“You’re going to remember picture day, you’re going to remember picture day” I told myself during the week leading up to the big event. I hung the reminder on the fridge and set it in my phone calendar. In an effort to keep it fresh in my mind, I asked my first-grade man what he’d like to wear for picture day.
“Hmmm”, he said. “How about a camera shirt!” His eyes widened at the brilliance of this idea.
“Ummm”, trying not to burst his bubble, I gently reminded him, “you don’t have a camera shirt”.
“Maybe we can do that thing! You know, like how the lady made my blue blankey. What’s that Mommy?”, he asked so innocently, making me realize my son doesn’t even know what sewing is because he’s never seen me sew or mend one item in his whole life and likely never will.
“Sewing?”, I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes!!!, he exclaimed! We can plug it in right here!” He flung his hands out toward the outlet as if revealing the stage to a Broadway performer.
Impressed he knew such devices required electricity, I broke the news that his mommy didn’t own a sewing machine.
He looked dejected.
“BUT!”, I said in a true Mommy MacGyver moment. “Your sister has a camera shirt that’s too small for her! What if we use it to make one for you?”
He seemed intrigued by the trash the treasure idea. We dove in with some scissors, fabric tape (not sure why I even had that in my crafty bin of tricks…obviously due to the no sewing thing) and fabric markers and in less than an hour we had a perfectly vintage looking camera shirt that would ensure picture day was remembered in the morning!
I wondered if I should write a note to his teacher explaining that the shirt was his idea. Should I put a button up over it? Are they going to think I was trying to be clever? Are they going to think I forgot it was picture day?
No, I decided, if he wants to share his story with them, he will. Otherwise, the important thing is we will always have this memory of making a vision come to life; turning a dream into reality. It doesn’t matter what everyone else thinks. My baby left for school proud of his creation. Something he envisioned became a tangible item in a matter of minutes, with just a little teamwork!
It may seem silly but I pray this first grade photo stands as a reminder to him that visions can become a reality. You see, my boy has a dream in his heart. He wants to build a hotel that will help house homeless people.
“There can be rooms just for homeless people. And there can be beds for the mommy and daddy and the kids too. And they will have a scan card so if they don’t have money, they can just use their scan card to sleep there. And they can use it to get food, like room service.”
He’s talked about this many times. He’s described it in detail. And when he sees a homeless person, he says it again, “if they had a hotel, Mama, that didn’t cost money, they could just go there. Or if we give them all of our monies, they can stay at the hotel.”
As a parent, I have a choice. I can brush off these statements as childhood innocence and give them no validation or I can pour believe and value into my sweet boy’s dreams and remind him, with God, all things are possible.
I choose the latter.
I choose to affirm his desire to serve and help others by providing ways to love others through service now. I choose to share my own dreams with him and work every day as an example of how to make them happen.
And I choose to foster his creativity by helping him turn an old stained t-shirt into a one-of-a-kind camera shirt for picture day.
So many of us have given up on our dreams. Life has knocked us down too many times. Our circumstances have robbed us of innocence so we’d rather teach our children to be “realists” rather than “dreamers”. To play it safe, rather than get hurt.
I refuse to pray safe prayers for my kids. I’m not talking about their protection. I’m saying, I want life to knock them for loops, throw curve balls, test their faith and strengthen their resolve. I want them to take shaking steps of courage. To face their giants afraid but brave and to hold tight to the hand of their Heavenly Father who walks beside them all the way!
I want them to know a vision can become a reality if they put faith in action and stay the course. I want them to trust the desires God has placed in their heart even in the face of adversity and against the robbers of fear and doubt. I want them to live with the boldness needed to be a strikingly different light, shining in a dark world that so desperately needs them.
I want them to look at a world of ratty old too-small t-shirts and see brand new camera shirts ready to be made!