| Sunny Side Up June 30, 2004 �2004, Kathleen Gibson Three unforgettable dreams In the last several years, I've had three dreams I can't forget. In the first I knelt in my garden, weeding. I seemed anxious for no apparent reason. Suddenly a young woman - my daughter, I think, rushed to me, tremendously excited. The hospital called, she said. You have to go there right away. Your heart is in. I raised my hand to feel my heart, beating steadily under my blouse. My heart? What was she talking about? I laughed, but she spoke insistently. No. They said that you must come in immediately, because you're getting a new heart today. Someone died and they want you to have their heart. The surgeons are ready and waiting for you. The dream was so shocking I woke up. In my second dream I was driving down a country road and came to a shady green dell where sheep grazed the pasture peacefully. A small shepherd's cottage stood off to the side. Suddenly two lions emerged from the bushes and began stalking the sheep. Roaring up to the shepherd's cottage I rushed from the car and began yelling "Lions are after your sheep!" The door opened and a sleepy shepherd burst out, holding a rifle in one hand and pulling on his trousers with the other. Stumbling toward the pasture, he raised the rifle to his shoulder and downed both lions just as they leaped to attack his flock. As I drove away, he gave me a grin and an enthusiastic thumbs-up sign. In my third dream, I was lost in the urban core of an unfamiliar city. The Preacher and I had left home in a dreadful rush to help a friend in need. I'd taken no time to don coat or socks or shoes, or even pick up my purse. But we'd gotten separated somehow and I knew I had to find my way home alone. I had no money. I was cold. Finally, reluctantly, I asked for help from strangers. I explained at several churches that I really wasn't a street person, that I just needed a bus ticket home. None believed me. None would help. Wandering, despondent and exhausted, I told my story to a vendor at a street booth. She reached into her purse, opened her wallet and showed me its contents-a full pouch of bills, hundreds of dollars. Take whatever you need, she said. I'll never forget those feelings. Relief. Unspeakable gratitude. I accepted only five dollars to get me on the bus and back home. Most of the time my dreams are utter nonsense. But God has used those three to show me things I couldn't see during my waking hours. And he's pointed me to passages in my Bible that help me understand them. Each one has made me think deeply about my attitudes, my faith, and my life's focus. God communicates-regularly, and in a variety of ways. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Can you hear him? You can respond to this column at [email protected] |
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