The Dream Never Dies...

Cindy got me thinking this morning as, in her typical style, she meandered through her thoughts jumping from one thing to another as she blogs. (And if you're curious, she talks that way too.... just sort of gives people around her a trolley tour of her very active brain as she sits and visits). But I digress. Like her. Anyway today she was thinking about all the possible careers she could have had and that got me going.

I am one of those people who just absolutely loves what I do. In fact, I love everything so much that I can't stop doing all of it. Right now I am in the middle of so many projects. I was going to list them all. In fact I started, but then I knew I was going to get comments about how I could possibly do all those things and still be a good parent.

Well, my first response is that I never said I was a good parent.

But secondly, we have a pretty good system around here. Most of the kids are teenagers or adults and they really don't want me overly involved in their business. The ones who are living at home this summer are very appropriate and doing what they are supposed to be doing. They have been awesome. Plus, they have a nurturing and involved Dad AND I include them in a lot of what I do. Sadie is in a couple of the groups with me. When I go on trips, I take one or two sometimes. We eat meals together as a family and I am here and available to them most of the time.

Anyway, a defense of my lifestyle (where did THAT come from) wasn't my intention. I simply wanted to say this.

I love everything I'm doing. I am energized and motivated by almost everything I get to do each day (except housecleaning and laundry). I like being in the middle of many things and impress myself with my ability to juggle them all.

But sometimes when I'm driving (the only time I actually process anything and think) I think about all the things I would have loved to have done with my life. All the things I still wish I could do. I would love to learn to be an excellent photographer. I could totally get into a career of web design, expanding my knowledge for that. I have wanted to be in involved in inner-city ministry for years, living in the slums even, and attempting to touch people there. I could easily spend a lifetime in another country as a missionary.

The kids are bugging us to adopt again, especially Sadie. She even offered to help pay for background checks, which all the sudden are $70 a pop in MN for everyone over 14 -- which means just to get started on an update would cost us $630. I don't know that we'll adopt again, but I could easily see us someday opening our home to more teenagers. I'm finding that now that I've figured out the key to parenting them (you can't control them, no matter what you do, so instruct, consequence, and observe -- but treat it like a movie that you're watching, and enjoy seeing how the plot unfolds). Parenting teens by attempting to control them is as foolish as sitting watching a movie and thinking that by your own will power you can change then ending.

hey, that's good. I just thought of that. I am going to have to quote myself on that one. Often.

Anyway....

Life is so amazing and so full of opportunity. I have a very hard time understanding those who walk around with their heads to the ground muttering something about dreams not coming true.... There's always a way to overcome, always a way to make something happen... you just gotta find a way. And there's always a way. Dreams never have to die. Sometimes they have to be altered or a new path found, but a dream can live on.

This blog post is never going to end if I don't stop and certainly I didn't plan for it to go in this direction, but maybe for some reason you needed to read this today.

I'm never going to be able to live long enough to do everything I want to do. I"m already feeling signs that I am getting older -- some of my joints hurt sometimes, and I get tired easier. I actually have forgotten a few things lately, which NEVER happened. But I still have a thousand dreams to pursue, a million things on my to do list, and a bunch of lives to impact, and a world to change.

Let me leave you with a snippet of a song from years ago:

The dream never dies, just the dreamer;
The dream never dies if it's strong;
The dream never dies just the dreamer...
So come on everybody dream along....

and speaking of dreams, and to do lists, and lives to impact, and worlds to change -- I gotta get busy!