Wednesday November 23 2016  I HAVE A DREAM

 

The world is falling apart around us and each year people die by the thousands from starvation in underdeveloped countries.  Innocent people are being murdered because they are in the way of someone else’s religious persuasion. Wars mercilessly ravage some countries, women are held captive as sex slaves, and nature leaves paths of destruction.  We (U.S. citizens) go about our daily lives as if none of this is taking place around the world.  So many silently dismiss the thought that here in the U.S. thousands of innocent babies are murdered each year as they are excavated from their mother’s womb at abortion clinics.

I stated the above because of the title of this blog.  I actually was thinking of a dream I have and then when I gave pause as to what is truly happening in all parts of the globe all those scenarios popped into my mind and it put my dream on the back burner.  It even made me embarrassed to even bring it up.  As I thought about my dream in the light of the difficulties and horrors of so many individuals on this earth it made me ashamed.  I always ask myself, what can I do?  I do not feel even the least bit effective in helping with the horrors that are happening even as I sit here writing.

Contributions can help a cause if it gets in the right hands.  Adopting children from worn torn countries can help if you are in the right circumstances.  Some people go to foreign countries and work among the sick, homeless, and starving offering the services of their professions for a limited time.  But what can I do?  And when I stop to think about all the aforementioned I realize that I am where I am for a purpose.  I am here, living in the United States because this is where I was born.  I am here living in this house because this is where Dave and I decided to raise our children.  I am the neighbor of the people next door.  I am the face across the table at the Senior Center, I am the older woman shopping at Aldi’s, and there are hurting people all around me.  There are those who are at times blessed by a simple smile, a friendly greeting, or an act of kindness.  There is always something to do to make someone’s day brighter, if and when you make yourself available.  And then the answer comes to me about what I can do.  I can do whatever it is God wants me to do in any one day.  I can give a smile, a word of encouragement, volunteer for events, or lend a listening ear.  I can share my story if it is appropriate and I can share God’s story of divine intervention.

Whoever we are, wherever we go, regardless our talents, resources, personality, age, or race, we can extend love to those around us.  I am the vessel that God uses to extend His love to others.  And it is awesome when someone else bestows that same feeling of love and acceptance on me, a total stranger.  That happened today.  I was at Aldi’s shopping when I rounded a corner and came face to face with a woman who looked at me, gave me a bright, sincere smile, and caught me off guard.  I’m the one that usually smiles at strangers.  Occasionally I’ll even receive a smile back or even a short conversation.  Well, today it was reversed.  I was actually shocked to see such a glow on a woman’s face when she looked me.  There was light and life in her eyes and a beautiful smile upon her face.  I found myself startled for a second, I gave her a slow smile in response thinking perhaps she knew me, and I continued past her.  I then turned around and spoke to her.  I said, “I really appreciated your smile, it was awesome”.  She turned and looked me in the eyes with a glow about her.  I told her “I love to smile at people too but I was caught off guard by your smile because seldom do people make eye contact and very rarely smile in return, much less be the one to smile first.”  She looked me in the face with such sweet sincerity and said, “I smile because I am a Christian”.  I responded, “I too love God with all my heart and am a Christian”.  I then said, “It shows upon your face because it’s as if the glory of God rests upon you”.  And it was so true.  I hope that I have that same sincerity and that Jesus shines through me like He does with that woman I met today.  And in my heart, I now know, that though I can’t go overseas and rescue the hungry and dying, I can give a smile to everyone I met.  Try it, you might like it.

And though I am so blessed to live in the United States, to live in a house, have food to eat, and own things, I do not need to feel guilty.  I am where God intends me to be and I can still have dreams.  And the dream I was thinking about as I wrote the title of this blog was wishing that I could afford a crew of workers to come in and clean my house from top to bottom about once a month.  It seems so trivial in the light of global issues, but as I age it would certainly make it easier for me.  And when I think about it I wonder if it would be selfish or stingy for me to do just that.  Well…when it comes right down to it I don’t think it will happen.  Perhaps I could live guilt free if I only did it once a year.

The reason I even thought of such a dream is because yesterday I spent quite a few hours cleaning my kitchen surfaces.  I paced myself; slow, easy, and thorough.  And oh what a delight it was to get up to such a clean and sparkling kitchen.  It gave me a feeling of peace and calm.  Mostly it was just the knowledge that the dust and grime was gone and the surfaces had been disinfected.  

Perhaps it is too soon to give up my dream.  Who knows, maybe dreams still come true.

 

I HAVE A DREAM

Kathleen Martens

November 23, 2016

www.visionsofpoetry.com

 

What is in one’s heart

No one really knows.

Unless it is shared it with others

Rarely do dreams show.

 

No dream is too small,

Nor is a dream too grand.

In quiet reverie of reflection

A dream never demands.

 

A dream is really not much more

Than a wish unfulfilled

And most likely will not come to pass

When in time left un-tilled.

 

To make a dream into a goal

A date of accomplishment set,

And that dream will not happen

Until certain qualifications are met.

 

So any dream can come true

When the mind sets its aim,

With a future timeline in place

It is no longer a wishful game.

 

So set your sights.

Put a work plan into action.

With realistic deadlines in place

Your goal will gain traction.

 

And no longer will you have a dream

Because reality will take its place.

Once your goal has been accomplished

It will have been worth your race.

 

Thank You God for the beautiful smile I received today.

Thank You Lord that You smile through me.

Thank You too for my dreams.

Thank You for my house, even though it is not always tidy.

Thank You God for watching over me.

 

GOOD NIGHT AND GOD BLESS  YOU!

REMEMBER, WHEN YOU GET DRESSED TOMORROW DON’T FORGET TO PUT YOUR SMILE ON!