A pastor opened his message with a story of young twin boys. Boys who were completely opposite of one another in personality and character. One was a pessimist, the other an optimist. With concern, the boys’ parents talked to a psychologist to ask how they might help their boys learn to discern matters with the right perspective. The psychologist suggested for the boys’ next birthday to shower the pessimist with all sorts of gifts, and for the optimist with merely a nicely wrap a large box of manure. It was a test to see if the twins would respond any differently.
Staying true to form, the pessimist complained about every gift he opened. Not the right color. The car didn’t go fast enough. And so on and so on. The optimist opened his gift and began laughing. He told his parents, “You can’t fool me. A box with this much manure has to have a pony in it.”
How many times do we look at our situations with the wrong perspective? God showed me in my dream last night that as of late, I’ve been acting like a pessimist full of complaints.
The Dream…
Scene One: Tom and I were standing in the kitchen of a new home my son had apparently just bought. The kitchen appeared to be three times larger than the size of our home. It was incredibly large, had all the newest, most high-tech appliances available, and was equipped with several cook tops. The countertops were oddly about a foot taller than standard height. I stood at the counter, complaining to my husband about the height. Why would our son buy this house? He doesn’t need a kitchen this size. And these countertops! He’s not a giant. Why would he want these?
Scene Two: We spent the night at the new home and woke to find our son had made and left the two of us a breakfast smorgasbord. He’d made bacon, eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, fruit, and smoothies—you name it—he had fixed it. Yet…I complained. Why did he make all this food? There is only the two of us. I can’t even reach the stove-top. I’ll have to get a ladder to fill my plate. And this mess! It’s going to take me all morning to clean it up.
In the dream, my husband responded in his typical fashion. It’s all right. I’ll fill your plate. I’ll get you what you want and help do whatever you need done.
Scene Three: I see my mother in the kitchen holding up a pair of aloe-infused socks. She said, “I came for these.” I remember thinking in the dream: Why would she go to her grandson’s home to get a pair of socks?
After that, I woke up.
Now you may think this is just a weird dream, but not me. I know how God points out my poor behavior. It’s often in dreams. Under the pressure I was under, I had become a person who began complaining about everything. I was complaining about one thing after another. So…God chose a sermon and a dream to show me my perspective was all wrong.
Analyzing the Dream
The house was not our son’s home. It represented God’s house. He dwells with those who abide in Him. Tom and my son were representing attributes of Jesus.
Our son is always doing more than what is necessary. For example, in his high school speech class, instead of just giving his speech, he dressed in costume. In college, not making the school’s baseball team, rather than just joining a league team, he formed a team. Instead of ordering team t-shirts, He went out and secured a sponsor to provide them. This is what God does. He goes above and beyond what is necessary to meet our needs.
Tom represented other attributes of Jesus: loving-kindness, a generous giving spirit, and one who is always willing to serve others.
The high countertop—the one out of reach—represents this journey that I am on with the Immanuel Quilt. Never in a million years would I have dreamed of being called into a traveling ministry or writing a book. Yet look what God has done. He’s made the impossible possible.
What about those socks? Well, they were special socks coated with aloe to soothe the feet. These are the kind of socks that create a sensation of a spa-like experience, which, of course, brings forth peace and tranquility.
Through a dream, I was allowed to see that I needed to change my perspective from that of a pessimist to that of an optimist and ask God to forgive me.