October 8, 2014

Wanna Be In My Band?

“Hey Mom, guess what? I’m in a band now!”

My then 9 year old son was sitting at the kitchen island having his after-school snack and after I got over the initial shock of hearing him voluntarily share something about his day, I quickly replied, “Really? How cool buddy! Are they going to have a band at school now?”

“No”, he said, ” It’s not for the school. It’s just me and my friends! I’m going to play the piano.”

“Wow!”, I said, “What’s the name of your band?”

“We’re calling it Go Go for Jesus!“, he answered.

With every fiber of my being I fought the urge to burst into laughter. And I continued to fight that urge as he explained to me how they were making plans to take ‘Go Go for Jesus’ on the road and how they just knew that before long Hollywood was going to come knocking on their doors.

“So, who is in your band?” I asked. “Oh, everyone is mom. The whole class!”, he replied.

He must have read my mind because he quickly explained that even though not everyone would be playing an instrument, every kid would have a role in the success of Go Go for Jesus.

Kyle was going to be the tour manager. Andrew was in charge of snacks. There were 5 ‘lead’ singers. You get the idea.

And when I asked if I could have a job with the band too, I was informed that they might consider letting me drive the tour bus. 😉

Despite the fact that this group of 3rd graders had never actually practiced together and most of them had never even picked up an instrument, they were all 100% convinced that there were going to make it BIG. Like ‘American Idol’ big!

I asked when they were going to be practicing and he said, “We don’t need to actually practice mom, we just know what to do!” And then, thankfully, he headed off to his room and I was finally able to let out the laughter I had been suppressing throughout the entire conversation.

As I was telling my husband about ‘Go Go for Jesus’ later that night (and after we laughed our heads off), we both marveled at the fact that in their little 3rd grade hearts, this wasn’t just an imaginary band. It was REAL. And they had full confidence that it would be successful. I mean, you can’t go wrong in Hollywood with a name like that, right? 😉

The other day I found myself thinking (and laughing) again about Go Go for Jesus. And I realized that I envied those 3rd graders who so firmly believed, with complete faith, that they were going to make it.

Because somewhere along the line, I stopped believing with all my heart that my dreams could come true. Oh, I’m not talking about my “I want to get married” dream and my “I want to be a mommy’ dream, although that one was definitely put to the test!

I’m talking about those dreams that just seem so unrealistic. The ones that seem so unrealistic that you start wondering if it’s selfish to ever try and nurture them. You know, the Go Go for Jesus kind of dreams.

Recently I was talking with our Women’s Ministry Pastor and answering her questions about our blog as well as how God is using me during this season in my life. I shared with her about some of my dreams. Dreams that, amazingly, astonishingly, recently have started to seem within reach. And yet, I felt the need to downplay them. To make the caveat that every good Christian girl does when she worries that people will think her dreams are just a bit too big for their britches.

I told her, “But I know that God can accomplish His purposes with or without me so, you know, it’s no big deal.”

She smiled at me and said, “Yeah, He can. But what if He just really wants to use YOU?”

Ummm….excuse me? Come again? It’s not often that I am rendered speechless (just ask anyone who’s ever spent more than 5 seconds with me!) but I didn’t quite know how to reply.

What if God really just wanted to use ME? But, why? Why would he just want to use ME?

And I’ve spent the last few months trying to answer that question.

What if this dream, this Go Go for Jesus kind of dream, was what I was created for?

And what if, instead of taking those dreams and burying them underneath the fear and the doubt and the insecurites, I believed that they were put in my heart by a God who knows me better than I know myself?

What if I nurtured those dreams? What if, like those 3rd graders on the playground at recess plotting and planning their Go Go for Jesus succcess, I firmly believed that my dream was going to become a reality?

But what if, unlike those third graders, I was able to not only nurture those dreams but (gasp!) actively pursue them too?

And what if, you did too?

“God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people!” 1 Corinthians 12 (The Message)

There was room for everyone in the Go Go Jesus band. A place for each of them to put their talents to use.

And there’s room for everyone in my band too. I was going to call us the ‘Dreamers’ but that wouldn’t be a true reflection of who we are.

Instead, I’ll call us the ‘Dream Pursuers‘.

The ones who not only dream the dreams, but the ones who wade through the doubt and the fear and the insecurity and go after those dreams until they become a reality or until God reveals a new dream.