A dream is a wish your heart makes...

Do you know this tune?

A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you're fast asleep
In dreams you will lose your heartaches
Whatever you wish for, you keep
Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling thru
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
the dream that you wish will come true

Although this wasn't my favorite song in this animated classic, it was and is and will always be my favorite Disney movie. Any guesses? Maybe this will spark your memory:



Surprise, surprise! Cinderella of course! If only I were that chipper in the morning. Maybe if I lived in a sweet tower and had birds and mice attending me... Then again, the thought of real birds flying around in my room gives me a mini panic attack. Seriously.

But is a dream a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep? I don't know about you but I hardly ever remember my dreams. And yet I'm probably one of the biggest daydreamers I know - I mean I didn't get the nickname "Spacey" as a kid 'cause I wanted to be an astronaut... Nope. I dreamed that I'd be a ballerina. But in pursuing this dream, I didn't "lose [my] heartache," as the song says...
Year after year I'd audition for Nutcracker, and year after year I'd scan down the casting list, no "Anspach" to be found. But hope is strong in little hearts and dreams, persevering.
I was 9 and the year was 1994. My mom and I went to see my friends (and classmates) Kira Elste, Katie Lindstrom and Justine Sheedy perform in a ballet that once again I desperately wished I was a part of. Kira and Katie were Memory Children (Kira got to swing on a swing onstage - how cool is that?!!!) and Justine was a pumpkin. The ballet: Kent Stowell's Cinderella.
And as excited as I was to see my friends dance onstage, I was utterly mesmerized as the curtain rose to reveal the exquisite ballroom scene of the 2nd Act - the women dressed in these exquisite red tulle creations dancing with their handsome partners.
Just hours before I'd wanted to be a pumpkin, or even swing on a swing, but in that moment I dreamed of the day when I'd get to wear that red waltz dress and tiara and dance to that magical music.

Busted, bad-quality bathroom shot.
But at least you get the idea...

Well, today was the day. The dream that I wished did come true. It's been 17 years in the making but patience is a virtue, right? Well at the very least it's fruit the Lord's been cultivating in me.

So what happens when the dream comes true? Well you get a new one! And oh I have so many...
But this Cinderella ballet of "dreams-come-true"... well, it kind of inspires/perpetuates this habit of mine - dreaming that is.
So what's the wish my heart's making right now? It's a big wish. It's a big hope - almost as big as becoming a ballerina. But dare I speak it? Is Cinderella right? If I tell you will it not come true? Maybe if my faith is based on my dream and not on the One who gives it to me in the first place.

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still and wait patiently for him;" ~ Psalm 37:4-7.

So I delight myself in the Lord. My hope and trust are found in Him alone, and I have faith in the Author of my dreams. Cause after all, "nothing is impossible with God."
And lastly, (often the hardest part of all) I ask... I ask Him someday that I might get to trade in my red tutu for a white one, my plain pink pointe shoes for beautiful bedazzled ones and that His righteousness in me would shine like the dawn. But in the meantime, while I wait patiently for Him, I praise and thank Him for the dreams that have come true. And I waltz in red.

If you haven't bought your tickets yet for Cinderella do it now! They're going fast and the clock's already rung once... 9 more shows before the magic and the beauty vanish (but hopefully not forever!). To buy them click here.
And if you have a dream - you keep on dreaming, and don't be afraid to ask. Trust the Lord! He'll work it out for your good and His glory!