Series–Summer Snapshots
Dreams Can Come True
By Paula Moldenhauer
The tension in the room seeped into me. It was as though I felt not only my own concerns, but also the stress of my son, the other contenders, and the anxious parents who lined the hockey rink. We all knew this was a big deal. Not many 15 year olds get to play at this level.
The boys swirled before our eyes, their unrelenting feet moving in rhythm, the hockey puck spinning right and left, its movement punctuated by the thud as it came into contact with an eager skater’s expensive stick.
Today my son wore number 59. Every time he jumped over the wall, the number bold on his back, my eyes followed his movement. My stomach churned at his errors, and my heart danced at his suave successes. I tried to watch the other competitors, but I noticed mostly him.
Surely the coaches would notice, too. Surely they would see his skill.
But nay sayers had said it couldn’t happen. A kid who’d played competitive ice for only a year couldn’t make this kind of team.
I just wanted the whole experience over.
By the time the buzzer sounded I couldn’t wait to get home where I piled his plate full of pasta and refilled his juice glass. They promised an answer in 3-4 days, and right then that seemed like an eternity. He could hardly even talk to me until he’d decompressed for a good hour, filling his stomach and releasing the nervous tension that had pressed upon him as he gave it his all.
I’d believed for days he would make the team. He’d dug deep and performed well, but after that last round of try-outs I feared disappointment more than I dreamed of success.
Isn’t that just like us?
We remember the hard moments in life—the times it has stolen our dreams, crushed our hopes, and stifled our desires. And so even when things are going well, we fear the worst instead of believing the best. We shove aside the thoughts that this time our dream just might come true.
But our God is not the God of no hope. He promises that the plans He has for us are good—that they include a hope and a future.
Today at the hockey rink my tension rose because I so longed for the good, but so feared
disappointment for my loved one. A little more confidence that God has a plan for my son, a little more trust that His plan includes a hope and a future, just might have lowered the stress level and given me confidence that whatever the outcome of the try-outs my son would be cared for by a God of hope.
But instead all I saw in front of me was a throng of talented skaters all reaching for the same goal my son strove for—and all facing the possibility of crushed dreams.
May God help us trust Him in all things. May He give us the courage to believe that sometimes dreams do come true. May He grant us supernatural ability to hope.
Oh, and by the way, just a bit ago the phone rang. My son made the team.
www.soulscents.us
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The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
—Eleanor Roosevelt
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