The Dream Business

I've started a dream list. 
 
Just a simple page with my dreams written on it.  The really big dreams.  The little dreams.  The ones that I can see come to pass this year, right alongside the ones I can't imagine ever really happening.
 
Staring at my list made me realize how many, many things would have been on that list just a few years ago, but aren't there now.  They're not there because they've already been fulfilled.  Oh, the joy to understand He's in the business of making dreams come true.
 
And I realized I want to be just like Him.  I want to be in the family business---making other people's dream come true.

I can start with the dreams alive in my own house, the ones that are dreamed up by the man I call husband and the four little people with big futures.

I can take it out of my house by investing in the dreams that dwell in the hearts of my friends.

I can look past the weariness in the eyes of the cashier at Wal-Mart and pray that the deepest desires of her heart would be met by the Meeter of All Needs.

Mark Twain once said, "Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great."

Lord, please make me great this way.  It's a dream of mine.
 

Words From the Heart

My husband and I went out of state this week.  We took our oldest two with us, but left the younger ones at home in the capable hands of good friends.  It's not their favorite thing, really, to be without mom and dad for three days.  They enjoy spending time with friends, but would rather it not be at the expense of missing their parents.

It was a last minute decision as we were rushing out the door, already behind schedule.  I grabbed a couple scraps of paper, fumbled for a pen in the junk drawer, and hastily scrawled a love note to each of them.  I tucked it on their pillows, right next to the beloved stuffed animals.

Just a quick note.  A heart reminder of how much they are loved.

But, oh the joy it brought.  Both little voices told me so when I returned home, the notes carefully saved on the "treasure" shelves.

I shouldn't have been surprised.  It's these two who have still not given up the practice of me making their lunches and have let me know their lunch is not complete without a note scribbled on a napkin.

Such a small act of love to make such a big deposit into a little heart.

And it's not just the little hearts that are blessed by surprise messages.  Even my own heart, at the ripe old age of 36, feels nurtured when my husband writes me a letter or my daughter draws me a picture with a few misspelled words to tell of her love for me.

It's the power of the love note--the words that are able to say "I was thinking of you when you weren't around and I wanted to let you know how much you mean to me."

And no matter what form they come in, whether it be on a banana in a lunchbox or fine stationary in the mailbox, they are treasure indeed.


Some ways to send a love note to your treasured one today:

• Make a collage out of magazine words that spell out your love sentiment.
• Send a facebook message to that far-away friend that's been on your mind.
• Find a free e-card that expresses your heart and send it to someone special's email address.
• Bake some cookies and attach a sweet note.
• Roll up a letter, tie it with a ribbon, and slip it under a pillow.
• Tape a note in the shower entitled "10 Reasons I Love You."
• Jot a message on a napkin and have it waiting with a treat in your loved one's car when they get out of work.
• Write a long letter and put it in the mail, even if it's just coming to your house.
• Write a letter of love to yourself, just like my sweet girl did.

When Mommy Puts Herself in Time-Out

This week has crushed my house with constant activity.  And I've been cranky about it. 

A seemingly endless to-do list.  All important things with large consequences attached to them if they go undone.  Hurried meals.  The front door opening with people going, and coming, and going again.  Laundry piling up.  The copy machine at the church refusing to come to life, the backlog of office work stacking up on my desk, the bills to pay, the school projects my kids are already coming home with on the second week of school, the trip I'm supposed to be packing for...

And the knowledge of so many people with hurts so great they take your breath away to ponder what it must be like to live with that kind of pain.

Because being a minister, you hear about them.  Not just in a whispered comment at the grocery store, but eye to eye in the office, the kleenex box between you and the broken heart. 

The couple whose marriage is breaking. 

The agonized parent dealing with the drug-addicted teen.  

The family who just love their loved one forever. 

The children who were sent into foster care. 

And it's this knowledge that stops me from sliding into self-pity over my overwhelmed schedule. 

Because when I view my life through the lenses of blessings realized, I realize what I often call "pressure" is simply the fruit of a full and bountiful life.  And the consequences of the to-do list going undone aren't that large, after all, in comparison to roads others are walking.

And so tonight I stop. 

And breathe. 

And let the laundry pile up for one more evening. 

And give thanks. 

And pray for the Father to blow the breath of healing across hearts that are breaking.

And on my way to help with the science report, I find I am grateful. 

To be living this life. 

To hold this man. 

To mother these people. 

To serve this city.

To love this God.

To have a chance to wake up tomorrow to bring the healing breath to the broken.