I love God. No, I don't mean in the hollow, generic, saying-this-makes-me-a-good-Christian way. I mean, I have a personal relationship with Him, I see his gifts for me daily, and I love Him. Little gifts in unexpected places, and as I recognize His hand in them, I can feel Him smiling into my heart, happy that I noticed.
I've had some weird dreams lately. Occasionally, a dream will be more like a vision, a revelation, and it feels tangible and real. But mostly, dreams are just plain weird.
The night before last, I dreamed that an old friend and I were walking hand-in-hand along a freeway off-ramp that led up to an overpass. Along the right side of the off-ramp were houses. They didn't seem important, but their front yards did. They were even rectangles of grass, and covered with items for sale. But it was more like businesses than yard sales. The first one had tires for sale. They were in neat rows, very orderly, which I appreciated. But they bothered me. I don't know why. Maybe they smelled. Tires stink, after all. I vaguely recall walking up an aisle and looking at the different tires uncomfortably, thinking, "I don't want any of these. I don't need these." I didn't like being around them, so it was with relief that I left there. As I passed beyond the boundaries of that property, I looked back. The front left corner of the plot was on fire. That pleased me. Good riddance.
The next yard had rows of bicycles for sale. These evoked the opposite feelings. I liked the bicycles. I was happy to see them. I saw the different styles and colors and knew that the bicycles were good to have there, good to be close to. I didn't buy one at the moment, but determined to come back and get one later, when I had more time. First, I had someplace to go. Looking back once more, I saw that the tires from the other lot were still on fire. I was completely satisfied as my friend and I continued to walk up the ramp.
At the top, we turned left and kept walking. It was dark. Nighttime. There were a lot of people up there, and I don't like crowds much. The freeway rushed by beneath us, not so crowded, but fast and hurried. It felt good to be on foot up above it. Somewhere in the middle of the overpass, I dropped my cell phone. I'm pretty clumsy like that. Annoyed with myself, I picked it back up and stuffed it into my pocket, like always. By this time, my friend had mysteriously morphed into someone else, like people in dreams tend to do. I don't know who the lady was, but she was a friend. We walked together as we left the overpass, though not as close together as my other friend and I had done. Other people from the crowd, all going the other direction, by the way, passed in between us a time or two. It didn't matter, though, because we were still together. There may have been a few people behind us, going the same way we were, but I didn't look back, so I don't know.
We found ourselves in a room, a transitionary place where no one lingered. My friend and I stopped, and I checked my cell phone for texts. That's when I discovered that it wasn't my phone! I had managed to pick up someone else's by mistake! My friend checked hers, and we discovered that we had each other's phones. She had apparently dropped hers around the same time I did. Problem solved!
I don't recall anything after that. We moved on from the room, but I don't know where to or what happened.
Last night I had a different dream. I was outside, in the evening before the sun had set, and was across the street and around the corner from my childhood home. I was in the street but close to the sidewalk. There was a small campstove or bonfire- not sure which. On top of this was a kettle with soup in it. Someone was with me, possibly one of my children. We had french bread to dip in the soup. It was yummy. Nearby, I noticed a small dog. I paid it no attention until after I had eaten my soup and most of my bread. As I put the last bit of my bread into my mouth, satisfied after a filling meal, I felt kind of silly for putting that whole piece, dipped in broth, into my mouth at once, since it was kind of big and should have been more than one bite. It tasted good on my tongue, but before I closed my mouth all the way, I noticed the little dog again. It was a puppy. It watched me closely, wanting to come nearer but not daring to. I saw its ribs poking out and realized that this puppy was starving! Taking the bread out of my mouth and breaking it into little pieces, I called the puppy to come eat. It did, very gratefully. "This is just bread," I thought; "we need to get some dog food for this poor little thing!" I knew that I had saved its life, and by taking it home with me, I would give it the opportunity to heal and recover. (End of dream.)
These dreams felt like dreams, but there is meaning behind these symbols. I looked them up in a dream dictionary online, and felt a tingle as I determined what each thing meant. I still don't understand them perfectly, but I wonder what God has given me from these messages. It gives me hope. He is watching, he knows what happens at each moment. He cares. He has a plan that involves each of us, and is waiting for just the right time to give us exactly what we need at that time.
I trust Him. I appreciate Him. And I will keep walking, keep feeding, keep going, keep looking for joys to appreciate, until I reach my destination.
