Thinking About Dreams

I was thinking about dreams the last couple of days. In fact, I was talking to my father about them. Not sleep dream, but our own deepest and personal desires. I have all of these dreams pent up inside of me Lord. They are frustrated by life, people, circumstances. I'm thankful that I have been able to surrender the to you. I still desire them, but they no longer define me as a person. I was talking to dad the other day and I told him, "Thank you for giving up so much for Brie and me, for sacrificing so much." He had been a really successful advertising director, but was gone before my sister and I woke up and back after we went to be. So he suddenly gave it all up. The money, the prestige, the growing recognition and we moved to England. We spent every weekend, as a family, driving and walking the British country side. He said, "Son, the greater sacrifice would have been to chance those dreams and miss out on raising you kids." He really meant it. He went on to say that he learned the real meanings of life through his family. He told me that the dreams he had had as a child were just that, the dreams of a child. He did not know what real value there was in other things. He told me that our dreams should grow and mature as we do. That if we recognize them, try our best and surrender the outcome, we grow, and so do our dreams. Then our lives really begin to impact people and we find deep fulfillment. We find satisfaction and we have a strong platform from which to pursue our newly refined, just as valid, dreams.
What a fantastic lesson it has been for me too. I have so many dreams and I have been learning to surrender them. I was praying one time and said.
"Lord, please help me get the chance to direct a film." Then that still small voice prompted my heart.
"Really, just one? Will you really be satisfied. One film and then you're done"
I realized the answer right away. It would be just one more, then one more, then... I would never be satisfied. Then I heard the voice again.
"Then I challenge you to be content with where you are right now. Enjoy what you're working on today and be completely content, then if and when the time come for you to direct your first feature you will be able to enjoy it all the more."
I'm paraphrasing what I heard this time, but it's message was what was really important. We must never give up on our dreams, but we must not let them control our lives, our happiness, and our joy. We need to be content with where we are so as we move forward we get the most out of every day. That way nothing goes unnoticed, no blessing passes without a praise, no quiet shifting in our hearts toward the very things that we seek. I am content now. I am still dreaming, I am still pursuing my goals, but I've added some new ones to the mix. Everyday I want to be a better father and a better man. I want my life to bring healing to the hurting. I desire to minister to broken homes and children without fathers. I still want to make movies, but now I want to incorporate those dreams into fulfilling my new callings. We'll see what happens.
Thanks father for the chance to dream, the ability to imagine and to create. I am made in your image, but it is flawed and so what I think is best for me, isn't always best, so I surrender my dreams and ask that you would help me fulfill them in your time and in your way. In the mean time let my life make a difference while I'm on my way!



How many films will you have to direct until you've made it. Until you fulfill your dream? Just