Morning Dreams

Some mornings, I wake up and vividly remember a dream, or fragments of it. Sometimes, the dream does not want to leave my mind. To release the dream, and even learn something from it, I write what I remember down.

After, I jot down what I remember, I write the word: “Thoughts?”. In the quiet, as I sit in my chair, I reflect on what God wants to reveal to me. I believe God can use all things to shape us into the beings He designed. For me, He uses my dreams.

Sometimes, God shows me a growth in how I respond in a situation. In the dream I respond peacefully, confidently versus responding out of anxiety. Other times, He gives me a little message of encouragement. None of these revelations seem to be literally transparent. They reveal themselves as I sit in the quiet with Him and reflect.

This morning, two dull, short scenes from a dream would not leave my mind. They related to dust and tiny ants.

Dust

A layer of dust covered my phone and other items in my house. I wiped them off with a cloth, not using any product. As I reflected on how I felt about the dust, nothing showed up. No anger, frustration, happiness. I simply saw the dust and removed it.

Why wouldn’t this dream about dust leave me? What could the dust be trying to say to me?

Dust results from inactivity. It results from not using something or cleaning. Dust results from stillness. Dust particles land and stay.

This past summer I stayed at my daughter’s apartment. One of her tall plants with large leaves had a layer of dust on each leaf. A dust layer on a plant can suffocate the plant. To allow the plant to breathe better, I wiped the dust off each of its leaves.

I thought: “What do I need to dust off in my life, bring life to and stop suffocating?” The answer came quickly: my screenplay. It needs restructuring. The script has been sitting in that state for years now. I need to “dust it off” and make a game plan to finish it.

Breathing wise, I need to stop suffocating the person God created me to be. I need to breathe that version of Penny in.

What about you? Is there something you need to dust off? What in your life do you need to breathe life into? Are you possibly suffocating yourself, allowing fear or something to stop you from putting yourself out there?

Moving on to reflect on the second part of my dream: tiny ants.

Tiny Ants

Walking into a basement room, I saw little ants crawling all over one wall. Turning, I left the room and asked my husband to get rid of them. I wanted the ants removed; I did not want to remove them myself.

The words I wrote down in my journal about ants: pesky, persistent, collaborate, hard working, focused on task at hand. Rarely do you see just one ant. Ants work with each other to get the job done.

This made me think about human relationships. We need human relationships. Sometimes human relationships can interfere with getting what we need to get done. Other times, other humans may be able to help you achieve what you want to achieve.

Ants collaborate, they put themselves out there, intently focus. Like ants, I need to collaborate, put myself out there, intently focus on task at hand. For my task, that might involve bouncing off ideas or having others I deem “safe” to review my work.

“Safe” people are those people in your life that believe in you, encourage you, support your dreams, do not criticize or put you down with words or actions. Sometimes people we deem to be safe turn out not to be. Accept they are not a “safe” person and do not look to them for support. You will find “safe” people to help you grow and accomplish what you desire. It only takes one person.

Are you allowing relationships to interfere with your task? Are you collaborating, putting yourself out there, focusing intently on what you want to achieve? Do you know who your “safe” people are?

Final Thoughts

I ended my journal entry with this summary: Dust off old, make new. Breathe, live, do not suffocate self! Get help if you need help. Collaborate, even if your primary goal is an individual activity. Use your safe people to grow and challenge you. Lastly, stay connected to God and people, do not isolate self. Put yourself out there.

Prayer

God, You satisfy me with good, You renew me like the eagle. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Psalm 103:5, Psalm 139:14