“Be aware of that place where you are brought to tears. That’s where your heart is and that’s where your treasure is.” – The Alchemist, Paulo Cohen
I’ve been wrestling with my soul in the strangest of places lately:
In my car on the way to work listening to the soundtrack of Moana!
It may seem odd, but to me it makes perfect sense. That’s the only place God can get ahold of me these days. In a car that smells of veggie straws, wearing my last clean piece of clothing while my kid eats an oatmeal cream pie for breakfast and we belt out the lyrics to a Disney movie.
Inspiring, right?
But while my above scenario seems a far cry from the tale of a strong young woman bravely sailing away to save the world, my heart knows better. Because, my dear friend…
I am Moana.
I’ve been standing at the edge of the water
Long as I can remember
Never really knowing why
At three years old I looked out across the Pacific Ocean and saw ships sailing towards the horizon and I called out to them.
At five I clutched my plush Fievel Mousekewitz tightly and squinted my eyes over the Kansas plains looking for the Statue of Liberty.
I can’t explain it, but from as far back as anyone in my family can remember it was in me. Not discontentment, but this longing. This hunger for adventure. And I knew I couldn’t rest until I had seen what was past that horizon.
See the light where the sky meets the sea
It calls me
And no one knows how far it goes
If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me
One day I’ll know
How far I’ll go
So now here I sit in my car of veggie straws after half a lifetime of living my own dreams and do you know what I see in that rearview mirror?
My children.
And I wonder if they are being whispered to. Right now. I wonder if seeds of adventure are sprouting in their hearts right now and they are beginning to feel the tug of those distant horizons.
Are they hearing a voice? Are they sensing a calling? Are they looking farther than I even know and thinking deeper thoughts than I can fathom?
Are they listening?
But more importantly… am I listening?
You see, Mama, we are given these precious little ones to raise up, but they are not really ours. They were never ours to keep. They were entrusted to us for a time, that we might nurture the callings inside them. That we might teach them to find truth and live love and choose wisely. To know who they are and to follow their dreams. No… they are not ours to keep.
But we have been given the greatest calling yet…
To be their home. Their mother island. Their launching pad.
So that on that day when they board their own boat and sail away to discover new horizons and conquer new fears and become greater than we will ever be, they will have a place to come back to.
The people you love will change you
The things you have learned will guide you
And nothing on Earth can silence
The quiet voice still inside you
Don’t be afraid, Mama.
This is who they are and that voice inside is not to be feared, it is to be celebrated. Teach them to listen and embrace it. Take them new places. Help them discover who they are. Tell them your stories. Fill them with adventure and passion. And by all means…
