I'm a dreamer; always have been. There are people who think that dreams are just a waste of time because they never come true. They would rather look at everything that is happening instead of the things that could happen. Not me. Although I realize that there must be some sort of balance between dreams and reality I choose to not give up on my dreams no matter how big or small they may be. Sometimes they feel impossible and then in the blink of an eye everything can turn around and your dreams become reality. One such example happened to me this week. A lifelong dream of mine has always been to visit England and the surrounding areas. Now to some people that may not seem like much of a dream because after all, all you have to do is plan a vacation and buy a plane ticket and you're there. Well, that may be true for some people but I'm not made of money. Besides there are lots of other details to work out. You must take a few things into consideration before you go. 1) You need a passport. $100 or $160 if you need it expedited. 2) You need a plane ticket. The less stops you make, the more expensive it is. 3) You will need places to stay when you get there. The more places you go, the more accommodations you will need. 4) You will need plenty of money. The more things you want to see and do, the more money it will require. Unfortunately the value of the dollar sucks right now. These are just a few things that need to be thought of before you can just "pick up and go". Going to England was one of those things I always dreamt of doing and joked around with my mom about. "Someday when we go to England..." but something in the back of your mind keeps telling you that it will never actually happen. But, it's amazing how doors open up. Our church supports a church in Kenya, Africa. The church in Kenya just happens to also be supported by a church in... you guessed it; England. My parents just happened to be in Kenya a few years ago at the same time that a couple from the church in England was there. They became friends with my parents. They are always inviting us to go stay with them and attend different conferences but we always think to ourselves, "Yeah right, that'll never happen." Last week we received an invitation in the mail to go to a women's conference hosted by their church. Long story short my mom decided to go. I was happy for her but I will admit that I was really bummed that I couldn't go. We always said that we'd go together someday and now she was going without me. I'm the photographer and she can't even run a camera! She really wanted me to go but I just couldn't afford it because I had already planned and partially paid for a vacation with my girls coming up in June plus I didn't want to have to take off another week of work. She kept asking me if there was any way I could possibly go. I told her that wanting to go wasn't even an issue but that I just couldn't afford it. Then all of the sudden things changed. I was offered a free plane ticket if I wanted to go. I freaked! We will be staying with our friends for free so that won't cost anything. I began getting excited thinking that this might actually work. I tried to remain calm because I didn't want to get my hopes up in case it fell through. After all, it seemed too good to be true. I went in to work, explained the situation and my wonderful boss said to me, "You can't turn down an opportunity like that. You have to go." So I got the time off of work without a problem and before you know I was adjusting to the thought of going to England! I still don't know exactly how I'm going to pay for everything but I believe that God opened the door for me to go do something that I've dreamt about my whole life. He provided a way for me to go when there was no way humanly possible that I could. So, I figure He can provide the rest. In less than 48 hours I went from the thought of visiting England being stored somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind to visiting England being something that is going to happen to me. I applied for my passport, reserved the airline tickets and am trying to process the whole thing. It's still sinking in. But I am leaving for England in 5 weeks and 2 days! I've never even been on a plane before. Out of the blue, dreams come true. The moral of this story is that even when you've pushed dreams aside thinking that that's all they are, just dreams, they can surprise you and become reality. They did for me. | 
