expressed concern, knowing that we were dealing with many issues, I waited to share until I felt God's prompting.

Our daughter Flora is pregnant. Yep. It doesn't get any more real than that. We love her, and want to see her make some good choices. Obviously we are on a roller coaster of emotion right now, and would appreciate your prayers.

I know many of you might have questions about the situation, but right now I want to give Flora the time to process this news as she looks at a future that is different than she ever imagined.

God is bigger than all our mistakes. He has an awesome plan for Flora, and I can't wait to see what it is.

Why Halloween?

Yesterday I took the three of my children who still enjoy being kids out trick-or-treating. It's an odd tradition in which every parent purchases candy to give to other people's kids, while their kids go begging other parents for candy. An efficiency expert would clearly eliminate the activity and guarantee each kid getting precisely the candy they want from their own parents. But it's not about efficiency.

Halloween--and I know there are some anti-Halloween people out there, so please forgive me--is about being a kid. That's all. One day a year we give our kids permission to dress up in a crazy costume, go out after dark, and eat more candy than is wise. All the while we supervise the rule-breaking and encourage them to show good manners while going door-to-door.

I'm sure there are many reasons to boycott the holiday. And I'm sure in the past there have probably been nefarious customs associated with it. But for my kids it is just plain fun. Our walk around the block last night was perhaps one of the last times I'll get to see my kids being silly and innocent. The world wants them to grow up and get serious. And they probably will, all too soon.