Dreams in to Goals

Do you ever have a thought, a good solid thought, and then after it comes a revelation?

I shared a memory this morning, as it has been 2 years since my family went to Disney. And I wrote:
“This trip was so fun! I had been planning it for well over a decade. I think since I was pregnant with Elaina actually. I had very particular goals. I wanted the kids to all be old enough to remember it, walk all day without getting tired, and enjoy every second of it. We found Dave Ramsey a few years before this. So then we added in that this trip would be paid for in cash when we were in Baby Step 3. This was so much more than a trip for me. It was my family celebrating goals that we had reached together This trip was a long time in the making. And it will always be a thing that makes me smile. It was so much more than Disney itself “

Then I thought, maybe the beginning of this goal started as a dream many years earlier than I knew. I remember sitting in elementary school, 3rd grade, and a girl was missing a week of school because her family was going to Disney. This was within the year after my parents had divorced. My brother and I weren’t allowed to tell people where we lived. My mom knew that the house we lived in would have been condemned, so we had to keep it a secret. There was only a wood burner in the dining room. My bedroom was freezing on the 2nd floor. The plumbing froze without central heat and my mom melted snow on the stove so we would have water. That was the year that a local church adopted our family for Christmas. We were happy! My mom somehow held it all together and we never felt like we were missing out. ❤

When that girl was getting extra assignments because she was leaving for Disney, it sounded nice. But, I wasn’t jealous. I knew we wouldn’t be doing anything like that. But I thought, I wanted to go there some day. It sounded fun. Yep, that was something I would do some day.

I got to go with the band in high school. We went and marched in the parade at Disney. It was a wonderful time. 🙂 And I knew I’d be back one day! Maybe the seeds for our family vacation were planted when I was 7, sitting in a classroom – happy and content with my life, while sticking ideas in my head for things to do in life.

Tonight I am thankful for all the pieces in my life that God wove together to make me who I am today. I am thankful for a faithful God who loves to bless us. And I am thankful for the mental resets along the way when I gave myself permission and expectation to dream bigger and set goals that stretch me. I am thankful for my family who dreams and sets goals together. Oh, and I’m thankful for Disney!! What an absolutely fun place to go!