Dreams and Nightmares

The last couple of nights have been interesting for me.  First off, I am amazed that I can actually remember a nightmare from two nights ago as well as the "regular"dream I had just last night.  I'm not one to always think that my dreams and nightmares have a deeper meaning but this week I believe they do for some reason.

The nightmare I had was about a lion.  It was swimming and had a live woman in its jaws.  There were people scattered in the water around them and I can't remember if I as in the water too or on the shore.  What I do remember is that the woman was calmly talking to me while being carried off by the lion.  It was so eerie and I felt so helpless to try and save her.

The "regular" dream I had involved my 3 adult children.  Man does that ever sound weird but they are all grown up!  So anyway, in my dream, they were all little again and it seemed so real.  I was trying to tuck them all into bed for the night and to spend quality mommy time with each of them, but was unable to do it to my satisfaction.  I woke up frustrated.

Here's my take on the nightmare:  I'm thinking the lion represented the enemy and was either a warning to me of what could happen to me if I don't stand against him OR it was a representation of what he is doing or will do to those who don't know the Truth.  I haven't been able to derive much more than that from it.

The "regular" dream is this:  I am grieving the loss of my children in the sense that they are all grown up.  I am trying to hold onto their childhood in my dream and go back to a time when I took for granted how many chances I would have to do the simple things that percolated so much love.  That one seems obvious.

Dreams and nightmares.  Since I mostly have nightmares, I will consider the dream to be a gift of remembrance and the nightmare to be a learning tool that I can act upon in a variety of ways.  Actually both can be acted upon.  Remembering the sweet little voices and tiny hands that used to hold my own is something that I can be so grateful to have had.  The action upon that remembrance must come through giving.  Giving the precious kind of love that I knew back then and still know now, even if the voices are all grown up and the hands are the size of my own!  The action in response to the nightmare is simply to be vigilant and not just for my own sake.  Who can I pray for?  Who can I actually ask face-to-face that question and will I do it?  How can I show my love and have that speak louder than my words?  How can I share my faith without using any words at all?  The good news is that I know the answer to these questions.  A wise person once said that wisdom is knowledge applied.  I believe I will apply my knowledge and do my best to live with wisdom.