Have you been watching the Olympics? We aren't huge followers, but we do watch some every evening, and we certainly get excited to see our USA athletes winning medals, setting records, achieving their dreams. I believe that every Olympian has something very important in common...they have a dream, and they are living that very dream by competing in the Olympics. Do you have an Olympic-size dream? Are you doing everything you can today, so that you can see that dream realized eventually?
A year ago, we had a huge dream. We dreamed of Doug quitting his retail job, and freeing our family from the chaos that a retail schedule brings. We dreamed of having a set routine for Gracie when Kindergarten started. We dreamed of having more energy to cope with Joel's toddler tantrums and frustrations. We dreamed of being a closer family unit, of having more time together, of not always being on the go.
While we dreamed, we also prayed. We prayed that God would allow us to see the dream fulfilled, but that He would show us His plans for us even if our dream was not His plan. We prayed that if He saw Doug quitting his job as being the right thing for our family, He would open our eyes to a way to make that happen. We prayed that if the time came for us to take that leap of faith, He would give us peace with the decision.
In July, our family won our gold medal...we saw our dream realized...we stood on the podium and were cheered on by our friends and family. Doug has now been a stay-at-home dad for seven months; with faith in God and determination to show our children a more stable life, we achieved the fulfillment of a dream.
But much like Olympic athletes, the fulfillment of one dream doesn't mean that our dreaming is done. There are more medals to win; more records to set; more dreams to achieve. We must always be striving for more, be working towards realizing another dream. This must be balanced, though, with living today and not missing the moments that are happening now. It can be a tricky balancing act, and often times we will misstep. Embrace those missteps and use them to help you stay more evenly balanced in the future. You will not find an Olympic athlete who hasn't fallen off the balance beam, skiied off course, missed a landing. But they get up and keep going, and they often go on to win a medal, to fulfill a dream.
Your dreams can be realized. You can win your own Olympics. And you are never alone in your dreaming.
