Once upon a time, there were two little birds. They had just recently broken through their shell into the world of the living. They joyfully looked forward to their feeding times when their mother would bring them their lunch and dinner. They loved to watch the clouds in the sky as they shifted and dream of someday flying. Finally, the day came…the day their dreams would come true. Today was the day that they were promised they would learn to fly. They were full of hopes and dreams of soaring in the sky freely and happily singing along as they viewed the world from a whole different perspective than the single view they had from their nest, which they were getting restless in.

They were so focused on learning to fly, that they never considered the possibility that they may not succeed…that the dream wouldn’t come true. So they bravely and excitedly hopped out of their nest and listened to a few last instructions, took a breath, and they jumped and spread their wings.

Instead of soaring above the treetops, they gave into the pull of gravity and landed with a light thump on the ground far below. Their dream shattering around them as they looked up and realized they had no idea what to do now.

One bird surveyed the situation and said to the other, “I will never be able to fly. This is a hopeless dream. You saw what happened when I tried. I will remain here and live my days walking on this ground. I will not try to fly again.” He then proceeded to walk off and search for his lunch. His life was very short and miserable as he was eaten by a cat that happened to be slinking by one afternoon. He would, day after day before his death, watch the other birds in the sky and simply sit and mourn the death of his dream and wish that he could fly.

However, the other bird surveyed the situation and said to himself, “Surely this is not a hopeless dream. Do not dreams come at a price sometimes? I must keep trying…I must keep fighting to learn to fly. Think of the joy of flying above the treetops. God made me to fly, I will fly.” And day after day he worked on strengthening his too weak wings by practicing over and over. And everyday he fell to the ground where discouragement and lies surrounded him, but he simply looked up and his dream was renewed…he would not give up…he would fly. Then one day it happened…he jumped off the small stump and he didn’t hit the ground…but rather, he remained in the air. As he soared above the treetops, it was more than he ever thought to imagine, it was incredible! And he was thankful that he hadn’t given up, this dream was well worth the pain of hitting the ground and continuing through discouragement.