Jun 26, 2019
By Donna S. Bond
Shiloh SDB Church, NJ
“Aw, Dave, let Grampa rest for a few minutes. Just till the big hand is on the 12.” With that request, Grampa leaned back on his recliner and closed his eyes.
Groan. That left Grandma to entertain our five-year-old grandson. Understand: I love, love, LOVE our little David Timothy. But he was headed outside. I don’t “do” outside. I don’t understand boy toys. Worst of all, his favorite outdoor activity is to race Grampa around the house and make a poster showing how many races David won and how many Grampa—a former jogger—lost. Not only that, when he races my arthritic knees, weary bones and heel spurs, he accuses me of being a CHEATER and a LIAR. All this injustice because I double back as soon as he rounds the corner, thereby reaching the starting point ahead of him. The nerve of that rascal!
So I dug out a pair of bubble wands that I had bought on a too-rainy day last year. “Will he say they are ‘baby toys’?” I wondered. He is not shy about telling us when he is bored!
The tubes of bubble soap are ten inches long and the wands are eight inches long, so each gentle wave produced numerous bubbles— some big and some smaller. David was delighted as he chased them (instead of me) in every direction, high and low. Some fell to the ground and were pierced by blades of grass. Some lofted into the trees and fell to their demise or were stabbed by leaves. One even floated over the neighbor’s garage. Each one that met David’s eager fingers was greeted with a giggle.
I thought about chasing dreams. Some are too lofty, some are beneath us and some are attainable. We crush some; some are crushed by others or by circumstance.
Then I handed the wand to David. His tendency was to blow through the wand, creating only one spit-full bubble, which popped immediately. He had not quite caught onto the idea of gently waving the whole wand through the air so the soap could be crafted into a dozen bubbles. How often do we crush a dream by blowing too hard? Conversely, how often do our dreams fail because they take us in too many directions?
“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). Surely no one would pray for direction over which bubble to chase; however, we need God’s guidance in pursuing our dreams.
