Have you ever woke up from a dream and for a short time your consciously still there somewhat, yet you’re aware of your surroundings realizing you’re awake as well? It’s an awesome place to be when the dream was really meaningful and a time that you do what you can to savor those fleeting moments realizing soon you’ll be fully awake and it will seem like only a dream, but oh how it felt so real while you were in it didn’t it!
This morning was one of those for me. Something unique about this morning’s dream was that at the very end of the dream, while somewhat still in the dream, I realized that what had just happened had a powerful spiritual lesson for me. That was one of the most special feelings I have had in a dream in a long time.
I’ll try now to recount the details of this dream, primarily for myself, so I can look back at it later and perhaps gain a bit more insight from reliving it.
Before I begin, remember that dreams can be weird and don’t always completely flow as we know people, space and time when we’re awake. That brings up something else I’d love to ponder and write about but will resist for now for this writing.
As best I can remember, my dream begins with me catching a ride with a friend and having to ride in the back of his pickup truck. This truck was pulling a trailer with a small sailboat on it. I remember seeing the mast standing up and a yellow and blue sail cloth that wasn’t in the best of shape, being a bit faded etc., but otherwise appeared to be sound. I thought it couldn’t be safe for my friend to pull this trailer with this mast sticking up in the air, the sail cloth catching the wind. What would happen if it caught an overhead power line or tree limb? So I pulled the mast toward me (guess it hinged at the bottom) and pulled it down beside me in the truck and somehow chocked the end of the mast under something in the back of the truck where it couldn’t pop back up.
I must have fallen asleep and the next thing I know, I awake to the horrible sound of the sail cloth coming loose and getting all entangled in the trailer wheels and axle, with every revolution of the wheel tearing the cloth to shreds and well, basically destroying the sail cloth. I panicked, realizing that this was all my fault for not being attentive enough and allowing myself to fall asleep.
The scene changes a bit as I realize my friend is taking this little sailboat to a repair shop to have some work done on it. I’m thinking to myself, I will have to ask the repair shop to order him a new sail cloth and I’ll have to pay for it, regardless of the expense. I remember thinking that I could do this if the sail cloth were $200-$300 tops but I’m betting it is more like $1000-$2000, and if so, I’m in so much trouble, yet will have to find a way.
Now the dream scene changes dramatically, yet it’s obvious it’s the same one. We appear to be involved in a sailboat race on some enormous body of water. The waves are high; the wind is blowing something fierce and the water splashing over the boat as it crashes through one gigantic wave after another is stinging as it hits my face and arms. Ahead, I gaze along the starboard side of the boat and spot a lengthy white hull. Above, my eyes meet a colossal blue and white sail. I expected the sail cloth to be some heavy tarpaulin like material but it was a very light-weight, tent-like material. The strength of this very light-weight, thin material astonished me. It endured the fierce winds, stretching out and pulling this rather large sailing vessel as it did. I also remember that as I moved my body to the port side of the sail, it shielded my body from the stinging water but I could not see ahead so I had to move back to the starboard side of the sail after a few moments of relief to see the heading of the boat. This being said, I suppose I was to some capacity, steering this big sail boat in this race.
The boat is quickly approaching an over-head power line that is stretched out over the water. I knew we had to act quickly. If the mast were to catch on this over-head power line, it would likely break and the sail cloth rip as well. The boat is still moving up and down as it breaks the waves in the high wind, making it impossible to gauge how high the mast really is in relation to how far above the water the power line is. As we approached the power line, I realized all I could do was hope and pray we were on the downside of the waves as we cross this line and the mast fit under it. At that exact moment, we quickly pass under it. We lacked a few feet being able to fit under, but miraculously, the mast seemed to lean back, causing the power line to slide up and over the top as we passed under. Wow!
Now that we’ve made it under the power line, the race course buoys show we are going to have to really cut hard port side for a steep turn at the high rate of speed it felt we were moving.
The boat turns hard to the port side, the deck now being at a steep angle and I am having to “hold on”! The huge sail above me is leaning hard and I’m wondering what’s going to happen if it gets any closer to the waves.
As we’re rounding the corner, that dang over-head power line shows up again and I realize, oh no, here we go again. This time the mast, on its own, leans forward. I’m thinking to myself, I know enough about angles to know that if it hits that power line again, leaning forward this time rather than back, we are oh so caught and it’s going to pull the power line down, not up. But there’s no time to do anything or even really give it any further thought. The boat dips down and we clear the power line with plenty of room. This sail boat is really smart!
Now, the most awesome feeling literally overwhelms me as I realize we are on a straight home stretch, now heading with the wind and waves rather than against them, and appear to be out ahead of the other boats. The mast immediately self-erects itself and I hear a big “POP” as the sail cloth fully opens to catch all the wind it can. We are off and flying to the finish line!
We won the race, and the winnings were so much that I realized at that moment that my family and I were now financially set! I turned to my friend, realizing that I would now easily be able to pay for his new sail cloth with my share of the race winnings. He chuckled and said, “you didn’t know?” I said “didn’t know what?”. He said “look up” (meaning at the sail) and I saw the big word across the sailcloth, “MACY’S” (I know, that’s weird, Macy’s Department Store?). He said “the man at the repair shop said that he would give me a new sail cloth if we would race my boat wearing his banner”. So, I ended up paying for the sailcloth and I didn’t owe the repair shop after all!
Now I am waking up a bit from the dream and feel halfway in, halfway out of it. The thought that is so powerfully running through my mind is that, had I not fallen asleep and that old sail cloth get loose and get all caught up in the tires and axles, tearing it to shreds, we would not have just entered this big sail boat race and won all this money that has my family and I now financially comfortable.
I couldn’t help but realize that this dream began with me in a total panicked state, feeling doomed because of something that quickly and uncontrollably happened, yet impacts the whole of my life (as financial problems can). In the same dream, I experience the feeling of a million pounds being lifted from my shoulders when I realize that, through proper management, my family is now very comfortable financially. Even without my realizing it, they took care of the replacement cost of the destroyed sail cloth.
This honestly did not cross my mind until I was writing the paragraph just above this one. My sister Susan posted something on Facebook just yesterday that seems to fit so well with this dream. ( … Hold out, be faithful, keep on believing and press forward. In a moment, God can turn your life around when you didn’t even see it coming.)
It’s not every night that you get to dream dreams that really affect you throughout the day, and beyond, like this one, thus the reason that I’ve decided to try and record it the best way I know how before too much of the day passes and it fades from memory.
I think it’s amazing how many ways and means God uses to reach us and teach us His principles and truths. I do not know where to go from here, relating to this dream, but I hope to keep an open mind and heart and hope to learn everything I can from every opportunity my Heavenly Father gives me.