I Dreamed a Dream

So Easter morning I was checking my Twitter page and Ann Curry (yes like Ann Curry from the Today show) posted a link and basically said, this will make you smile, so I clicked on it. I didn't just smile, I was amazed.

YouTube won't let me embed the video, but here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

But, chances are you've seen it already. That was Susan Boyle. She is the truly overnight sensation that has been burning up cyberspace. I just checked her counter on YouTube and it's up to over 12 million hits. This clip has been everywhere.

Here's what I love about her. She's ordinary and extraordinary all rolled into one. She's like so many of us. She's this very, very ordinary looking woman (some might say homely) with the beautiful instrument inside her. To look at her, you would dismiss her. And she has been dismissed; she's 47 and never been kissed. (Can sort of relate to that one....took me till 40) She's unemployed and lives alone with her cat. (boy Susan, you and I could be best buddies) This society that places so much value on what we look like, what job we have, what we've accomplished, our relational status, simply would say she's a loser. But something in her knows she's got something to offer, you could see it when she walked out on that stage. And when she opened her mouth, every person was amazed. Simon, Piers, the blond chick who I didn't know, every person in that audience, me and all the millions who have opened that video link we set back on our heels with just one note. There was something extraordinary in there.

So, that's my hope today. That I continue to believe in the extraordinary part of me even when the ordinary part of me gets looked past. And I'm not even talking about any talent I might have. (Though I certainly wouldn't turn down being noticed in that way) My hope is that my extraordinary parts are what God is building in me would be seen. That I learn to live bigger than me and not let the ordinariness (is that a word?) of my every day make me think I'm a loser.

Here's my other lesson from this seemingly ordinary woman from Scotland, I love that she sang "I dreamed a dream." Sometimes I forget my dreams, don't you? Life sometimes can get in the way of remembering them. May I remember them today and every day.

Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." Luke 18:27

You go Susan! You've won my heart and the hearts of millions. Keep dreaming that dream.