Keeping our eyes on our dreams

This week we celebrated Vappu (May Day or Finland's Labor Day).  They serve up munkki (sweet bread/donuts) and sima (fermented drink) for the occasion.  Both were served at the student union cafeteria on Wed., April 30th.  Here's a picture of the goodies:

 

 

Perhaps the biggest tradition is for students to gather in the town squares to don their white caps that they earned when they graduated from high school and celebrate the holiday together. 

Below is a picture of Hanna-Marta Lampinen wearing the famous 'white cap' at her graduation party back in June 2012.  She is slicing the cake (in the form of the white cap!!) that Milla (pictured on the right) made:

 

Both sisters always dreamt of serving missions.  It's pretty amazing to look back at this picture (as it seems like just yesterday I had been invited to her party) and now to be able to write these beautiful young women who are living their dreams as missionaries in the US.  Hanna-Marta is serving in the Temple Square mission and Milla is serving in California.

 

 

Katie loves to sing.  She and her friend, Kata, performed 'Let it Go' as part of their school Vappu festivities.  They took  3rd place!  Pretty impressive, eh?!

Here she is the morning of her performance!!

 

Last year I was still in the US when Vappu was celebrated.  This year I spent the morning hanging out with the Green family (pictured below) and meeting the newest member of their family: Alexandra!!

They welcomed her into the world in their apartment (by accident!).  Go Crystal and Weldon!! 
That's one for the family history books!!

My camera is in need of a new memory card so I've relied on my work phone to snap pictures...which died earlier this week (only to later be revived!!). 

So...I don't have pictures to share from those adventures.

 

One of my dearest friends, Aubree Weeks, married her prince charming (Mr. Jeff!!) this weekend in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, Utah.  Aubree and I first met back in the summer of 2010 at one of the activities of the 'Bucket List Gang' that Alan Leach (in the green shirt below) and I had organized.  From that first adventure at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, has sprung countless others.  The most splendid of all has been a deep friendship with Aubree that continues to bless my life!!  Here we are on that summer day four years ago (Aubree is behind the deer hide):

 

I wanted to be at her wedding so badly but could not make it because of my work commitments (despite booking three different tickets in hopes that I might be able to swing the last-minute trip).    BUT, we were able to connect by phone on Wed.--just as she was saying goodbye to the last of her patients that she'll be seeing as Ms. Weeks (because now she's Mrs. Harris!!)!!  So awesome!!  

 

Here are two pictures from her bridal shoot that I just LOVE (photos by Brittany Weeks):

 

 

  

Her dream of finding Mr. Jeff came true.  

It required a terrific amount of faith and trust to hold on to that dream.

 

Truth be told: I was sure that this weekend I would make very little advancement in developing the articles I'm working on (that will be compiled into my dissertation).  I wanted so badly to be in Utah with Aubree.  The greatest thing happened, though.  Friday--the day she got married--was the best writing day I've had in months (if not years).  And yesterday I was psyched to get back at it again.  What materialized were these: Two solid outlines/initial drafts of my two final articles:

 

 

For the first time along this PhD journey, I had this very distinctive thought and feeling:

 

You are going to finish your dissertation.

 

This thought/feeling came as a bit of a surprise.  My response?:  "Um...good to know! I didn't know this was open for debate." I've always thought/believed/known/felt that I would complete my dissertation and graduate with my PhD.  So...why this very distinctive thought/feeling?  Perhaps it's because these are the kinds of goals that we dream about for a very long time but sometimes wonder whether they'll actually come true.

  

I drew on the metaphor of summiting K-2 during my MA thesis writing experience.  So much, in fact, that I made this PPT slide and added milestones to it as a reminder of that journey:

 

 

There came a moment during that summit--one I remember vividly--when I wasn't sure I could make it to the top.  That became a crucial moment of self-reflection (more like soul-searching).  Thankfully, my base camp supporters and expert guides were there to talk me through what I saw as an impossibility.  Fast forward to the present. There are moments on this PhD journey when I find the going to be rough (and, on occasion, seemingly unbearable).  In those moments into my mind come these thoughts (inspired by my base camp supporters and expert guides):

 

Just keep moving.

Take it one step at a time. 

Keep moving. 

Just take one more step.

You can do hard things.

The only way out is forward.

Just do what you can. Today. Right now.

 

As I was preparing to organize the pictures and thoughts for this blog post, I came across a favorite quote of a dear friend of mine, Jenny Willis (who was my roommate at the time that I was summiting the MA mountain):

 

"Keep your eyes on your dreams, however distant and far away."

 -Jeffrey R. Holland
 

It was as if this quote helped answer my question why the thought that I'm going to finish my dissertation? that has been in the back of my mind these last 24 hours. 

As we work towards achieving our dreams, there come these moments of doubt (that can even extend into periods of time)--when the realization of these dreams seems so distant and far off that we may begin to wonder if it's worth it.  Is it worth continuing to dream? To hold out hope and faith and trust that these dreams can and will materialize--for me?

  

When these questions arise, I lean on the lessons I've learned and the counsel I've received from my greatest champions (and, most importantly, my Greatest Champion): all things are possible to those who believe.  Why?  Because when we believe, we keep moving forward.  We trust.  Him and ourselves. We take one step at a time.  We draw strength knowing that we've done hard things before.  The only way out is really through and that means one step in front of the next. 

We do what we can.  Today.  Right now.  And that requires keeping our eyes on our dreams.

 

And then that moment comes.

 

That moment when the balance tips.  When spring arrives.  You wait and wait (and wait!) for it to come.  And then one day, it happens.  You can't quite pin down what it is about that moment.  It just comes.  Every spring.  I had forgotten that in these summiting experiences a similar moment comes.  It's the moment when you know.  When you know you'll make it to the top of this mountain you've been climbing.  Because you've kept your eyes on your dreams. 

And that has compelled (and propelled) you to keep moving forward. 

To take one more step.  To do what you can today. 

 

That moment, when I knew, came yesterday.  It came unexpectedly.  I'm so grateful it came.

It came, I believe, as a gift from my Greatest Champion.

 

Please keep your eyes on your dreams, however distant and far away.  Believe that as you continue to work towards those dreams, the moment will come when you will know that your dream will materialize.  Let that belief propel you forward.