A Tale with Tea and a Certain Tall Clock: When It’s Time to Dream – and Live!

Spring. 

Bird songs. Flower blossoms. Sunbeams. 

It’s a time of new life and growth. A time when it just might feel like anything is possible…even dreams that have been hibernating.

Have you ever had a dream? Not the “head-on-your-pillow” kind, of course, but the “tucked-in-your-heart” kind? Have you had a dream that stayed buried for years and years? 

Then you have something in common with Liz, Kellie and Opal – the three main characters of Sisterchicks Go Brit!

Let’s take a look at this trio. 

Liz  – a tender-hearted, cautious soul with a deep passion for British literature and dreams of meeting a “tall, dark and handsome” someone face to face. 

Kellie – a go-with-the-flow yet organized woman who loves creating beautiful environments and dreams of doing it as her work.

Opal – a late-seventies lady who specializes in inspiring others to live their God-given dreams – even if it means taking risks – and has a dream of her own.

But these women are – one might say – in the autumn of life not the start-something-new spring!

Opal is the one who makes the inspiring point,

“[My] dear, do you know what the dearest kindness is that a woman can offer herself in the autumn of her years?…It is the gift of giving herself permission to take risks.” ~pg 2 Sisterchicks Go Brit! by Robin Jones Gunn

Here’s a glimpse of the story from Liz’s perspective.

Ever since she was fifteen, Liz has wanted to go to England and see the fellow of her dreams – Big Ben himself. Years later and joined by her best friend Kellie and an elderly Opal, Liz’s dream comes true in extraordinary ways. But will time run out before she gets to “meet” Ben face to face? Even more importantly, will she realize and live out her truest dream of all? Come along with these Sisterchicks across the pond for a heart-lightening adventure pf merry cabbies, identical twins, castles, hot air balloons, cups of tea and the joys of unfolding dreams. 

Even from this short peek, I think we can learn a few things about those tucked-in-your heart dreams. 

  1. Sometimes dreams take time.
  2. Sometimes dreams take risks.
  3. Sometimes dreams are achieved when you help someone else live their dream. 

Now I will say that I think sometimes God gives us dreams that He intends to keep as dreams. Maybe they’re meant to be that little inspiration – that happy thought – that keeps us going through a tough time. I’ve had a few of those, so I don’t want to give the wrong impression and make everyone think all their dreams are going to come to fruition someday. Still, there are those other dreams that are simply meant to be, and God simply lets them steep for just the right amount of time.

Do you know someone who needs to live in spring even though her years put her in a different season? Perhaps you can share this story. Then you could have your own little high tea together. Or maybe you are the one who needs a little encouragement to dream – and then live!   

A note for all of my British-literature-loving friends: Within the pages of Sisterchicks Go Brit! are some fun connections to both C.S. Lewis and Tolkien. Yes, I thought you should know!

Wooden Shoes and Rescues (in honor of King’s Day)

Come!

It’s an invitation to a land where you can watch windmills, trip through tulip fields and patter in painted wooden shoes. It’s an open door to a journey with two friends, Summer and Noelle, as they learn not only new things about each other but also new things about themselves. It’s a beckoning to the realization of the importance of both forgiveness and trust in God for the future. Come! 

Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes by Robin Jones Gunn has stayed on my “favorites” list for a while, and, with the Dutch holiday King’s Day coming up on April 27th, this is the perfect time to share it with you!

In this volume of the Sisterchicks series, Summer is compelled by certain circumstances to leap across the Atlantic Ocean and visit her long-time pen-pal Noelle in that land of windmills, tulips, and wooden shoes: the Netherlands. The two friends meet face to face for the first time. During her visit, Summer experiences various aspects of Dutch culture mixed with her own embarrassing moments and hilarious escapades (like floating down a canal in a giant wooden shoe)! On a more serious note, she visits the home of her heroine, Corrie ten Boom, and is reminded of Psalm 91’s promises and the value of living beyond fear – of living abundantly.

As a letter-loving girl, I was hooked right away by the fact that these two friends formed their sisterly bond with pens, paper and envelopes. However, for the first couple of chapters I still had a hard time getting into the story. Then things started to happen, and I was into it – all the way from my wooden-shoe-longing toes to my Dutch-descendant blue eyes!

One part of the story that especially grabbed me was the visit to Corrie ten Boom’s home. (You can learn more at the Ten Boom Museum website here, if you’d like.) As many of you probably know from the movie The Hiding Place or various books, Corrie ten Boom and her family used this little building as a headquarters for rescuing Jews during the WWII Nazi occupation of Holland. Through their efforts, approximately 800 Jews were spared. Before the war ended, however, the Ten Booms were betrayed and sent to prison camps. Corrie was fifty-three years old when she became a Nazi prisoner. While both her father and sister died in the camps, Corrie, in God’s providence, survived. She spent the rest of her life sharing the Gospel.

Corrie’s story got me thinking in several directions. First of all, I hadn’t known that she was “so old” (in her fifties!) when she was protecting innocent lives while risking her own. That fact is a good reminder that God still uses us when we are “older” and that my usefulness to God or the adventures I could have aren’t going to end just because I hit a certain age. Secondly, I was inspired by this family’s use of their home. The Ten Booms, by God’s grace, used their petite house mightily. It was a secret weapon against the evil of their day. Their home became a haven of hope and a passage to freedom. Even today it is still serving in those ways as people from the world over visit and learn about the healing power of forgiveness and the hope-filled freedom found in Jesus Christ. How am I using the resources God has given me? I wonder. What legacy will I leave? Lastly, I was filled with a simple awe over Corrie’s living-out of Proverbs 24:11 in her own day. (“Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.” ESV) For me, her example begs the questions, “Who are the people in need of rescuing in my day?”  and “How would God have me help them?”

Today, or sometime this coming week, might you have time to make yourself a good cup of tea or coffee – whichever you prefer – and settle in to pen a snail-mail letter to a friend or read an encouraging book? You may find – like Summer and Noelle – that such an action brings grand adventures your way!

A beautiful painting by Wisconsin artist Nic Lenz

A beautiful painting by Wisconsin artist Nic Lenz