Everyone has a dream… at first thought you might say that you don’t… or you might say that dreams are for children and better left in fairy tales… or maybe you’ve just lost sight of it…gave up on it…waved the white flag of surrender and closed the book?

When I was a young girl (many moons ago), I dreamed of being a ballerina.  I loved Saturday mornings when my mom would drive me to ballet class in Dover, NJ.  The “something” School of Ballet was in an old brick building with hardwood floors that creaked like an old rocking chair.  I can still see the over-sized classroom with mirrored walls and ballet bars, and feeling the warmth of old radiators you couldn’t dance too close to.

I was enamored with the whole feel of it; the black leotards and ballet-pink tights...the french terms like “pirouette, plie, jete...” Oh, and I bet you thought that “fondu” was just to dip your bread cube into, and “frappe” was your new favorite drink at McDonald’s.

Ballet is a beautiful art, but behind the beauty and graceful moves of the dance, is hard work and long hours… For me, it was not to be.  In fifth grade I had to give up my beloved dancing lessons; alas, enter Osgood–Schlatter.  Some of you may know what that is, but for those of you who don’t, it’s a condition due to stress on the patellar tendon. Pain in the knees was the first sign, and it was all downhill after that…no P.E. for an entire school year, and worst of all, no ballet….

I eventually grew out of the condition, and tried to go back to dancing, but it was never the same.  I had to face reality; and besides, I was way too short and lacked the long extensions, fingertip to toe, synonymous of ballerina stature.

Even though I wasn’t destined to dance with a ballet company, I could still dance if I wanted to, just for the joy of it.  I could still go to the ballet, and especially love The Nutcracker at Christmastime….And yes, I am guilty of forcing lessons upon my daughter, trying to live my dream through her…but that didn’t work….She didn’t like ballet...So you can’t really live your dream through someone else…time to change direction…

We all experience change, and dreams can change too.  God has a path for each of us…already paved and cleared…

“You will show me the path of life; In your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore”  Psalm 16:11.

If a dream doesn’t line up with His plan for your life, “the path of life”...move on…Let it go…As we mature, God puts new desires within us...new plans, new dreams..

For me the dream of writing and speaking is now my “ballet”, minus the toe shoes and pirouettes...So I write...the difference is that my dream is not just for me anymore… I am writing for Him and that changes everything…

I’d love to hear about some of your dreams… Have you had a change of direction regarding a dream?