When Dreams Prompt Goodness

I was in her house
in her kids' room
folding laundry,
specifically,
folding children's pajamas
on their beds.
She stood across from me,
obviously sick.
I smiled an empathetic smile
and kept folding laundry.

That was my dream.
I woke up yesterday morning
fresh from that scene,
wobbled to the bathroom,
came out a moment later,
gathered my robe about my still-slumbery,
bedhead, blurry-headed self
and sat on my bed
pondering what the dream meant.

The woman in the dream
is an acquaintance
I know from church--
and she does have a housefull of littles.
I am not in her inner circle of friends--
her oldest child is just a smidge younger than my 6th (Joseph),
so we are a decade apart in age,
at least.
I'd never been to her house before--
kinda have an idea where it is--
the area, at least.

Mr. W came to my bedside,
kisses good-morning
and I related my dream.

"So, you're gonna call her, hunh?", he says like he knows me.

Scratching my head, I nod. "Yep."

It was still really early--too early--to make that phone call,
so I got busy with getting the kids off to school,
showering, emails, blah blah blah--the stuff I do every morning.

About 10am, a familiar "nudge" came:
"Call her."
I looked up her phone number
and called.
It rang a few times, my heart was racing a little,
these kind of calls always make me nervous because I never know
how the person on the other end of the line
is going to handle this...
I mean, it's fair to say everyone is kind to me under these circumstances,
but it is just
weird.
Not a call one gets often.

Her voice answered,
"Hey, is this Jen?" I asked.
"Ohhh hey Katherine." she answered.
"Actually, this is Dawn [last name]."

Seeing as how the last I called their home was summer 2010,
I think,
she was a bit surprised, but said, "OHhhh, hey Dawn."

"Hey Jen. I'm calling because...well, this is gonna sound weird, yeah, it's sounding weird in my head
but--well, I had a dream about you last night. I was at your house folding kids' laundry because you're not feeling well. So, I'm calling to see if I can help you today?"

She let out a small laugh. "That's so sweet...actually, I've been feeling sick for a few days, but I'm feeling better today. I might actually get something accomplished today. I'm OK."

I persisted. "Jen, I don't dream about your family. Ever."

"I'm actually sitting here folding laundry, as I'm going through stuff the kids have outgrown. haha. That's such a sweet offer. I. don't..I.."

"Jen, can I come over and help? Anything? Run errands for you?--Bring dinner in tonight? Would that help?"

A long pause. A long-freakin-pause.

"C'mon, Jen, let me help", I think.

"I..I would really appreciate that, Dawn." she sighs.

"Great. How 'bout some chili and cornbread? I can bring it around 5 o'clock--will that work?"

She agreed and thanked me before hanging up.

As the day progressed, I went shopping for the ingredients and started preparing my almost-famous-Momza's Psycho Chili, plus cornbread mini-muffins, and a homemade Zucchini Carrot bars with Lemon Cream Cheese frosting--
hey, I'm on the Lord's errand, here so I want it to reflect that..
anyway,
while I'm busy doing all that,
the thoughts that kept floating to the top were:
"Why Me? She has a nice big circle of women whom I know would gladly help her."
"Why Me? Why Today?"
"What is to be learned from this experience?"

As we were boxing the food up to take over--
Joseph went with me because he'd been to her house before and knew the way--
the answers started coming as we drove along the snow-packed streets
from our neighborhood to hers...
"She needs to know I am aware of her."
"You were listening. I knew you would act."
"Help doesn't always come from those we expect it to come from...and that's good."
"I am aware of you too."

I feel humbled that He would trust, does trust,
me to follow my dream.

With Joseph carrying the large box of food dishes and pans,
we walked up to her door and rang the bell.
One of her sons answered the door,
letting us in,
we stood just at the entry
as Jen, weary but smiling,
came to greet us.

She confessed that she really didn't feel good,
hadn't felt good in a week, truly.
And it's realy hard for her to ask for help;
saying she was so grateful for me listening to the Spirit.
I thanked her for letting me serve her, and shared what I learned--
that Heavenly Father is aware of her and He knew I would act.

And that's how we are His hands.
Whether an "impression" on our hearts,
or just acting on an opportunity,
or remembering a dream--
He seeks to bless us in many ways.
"Follow Your Dreams"...
is more than a cliche notion.
At least that's what I'm finding out.
I'm a dreamer.
Always have been, always will be.