Dreams are tricky things. I think we're made to have them - to always be expecting something more, working for something important. This weekend I accomplished a "small-d" dream. A team of us got together and did the Mt. Taylor Quadrathlon. It was so fun! We were bussed up to the mountain at 7:00 (actually it ended up being 8:00, but whatever), waited around in the cold and wind watching other contestants (including many soloists who planned to do all four events their crazy selves!) and getting to our respective transfer points, till Tim rode the 13 miles up hill. Then Tara ran 5 miles up hill. John skiied 2 miles up hill. And I showshoed the last mile up and then right back down. Back to John, Tara, Tim, while the rest of us gradually made our ways back to the bus stop to get back to town. Man, it was fun! Fun to be on a mountain in the freezing cold, fun to meet a lot of nervous people waiting for their event, fun to talk with people from various parts of mountainous states, fun to plan for enough warm clothes and energy drinks to be at each stop. And especially, fun to do better than we thought we would! Turned out we had trained enough, not to do stellarly, but to do pretty darn good. And the guy we didn't know who joined our team three days before the Quadrathlon turned out to be a great skiier and an even better teammate. So our team of 3 people from Zuni and one from Santa Fe got second place in our age category (which was small... but you know, gotta boast sometimes ;-)), and had a lot of fun into the bargain.

"Little d" dreams are exciting to plan for, fun to train/prepare/anticipate for, and then when you finish you go back to life as normal. "Capital D" dreams, though, are another animal altogether. "Capital D" dreams shape your whole life. Or your life shapes them. Sometimes I don't know which way it is. More importantly, though, "Capital D" Dreams have to go through the fire of sanctification. I have never had too many Dreams, but there are a few that I hold onto very dearly. I want to make a difference in the world. Mainly, in my Dream, this has to do with reaching kids with the love of Jesus. And, I want to have a family. Only two Dreams. Is that so very hard to accomplish? Yes. Because, while I think my Dreams were planted in me by God and incorporate important aspects of His job for me down here on earth, I don't always understand them quite right. When God gives me a Dream, He knows what exactly I should do. I'm not always good at comprehending what someone is trying to tell me at the best of times, and when it is my Heavenly Father speaking with His eternal perspective, I more often than not get the wrong idea.

Here is the right idea, I think: God will fulfill His Dreams for me, because He knows that is the way that the earth (and I, too!) will see His glory and know His love. Sanctification is the process of changing my Dreams into His Dreams. It is teaching me to trust that He does best and submit to His way. It is painful, because sometimes it seems like He is doing the exact opposite of what I want. Sometimes I wonder if He is listening to me at all. But really, I don't want anything unless it's His Dream. I know from experience that His ways are good. And I want to know my good God and His ways. That's my biggest Dream.