True confessions....
I have a confession. I'm a compulsive journaler. I will buy a brand new, full of potential, easy to open and write all the way to the bottom of each page journal...fill it faithfully with my thoughts, concerns, epiphanies...for about 3 days. And then I revisit it about once a week. For a week. And then I'm done. Yup. I have started about 6 journals and they all have about 13 pages full. Sigh. Man it feels good to get that out!! :) The upside of this habit, is I can grab any of these multiple journals while leaving on a trip and there is always blank pages available. Yes - I'm pathetic.
Recently I came upon one of these journals and started reading. Oh the memories! I totally see the value in writing things down and I'm so glad I wrote down a dream I had. I want to share that dream with you now. I'm going to write my journal entry down verbatim. I can tell by the slope and urgency of my writing that this meant something powerful to me. I don't want to forget it. So this is my way of sharing it, and giving it wings. Stand by......
11/10/2012
"I had such a vivid dream. I dreamt that out of all my peers, I was the only one not chosen to act as an ambassador for my class, a high honor complete with travel, clothes, prestige, attention. Instead, I was given the task of helping get the rest of my class ready. I shined their shoes, mended their beautiful red satin dresses, helped with their makeup...all the while listening to their excited chatter and feeling heartbroken that I had been left out.
I dreamt they came back from their trip and it wasn't as fun as they thought it would be. The girls were tired and disgruntled and their dresses were torn and dirty. This part of the dream seems irrelevant...then...
...I was suddenly standing in the doorway of a church and my task was to organize a welcome back party for these girls. I remember I arranged a gauntlet of roses and swordsmen standing at attention through which the girls would parade to the applause of an adoring audience. And then the guests arrived. I saw people walking in to the church for the party in all states of shame and misery. General Petraeus was there with his mistress. He barely met my gaze. These people were ashamed and sad, used up, guilty, burdened. My welcome speech flew out of my head and I started saying things far from what I had rehearsed. I told the gathered crowd to think back to the Bible. How many times had Jesus referred to people who had made grievous mistakes in their lives? Known sin. Adultery. Murder. Greed. Lust. Selfishness. He talked about it all the time. He knew our nature and our normal inclinations.
I told the crowd Jesus didn't care about all that. He had a plan. He gave his life for that plan.
I told the crowd that Jesus bought and paid for each of us to have a brand new coat. It was sewn from the finest cloth, with the strongest stitches. This coat is clean, it's whole, it covers us completely.
The coat we've been wearing is stained, it's threadbare. It exposes us with its holes. It's the coat we've worn during all our times of sin, our bad choices.
Jesus paid for our new coat with his life. And he's hung this perfect new coat in each of our closets...DOWN HERE ON EARTH.
Every day we have a choice to make when we get dressed. Some of us hang our old, dirty, holey coat next to our new coat the night before, we hang on to it. We can't bear to look at Jesus' gift.
In the morning, we have a choice, to put on our old ratty coat? Or to put on our clean, white coat that Jesus gave to us. It's that simple. It's a gift.
Throw away, burn your past, burn that old coat. Jesus doesn't want to hear about it anymore. Those are old choices and experiences. Wear your new coat and be FREE!! :) "
So...I see the benefit of writing things down for posterity. I can't promise my journaling habits will change, but I want them to.
Have a good one my friends. Stay warm this winter season...I'm betting there is a beautiful coat waiting to be worn right in your closet. Grab it, throw it on, feel its warmth and acceptance...it's all part of His plan. :)
Make it a great day!!
Recently I came upon one of these journals and started reading. Oh the memories! I totally see the value in writing things down and I'm so glad I wrote down a dream I had. I want to share that dream with you now. I'm going to write my journal entry down verbatim. I can tell by the slope and urgency of my writing that this meant something powerful to me. I don't want to forget it. So this is my way of sharing it, and giving it wings. Stand by......
11/10/2012
"I had such a vivid dream. I dreamt that out of all my peers, I was the only one not chosen to act as an ambassador for my class, a high honor complete with travel, clothes, prestige, attention. Instead, I was given the task of helping get the rest of my class ready. I shined their shoes, mended their beautiful red satin dresses, helped with their makeup...all the while listening to their excited chatter and feeling heartbroken that I had been left out.
I dreamt they came back from their trip and it wasn't as fun as they thought it would be. The girls were tired and disgruntled and their dresses were torn and dirty. This part of the dream seems irrelevant...then...
...I was suddenly standing in the doorway of a church and my task was to organize a welcome back party for these girls. I remember I arranged a gauntlet of roses and swordsmen standing at attention through which the girls would parade to the applause of an adoring audience. And then the guests arrived. I saw people walking in to the church for the party in all states of shame and misery. General Petraeus was there with his mistress. He barely met my gaze. These people were ashamed and sad, used up, guilty, burdened. My welcome speech flew out of my head and I started saying things far from what I had rehearsed. I told the gathered crowd to think back to the Bible. How many times had Jesus referred to people who had made grievous mistakes in their lives? Known sin. Adultery. Murder. Greed. Lust. Selfishness. He talked about it all the time. He knew our nature and our normal inclinations.
I told the crowd Jesus didn't care about all that. He had a plan. He gave his life for that plan.
I told the crowd that Jesus bought and paid for each of us to have a brand new coat. It was sewn from the finest cloth, with the strongest stitches. This coat is clean, it's whole, it covers us completely.
The coat we've been wearing is stained, it's threadbare. It exposes us with its holes. It's the coat we've worn during all our times of sin, our bad choices.
Jesus paid for our new coat with his life. And he's hung this perfect new coat in each of our closets...DOWN HERE ON EARTH.
Every day we have a choice to make when we get dressed. Some of us hang our old, dirty, holey coat next to our new coat the night before, we hang on to it. We can't bear to look at Jesus' gift.
In the morning, we have a choice, to put on our old ratty coat? Or to put on our clean, white coat that Jesus gave to us. It's that simple. It's a gift.
Throw away, burn your past, burn that old coat. Jesus doesn't want to hear about it anymore. Those are old choices and experiences. Wear your new coat and be FREE!! :) "
So...I see the benefit of writing things down for posterity. I can't promise my journaling habits will change, but I want them to.
Have a good one my friends. Stay warm this winter season...I'm betting there is a beautiful coat waiting to be worn right in your closet. Grab it, throw it on, feel its warmth and acceptance...it's all part of His plan. :)
Make it a great day!!
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