Yesterday's blog ended with me equating God to the parent who sits next to their child when they don't make the team, don't get the part, or receive the college rejection letter. As a parent, we hate that pain, but know we wouldn't have stopped our child from dreaming, even if those dreams never happen.
But, since God can make our dreams come true, maybe he should only let us have dreams that he plans on fulfilling?
However, when I think of the dreams I've watched go unfulfilled, I have to believe God has a purpose in the dreaming.
A friend in Louisiana started a ministry, Sarah's Laughter, for those struggling with infertility and child loss. A vibrant, alive ministry built on broken dreams. http://www.Sarahs-Laughter.com And adopted children fulfill dreams in ways rarely anticipated.
We walked with a friend through the dissolution of her marriage for reasons she had no control over. That dream shattered into a million pieces around her, but her three children are blessings not even imagined when the original dream blossomed.
Alfred Lord Tennyson said, "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." -
When I look around I see evidence that God's position is "'Tis better to have dreamed and lost than never to have dreamed at all."
Showing posts with label dreams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dreams. Show all posts
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
What Dreams May Come - or Go
Doing some Google searching this morning.
Of the 100,000 high school seniors playing football, 9000 will play in college and 215 will make it to the NFL. That's about 0.2% of the seniors playing this Friday night.
Of those playing high school hoops, less than 1% will play in the NBA.
And I couldn't find any statistics on coming from high school baseball to playing in the Major League. However, of those playing baseball in college, less than 1% are signed in the Major Leauges. And even of those making it to the Minor Leagues - only 10% of them make it to "The Show".
That's a lot of dreams left on the field of play.
Wonder how many musicians never get recording contracts, or how many actors or models get enough work to be considered successful?
Yesterday I had the thought, "what if I never publish a book? What if it just doesn't happen?"
I'm not in a negative, woe is me place like a couple weeks ago when I was singing the Hee Haw song (http://kayshostak.blogspot.com/2009/10/gloom-despair-and-agony-on-me-remember.html) Thank Goodness.
However, in endeavors we spend so much time saying, "When I get the scholarship. When I get drafted. When I get an agent. When I get the job. When I get discovered. When we get the bid. When When When - Never the dreaded word "IF." Never. In the world of keeping on-keeping on, saying "IF" shows lack of belief, faith, determination.
"You don't want it bad enough" is said by some, if giving up is considered. Really? Or are there times when dreams end? How many years in the minor leagues is enough? How many walk-ons do you attempt? When do you stop trying to get into "that" college, or "that" field, or "that" company and decide to lower your sights? When do you decide the investment of time and effort isn't making sense and find better ways to spend your time?
One of the hardest things as a parent is sitting with your child, for whom the sky's been the limit, on the day they don't make the team, don't get the part, or receive the college rejection letter.
I believe God is the giver of dreams. I believe when they end, he's right there to hold our hand and cry with us. Just like the good parent he is.
Of the 100,000 high school seniors playing football, 9000 will play in college and 215 will make it to the NFL. That's about 0.2% of the seniors playing this Friday night.
Of those playing high school hoops, less than 1% will play in the NBA.
And I couldn't find any statistics on coming from high school baseball to playing in the Major League. However, of those playing baseball in college, less than 1% are signed in the Major Leauges. And even of those making it to the Minor Leagues - only 10% of them make it to "The Show".
That's a lot of dreams left on the field of play.
Wonder how many musicians never get recording contracts, or how many actors or models get enough work to be considered successful?
Yesterday I had the thought, "what if I never publish a book? What if it just doesn't happen?"
I'm not in a negative, woe is me place like a couple weeks ago when I was singing the Hee Haw song (http://kayshostak.blogspot.com/2009/10/gloom-despair-and-agony-on-me-remember.html) Thank Goodness.
However, in endeavors we spend so much time saying, "When I get the scholarship. When I get drafted. When I get an agent. When I get the job. When I get discovered. When we get the bid. When When When - Never the dreaded word "IF." Never. In the world of keeping on-keeping on, saying "IF" shows lack of belief, faith, determination.
"You don't want it bad enough" is said by some, if giving up is considered. Really? Or are there times when dreams end? How many years in the minor leagues is enough? How many walk-ons do you attempt? When do you stop trying to get into "that" college, or "that" field, or "that" company and decide to lower your sights? When do you decide the investment of time and effort isn't making sense and find better ways to spend your time?
One of the hardest things as a parent is sitting with your child, for whom the sky's been the limit, on the day they don't make the team, don't get the part, or receive the college rejection letter.
I believe God is the giver of dreams. I believe when they end, he's right there to hold our hand and cry with us. Just like the good parent he is.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Looking for some Rejection
Somewhere in the night I decided to sent query letters out to several agents today. A query letter is one page asking if the agent might be interested in seeing some or all of your book. The problem with sending out query letters is they lead to a lot of "No's".
Most of the "No's" aren't mean, but they're still a rejection. And, seriously, who goes looking for rejection? The truth is, most anyone that gets anything done. In baseball, a coveted .300 batting average means you fail way more than you get a hit. And for Michael Jordan to be the highest scorer, also meant he held the record of missing more shots than anyone.
Haven't we all been turned down on something we really, really wanted? But we walk away, saying that at least we tried.
So somewhere in those moments of waking up, I decided to go for some big ol' "No's" today and do it enthusiastically. (Yeah, right.) With cup of coffee in hand I turned on the news and remembered that today is the eight anniversary of 9/11.
And it hit me. Those folks that died that day would've loved more chances to try for their dreams and be told "No."
So today I'm going to send out those query letters remembering that life is short and we never know when our dreams run out of chances.
Most of the "No's" aren't mean, but they're still a rejection. And, seriously, who goes looking for rejection? The truth is, most anyone that gets anything done. In baseball, a coveted .300 batting average means you fail way more than you get a hit. And for Michael Jordan to be the highest scorer, also meant he held the record of missing more shots than anyone.
Haven't we all been turned down on something we really, really wanted? But we walk away, saying that at least we tried.
So somewhere in those moments of waking up, I decided to go for some big ol' "No's" today and do it enthusiastically. (Yeah, right.) With cup of coffee in hand I turned on the news and remembered that today is the eight anniversary of 9/11.
And it hit me. Those folks that died that day would've loved more chances to try for their dreams and be told "No."
So today I'm going to send out those query letters remembering that life is short and we never know when our dreams run out of chances.
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