Day Two

As we develop a personal relationship with God, we discover new aspects of his personality, and we become increasingly familiar with his voice. If we nurture this relationship, it can become an ongoing conversation that never ends. There are many ways God gets our attention, but for me, it is often through my dreams, which is why I keep a dream journal next to my bed.

The following story is about one of those dreams from my blog, From My Front Row Seat, which is also the name of my recently published book:

“Is that a lion in my kitchen?”

There was a lot of pressure to come back from my sabbatical with a powerful, new t-shirt slogan. The last time I took this kind of break was in 2012. During that mountaintop experience, when I pleaded for God to please help me find a way to avoid burnout again, he wisely instructed me to go back and “Serve, not fix. Love, not judge.” This message made a significant impact on the way we operate at Blue Monarch, it has protected us from getting burned out serving others, and the words have appeared on sweatshirts and mugs ever since. So naturally, I was looking for a similar game-changing revelation.

The last two weeks of this winter’s month-long sabbatical were spent on the beach with Rita, my rescue dog who was an excellent traveling companion. Many times, we were the only ones on the beach - couldn’t see another soul in either direction, just the way I liked it. And I truly believe Rita loved seeing the sun come up and go down just as much as I did. So, on the first morning, as we walked along the edge of the roaring waves, I asked God, “What do you have in store for me? Give it to me. I’m listening.” I may have even rubbed my hands together in anticipation.

Surprisingly, the answer came back immediately. I could hear in my spirit, “I want you to focus on the Lord’s Prayer.” Seriously? What else have you got?

“No offense, Lord, but I was looking for something a little grander.” I was asking for the Ten Commandments, and he gave me a simple Vacation Bible School assignment. I was a little insulted.

But to be obedient, I began reciting the Lord’s Prayer out loud anyway to see if I could find the “hidden message.” Surely there was one, and once I found it, hopefully, I could move on to something more exciting.

Well, that was eye-opening and a little embarrassing. I couldn’t remember it. I could recall pieces of it, but I was confused about the order of the phrases. What? How did this happen? I realized that unless I was surrounded by others reciting it at the same time, as we often are, I couldn’t say it solo. I had to laugh because I felt like Barney Fife struggling to recite the Gettysburg Address when Andy had to feed him every single line. My word, this was inexcusable.

When I got back to my Bible, I immediately looked up the Lord’s Prayer and thought to myself, I have fourteen days here. Wouldn’t it be great if the Lord’s Prayer could be broken down into fourteen parts and I could study a section each day? Well, guess what? There were exactly fourteen obvious phrases.

Day #1: Our Father... I made a list of characteristics of a good father, which went on for a bit. I immediately thought of all the women we have at Blue Monarch who do not have healthy fathers like my father, and they would probably struggle to make a similar list. Later that same day I found my first solid, intact sand dollar, which I was super excited about and had been searching for my entire life, so I decided to be a better sport about my elementary assignment because this was a consolation prize.

The solitude was amazing. No phones ringing, no texts dinging, no problems to solve, and with the occasional exception of a “hello” on the beach, there was also no talking, except to let my patient husband know I was still alive at the end of the day. It was awesome. There was a close call when the woman next door seemed to be interested in a play date for her poofy poodle, Riley, but I made sure my body language put a stop to that pipe dream. I was loving the peace and quiet.

Much to my surprise, I grew to love my Lord’s Prayer project. Each morning, I looked forward to my new line of study, and I enjoyed the things I discovered about each section, things I had never noticed before. For instance, isn’t it interesting that it says, “deliver us from evil” as if it’s a given that evil is something we will encounter? It doesn’t say, “prevent us from ever facing evil.”

I even emailed our staff to make sure we focused more on the Lord’s Prayer from now on with the women and children we serve. Naturally, they tend to learn it over time, but I felt a new urgency to make sure they were provided a written copy when they arrived, and that we worked to teach the prayer to every woman and child who didn’t already know it by heart. I recited the Lord's Prayer so many times over those two weeks, I believe Rita even learned the words.

God often speaks to me in my dreams - in fact, Blue Monarch was birthed from a powerful dream I had many years ago. This trip was no exception. I had numerous dreams that felt very powerful, significant, and even prophetic, but it was the dream I had the last night that was the dearest to me.

In this dream, I saw an ordinary family milling around in a kitchen as if it were right after a Sunday lunch. Everyone still had on their church clothes. The scene looked like a hand-colored vintage photograph from the 60’s, full of muted colors I love. There was a father, a mother, a young boy, and a little girl.

Suddenly I discovered that the little girl had a magnificent lion following her around everywhere she went, but it struck me no one seemed to notice the lion as if they couldn’t even see it. Yet it was always by her side. How strange. They didn't seem like the sort of family to have such an exotic pet.

Then, all of a sudden, I looked more closely. Wait. My mother used to have that same apron. Isn’t that interesting? And that little girl, I had a dress just like that. Wow. Hey, wait! That is my own family in our kitchen on Pine Circle Drive where I grew up. The little girl is me!

That’s when God very gently said, “You are my child and I have been with you from the very beginning, even when you didn’t know I was there. I will never change, I will always love you, and I want you to start calling me, Father.”

He was the lion.

At that very moment, I woke up and felt tears in my eyes and on my face. I looked at the soft, morning light coming in the window and took a deep breath. And then, as if the words were suddenly brand new, I began to pray...”Our Father,...wait, no...My Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name...”

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1. My Father

2. who art in heaven

3. hallowed be thy name.

4. Thy kingdom come,

5. thy will be done

6. on earth as it is in heaven.

7. Give me this day

8. my daily bread

9. and forgive me my trespasses

10. as I forgive those who trespass against me.

11. Lead me not into temptation

12. but deliver me from evil.

13. For thine is the kingdom, the power,

14. and the glory forever. Amen

Prayer:

Loving Father, thank you for being with me even when I may not feel your presence. May I never forget I am safely in the palm of your hand. Amen

Personal challenges and reflection:

• Do you see God as a father? What does that mean to you?
• How is your Heavenly Father different from your Earthly Father? How has your earthly father influenced your perspective of God as a loving father?
• Has God spoken to you in a dream? If so, what was the message?
• Can you think of a dream that may have been from God, but you dismissed it as something else? How would its meaning change?
• What does the Lord’s Prayer mean to you personally? Does it take on a deeper significance when you refer to “my” as opposed to “our?”