Are perms what hair dreams are made of? Me with my siblings in 1994.
I specifically remember as a kid when adults would look at me and ask the very common question, “What do you dream of being when you grow up?” I never had an answer. I would say something I heard the kid next to me say or I would make something up. I never have been one to dream about the future.
When I got into high school this started to be a problem. I had no idea what I wanted the future to look like. The only real dream I could stay committed to was my dream to be a mom. I wanted to have kids and raise them well. It felt so strongly like the reason I was born was to be a mom. There were a lot of reasons why this didn’t seem good enough. I couldn’t go to school to be a mom or make money being a mom. So I felt as though I had to keep searching for the dream I should be dreaming for my life.
In my searching I decided to sign up for a mission trip. I was sent to the inner city of San Francisco. This trip became a transformational season for my life. Working with the inner-city kids of the Tenderloin district taught me that even simple acts of love can leave a lasting impact on someone’s life. My fearless leader Jen challenged me to consider that God could use me to help change the world. I was so inspired that when I returned home to Seattle, I started a homeless feeding program with a small group from my church. This was the beginning of my dreaming.
While on that trip and the year following I started to see the world I lived in differently. I was working as the Director of an after-school program. It was a small program of 15 kids, but it was just the thing I needed to continue to discover how I could change the world. Through consistency with the kids I grew a love for them and their families. I had no agenda with them but to show them love and teach them how to love God and love each other.
Our wedding day in 2007
On the day Joel and I got married six of those kids and their parents showed up to our wedding. Those kids showed more excitement about the whole event then some of our family members. One of their mothers stood at our reception to speak of the love and care that I had for their kids and to thank me. I realized that I had already begun to change the world around me. It was a moment I could tuck away in my heart to remind me what dreams are made of.
Through the relationships I built over that year I learned that the dream that felt so right all those years earlier was exactly what I was doing. I was loving the kids and their families the best I knew how. God taught me through these experiences that loving children and being a mother to them was exactly what I should be doing. It didn’t look at all what I thought it would, but I was living my dream.
Don’t let anyone tell you what your dreams should be. A lot of people may should you- tell you that you should be something better than you are or different than you are. You may even should yourself. Learn who you are, seek God, and don’t should yourself away from your dreams.
