Fantasy and reality often overlap. ~Walt Disney
Disneyland. Little girls in princess attire, mouse-eared moms. A damp-haired toddler, one Tigger-bounce away from a meltdown, rubs his sticky eyes. I nod in sympathy.
Humidity and happiness compete for our allegiance as the temperature climbs. It occurs to me that in one day I will bump into more sweaty strangers than my ancestors knew existed.
Desperate dreams…
There was another time the strains of zippity do dah failed to inspire. Seven years ago, Disneyland with the family–in the dim light of the Aladdin show I let frustrated tears come. After long months of prayer, a roller coaster of hopes raised and stomped on, another disappointment. A call had come while we waited in line, “Sorry, you didn’t get the job.” My son’s jaw clenched as he turned off his phone.
“When you wish upon a star your dreams come true,” crooned the mocking voice in my head. I focused my desperation not on the cricket, but on the God who awakens our dreams. “Is it all a lie? Do our prayers, do we, matter to you? Are we left to hide from our longings, to accept whatever fate decides?”
Later, as the nightly fireworks faded, I heard an answer.
“My child, I have something so much more profound to give you than the shallow mythology of this place. If you live as if Follow Me means Acquire Me, magic wand included, only disappointment waits.” I swallowed hard. “Yet,” I whispered back, “nothing is impossible with you. You taught us that tiny seed-faith moves mountains, and we have planted all our hopes in you.”
…come true.
Recently, as I strolled through Disney’s enchanted lands with husband and daughter, my son welcomed new students to high school algebra. I wonder if seven years ago he didn’t get the job we prayed for, because God had in mind the job he was made for.
“Take delight in the LORD,” the psalmist urges, “and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Dream. Let God enfold your dream into his. And watch while he makes the together-dream come true. That’s what Jiminy Cricket really meant.
Do you trust God with your dreams, with the deep desires of your heart?
