Dreaming

  It was an unanticipated conversation. We had arrived for the December Coffee House at NAC and after having greeted several regulars I sat down with one. The conversation immediately turned to my vacation type experiences, ranging from house boating, to motorcycling, to hiking the Appalachian Trail. We went on to talk about several other things that I want to do, although not qualifying for long term trips, do fall into the ‘not normal’ category (bungy jumping, mountain climbing, spelunking, parachuting, hang gliding, etc.). Eventually we got around to the “Why?” question. Why do I seek out adventure when most do not? Am I simply a thrill seeker or an adrenalin junkie? Admittedly, I think that if you have to ask the question you probably wouldn’t understand the answer. I am not seeking a new thrill. I do not get a buzz from an adrenalin high. I am simply not satisfied with what has been.
  Somewhere, couched within that rambling conversation was the nexus of an epiphany. It was while I was attending the recent Church Planting Catalyst Conference at BWI that it occurred to me. It is now conspicuously obvious that my life isn’t as partitioned as most (marriage, ministry, pleasure). As I was attempting to understand how men in long term ministry could protest a vision so in keeping with their stated Kingdom values that my bulb came on. (You know, the one over my head.) Where once they had dreamed about the possibilities of the future and been fueled by the prospects, they no longer were. It is not unlike most marriages that begin in passion and end in apathy.
  I have been marriage more than 35 years. Honestly, it is better now than it has ever been. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not a hopeless romantic. No one who knows me would ever draw that conclusion. What keeps the flame alive is that we have never stopped dreaming together. Before we had kids or two cents to rub together we used to go to RV shows or dealerships and bask in their wonder. “Oh cool, a microwave, color television, refrigerator and a bathroom with a shower!” We then returned to our two person tent absent all of the innovations. It was the dreaming, not the having, that inspired us and continues to do so. As we look toward our retirement years, we are doing so sharing a dream of our next adventure.
  Just as my personal spirit of adventure and my marriage have never stopped dreaming, neither has my Kingdom consciousness. What keeps me engaged and compels me into multiple church planting activities is my Kingdom dreaming. I am fully convinced that dreams are an evidence of vibrant life, regardless of the arena and the minute we stop dreaming, we stop living.