Reality, realizing that to my 6 year old dreams already seem impossible. Reality is already present. Most of the things he has desired to do we have had to say, "We can't do that right now." or even worse "Judah we can't afford to do that, mommy and daddy have to work a little harder for that to happen." Innocence, lost. Dreaming to Judah is just that, something he cannot attain.
On the other hand I watch my 4 year old who still believes he can do anything and be anything he desires. One day he is Superman and will save the world, the next day he is Bob the Builder who will save the day by fixing the problem. He still believes that anything is possible. He still lives in his imagination. He is still terrified of anything with evil in it.
So my conclusion is that we stop believing things are possible sometimes at a very young age. In all honesty I take responsibility and am a little sad that I have contributed to our oldest son's lack of belief in what can be. I was reflecting with my husband that when I was a child I wanted to be a singer. Who doesn't? But I also remember being 10 and having to give my savings to move my family out of a bad situation. I like my oldest son stopped believing things were possible and began dealing with my reality and then spent the next 8 years trying to figure out how to change it.
I have been reminded over the past few weeks that I have to believe in change to create change. I have to believe that dreams can become reality. Better yet that our dreams can create or future. If I stop allowing the reality that I see, stop allowing the bad to take focus in my mind, they are no longer truth....This morning I was reading a book to Bryce "You Are Special." For those unaware it is a book about a woodworker who makes a wooden people called Wemmicks. They are all different and they judge each other, each giving out a golden star for those they are impressed and a dot to those they think are less than. Then Punchinello a Wemmick full of dots no longer wants to go outside, no longer wants to talk to other Wemmicks. Then one day he meets another Wemmick who has no stickers because they don't stick on her. Punchinello was amazed and asks her why she then tells him about Eli the woodworker. When Punchinello gains enough courage to go and see the woodworker he asked the following:
"Why don't the stickers stay on Lucia?"
The maker spoke softly. "Because she has decided that what I think is more important than what they think. The stickers only stick if you let them."
"What?"
"The stickers only stick if they matter to you. The you trust my love, the less you care about their stickers"....
Amazing that we all have stickers. We have allowed others and the reality we see to stick to us. Amazing to me that a children's book can bring such perspective. Maybe I should believe the innocence of children's books instead of the reality spoken by adults who have lost their ability to believe and allow their dreams to be their reality. I know as a mom I do not want stickers to matter to my boys. I do not want them walking through this world allowing others stickers to stick to them. I want them to go out and do what God has called them to. To believe in the dreams he has placed in their hearts.
Well if that is what I want for my kids then the truth is I better begin to grab hold of that truth as well. It is never too late for us to believe in the goodness God has planned, even if we have gotten a little side tracked by others stickers. Today I will let those stickers fall off one by one, walking in a new truth that will be determined only by the opinion and plan of the Woodworker....
