Saturday, March 04, 2006

Hill of dreams


This is kind of a follow-up post to my previous post on living out the poetry of your life. As most of my readers know, my daughter, Wyndham, sustained a closed-head injury as an infant and now carries lifelong scars and disablities.
I watch her grow and learn new things every week- she is an amazing little girl! However, in imagining dreams for her life and all that her future holds, I find myself torn inside. While we have never been given a definitive prognosis as to what to expect Wyndham to ultimately be able to do or not do, we have come to realize the past few years that she has an inner spirit and strength and drive to want to do more than we realize at times.
I have come to a place in my heart where I think I am confident that her life will serve a wonderful purpose- no matter her disablities. The fact that we have seen God work miracles in her short 5 years is enough for me to hand over all her issues to Him and let HIm decide what He wants for her to become.
I'm writing this all basically to document this quote that I modified after seeing another person's life story about overcoming disablities. Here is my new quote for Wyndham's life...
"The disabilites you possess are no match for the dreams we hold for you." I am the fortunate one in her life to be able to watch her dreams unfold a tiny bit more day after day. I think the world sometimes puts a big burden on not just Wyndham and all the challenges she faces, but on each of us in our own way. We get held back by messages we start to believe from seeing things on tv, or from celebrities who modify or glorify certain aspects about themselves. Some of us believe that we will never be as good as someone else we know who does_______. (This could be anything- that's why I left a blank space for you- fill it in in your own mind.)
The point is that I think we all believe certain things about ourselves that bring us down or hold us back. Today I want to challenge you to tell yourself something that's true about yourself... that will bring you a tiny step closer to unfolding the dream that is inside you somewhere. And I know you have one- because none of us is perfect and sitting on top of our hill of dreams.
Just so you know where I'm at, I'm going to try to clear the clutter off of my kitchen counter and get one simple step closer to my dream of organization and finding "breathing space" that I know I have in my life- it's just buried under clutter right now. How's that for dreaming big?! =)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jody, thank you for sharing this amazing layout of Whyndam. She is beautiful. As always your blog entry was thought provoking and touching. I'm wondering if your lo is digital, where did the swirly thing come from??? I love it. Have a great weekend, I'm off to try to be a better me! Thanks HH

Lain said...

Jody-
What a gorgeous page, and what a beautiful post. Thank you, THANK YOU for sharing this. For the past week I've been wailing and moaning about my weight and the last 10 lbs. of baby weight I cannot lose, no matter how much I exercise or how little I eat. It's become a total obsession -- and then I read something like your post and realize what a goofball I am for worrying about the unimportant things.
Thank you for reminding me so beautifully about what is truly important -- and reminding me that the only limits we have are those we place on ourselves.
xooxox
Lain

Unknown said...

Jody, Wyndham is beautiful. I'm sure it must be difficult as her mother not to have definite answers but you have proven to be a very courageous and caring person, and that's just the kind of parent a child with disabilities needs to help them reach their full potential. She looks like she has a beautiful, fun-loving personality.

Tiffany said...

jody.

awesome post. i felt like i was really needing to hear that today.

thanks.

tiffany

manababies said...

What a great post. My parents were devastated when my sister was diagnosed with a disability. There were the struggles she had to go through going up, and the uncertainty of her future, along with a grim diagnosis from the doctors that she would not live past her teenage years. But she graduated college, travelled the world, and is going to start law school in the fall. So it just comes to show that uncertainty can result in some really wonderful, amazing things.

Anonymous said...

What I've come to see in LIFE is that everyone has 'something' to deal with~be it a disability, a sin issue, a financial issue, a relationship issue. We don't come out of this life unscathed! What I do know though is that there is something much larger 'out there' than us~and it's spiritual. From reading you blog I believe you and I are on the 'same page' there. Our Lord, God desires all of us to trust in him and to give everything to him (no matter what it is) and I read that you have done this~with alot~your kids, your life whatever. Whyndam does have a purpose in this life because God knew her in eternity past. He wasn't surprised by the accident or what happened to her (& your family) and I believe he's using it for his glory and his good! Thank you for your transparency and testimony! Blessings to you and your family!