Childlike Dreaming
As a little girl, I used to dream. A lot.
Time and time again I would find myself sitting cross-legged, on my bedroom floor. Seven years old with my dreams in tow; building, creating. Making those dreams a reality. Not an unusual pastime for me, but a regular occurrence. Though my tools were far and few in between - if they even existed at all - I whimsically pursued what it was I wanted to create, where my imagination wanted to take me. Whether this was taking my Mother’s old (and new – sorry Mum!) shoe boxes and turning them into miniature homes, with beds, chairs, windows and doors or hiding in the gap between our two red sofas, just where the arms met, pretending it was my fortress. The wonder of it all never ceased. Reality of course saw otherwise. But what I saw…
What a child sees.
Children have such an incredible ability to imagine and to dream. Wonder, with its ability to capture the mind, skips playfully behind. It amazes how lost a child can be in wonder, refusing doubt and restrictions so effortlessly. The ability to surrender to reason is non-existent. They are fearless in adventure. They believe things just are simply because they can be, weaving this into their reality.
As a little girl, I used to dream. A lot.
Time and time again I would find myself sitting cross-legged, on my bedroom floor. Seven years old with my dreams in tow; building, creating. Making those dreams a reality. Not an unusual pastime for me, but a regular occurrence. Though my tools were far and few in between - if they even existed at all - I whimsically pursued what it was I wanted to create, where my imagination wanted to take me. Whether this was taking my Mother’s old (and new – sorry Mum!) shoe boxes and turning them into miniature homes, with beds, chairs, windows and doors or hiding in the gap between our two red sofas, just where the arms met, pretending it was my fortress. The wonder of it all never ceased. Reality of course saw otherwise. But what I saw…
What a child sees.
Children have such an incredible ability to imagine and to dream. Wonder, with its ability to capture the mind, skips playfully behind. It amazes how lost a child can be in wonder, refusing doubt and restrictions so effortlessly. The ability to surrender to reason is non-existent. They are fearless in adventure. They believe things just are simply because they can be, weaving this into their reality.
The Dreamers, The Doers
Moments pass just as the years move along. We soon find we have sailed through our momentary youth into circumstances filled with responsibility. Here, the weight of reality sets in. What we once knew to do by heart becomes a distant memory. We busy ourselves with the routines of life, caught up in its ebb and flow. Still there are voids. Empty spaces that stay empty. We find ourselves trying to fill them without fully knowing how. Often unaware, we search for fulfilment but only achieve attainment. Attainment in careers, status, relationships. But none suffice.
Moments pass just as the years move along. We soon find we have sailed through our momentary youth into circumstances filled with responsibility. Here, the weight of reality sets in. What we once knew to do by heart becomes a distant memory. We busy ourselves with the routines of life, caught up in its ebb and flow. Still there are voids. Empty spaces that stay empty. We find ourselves trying to fill them without fully knowing how. Often unaware, we search for fulfilment but only achieve attainment. Attainment in careers, status, relationships. But none suffice.
"Deep within every human heart throbs the undying hope that somebody or something will bring both an explanation of what life is all about and a way to retain the wonder."
‘Recapture the Wonder’ // Dr. Ravi Zacharias
‘Recapture the Wonder’ // Dr. Ravi Zacharias
May 2014 found me sitting in a café in Winchester, broken. It was a time of brokenness for me over many things. I had somehow suppressed a side of me. What once brought me so much joy and liberation, had been slowly suffocating as the years passed by. What I love about God and His beautiful nature is His seemingly recurring ability to pull beauty out of the broken. Tried and refined.
I made a choice that day. To take a risk. To dream again and to live out those dreams like I had once done as a child. It went beyond me starting a business, pursuing creativity and something that I loved to do. Rather to dream with God and journey with Him into the most unexpected places in the most supernatural ways. Places where the unexpected and supernatural became natural. To not touch ground with God.
A major catalyst for this was, and is, David's Tent. Here the revelation of wonder captivated me again, and again and again. I began to see with fresh eyes, through a child's eyes.
Wonder is so much closer than we think. We are completely surrounded by it. We have to make a choice to pursue it. Without doubt, never surrendering to reason. To go back to our child-like nature and reclaim what we lost sight of.
I leave you with this.
I made a choice that day. To take a risk. To dream again and to live out those dreams like I had once done as a child. It went beyond me starting a business, pursuing creativity and something that I loved to do. Rather to dream with God and journey with Him into the most unexpected places in the most supernatural ways. Places where the unexpected and supernatural became natural. To not touch ground with God.
A major catalyst for this was, and is, David's Tent. Here the revelation of wonder captivated me again, and again and again. I began to see with fresh eyes, through a child's eyes.
Wonder is so much closer than we think. We are completely surrounded by it. We have to make a choice to pursue it. Without doubt, never surrendering to reason. To go back to our child-like nature and reclaim what we lost sight of.
I leave you with this.
"Earth's crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes. The rest sit around it and pluck blackberries."
'Aurora Leigh' // Elizabeth Barrett Browning
'Aurora Leigh' // Elizabeth Barrett Browning
(F + W are pleased to announce that they will be selling their pieces this year at David's Tent Market Place! Find more details on the 'Events Page'.)
Visit: DavidsTent.net
Visit: DavidsTent.net
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