I got dreams.

Since I left my job, I've been hearing a lot of "Follow your dreams"s, "Dream big"s, and "You can do anything you set your mind to"s.  Everyone needs to have dreams, no matter how unachievable or impossible they may seem.  Dreams are what give you ambition and determination.  If we don't have dreams, what's the point?

I got dreams.

I have vocational dreams.. Ever since I was a little girl, I've gone back and forth between wanting to be an English teacher or a boutique owner.. or a country singer (but that didn't last very long, considering country music wasn't allowed in our household).  I have locational (I'm sure this isn't a word, but just go with me, okay?) dreams.. I'd always wanted to go to New York City, and, now, ever since I went for the first time, I've wanted to live there.. or Australia, thanks to the Olsen twins' "Our Lips are Sealed."  I have fun, creative dreams.. I want to learn how to decorate cakes (which I will do, beginning August 1), sew, make sugar sculptures (too much Food Network Challenge, maybe?), and paint better.  

We all have dreams..

I have other dreams, too.  More important ones.  I know I'll probably never be able to do anything that would make enough of an impact to actually make these dreams come true.  I know I'm just a small-town girl with big dreams and big hopes.  

But isn't that what dreams are about?  Wanting something to happen that seems impossible?

One day, I pray to God that I will get to see the end of abortion.  That I will get to see the day when people realize what they gave up when they walked into that abortion clinic.  I've been to an abortion clinic.. I went with two girls from my church (at the time) to pray.  So as not to seem condemning (because we would never have wanted those girls to feel condemned by us), we never said a word.  We just sat quietly and prayed for those girls who we watched walk in and out of the clinic.  And we cried.  Or I did, anyway.  If you ever want to really decide how you feel about abortion (if you haven't already), go sit outside of a clinic for a few hours.  Go see the faces of those girls as they walk out of those doors.  I guarantee you won't be able to leave without a solid opinion that will not be swayed.  I've heard debate after debate on this subject.  I've heard the rape victim argument.  I've heard the mother-will-die-without-it argument.  I've heard them all.  You can believe what you want to believe, and you can agree or disagree with me, but abortion is MURDER.  Plain and simple.  One of my biggest dreams is to see the end of it.

When I was in college, I did a research paper on "Invisible Children," which, if you've never heard of it, is an organization that raises awareness for children in Uganda, Africa who have become "night commuters."  Night commuters are children who, due to the fear of being abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army and forced to become child soldiers, walk miles and miles to sleep together in a public place.. away from their families.  One day, I hope to hear that all of these children are safe.  That they never have to do that again.  That they never have to fear for their lives again.  That they can grow up to be normal children with normal lives.  That their families will never have to worry about their babies again.  That the term "child soldier" will become a thing of the past.

A few months ago, we had a missionary come to our church that works with victims of human trafficking in Europe.  I listened as she told story after story of the women that she has helped escape from their captors.  The cruelty that encompasses this "trade" is completely unfathomable to me.  One day, I hope to never again have to watch a documentary on human trafficking, not because it's too hard to watch, but because it doesn't happen anymore.  One day, I hope that all of the women whose lives have been taken away by their captors will heal and be restored completely.  One day, I hope that no one will ever have to wonder if the job they are traveling across the world to accept is real or a trick.

I know these dreams are huMONGous.  I know that I don't have the influence or the resources to cause any of these dreams to take place singlehandedly.  I know that evil is so rampant in this world that none of them will probably ever happen.  

But I will never stop dreaming.