It all starts with a dream read a poster in the office of the salesman who helped us make one of their cars ours. Accompanying the caption? An awesome vehicle with its headlights staring at us.
“‘It all
starts with a dream.’ Scary,” I somewhat whispered to my husband but was
overheard by the salesman, much to my chagrin. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t
start with any of mine!”
The
salesman looked a bit puzzled.
Brian
laughed and addressed him. “Her dreams are totally whacky.”
“Oooh, I
have some of those too,” the salesman said, smiled, then continued with the
stack of paperwork.
I
confess. I tend to have wild dreams. Some I remember to tell Brian in
the morning (poor guy) and some disappear into thin air.
But this
brief exchange at the car dealership, in a twisted way, reminded me of a
conversation with my sister a month earlier when we found ourselves talking
about childhood memories.
“I had a
reoccurring dream when we were kids,” I said.
“Oh? Tell me!” Carolyn urged.
“I
dreamed I was in a wheelchair, tried to stand to walk, and fell down. I had
this one over and over. It was so real to me that I actually woke sometimes,
thinking I was falling.”
“I used
to have one repeatedly also.” Then she shared hers with me.
“Sometimes
I wonder if God was preparing me in a way.”
“For?”
“For work
with the disabled. When I was a camp counselor and then a houseparent to kids
in wheelchairs, I remembered that dream. And, when one of the kids fell out of
her wheelchair, it brought back some of what I’d sensed. In a way, it helped me
be sensitive to her tears and maybe even her fear.”
“Could
be,” Carolyn said.
Dreams.
The ones that visit us over and over. Do they matter? Could they be from God?
Do they redirect us?
I don’t
believe dreams are mystical, but I do think—as in the example above—some nudge
us and may hold purpose.
Another
example: Occasionally I dream I’m spending time with my parents or best friend,
all who are in Heaven now. I believe God helps me not miss them as much due to
those “visits.” These also remind me sweetly of eternity with the Lord and
those I love!
Dreams may
plant a sense of urgency—that I need to either pray for that person, write to him/her,
or make a call.
An
extreme example of this: Decades ago, I dreamed one of our military sons was in
danger. At that time, Michael was deployed in war. I remember shooting straight
up in bed, waking Brian, and saying, “We need to pray for Michael!”
Unbeknownst
to us at that time, more than 500 miles away a girl who’d attended the same
school as our sons woke abruptly, ran to her parents’ room, and cried, “Mom, we
need to pray for Michael Hampshire!”
And they did. (I learned this much later when the mother wrote a letter about the experience.)
When
Michael returned home, he told us of an event that fell within the timeframe of
those alert-awakenings—where his life along with others could’ve been
snuffed out but wasn’t because of an “unplanned delay.”
“I don’t
know why we did it,” he shared, “but we stopped in the town to visit the
director of sanitation. We only stopped for 5 minutes. While we were there,
5-minutes down the road an IED* was discovered and defused. We would’ve
driven over it if we’d not made that stop.”
I firmly
believe the dreams both the girl and I experienced were God’s wake-up alarms!
And how I thank God for doing that!
In 2021,
a lovely lady named Jane Marczewski appeared on America’s Got Talent (AGT).
When the judges did their casual getting-to-know-you bit before her audition,
they discovered this was no ordinary contestant standing before them.
Jane actually
went by her stage name at the AGT audition, having had performance experience
since her college days at Liberty University.
Stage
name? Nightbirde.
When a
fan asked how Jane came up with that, she shared—“Woke up in the night 3 times,
dreaming of birds singing in the dark. The third time, I went to the window and
they were there singing morning songs at 3am. I wanted to be one of them
singing as if it was morning, though I couldn't see it yet.”
Nightbirde,
a girl who truly sang through her nights, won the golden buzzer when she performed
on AGT, but withdrew from the finals when her cancer progressed.
And when
she feared she might not survive, Nightbirde (as she became known
worldwide) recorded this:
“I was looking for an answer that
didn’t hurt. I don’t know where to start in understanding my life...And
recently I’ve been thinking a lot about how when Jesus died, he asked why. ‘Why
did You forsake me?’ But Jesus knew. He was there from the beginning. When it
was all planned out. He was God Himself. He knew. But, um, pain that bad can
make you forget.
And so I’m out here. I keep writing in
this stupid journal. “Why?”…it’s not like I don’t know the answer. It’s like
I’m looking for an answer that doesn’t hurt. I’m trying to understand why all
these things happen to me and why I’m here and why I’m not better…There’s lots
of answers that fit. It is like life is hard and bad things happen and we have
choices; or maybe, ya know, God is letting this story go out and heal people
even though it’s hurting me. Maybe that’s the sacrifice I have to be willing to
make…”**
Nightbirde’s
song in the dark ended when she went to Glory in 2022. Her reoccurring dream
reflected the end of her life. But she no longer sings in the dark!
When
writing this blog post, I wondered what song to choose for our time together.
Then The Holy City jumped into my thoughts. As I typed the words, I became
curious what motivated Mr. Weatherly to write the lyrics. So, I did a little
research and learned he had a reoccurring dream that led him to pen the words.***
May this
beautiful song touch you, give you hope and joy, and turn your heart Heavenward!
The Holy City
Bill
& Gloria Gaither - The Holy City [Live] ft. Larry Ford
Last night I lay a sleeping, there came a
dream so fair,
I stood in old Jerusalem beside the temple there.
I heard the children singing, and ever as they sang,
Methought the voice of angels from Heav’n in answer rang;
Methought the voice of angels from Heav’n in answer rang:
Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Lift up your gates
and sing,
Hosanna in the highest—Hosanna to your King!
And then methought my dream was changed,
the streets no longer rang,
Hushed were the glad hosannas the little children sang.
The sun grew dark with mystery, the morn was cold and chill,
As the shadow of a cross arose upon a lonely hill,
As the shadow of a cross arose upon a lonely hill.
Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Hark! how the angels
sing,
Hosanna in the highest—Hosanna to your King.
And once again the scene was changed, new
earth there seem’d to be,
I saw the Holy City beside the tideless sea;
The light of God was on its streets, the gates were open wide,
And all who would might enter, and no one was denied.
No need of moon or stars by night, or sun to shine by day,
It was the new Jerusalem that would not pass away,
It was the new Jerusalem that would not pass away.
Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Sing, for the night is o’er!
Hosanna in the highest—Hosanna for evermore!
Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna for evermore!
(hymn The Holy City, by Frederick Edward Weatherly, 1892, public domain)
#dreams
#purpose #IEDinwar #Nightbirde #FrederickEWeatherly #HolyCityNewJerusalem
*improvised
explosive device
**a portion of a Nightbirde short / also from AGT video on YouTube
***Of course, the God-given dream was scribed by John—in the Bible Book of Revelation.
Photo Credit: poster—Walmart, son—family-owned, Nightbirde—reddit.com
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