Greeted by a White Witch Doctor & Dream Seeds

Yesterday I was greeted by a White Witch Doctor.

That is the term I used to describe my favorite teacher from Semester-at-Sea and one of my all-time favorite authors, Dr. Larry Meredith. I blogged about Dr. Meredith's book, 'Life Before Death', in the end of 2009.

Yesterday, almost 2.5 years later, I received a comment on that blog post from Dr. Meredith himself. His comment was as artistic as his book is written. (I sincerely encourage you to read the blog post and comment, and, if you want to rock your religion, his book!)

In reflection of our transition to the mission field this summer, and then this interaction with the academic alchemist that is Meredith, caused me to consider once again, the gestation period of a dream seed.

How long it has been since I experienced time with Dr. Meredith, and then considering how long it has been since I wrote that blog, I stood in wonder of the certainty of dream seeds compared to the time it takes for them to grow.

Likewise, as Marissa and I make our way around the island of Hispaniola, I marvel at the time from when we started dreaming about being here and actually find ourselves here. Finally, in considering the first trip I took to Haiti and the fact that I have a book coming out about it this weekend. That time difference struck a chord with me this morning.

A dream seed is the moment that you take an emotionally-charged dream and  finally sow it into your heart as something you are moving toward.

The question is this: what is the length of time it takes a sown dream seed to bear fruit?

This is a difficult question. We know that corn takes about 73 days (or at least SugarPearl corn does.) We know that babies take 9 months.

But, how long does it take a dream to be sown, take root, and grow?

• I wrote that blog almost 2.5 years ago before I had the honor of being contacted by Dr. Meredith.
• My dream to go to Semester-at-Sea took almost 6 years.
• Unconsciously, we dreamed about coming to Haiti for about 2 years. Consciously, it took about 3-5 months of planning.
• My book, 'H.O.P.E. from Here to Haiti', launched on Amazon.com this weekend. That entire process, from idea to book, too almost 3 years.

At first blush, I would say that it depends on how passionate you are about the dream. That will determine how aggressive your actions are toward the dream. But sometimes forcing negates the natural flow of a dream.

What do you think? How long have some of your dreams taken? Should you just push through and force them?

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Side Note: When my book does launch this weekend, be sure to check it out on GrantNieddu.com. I will have a discount code for everyone, so check back then.
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