Last night I dreamed I was a young woman at some sort of Christian college/church and I was in a corner, on my knees, working on a wedding dress. I was pinning and sewing. It seemed to be made of mostly antique lace. I think it was a very old dress and I was mending it but not sure if it was for myself… it was a “duty” I was doing.
An elderly lady came up to me and I knew she was the wife of one of the “elders” there. She said what fine work I was doing and that she would like to hire me to do some work for her.
I asked what sort of work and she said she wanted me to make little vests, bags and toys for her miniature dog and that she would pay me by giving me a bag of Mall-purchased beauty products. I felt some dismay because both the job and the reward sounded pathetic to me. I told her I wasn’t interested, because what I needed was “rural land/home.”
She said that her and her husband had a place “up north” that was three acres and one acre of it was beach front property to the lake. (At this point I knew I was up near the Great Lakes and thought she was referring to mid-to-north Lake Michigan area.) She said it had a mobile home on it that had been customized to look like a CO mountain cabin. She was really “selling” me this property and I could tell she was talking it up more than it was worth, but I was still very interested.
Then she said that it was currently occupied by a family that they had found wandering down a street in town in late December, in the snow, with all of their belongings on their back. The woman had been in labor with their second child. The first was a boy in his early teens. The family was destitute and had no where to go, so the old man and his wife had let them live in their lake-front cabin north of town.
As she was telling me this, I was suddenly reading it like a story, on paper in front of me. Then I felt a heavy hand come to rest on my shoulder. Then a metal soldiers helmet that had been on my head (but I had not known it) was knocked forward off of my head and I knew that it was God who had put His hand on my shoulder and knocked my helmet off to get my attention.
He let me know (can’t remember words) that He did not want me to pursue the cabin on the lake because He had provided it for that woman and her children and I was not to ask for it or take it from them. I saw that they had been there all winter and now it was late spring and summer was coming. I knew that God wanted that older boy to spend the summer at that cabin on the lake… that He was glad for the boy to have that joy, even if it did not last forever.
The scene changed and now I was at a market or grocery store of some sort in the town. I was seeing the old man who was the husband of the old lady. He was either the owner or manager of the business… at least the produce part. He had boxes and boxes of produce around him. He was telling the destitute man, who was now living in the lake front cabin with his wife and sons, how to do this job. I knew the old man had given the destitute man this job and was trying to help him “make it.” The old man was saying;
(and I remember these words pretty closely, I think:)
“This is what you do. You take the apples out and arrange them carefully here on this table … like this… and while you do it you say “thank you, God, for providing these apples. And thank you for the table and the stand. And for the beautiful day…” And then when you’re ready for the oranges you say “thank you God for the oranges, and that fantastic orange color… and the way they smell… and thank you for the blue sky up there, thank you for colors and smells… and for the sunshine today…” and so you go on putting everything out, and be sure to thank God for everything, continually while you work, because He provided it all.”
The old produce man was smiling and happy. I could tell he was thoroughly enjoying his day and his life. He struck me as simple and uncomplicated, but good. I knew God loved him for that constant gratitude.
The destitute man responded irritably. “No. I won’t do that. God doesn’t provide anything for anybody – ever.”
His statement was biting and emphatic. The old man looked shocked and even a little afraid of the awfulness of the statement. Now I saw he held in his hand two separate sheaves of papers. He turned to the destitute man and showed him one of the sheaves of papers. I saw what was written on it:
Thank you, God, for providing the apples I sell today.
Thank you, God, for providing the nice weather and blue skies.
Thank you, God for providing my health so that I can work.
(etc……………….. all the way down for several pages, with the following summary appearing every ten lines or so:)
Thank you God, You are my Provider. You provide everything good.
I saw that the papers represented the actions/words of the two different men… like evidence/proof of their hearts. The old man now showed the other sheaf of papers to the destitute man and said as he did so,
“Look at all that God has given me… I have all of this from God, my provider… even the sunshine! Now look what you have! You have nothing because you have refused God as your provider. Nothing. You live on my land that God has given me. You eat food that God gave me… you have nothing. I have everything!”
I saw the other list on the papers. It read:
God is not my provider.
God is not my provider.
God is not my provider.
(Etc… for the whole list.)
______________________________________
I woke up. I felt like God was providing the lake front cabin for the woman and children, but that he was doing it without giving the ungrateful man anything at all. I felt like the man was in danger.
I was also thrilled and delighted by the thankful old man. I saw that he was “rich” in all the good things of life.
His wife seemed like a “knucklehead” to me… ridiculous, and even greedy… but because she stayed with this grateful man, she was provided for.
I don’t know what the dream meant other than the obvious, but I can tell you that the morning was more appreciated than usual! I realized that the sunshine belongs to those who see it as God’s provision to them… that the smell of the oils coming from the pines for miles around is mine today because God is my provider. That I have more wealth than I ever realized I had all around me… because God is my provider, and He provides all good things to those that receive it with thanksgiving.
Thank you, God, for providing me with wise counsel to be thankful for all that you have given me today.
Oh, and our cow’s special orchard hay arrives today from CO! Thank you God for providing good food for our cow!
] of which we have been regular customers since its opening. A point of amazement to the people we know there is that I am both a Jew and a Christian.