I’m sitting in my warm house, sipping coffee, and listening to the fall of the rain on this wet, summer morning.  It has not been like this for long.  I’m in training for a 15K and when I got up this morning, I had a choice: run in the rain, or not.

So began the standoff with my running partner. Who would call first?  About 5 minutes to take-off, she called and we debated whether or not to run.  “It won’t be that bad,” were our thoughts.  So to avoid the treadmill, we decided to go, thinking very highly of ourselves.  We were runners after all!

Well, it did not take long to discover we were wrong.  We forgot what happens to a dirt road after two days of solid rain.  Did I mention that my running partner pushes her three year old in a jogging stroller?  Though her daughter was covered with rain gear and was quite warm and dry, we were drenched in mud and water!   As we sloshed our way through the mud, I thought about our misconceptions and how much easier it would have been to stay home and in bed.  But then I thought about our dream to race. It would not allow us to stay in bed. It would not allow us to rationalize our comfort and forgo this experience.  To do otherwise would result in the death of a dream.

I have had many dreams in life and I have let many of them die.  I’m forty+ years old and I’m tired of letting go of so many dreams because it is hard.  Maybe it’s middle age, or maybe it’s just the reality that ALL dreams require hard work and perseverance to be fulfilled.  I don’t want to live in a small box always afraid to step out.  I want to experience all those things that God made me for. I want to fulfill His dreams for me.

So, it requires that I run in the rain.  Your dreams will always cost you something and you will be tempted to throw in the towel believing the lie: “it’s not worth it.”  On the contrary, nothing feels better than pushing yourself beyond what you previously believed possible and realizing the beauty of living out a dream.

America used to talk a lot about dreams. It was a land of promise and possibility.  This week we remember and celebrate the life of man who believed in pursuing a dream.  Martin Luther King inspired so many to push back against bad ideas and believe for greater things. But he did not just believe. He persevered and stepped out to make the dream a reality.  It cost him everything and we have reaped the benefits of his perseverance.

I fear that Americans have forgotten to dream.  Equally true, I fear we have forgotten to teach our children how to dream.  We live in virtual boxes of our own making and stay safe and comfortable behind the screen or video game console.   We envy our neighbor always believing that someone or something is keeping the dream from us.  We cater to our children teaching them that someone else will pave the road in front of them so they miss out on the beauty of learning to dream which is unique to humanity.  No other species can boast of this great gift bestowed upon us by our Creator.  We would do well to teach our children to dream and then instill in them the discipline skills necessary to make it a reality.

My running partner is a better runner than I am.  I used to envy her ability to run faster than me…until today.   As I watched her struggle to push that stroller through the muck and mud, I realized I did not envy her today.  It’s easy to believe that the dreams of others come easier than your own.   But if we put nothing in, we will always get nothing out.

As I peeled off my muddy, wet, running clothes and ran upstairs to put on warm, dry clothes, I was grateful.  Not just grateful to be inside and warm, but mostly grateful for my dreams…and for the opportunity to run in the rain.