Dedicated to my courageous daughter.
There are many moments that give previews of the adults children will become. Today I am thinking of one of them.
Our daughter was single digits in years. She attended a summer camp. Part of the activities was to compete in a swim meet at a local pool.
As the eager participants got ready to swim, they discovered the camp had made a mistake and somehow our daughter’s name was left off the list. Everyone felt bad, but since all lanes were filled, at first it appeared she would not be able to swim.
However, finally a decision was made she would swim … alone … after all the others had vacated the pool. One might have thought pity for the poor kid who got left out. But true to the woman she would become, she took that moment and made it her own.
She swam purposely and beautifully and all eyes were on her with awe and approval. When the moment of applause and cheers came, she knew they were all for her. And I was one proud Mama.
Various other times in life, it appeared the deck was stacked against her, but she did not give up. She has a courage and drive within her that is surely God given.
Sometimes the outcome was what she wanted. Sometimes it was not. But in every case, people remembered the courageous child/teen/young woman who gave it her all.
And many times on subsequent picks, she was selected because of the courage and skills she demonstrated earlier.
I think of her when I hear the song, The Impossible Dream, because it describes her so well. But I also smile to realize how many dreams were not impossible. Because she gave it all she had and trusted the rest to God, the impossible happened.
I can hardly wait to see what’s next.
“The Impossible Dream”
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest
To follow that star!
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far!
To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause
And I know if I’ll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I’m laid to my rest
And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star!
music by Mitch Leigh
lyrics by Joe Darion
With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible!
Matthew 19:26
