Regular readers will know about my childhood, but for those who don’t, here is a link to a blog which summarises it: https://wp.me/p45bCr-dTm.
While I was lying in my bed, this is what I dreamed (Daniel 4:10; NLT).
Last night I dreamed that my mother and I were in charge of catering for group of 15-20 adults and children. One day we completely forgot to discuss what to make for their dinner.
While everyone was out for the afternoon, I tried to make some scones as a surprise for them when they came in. However, I couldn’t find the recipe I was looking for, and everything I tried to do went wrong.
Long before I expected them, the group returned, hungry, and eager for their evening meal. Realising with horror that my mother and I had forgotten all about it, I searched around for some biscuits and leftovers to keep them going. However, what I found was clearly inadequate; I felt ashamed as I offered it around. There wasn’t even any butter or jam to make the stale, dry food a little more palatable.
When my mother appeared, she quickly grasped the situation, went to the kitchen, and started cooking, though we had very few ingredients available, and no meat. Meanwhile, I spent time with our guests.
Eventually she served them with small portions of plain boiled vegetables. The recipients looked very disappointed. It was a woefully inadequate meal, and we both knew it. I expected my mother to be furious with me, but to my utter astonishment, she didn’t try to dump all the blame on me for our joint mistake. We shared our failure without a word of recrimination.
This dream might not sound very surprising to other people, but was very remarkable for me, because nothing remotely like it ever happened while my mother was alive. In fact, throughout my 70 years of life, it was by far the most positive dream I’ve ever had about her.
It’s a long time since my mother died, but I’m starting to wonder if God is slowly moving me towards healing, one dream at a time…
Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! (Isaiah 49:15; NLT).