Dreams for my Daughters

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I want my daughters lives to be like. As Bryan and I lay awake at night together, dreaming about our future, that's the topic that comes up the most. How do we want their childhoods to be spent?

It took us some time, but we've realized--without doubt--that parenting is the calling God has given us for this season. (see this post for that story) In light of that realization, we want to have specific goals and dreams for our daughters.We are still searching for the full vision for their lives, but a few things are already sure:

1) I want them to be dreamers. Whenever I'm asked to describe myself as a young girl, one phrase always passes through my lips, "I was forever chasing fireflies and catching dreams". You see, I was a dreamer, and I want the same for my daughters. I fear that their generation is so full of electronics and social networking that they will lose the art of play. I don't want my daughters to connect with each other over X-box Kinect... but rather I want them to connect by losing themselves in the mystery of their own imaginations. I want them to run wild and free in a spacious backyard. I want them to climb a tree and enter a kingdom full of possibility. I don't want their fancy dress up games to be outfitting their avatars on the Wii... but rather to open a trunk in their bedroom where they've collected piles of ribbon and tulle, too big high heels and feathered boas. I want them to run barefoot through the tall grass, to feel the wind and sunshine on their faces and in their hair. I want them to learn responsibility not through having to constantly check back on their Farmville crops, but through feeding their puppies and watering their pony. I want them to run and laugh and play. To lay in the grass, look at the clouds and lose themselves in possibility. I want them to dream without limit and to hope without fear of disappointment.

2) I want them to enjoy life. I remember watching "Bridge to Terebithia" a couple of years ago. There was a scene in the movie where the little girl comes home from school and her parents tell her that they're on a mission to paint their living room gold so that by sunset, the light would bounce off the walls and "catch fire". When they're done, they all sit on the floor with popcorn and lemonade, admiring their work and enjoying that messy moment of blissful togetherness. That image has stuck with me... the idea of being carefree enough to let loose just so my children can have special, happy memories. To not worry about the messiness of life, but just to allow life to happen in its purest form--sloppy, unplanned, flawed, accidentally beautiful life.

3) I want them to know how much they're loved. ...and not only by me. I adore my beautiful girls... but I'm not the only one who does. They have a father who would give the world for them. A daddy who protects and loves them with a fierceness that takes my breath away. In a world that knows fatherlessness all too well, my daughters are blessed enough to know the love of a daddy who has given himself fully to his God-given role. They will never wonder if they are beautiful--he will tell them that they are. They will never question that they are protected--his strong arms will answer them. They will never need to look for the picture of true manhood--their father is a firm example. And Bryan's example is God. An example that will never fail--One that will pick up the pieces that Bryan can't fit. the One who will answer the questions we can't resolve. I want my girls to know how deeply and passionately their Heavenly Father yearns for their hearts. And I want for them to give Him their hearts without reserve. Only love given fully can know love completely.

I realize that those are broad, and undefined, and leave a lot to still be envisioned... but those are the 3 main things that I dream for my girls. And I hope and pray that they are dreams that will come true.