Key Ingredients for Raising Up DreamersSample

Whose Dream Is It?

Moms often say to me, “My child wants to make movies. What did you do to make this happen?” I always laugh a little inside, because it truly has been a God thing, not a mommy thing. This question also makes me a little sad because I hear in it what and not who. It’s a hollow victory when your child finds what the world calls success (money and fame) outside of the will of God. Who my children are is so much more important than what they do. It thrills me to hear actors and crew members talk about how special my guys make them feel. 

At the first world premiere of our sons’ movie, Hank and I were thrilled that we were seeing their dreams come true, that they were doing what God had called and gifted them to do. All of that would be empty if they were not who God wanted them to be. My answer to this question would not be any different if the what were different. Several years ago, Andy said to me, “Mom, you always used to say, ‘Find out what God has called you to do, and do it with all your heart.’ I used to think that meant I had to be a pastor or a missionary to have a calling, but as I’ve grown in the Lord, I know that making motion pictures is truly my calling.” 

The answer to that question—“What did you do to make this happen?”—is always the same: Just follow the Lord with all your heart, give your children encouragement, believe in them, and then trust the Lord with the outcome. 

We have to be careful not to try to live our lives through our children. We don’t want to force them to fulfill our dreams. The way to keep this in check is to pray. Pray that your children follow God’s plan for their lives—not your plan and not even their plan. The most important thing to remember is that God has a plan for your child’s life 

God’s plans are so much bigger than our dreams.