10: What Dreams May Come Part 1

Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real you questioned whether it was a dream?

In the span of two years, I had four dreams that felt more real than my waking life. These dreams were unique because, for years before that, I couldn't remember any dreams much. Sure, every so often, I had an interesting dream that I could recall, but it was fleeting. Eventually, most of the details of your run-of-the-mill dreams go away. I still have those types of dreams every so often today. 

But these four dreams, from May 15, 2019, through March 3, 2021... were vivid dreams.

Vivid dreams stay with you forever. You remember every detail as if it happened yesterday or an hour ago. These types of dreams skirt the boundary between real and unreal. There is certainly fantasy to them, but the realism of the dream feels like it actually happened right then.

It feels like a perfect simulation of reality.

I love working in simulation in nursing education. Simulation allows you to do things that are real in the care of patients without all the risk of hurting someone. You can make a mistake and simply reset it. It's a lot like a video game, only more serious. However, I haven't met many people that didn't take video games seriously because the goal is to win. So, your ultimate goal in simulation is to succeed as a participant. But as the facilitator of the simulation, or the person creating or running it, you try to make it as realistic as possible. A facilitator does whatever it takes to make a simulation seem real so that the participant in the experience feels like they are really there within it. So the participant can't discern real from unreal. As a nurse educator, the goal is for the participant or student to learn from the experience.

These vivid dreams taught me a lesson because the facilitator of them made them perfect. 

I have to believe the dreams were from God. It's the only thing that makes sense, looking back on each one. Because they weren't dreams at all. They were warnings. 

I also have to warn you or issue a disclaimer. With each dream, things become more intense. The dreams become progressively darker each time. The dreams culminate in a final moment that will be revealed in the Dream Analysis after the conclusion of the next four posts, including this one. I was terrified by each one. 

The next question on your mind might be, why would God terrify me with a dream? Well, have you ever read the Book of Revelation? "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."--Revelation 3:22.  Revelation uses fear quite a bit to grab the reader's attention. Revelation is, in fact, a horror story that ends well. It's been said that Jesus Christ spoke more of Hell than He did Heaven in his teachings. He sometimes used fear to get people to listen. When God speaks, you listen in whatever form that may arise. That's how I can remember the dates and times when these dreams occurred.

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Dream One: "A Knock at the Door" (May 15, 2019, 5:45 AM)

I was at my parent's house on Bellview Road, the inside of the house was so clear, and the attic door was open. I was putting up Christmas decorations and had the attic light on above and light coming from the bathroom and down the hallway.

A few seconds later, I could hear my mother's clock chime in the den, her newly purchased Swarovski Clock that chimes different tunes and melodies. We had gotten it for her the past Christmas, so it was still new and fresh. Then a familiar voice started speaking to me.

My grandmother Niney was walking up with a box of Christmas items for me to carry into the attic for her. She simply asked me to carry that box up the steps for her. I, of course, told her I would.

After placing that box in the attic, I returned, and Niney asked me if I could take something out to the carport quickly. I said yes and carried the item out to the carport for her, going through my parent's back door. One of the cars my parents drive was missing. That explained why Niney and I were the only ones in the house then. Everyone else was gone somewhere.

It was dark outside, and street lights were on with cars passing by on the road. I put the box down and stood back up. When I did, a vehicle was pulling up in the driveway. I looked out in the direction of the car pulling up, and all I could make out were the headlights. From my vantage point, the headlights reminded me of an older model Jeep Cherokee with squared-off duel headlights. 

Looking out at the car started to unnerve me, however. I was now on edge, fearing who might be in the Jeep. Suddenly I heard a voice holler out, "Hey!"

Before that utterance, I had already started moving toward the back door. Once the person yelled that at me, I bolted for the back door and slammed the screen door shut, locking it. The carport light was on, so I knew I had to close the wooden door, too, before someone walked up and saw me. I slammed that door shut, too, and put the chain and deadbolt on. My parent's back door has a set of blinds on them, so I could see the light coming in through the blinds. I looked to my right and thought I saw a figure pass in front of the side window looking into the carport. This spooked me, and I ran to another part of the house.

I went into my parent's hallway and turned toward the left to the front bedroom. This had been my bedroom years earlier when I lived at home. The blinds were shut in the bedroom, but the lamp illuminated the blinds. I took my fingers, moved the blinds slightly, and peered out the window to see what I could see.

I saw outside the headlights of a car shining across the front lawn. Through the lights, I could see the reflection of multiple people's legs walking in a side-by-side line toward my bedroom window across the lawn. I was terrified. What are they doing? Why are they coming here? What do they want?

Because of my fear, I went back into the hallway and stood in the center where the back door going to the carport could be seen. That's when I heard it.

Knock, knock.

Someone was knocking on the back door, and I turned my head to see. The blinds were drawn, but from the light shining down through the carport, I could see the silhouette of a person standing outside the door, lowering their arm from knocking and waiting for someone to answer. Niney was no longer in the house with me. I was completely alone, standing in the hallway staring at the back door.

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A few things about the setting:

1. The clock was significant as I had given it to my parents for Christmas in 2018. This made it clear the dream was happening in the current day.

2. Niney, my grandmother, passed away on October 16, 1998. She was the one assisting me in putting up Christmas decorations. This is highly significant because not only was she alive and well, she was walking and had lost both legs due to complications from diabetes and a stroke before her death.

3. I have no idea, to this day, who the people were in the Jeep, nor who the person was at the back door knocking to come in.

4. May 15, 2019, was my grandmother Niney's 101st birthday. At the time, I thought the dream was about her and my missing her. That made sense in 2019, especially with the dream happening on her birthday. I remember doing a post the next day saying I believed I was trying to keep the people from coming to get my Niney. Somehow I believed they were coming to take her away, perhaps for good. I thought this was my wishing she was still alive and that I missed her greatly. 

But the interaction with Niney had nothing to do with her. It had everything to do with me.

Tune in next week for 10: What Dreams May Come Part 2--Something is Here...