Don't Stop Dreaming, Mom!

Do you feel as if your days of dreaming are behind you? Maria V. Gallagher encourages moms to keep on dreaming.

While I was still in college, one of my dreams came true. I started working as a reporter at a local radio station. While radio had not necessarily been the medium of my dreams, journalism certainly was. I was humbled and amazed that the dream that God had placed in my heart could be realized even before I received my undergraduate degree.

Shortly thereafter, I appeared on local television. Again, this was the realization of a dream. I distinctly remember crawling under the dining room table with my sister when I was a little girl so that we could pretend to host a television show at our make-believe studio.

The biggest dream was realized when I gave birth to my baby girl. She actually exceeded all my dreams, and she continues to astonish me to this day. It is an amazing feeling to hold a dream in your arms.

I thought I had left dreaming behind, but then I began to feel as if there were other dreams that were sleeping in my soul. As a girl, I had thought that, in my retirement, I would move to Ireland and write books.

Well, I am not ready to retire, and the Emerald Isle will have to wait. Still, I recently learned that a publisher is interested in a book I wrote during the lockdown stage of the pandemic. This news exceeded all my expectations, and has caused me to look a bit differently at my life and the promise and possibility it offers.

I had thought that all my dreams came true early in life. While thrilling, the situation was a little bit of a letdown, since I thought I did not have any dreams left. But the fact is, as I move from one stage of life to the next, I realize that the dreaming can continue.

Hoping to realize a dream of having a deeper relationship with God, I enlisted the aid of a spiritual adviser. This grace-filled mentor has been a godsend to me. She is a graduate of a rigorous spiritual direction program run by my local diocese. She has gently and wisely led me to a closer kinship with the Almighty, and I will be forever grateful to her.

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Motherhood is not the end of dreams—it really and truly is only the beginning. #catholicmom

I would like to encourage you to keep dreaming, and keep striving for your dreams. Motherhood is not the end of dreams—it really and truly is only the beginning. When you are sleep-deprived and struggling to pacify a newborn, it can be hard to remember that the struggle is only temporary and that the realization of a long-held dream may be right around the corner.

Don’t stop dreaming, Mom! God put dreams into your heart for a reason. In due time, you may just see a long-held dream come true. I’ll be praying for you to achieve the wonderful life of your dreams!

Copyright 2022 Maria V. Gallagher
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