I had a dream....

A few weeks (a month) ago, I had this dream:

I was walking around a building that looked like a medical school. I was sent off to do a task and I noticed something odd with a "patient". So I hurried off to find someone to confide in. I quickly located my dad and proceeded to tell him about the emergency that was either happening or going to happen. But instead, he brushed me off and continued to work on whatever it was that he was doing. I felt so much anger, that I felt like I was going to scream. So I stormed off, hurt and angry.

My older sister came to me and suggested we go for a drive so I could cool down and not do anything hasty. So off we went. As we approached a red light, I noticed three men walking around a church parking lot. They wore baggy clothes and I could hear their vulgar speech from inside the car. They began to pick up rocks and started throwing them at the cars in the parking lot. My sister said something to me but they fell on deaf ears. I quickly opened the door and got out of the car. I began telling them (not yelling) that they shouldn't be doing that. I told them that they were disrespecting the people who owned those cars. That they are better than what they are doing. That God has such great plans for them. Two of them stopped, dropped the rocks, and had these sincerely apologetic faces, almost tears in their eyes. I remember feeling such peace as I looked at them. The other, who seemed to be a leader to them, began to shout at me. Asking me "Who do you think you are? Telling us what to do and not do? Do you think you are better than me?" The closer and closer he got to me, the angrier he became. I told him not to get any closer and to not lay a hand on me. He grabbed my shoulder and began to yell again but out of reflex I quickly punched him in the face, breaking his nose. He fell to the ground and I thought to myself "why is he so angry?"

The scene changed. I found myself in a large school gymnasium, all the lights were off except for one large spotlight pointed directly at the center where I stood. All around me stood people of all ethnicitys. I looked around at them as they stood in a circle at the very edge of the light, not daring to enter the center. I kneelt down and began to pray. Quietly at first, my voice just a breath. The viewpoint changed and I was able to watch as my body was praying. When I looked straight ahead again, there was a judge on his chair with a gavel in his hand. He began to talk about how I had assaulted the boy who had grabbed me harshly. They spoke of prison and so on. His voice began to be drowned out by the sound of my barley sound producing voice, deep in prayer. I was to wait in prison until a court date. The judge disappeared and all the people who stood around me were staring at me. My body (I) just kept praying, paying them no mind. They pointed, some laughed, some scoffed, and some asked if I was ok. There was one girl, about twenty, who just watched me, intently. The view began to spin rapidly as if time were going by but my mind knew that it had only been a few minutes.

The scene stayed the same but the time had lapsed to at least two weeks or so. I kept on praying, never breaking for a moment. The judge reappeared stating that I was free to go and the man who accused me was being charged for many things. All the people who stood around me were cheering and shouting, congratulating me but they never entered the center of the circle. The girl who was just watching me began shouting "Praise God, I will follow you!", giving her life to Jesus. Then another person gave their life to God , then another and soon there were about 30 people who were saved. Not everyone shouted for joy or gave their life to God but I continued praying. Soon, one by one they began to disappear, until it was just the one girl who seemed so intrigued by my prayer. She wanted me to celebrate my freedom and was so amazed that before trouble began (during the good) I was praying and during the bad, I was praying, and now again I was praying during the gladness of my freedom. She smiled at my praying form and disappeared. I was alone in the gym, praying and praying and praying. Then I woke up.

EXCITEMENT! That is what I felt when I woke up. I couldn't contain my happiness. I just wanted to spread happiness to those around me. I smiled at everyone (a lot bigger than I usually did) and I spoke to more people than I usually did. It was, it IS a beautiful feeling. Like I had finished a terrible task and received the greatest prize for my work.

Interpreting dreams has always fascinated me and while I do not know what the entire dream meant or what parts mean what, I do know that it showed my role.

We are all given something. We are given a role and a purpose. I may not know my purpose in life (praying will help and will give me answers) but I know my role.
It is not my place to say. I have declared it with my mouth and so it is. I can share it here with you all and the more I think of it the more I want to and believe I should. The description of the role, however, is harder to put into words.
The words I hear are: Anchor  and Strength.

Strength, is what I got from the dream, itself. Anchor, I received from other sources-other people. I know that a big lesson is to PRAY, PRAY, PRAY during the good and the bad, the laughs and the tears. I am strong even with the emotions. I am an anchor for those who tie themselves to me. I know how great my God is and I will never say otherwise. I will not believe otherwise.

I don't believe because I see...I see because I believe.

The Truth Will Set You Free

I will admit to hard times with my studies this semester. And if you all knew me, you would know that admitting this is one of the hardest things for me to do.

The only thing harder than that was telling my parents.

