Monday, May 14, 2012

dream, dream, dream...

I had the strangest feeling just a minute ago and am still processing it...

I was making up my bed this morning and a thought came to me: "Remember the dream you had when you first moved here?" Then I suddenly remembered something that I haven't thought about since we first moved here (7-8 years ago). It was shortly after the church we were a part of started to fall apart. The curtain was pulled back and exposed just how far off track we had wandered. What began as a group of believers passionately following Jesus, had somehow evolved into a group of believers passionately following a bunch of rules.  Keith and I grieved as we watched people we had been close to for 20 years throw the baby out with the bath water. They didn't seem to know how to separate religion from a relationship with God, so they tossed them both out. Our kids seemed to feel betrayed, like the parents they trusted had somehow led them astray. I wanted to tell them I was sorry and that we never intended to hurt them. I felt a strong desire for Keith and I to wrap our arms around and minister to the group of kids that were our boys ages. They seemed so lost, like someone just pulled the rug out from under them. But we were still trying to find our way out of the box of religious performance and learn how to simply live inside Father's love. (A pharisectomy is a slow and painful process.)

This morning, when I was reminded of that dream I had so long ago; I realized it was being fulfilled at this very time. It was not something I manipulated or contrived. Keith and I never sat down and planned it out. It happened very organically, by the master gardener, through a lot of pruning. Just yesterday morning, on Mother's Day, our living room was full of young adults sitting around, feeling safe and free enough, to wrestle out loud with the scriptures. Then later that night, Alex and Drew and their friends ate over and spent the night. These young adults, who had been in and out of our home all day and shared meals with us, were the very kids that crawled out from underneath the pile of rubble that fell 7-8 years ago. Over the years, these kids have become part of our family. I had forgotten all about that dream, until God whispered it to my heart this morning. I hadn't realized that over time, God made that dream a reality?

Here is something that I didn't even realize until I sat down to type this... Sitting on this desk is a plant that Drew gave me for Mother's Day yesterday. In it is a rock with the word "dream" painted on it. Yesterday, when Drew gave it to me, he told me that there were several plants like this at Lowes, but only one with a rock in it. (Hmmm, coincidence?) Then, this morning when I got up, Drew came into the kitchen. He said, "I had a bad dream last night". I said, "That's weird, I did too, and I couldn't go back to sleep!" So we sat there this morning talking about our dreams. (Hmmm, another coincidence?) Then of coarse, there was the random thought that popped into my head as I was making up my bed, "Remember the dream you had when you first moved here?" (Hmmm, a 3rd coincidence???) Not to me!

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