This dream is a beautiful example how detailed, yet surprising our God is.  When I visit Bethany, I continually tell people I’m heading to Mexico. I love her dream, her response, and her morning conversation with God reminding her of this dream. Enjoy!

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To truly appreciate the generous kindness lavished on me through this God-dream, some background information is helpful. Out of respect for those involved, I will share only the pertinent details of the circumstances and focus on the redemptive power of our Triune God. Because anyway, it is not the who, what or how of our circumstances worthy of our attention, but rather the God who reaches into a pile of ash and with one breath restores beauty.

In January 2015, a Christian colleague called me one evening to say that he was praying for me and God had put on his heart Psalm 126:1-6 as a promise for me. It’s a beautiful Psalm about restoration; however in that moment, as far as I could see my life was in excellent order. I had just accepted a promotion, marriage was good, ministry was good, finances were good. Alles gut as they say in German! Little did I know from that in a few short weeks Psalm 126 would become the ark of promise to carry me through the stormy flood of the next 18 months.

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongues with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb! Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy. He who goes out weeping, Bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy,  bringing his sheaves with him. (ESV)

I’m American and for the last five years, Belgium had been my home. In April 2015, my world seemed to simply evaporate from my tight-fisted grasp. With a suddenly broken personal situation and a job that allows me to work from any wifi connection, I decided to move back to the U.S. On December 4, 2015 I boarded a plane from Brussels to Oregon with two suitcases, my beloved cocker spaniel and enough tears to last the entire 16-hour transatlantic transfer back to The States.

I arrived into the precious, compassionate arms of a dear friend who welcomed me into her home. On the first night of my new life back in the States I had this dream.

December 5, 2015

Last night I dreamed that I was in Mexico. I stayed at this tiny bedroom in a poor area. There were bars over the bedroom window, but the room itself was clean and painted bright green or orange. My husband was passively in the dream. Current and former work colleagues from Belgium were mentioned in the dream and I knew they were “around” but I did not see them. I don’t know why I was in Mexico, I think for work; but it seemed that everyone was also there for this reason.

 I wasn’t sure if it was safe to stay there. I must have decided to stay because in the next scene I woke up (in my dream) and went into a common area for breakfast. The hotel owner, Maria was in the kitchen area. I asked how she was and she said that she had pain because she has just had surgery to remove her ovaries. I asked if I could pray for her. At first she said no because she understood that I would pray for her ovaries to come back and she didn’t want to have children (there was a small challenge with language). Then I explained that no, I would only pray for the pain to go away.

We went to a back corner of the kitchen area and sat down. I started praying and immediately the power of the Holy Spirit surrounded us. It was a mighty rushing wind. I could hear the roar and my hair blew all around. Partially through my prayer for healing, I was so overcome with emotion that I had no voice. (Note: this happened in the dream on my birthday when I knew I had received a prophetic word from the Holy Spirit.) I knew suddenly to pray for her infection to go away. When we finished praying, I knew she was healed. And then I woke up.

In my journal I wrote, thank you God for visiting me in my dream last night. Then I closed my journal and went on with life. I didn’t ask God for any insights or even recognize that there might be more to this than the momentary comfort of being visited by the Holy Spirit in my sleep.

I spent the next seven months continuing in “homelessness” making the total count of wandering months eleven. During that time I relocated from the US to Germany where I stayed for several months (and met Teresa). At some point along the way, God quite simply impressed upon my spirit – “Bethany, go back to Belgium.” This was honestly something I never thought I would do when I had exited. Psalm 126:6

 June 17, 2016 outcome from this dream:

Email to Teresa:

Good morning Teresa!

I think I’m still in a state of shock; I must share this story with you.

So I’ve continued along this path of looking for a place to live. It’s extremely frustrating. Agents will post apartments that are not actually available. Most places will not negotiate the length of the lease from 3 years or they won’t allow a dog. The apartments are small and since I work from home (you can appreciate) this is not nice! It feels like I am trapped in a box.

This morning I found an apartment online — I’ve seen in a few times in my searches, but it’s painted the most atrocious shade of yellow in the kitchen. It’s like the sun got the stomach flu and vomited. Today, I noticed that it wasn’t for rental by an agency but directly by the owner. So I contacted her to ask if she would discuss the length of the lease. In her advertisement she specifically asked for a 3-year lease. She said she could offer a 2-year lease. We set up an appointment for 11:30.

I was working from a cafe this morning. Just before leaving for my appointment, I went to the bathroom. I was washing my hands and heard the familiar whisper of the Holy Spirit… “Hey, remember Mexico?” I looked in the mirror and said “You have to be kidding me.”

“Nope, this is it!”

 “Tell me you are joking, right?”

“Nope”

“Have you seen the yellow?”

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I arrived at the house at 11:30 and not surprisingly there are “bars” on the window. (!?!) The front door is painted a fiesta turquoise blue. It’s two floors of an old house with the beautiful crown molding, old hard wood floors. There’s a lovely patio and backyard (no grass = no mowing for Bethany! Just my type!) The bedrooms are downstairs, private and quiet. (The house sits on a main road so this is impressive and important.) More than that, because I am dealing directly with the owner, she agreed that as long as there are other renters and no gap in payment, I can break my lease whenever I wish.

She also agreed to let me have Lielah (my dog) there. In the dream my room was in a different place than the kitchen — Interesting that the bedroom is on a different floor from the kitchen and the bedroom felt private (back of house in real life) while the kitchen felt public (front of house on the main road in real life).

OMG, I just read the dream… one bedroom is green and the other is orange!!! I had totally forgotten!

I prayed that the Shalom of Yahweh would fill the home and I would know immediately if this is really where God has made a home for me. I do not want to make connections that do not really exist (dream to house).

Well, Lord! This is all in your hands! If this is “Mexico” then please make the pathway clear and obvious and let it be a path that goes to somewhere. If it is not, please barricade the road that goes to nowhere!!

With Love,

Bethany

Psalm 126:2

On July 5th, after 11 months of living week to week in different places and countries, I moved to “Mexico.” I’m home. Let the restoration begin.