the momma's dream

For some reason this morning I was thinking about a friend of mine from high school.  We did theater and UIL together and had lots of fun.  We even both got to be a part of a group that went to the Inauguration in 2005.  But, like most high school friends, we lost touch after graduation and I only know about her life now thanks to Facebook.  Now, she is living in LA and doing something in production.  She always had big dreams and I thought to myself, "Wow, it is so neat to see a girl from a small town in Texas, who had big dreams to go off and do great things, and she achieved it!"

I was thinking about this, and having a conversation with her in my head where I was telling her how great I thought that was (what? you don't have conversations with people in your head?!), and I realized how my life might look to someone like her.  Here she is, far away from home, working a cool job, and doing cool things.  And here I am, still in East Texas, sitting at home, popping out babies, and the highlight of my week is a trip to Target.  In the conversation in my head, I was telling her, "Yeah, but this is my dream!...."  But no matter how true the words may be (I really would rather be doing nothing else than raising my children in good ol' Texas!), they fell flat, as they sounded like the cliche words that everybody says.

Then it hit me.  At some point, her parents decided that it was their dream to settle down in East Texas and raise a family.  If they hadn't made that decision, she may not be where she is today.  We all have different dreams, we all have different callings, we all have different stories.  Some may seem way more exciting than others, but that doesn't matter.  Because the life that I am living isn't the end of the story.  I am raising my kids so that they can pursue their dreams.  Those dreams may be to go off and do great things that sound really cool.  Or those dreams may be to stay close and do those things that sometimes go unnoticed.  Whatever their dreams may be, it is my job to allow them to dream.  And to give them the opportunity to pursue it.

My life may look quite different than my old friend's life, but that doesn't mean I'm not pursuing a dream. Every life, every dream is an important part of this story we are living together.