I cannot suppress my extreme longing to live the “American Dream”
Though it is so much more than that
The American dream is to graduate from high school
And be someone people will remember at reunions
Go to college and somehow leave with no loans to pay off
Be it sports or scholarships or just a generous rich family
Find your prince charming or perfect 10
Get a job where you make just above a decent living
Whether that involves influencing lives for the better or for the worse
Then get married before your biological clock ticks one year too long
Have kids
Keep them off of drugs, out of jail, hope they don’t have kids before it’s time
And pray they remain a significant part of the family once they move out
But I long for so much more than that
I pray that what I left behind in the hometown I will seldom return to
Is something worth remembering because I somehow impacted lives
I want to learn lessons in college both in and outside of the classrooms
I want to more than just pass my classes but excel
I want to learn to move on when my performance is less than excellent
I want to let go of my plans for my life and accept what may be hard to accept
That sometimes my dreams for me aren’t necessarily in the “cards” God has dealt me
I want to touch people
Bring smiles where they are lacking
Hug the hurting
Make people laugh on a dull day
And wake up the sleepwalkers
I want to be a face that makes people smile
I want to walk with a purpose even though I don’t always know what it is
I want to sing in the rain
And trust through the pain
And try not to complain
I want to learn what I need to know for my future
Or at least what this institution can teach me
Then move on to bigger and better things
That may be more worse sometimes than better
I want to be prepared for those times
Wrapped in the Lord’s armor
I want to do what I know I have been called to do
Teach the unteachable
Hug the untouchable
Know the unreadable
And inspire the ignored
The future that I and few others believe in
I want to “settle down” with the love of my life
That I know God created to love me forever
And strive to cherish me as God does
I want to love him back with the love of Christ
I want to have the triangle relationship
Us at the bottom
Growing closer to God as we grow closer together
I want to get married
Even though some doubters say we are too young
Because God said not to let anyone think less of you because you are young
But be an example to all believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith
And in purity
And for that I am willing to wait
But maybe not quite as long as some feel we should
And together we will climb the mountains
Enjoy the scenery from the top
Seek his face in the valleys, and walk the winding roads we are led down
I want to start a family and love them with all we have to give
And provide all of the experiences that we can give them in this life
And teach them to love people as we are called to love
And show them what a marriage should be
And help them learn from our mistakes
I want to laugh and cry and play and reach
With so much passion
That that is what I will be remembered for when God calls me home
That is MY American Dream
And I will live it
Wherever in the world God decides to send US
Because since I found him
I don’t plan on walking this road alone ever again
Though I know if I HAD to
God would be enough
To carry me through