Just Imagine...

Tina here. I showed you my doodles a few days back and thought I would share the post they went to.

You know I hate to admit it, but as a child I had some quirky ideas about life. My imagination was on constant overload. ( I got in trouble quite often for telling whoppers)

As a child I believed.

Trees came to life at night and their shadows moved across the wall.

You had to keep your window closed or they could snatch you out of bed.

Gravity held me to the earth, but if I spun hard enough I would fly off into space.

If I killed a spider all its friends and family would come crawl all over me while I slept.

Drinking chocolate milk gave me a tan.

The clothes in my closet came to life after midnight and held battles against each other. My blanket protected me from their weapons.

When I ate my body filled from the toes up. When I got too full I had to puke.

I used to stare at my feet just to see if I could see them fill up.

If I dug a hole deep enough, (as a kid that was probably ten feet) I'd reach China.

If I was quiet enough, I could hear the animals talking.

My father put a camper on our truck when we moved to Germany so we would have a place to live. People there still lived in caves. (And this I believed in 1969)

I could fly with an umbrella.

It could happen if the wind blew just right.

If I acted angry and growled real loud when I was mad, my sisters would leave me alone because they were scared. Yeah, that one rarely worked. They laughed and bothered me more.

 You can see these were some silly things. And there are others, but I won't bore you.

 I've grown up now. Matured. Put away childish thoughts and things.

 For the most part.

In reality though.

I still catch myself blowing on dandelions, hoping my wishes come true.

Every so often I find myself skipping cracks.

I say knock on wood and cross my fingers.

I check my books on Amazon, religiously, thinking somehow if I stare long enough the numbers will fall and my books will sell.

I wish on stars although I don't really believe they'll come true.

I sometimes keep the wishbone.

I still wonder about those spiders and their families sometimes.

I make tents with my grandchildren and pretend I'm camping or on a wild safari.

I dance in rain puddles and sing. "Singing the Rain."

But I have stopped sending out chain letters because I'm pretty certain they don't work.

You're probably wondering why I'm saying all this. Admitting my childish thoughts.

Because imagination is a wonderful thing. A gift. It's not to be misused. We shouldn't let it lead us astray and into trouble. No. Like children, we need to turn our imaginations over to God and trust him to direct our thoughts, trust him to take wrong thoughts captive and show us dreams we never thought before. Like children we need to look for the wonder in creation around us.

From the mind of imagination comes new concepts, new stories. New Dreams.

Have you ever thought of an idea and kept it or used it for yourself and did nothing more, only to find someone else took the further step and got a patent? And consumers soon had a new product.

You can't stop at imagination and hope to fulfill a dream. Hope has to be engaged and steps taken to move you forward. I realize those steps can be scary. So you might just want to sit down and give up. But don't.  I want you to engage your thoughts. Your dreams.

How many failed attempts were there before the telephone? How many planes crashed before man flew?

Hope and vision carried the imagination of inventors the world over through trials and disappointment.

Just imagine how life would be if inventors and scientists just gave up?

No Cars. No Planes. No Trains. No Electricity. No Toilet. No Gum. No ATM's. No Books. No Paper. No… well you fill in the blanks.

What would you miss?

Proverbs 29 :18a (KJV) Where there is no vision the people perish…

Acts 2:17 (KJV) And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith the Lord, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh: and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men will dream dreams.

What has God seeded in your imagination that you need to give more attention to?