Dreamer, Dream Keeping, Dream Stealing

I had a former student, who is home on break, text me to see if I was at school yesterday.  I was, and said, "Come see us!"

She stopped in to talk, update us on her life, and tell us about her hopes and dreams.  She is hoping to travel to Costa Rica soon on a medical relief mission, under the auspices of a non-governmental organization.  Her heart is so pure, so filled with love for others, and so much like what I wish I had.

She has an opportunity to witness first-hand what she only gets to read about in school.  In her letter to me, she writes,

It is with frank humbleness that I seek your support in this objective.  My goal has always been to help destitute societies throughout the world. Indeed, I aspire to travel to underprivileged countries around the world to personally witness these issues and find ways to improve the living conditions of these individuals-individuals just like you and me...

I have been teaching long enough to begin receiving these types of requests.  My wife and I helped a former player of mine travel to South Africa this past summer on a mission trip.  [He interviewed today in Orlando for a position with a non-profit organization that focuses on helping children.  I hope it went well.]  He gave my wife and I two framed photographs of a elephant (that charged their vehicle for nearly a mile) and a giraffe they passed as they went from one village to another.  Both photos are now in my classroom.  I will use them to motivate my current and future students.

I am a dreamer - I truly believe that I can change the world.  It may not be me who does the exact work, but perhaps one of my students will.  I believe one of the will...someday.

I am a dream keeper - I want to know what my former students are growing into as people.  I want to know their dreams, keep them in my mind to pray for them to come true in their lives, and perhaps to motivate them when they return to visit me.

I also shed some tears when I speak with these students who feel so alone, and frustrated, and disheartened when they continually have people try to steal their dreams.  They may not mean to do it, but there are those who will try to get these students to think rationally; that it is impossible to do the things they hope to do; that they're misguided youth who will need to get a better, firmer footing in the world. 

They mean well, I'm sure...but it is a form of dream-stealing.  I've witnessed the dream being stolen in real-time through the years, and I have witnessed the actual physical changes in the young person as their heart breaks when those of us "older and wiser" people steal their dreams.

So, my wife and I are about to write another check to a former student.  It is our investment and offering.  The return we seek is a happier life of what is and was, so later they won't experience the life that could have been - had someone not stolen their dream.  Oh, yeah...I do like souvenirs, pictures, or a guest lecture/question/answer in my classroom.

So what are you?  A Dreamer, Dream-Keeper, or Dream-Stealer?

Posted via email from Murry's World