My husband and I were watching the Sound of Music, my favorite movie, this past weekend. Although I’d seen this movie a dozen times or more, something uniquely struck me this time, and it was Maria’s search for where she belonged, and her eventually finding it in marriage and family.
I have a story similar to Maria’s and maybe that’s why I love this movie so much. I thought God wanted me to be a religious sister or a consecrated single for several years, and that this was the holiest path I could embark on. But after a few closed doors and much discernment, I realized that I wasn’t created for that life, and that the deepest desire and dream of my heart was marriage and family. While the dream of marriage eventually came to pass, the dream of family has not yet.
So I continue on the path to the dream, much like the song in the movie Climb Every Mountain alludes to which struck a chord with my heart:
Climb every mountain,
Search high and low,
Follow every byway,
Every path you know.
Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
'Till you find your dream.
A dream that will need
All the love you can give,
Every day of your life
For as long as you live.
Aren’t those words inviting, inspiring, and so relevant to us women on the path of waiting for our fruitfulness?Â
God puts a beautiful dream in our hearts and we follow every path we know to find it. It’s a path that will need all the love and gifts we could ever give. So we wait for it and keep the dream alive in our hearts, trusting that God will bring it to fruition if it’s His will.
As we enter a new year, I want to encourage you to keep dreaming that dream, even if it looks dark and bleak up ahead. Like Maria, God’s dream for you is where you belong, where love will abound, and where you will be most fulfilled and manifest your gifts most fully. Keep believing and trusting in that dream!