Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: DREAM (01/02/20)
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TITLE: A Dream with a View | Previous Challenge Entry
By Holly Short
01/07/20 -
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I kept my eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel of “just enough truck” to bridge the gap between who I was and who I wanted the world to see. I knew he didn’t really care about my answer, but the catch in my throat couldn’t hold back what came out and my words surprised even me.
“That’s it?” he asked.
A couple kids. Me standing at the kitchen window of a little house watching them play. A family.
Yes, that was it. A dream so far from the road I was on it emerged barely above a whisper. I felt shame in the sharing and changed the subject. Sadly, his voice echoed that of the world and I nearly listened too long.
Last night, that old truck and passenger long gone, my husband and I tucked our two kids into bed.
With the press of my daughter’s forehead still faint on my lips and my son’s sleepy eyes focused on mine, I thought about how hard it is to keep the fear of losing them at bay. How Jesus, “the author and perfecter of [my] faith,”1 asks me to hold these dreams-come-true with an open hand as he writes a script for my life that far exceeds the earthly desires of my heart. How loving these children so deeply forces me to face my own inadequacy and “fixing [my] eyes on Jesus”2 becomes my only hope.
Our kids down for the night, my husband and I sat in two swivel chairs side by side. In the welcome silence I took a long look at the man who had been beside me for so many years.
“I like your squinty spots.” I said.
The glow from the computer screen illuminated his sideways glance.
“You mean my crow’s feet?”
“I’ve never thought of them as crow’s feet, only squinty spots, and I like them.”
His eyes smiled. Backs to the darkened room of our rented double-wide, we both leaned in closer to the glow of the American dream now within reach. My husband’s hand controlled the mouse as dozens of houses for sale scrolled past and so did our bedtime.
“Tell me what you are looking for in a house.”
“Well,” I said, “I’m dreaming of a kitchen window overlooking the backyard.”
He said that might be hard but we would try.
I nodded, knowing my mind and hands needed to be open. Because really, dream-house or not, I can put my roots down deep anywhere as long as my only view is up.3
1 Hebrews 12:2 (NAS) with author's paraphrase
2 Hebrews 12:2 (NAS) with author's paraphrase
3 This is a work of nonfiction
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