I have always held my education on the highest of highest pedestals in my life.
I did excellent in elementary, middle school, and high school. Especially high school- I was all about my grades. (B's would make me cry!)

So when the college education started i was nervous but did good. I received my Associates from Northland Community and Technical College. Following that, I began at UND.

I began the semester with high spirits to only be brought down. And when my mood and motivation went down, I began to keep it a secret from my family.
They would ask me how school was going and I would respond with one of three answers:
-It was great, did a lot today.
-It was fine, the professor (continues with story)
-Eh. it was okay, I guess I am just tired.

The more days would pass, the less and less confidence I would have in myself and in my future.
I kept thinking of scenarios of my failure and what I was going to do with my life.

That was until I spoke to my parents.

It wasn't intentional. I wasn't ever going to tell them. Until the day of an exam. I was so tired and beaten that I could no longer control what I was doing. I was literally leaning against the wall and could not move, almost shaking from this heaviness.
The tears welled up in my eyes and i just blurted out my "dark" secret.
And I cried. (I'm a crier so nothing new but this one felt different)

I was so scared of their disappointment. I was scared of saying it out loud because then it would be real to me.

And you know what they said then?

Words of encouragement, of love, of trust, of reassurance.
They said they would never be disappointed in me.
They said that if something goes wrong, then there will be other chances, other opportunities and I can just continue to go to school, i could even change my major again (something funny and heartwarming to say after doing so 3 times).

And we prayed together. It was then that I felt the "freeing" feeling.
My heart, at first, felt like it was splitting in two. Then it started to hurt even more. And finally, there was peace.
Peace all around me.
Filling me from my feet to the top of my head.
It was a fuzzy feeling.
I had never felt so alive.

A few days after praying with my dad, I had an exam.
I was nervous, of course, (tests make me nervous) and I went ahead, studied and started.
After the test, I went home and took a nap.
Surprisingly, I woke up refreshed.

Boring right? A nap? but let me tell you, I never  take naps and when I did the last time (months ago, maybe?) I just feel sick.
and Yesterday? I received my grade and couldn't be happier!!!

And for the second time (first after the prayer), I could not have felt more excited for the school work! My workload seems light to me now and I feel like I have all the time in the world.

This made me realize something that I was always told and what I always tell others:
When you have a problem, Talk to God first!!! His words will set you free!!!!!!!

I don't know how many times I was told these things and I just did't listen, Until now.

So my advice to you all:
Talk to God. Listen to God. Continue to be in a relationship with God. And you will feel incredibly joyful and free! Don't be afraid to tell the truth.
You will sing loud in the car even when the windows are open and people give you strange looks.
Feel happy and live happily with God by your side!

Simple?
It is.

God Bless!!!!

Feeling Good!

We are all dying!
Slowly, as we go through life. And sometimes I think it is scary but not because I am afraid of death (so not!)
It's because we always take things for granted. I am guilty of that just as much as anyone.

Lately, I have been very concerned with health: what I'm eating, what I am doing activity-wise, and most importanly, informing my family on the dangers of the items we thought were healthy.
This brings things into perspective....

Like with our Christian walk.

What are you putting into your body? Your spirit? Your mind? What about your family?

Think about all the things you interact with throughout the day. Is there something you want to hide from someone? That's one negative point.
What about the music you listen to? Is it about the Love of God or about cheating boyfriends/girlfriends? That two!
How about what you watch on t.v or talk about with your friends? That three! And we're out!

A lot of people don't see these things as problems but what goes into the brain and spirit will come out from the mouth and travel to the heart.

We know about the Grinch and his tiny heart, we know about Pharoah who had a hardened heart and yet we continue to hold onto those petty fights with our spouses! We know who is really behind all of that...Satan. He is the "divide and conquer" type. His tricks are all the same and yet many people still fall for it.

So what can we do?

We can pray, read the Bible, we put on The armor of God!!!!!

What does this have to do with health?
Everything!
We are so preoccupied with the bikini ready bodies for the summer that we forget to exercise our spiritual walk so we are ready for ETERNITY!

I am guilty of this too so I can understand why we put these things off to the end but we shouldn't and I won't! While I may be busy with school and Sunday school prep, I make sure to take a few minutes of every day to pray and read a few scriptures to reflect.

Seems too simple? That's because as humans we over complicate everything!
So
My advice to all of you, mothers and daughters, father's and sons, is to just take 3 minutes to thank God for all He has and will do, read a scripture and reflect. You can ask for things, of course but remember to just thank every once in a while.

Go for a walk or a run, eat those vegetables and nourish your spirit with the food Jesus has provided.

God bless you all, my brothers and sisters.
I am grateful for all of you♡