Watching my kids grow and learn is probably one of the greatest gifts I have been given. Seeing them discover who they are and what they are capable of is something I don't think I could ever get enough of. Just the other day I was playing with my 18 month old son and he went running down the hall yelling, "Ahhhhhhh," as I chased him. It occurred to me that he wasn't always able to run down the hall. He learned how to over time and in a series of steps.
There is something within us all, as human beings, that causes us to not be content with just laying around when we are infants. God has designed our minds and bodies with an inclination to be mobile. To be on the go. To move forward. We're not content with just laying there on our back so we learn to roll. When we master that we try and try to lift our heads up until we can finally see what's in front of us. When we realize we can do that we begin to the hard work of pushing our chests off the floor and begin scooting forward. After this we discover that we can get our legs underneath us as well and begin to crawl. But are we satisfied with that? No, we are driven to stand up tall and learn to walk. We try, and fail, a thousand times but there is something in us that will not let us give up. Finally, we take our first, real unassisted steps. What a great moment that is. Mom and dad may even write the date down so it's never forgotten. But that doesn't matter to us because we're not done yet. Soon we learn to run and then ride a tricycle, a bike, and eventually, learn to drive. Because from day one, there is just something in us that compels us to be on the move.
But something happens to us at some point in our lives. We become content and stop exploring our possibilities. When we're children we can be anything. Astronauts, athletes, world leaders and even super heroes. Our potential is limitless. But something happen along the way. We lose that instinct inside of us that longs to be on the go. To move forward. Or maybe we don't lose it. Maybe it's taken from us by our culture. Taken by the masses who have themselves given up and so they tell us we should do the same. It's just the way of the world. Welcome to reality. The sad thing is that these people usually mean well. Their motive is good because they are, "just trying to be realistic." It's all well and good to be "realistic" but it's the dreamers who change the world, not the realists. The dreamer walks on water while the realists watch from the boat.
Watching my son run down the hallway has reminded me to be a dreamer again. To reclaim that which was taken from me that I seemed to have let go so easily. To find within me that childhood instinct to be mobile. To be on the go. To move forward. God has a dream for my life and I am convinced that it is an unrealistic dream. A dream that goes beyond the safety of the realists and has me walking in the liquid footsteps of the dreamer. I hope I will muster the tenacity to follow those footsteps. And I hope you will too.
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