The night before last I had a very strange dream.  I woke up confused and disoriented until I realized where I was.  I hope it’s not a result of watching the old TV show “LOST” in mega doses! But, after reflecting on this dream, I think it may carry a significant message for me, perhaps for many of us.

In the dream, I woke up to find dirty footprints all over our apartment carpet.  After noticing the footprints, I realized that all our furniture was gone.  All our belongings, gone.  All the closets, empty.  All the cupboards – empty.  The only thing remaining was the baby crib and the toddler waking up in it.  He was hungry and wanted Cheerios.  But we had no dishes, no table, no food in the apartment.

I frantically got out my cell phone – which miraculously was still there – to call my husband, but the cell phone wouldn’t work properly.  It changed in size and shape and kept wanting me to play a game.  No matter how many times I turned it off and on, tried resetting it, or tried using it to make a call, it always wanted me to play a game.  Frustrated, I picked up the baby and decided I would have to go find some food for him somewhere.  As we were leaving the apartment, the thought went through my mind that it would be very easy to pick up and move now – since there was nothing to move but the baby’s crib.

And then I woke up.  I woke up to a furnished apartment and all my belongings with all the closets and cupboards full and my cell phone working properly.  The only thing missing was the baby and the crib.

Revisiting this dream and praying with it for the past day, I remembered that I had read a book years ago by John Sanford called Dreams, God’s Forgotten Language.  If dreams are one of the ways God communicates with us, what was God possibly trying to communicate to me?

Many thoughts have filled my mind, but the one that keeps coming back to me is this:  We will have trouble finding food to nourish the child within us if we continue to let our possessions be the most important thing in our lives.  When we can let go of the need for things and more things, then we will be able to address our true selves and enjoy life to its fullest in child-like play that frees the soul.

What a grace the message of this dream is for me.  God speaking and telling me to let go of the many things I think are important and just the take time to play.  It is not an easy message for me to receive because I was taught to be so responsible.  But it is a message I am trying to take to heart so it will make a difference in my life for the future.

What is God speaking to you?