The Trouble with Dreaming

The trouble with dreaming is that all dreams come with a price tag.

This thought came to me a couple weeks ago when my family and I visited a new restaurant “hot spot” here in Jacksonville (Maple Street Biscuit Company in San Marco to be exact).  At this particular best-biscuit-breakfast-ever-location, one of their trademarks (or quirks?) is to ask each customer, “What is your dream vacation destination?” upon placing an order. When your order is ready, instead of calling out your family’s name (boring!), they call out the dream vacation spot in its place.

The question will catch you off-guard for sure, but, all in all, it’s fun.

It’s cutesy, even.

It’s surprisingly original.

It’s refreshingly unique.

It also reveals something about people.

It reveals….

Wait for it….

            Where they would rather be.

             Where their mind wanders to.

              Where they dream of going. Plain and simple, right?

Right, well, when I went there with my family, we teased my dad because he said “Australia” and apparently the entire restaurant should’ve just shut down and boarded planes to Australia that day because there were seriously about 6 other families/orders under the same vacation destination. It got tricky. Not only did we tease dad about that, but we also questioned him about the generality of his answer. It went something like this, “Seriously, dad? A whole continent? Couldn’t narrow it down a bit??”

As we were teasing him, I think one of the people in line must have overheard our conversation because you’ll never believe what happened next. I know you won’t because I was there, and I couldn’t even believe it. As we were waiting on our Australia order #7 to be ready, one of the workers called out, “Tallahassee!”

My exact thoughts: “Are they serious right now?!?”

My exact words that followed: “Are they serious right now?!?”

Out of all the places in the world one could dare to “dream vacation” to….. Tallahassee, Florida? That had to be some sort of joke. That’s like someone offering to take you to Disney World, and you saying, “No thanks, I think I’ll play with the Disney character stuffed animals in the Wal-mart toy section instead.” Seriously, WHO WOULD DO THAT?!? haha…

But seriously, who would do that?

A person with a small amount of time to think through the questions? Possibly.

A person with a small checkbook? Perhaps.

A person with small dreams? Bingo!

On that day, waiting for the yummy breakfast, my heart got sad for the man who blissfully picked up his food after the owner said, “Tallahassee!” Not necessarily because he was headed to Tallahassee in his mind (or was it?), but because his response represented something far more saddening in my mind.

That day, that man, and that “dream” vacation selection all combined to lead me to these two messy-yet-truthful thoughts:

1. Some “dreams” will cost you far too little (and far too much, all at the same time).

These are, in all actuality, our small, attainable excuses for “dreams.”

These are the ones we settle upon after we dismiss the truest, deepest desires of our hearts and minds and God-given abilities.

They’re attainable by any measure you choose to measure with, but they may get you “stuck” in Tallahassee mode, so-to-speak, when you could have the whole world at your fingertips

2. Some will cost you far too much.

They will pain you to chase after them.

They are BIG dreams.

The ones we have when we are awake.

The ones that get inside (or perhaps are pre-knit inside?) the very fabric of our hearts, souls, and dear sweet personalities.

These are the dreams that truly matter. For, they make us feel most like ourselves and they free us to be the most alive we’ve ever felt. (Ever been there and felt that and got a t-shirt to prove it?)

These dreams must ALWAYS be laid on the altar of Sovereignty and accomplished in His timing, His way, and His ultimate plan.

We really have very limited control of how these kind of dreams turn out, but they simply can’t be ignored, either.

These kind of dreams will, most likely, change your everything.

But they will cost you.

Far.

Too.

Much.

They will pain you to chase after them. But then again, they will pain you more if you don’t.

And that’s the trouble with dreaming.

One kind wrecks you, pains you, costs you, and changes you.

The other sends you to Tallahassee.