Dream

Do you remember what it was like to dream? I mean, REALLY dream.
Scott and I used to hold hands and walk through old neighborhoods looking at the beautiful homes. We would talk about what we loved about each house. We talked about what we would change. How we would use the space. On and on..
After he graduated from high school, his parents moved to a really small farm town. In fact, there are Amish buggies that ride up and down the street behind their house. The Amish school house is nearby. I love going to visit because it is so peaceful.
The downtown area is beautiful. The homes all have their own personality. Some of them are run down because the care has not been put into them over the years. Others have been cared for and loved. They are as beautiful outside as the memories that were made on the inside. I realize that the walls of every home have not seen beautiful things happen, but there is history to them. They all have stories they could tell.
Shortly before we got engaged, we held hands and walked every street. There was one house that was looking pretty rough. It had not been taken care of. But, there was SO much beauty and potential. The yard was big and spacious. The house looked so grand, but in a humble way. We stood in front of this abandoned house for a very long time. We dreamed. We pretended that we owned the house. We talked over every detail of how we would restore the outside and spruce up the yard.
We used to be dreamers. Somewhere along the way, the business of life crept in and sucked that away from us. Life has been pretty rough on us the past few years. We have had so many blessings, but we have had several obstacles to climb.
This is going to seem silly, but we were looking for a new show to watch on Netflix. We discovered that many of the HGTV shows that we used to watch together had been added! We started watching Fixer Upper. That is our kind of show.
Watching this show with Scott, and seeing these houses that most people would be terrified of, I wanted the worst looking house. I realized that I have stopped dreaming Maybe I have become jaded because dreams “never” come true. I don’t really know. But, I haven’t allowed myself to dream in a long time. It’s ok to dream. It’s not ok to become so consumed in your dreams that you miss out on the beauty of the real life surrounding you.. but dreaming in and of itself is not a bad thing.
A huge part of my childhood dreams has come true. I am married to an amazing man who loves me in spite of me. We have three beautiful daughters that I get the privilege of staying at home and raising. My biggest dreams did come true, aside from living in a beautiful house. 😉
I decided to allow myself to dream a little. In my dreams, I would live in the mountains with my family on a large plot of land. Our home would have a huge porch or deck to sit out on and drink coffee while enjoying the view. We would have chickens. Yeah, I want chickens. We could go an adventures in our own back yard. We could hike whenever we wanted. I could learn how to ski even though I would probably break my neck. Just dreaming of the fresh mountain air is enough for me.
Obviously, this dream may never come true. God could have completely different plans for us and our life. But, the possibility of that dream coming true is a really fun thought.
What are some of your dreams? Have you allowed yourself to dream?