i never really finished the dream thing. there was this great thought behind it but being an overanalyzer, i pretty much sunk it. however, this post is about dreams too…so, i figured what the heck. my personality is one that won’t let a “1 of 2” go incomplete, so here is 2 of 2. :)
yesterday, i was wiped. putting someone with ADD (no, really, i have it) in a big dark room to watch people talk for 8 hours day (the leadership summit) can be challenging. thursday ended great with marcus buckingham – he’s truly captivating to watch as a public speaker so i was feeling pretty alive after his session. however, yesterday morning, my friend lauren and i decided to hit starbucks early before the summit started. we are not morning people. but i wouldn’t have traded the time i spent with her for sleep…she is incredible!
anyway, we ended up coming in about 45 minutes late, and although i enjoyed all of the sessions, especially john ortberg’s, my brain was toast. i went home and crashed on the couch for a couple of hours.
and i had an interesting dream. i dreamt i was out with a friend and he felt like he needed to get some kind of vision or something from god. we were on a beach, and he decided the best way to do this was to swim out from the shore, into the deeper area, and wait for a big wave to smack him and carry him off somewhere. (yes, i realize this is weird)…so he does just that.
i wait and wait and wait getting a little worried after the wave did take him off, but soon enough, he swam back to the shore and flopped onto the beach, completely exhausted. i asked him what he learned. by the time he could catch his breath, he told me,
“i realized you don’t have to do something huge in order to find out what god’s trying to tell you. in fact, it was really stupid. i could have died…and now i’m just completely exhausted.”
then i looked up and saw two butterflies…one was real, and one was a kite. i don’t think they had anything to do with the story…
but my imaginary dream-friend has some good points…
1) god doesn’t have to hit you upside the head in a big way to communicate with you
2) don’t do stupid things that can distract you, waste your time, and end up leaving you exhausted so you can’t do what it is you’re supposed to do
3) after being swept out, he had to swim farther and against the tide in order to get back where he should have been in the first place.
i don’t know about you, but this dream is really applicable to me now. pretty cool.
Comments
12 responses to “dreams (part 2 of 2)…i think”
i’m emailing you soon. it’s insane that God is speaking the same message to me this morning that He spoke to you. r
that is really good!
Maybe the butterflies did have some significance. One being “real” the Lord. One being a look alike “life and distractions” with a bunch of good intentions. Both beautiful and amazing to look at and be a part of but only one being the real deal.
Or…like you said, they had nothing to do with it at all…
I like butterflies…
Girl . . . WHAT did you eat for supper? :-)
The butterflies must have something to do with Lunesta – that medicine that’s supposed to make you sleep better!
– J
what a great dream + such solid things to apply to my life… how many times do we all jump out to the waves just to catch a thrill? good stuff.
I love how God is being so gentle with you that he didn’t even make YOU be the person who had to do the swimming! :)
Wow, great dream! I think I pretty much may have spent two years swimming in the middle of the ocean! I guess we all want big dramatic signs which can’t be missed, but we forget to look for the little things and the beauty in the day to day (like those butterflies). I think maybe God’s saying life’s about here and now, where you are and making the most of each moment instead of waiting for some huge wave to sweep you into your destiny!
I am so happy to hear the summit had some great affect on you. I came home feeling like there was no way I would ever be half the leader that any of those men and women are. I didn’t even have a cool dream.
Its off to church I go, time to preach the sermon….
First of all, I love Marcus Buckingham–he’s incredible. Second–my dreams never have any real meaning. Why don’t I get cool dreams like that…oh yeah, you have to actually sleep without being interrupted five bazillion times a night to get to that stage. Maybe when my kids are grown. But then, I’m sure I’ll have bladder issues….rambling. Sorry.
very cool. thanks for sharing. i love me an analogy, and will share this one w/ my husband who will also benefit from it greatly. prayerfully, any exhaustion will turn to energy to carry out God’s plan.
Anne…that is so stinkin’ awesome…I LOVE LOVE LOVE it when God speaks to us through our dreams….it never ceases to amaze me just how much we can learn from them if we take the time to remember.
I have felt like the guy that went WAY OUT THERE for God to do something BIG when all the while he had me right where he wanted me (safe and sound on the shore).
Thanks for opening up and sharing your wacky, yet extremely thought provoking dream…keep dreaming sister…it is awesome!
Melissa ;)