Prior to vacation, I felt the Lord wanted me to upload a blog post. Before I closed my eyes at bedtime, I asked him to provide a specific message. That same night, through a dream, he did. 

Scene One: There was a family in the church I grew up with who played a key role in my salvation. In the dream, I was in their home and the mother told us we needed to fertilize the backyard. The father began showing his sons how to properly spread the fertilizer.

He took the small bags and dumped them upside down and shook them a bit, but without spreading it out. He said, “if you spread it out it doesn’t do any good. Each bag has to be done like this. ‘  

The mother came out the side door and told us it was time to go in the front yard and do the same. The front looked more like a large field. The father asked the sons to try it. Their prodigal son was standing back and the father asked him to take part. The son said he already knew how to do it, but he didn’t want to. 

Scene two: There appeared to be a party taking place in the valley below. Everybody was standing around barrels that you’d see on a farm. They were eating strawberry sundaes out of bags that looked similar to the fertilizer bags. I was trying to help them keep the liquid from spilling everywhere so they could get the strawberries out of the bags. 

I was going to pick the litter up that was left behind but I also knew that the entire place would be picked up later. Nevertheless, I felt out of courtesy I should ask where I should throw my trash. When I looked across the valley where the party had taken place, the field had corncobs everywhere, but the kernels were gone. Nothing was left on the cob. 

Scene Three: I had just looked outside and saw myself at my childhood home. I was with my mother and we were standing at the mailbox.  

Present-day, my sister’s children were helping a woman into a home like the one I live in now. They started in the den. I came in and said, “you won’t believe who moved.”  

I said the name of my neighbor growing up.  “NAME moved,” I explained that she was there the entire time I grew up and the first time my mom and I went to the mailbox she came out and said that she saw we had just moved in. 

I explained to my nephews that she was the neighborhood gossip. Before this moment, I had never made the connection that the first time meeting her should have been an indicator she was a nosey neighbor.

Before they brought the furniture in, they began laying down dirt and fertilizer similar to what had taken place in scene one. It didn’t seem odd that it would be the floor covering.

The boys continued to move the woman’s belongings into her home and I noticed they were extremely old and outdated. There were a few beds in one room and I made a comment about how old the comforters were. They had large rose-colored flowers on them. I wondered what the woman looked like.  

End of dream.

INTERPRETATION:

Fertilizer: Seeds represent the Word of God. Fertilizer is symbolic of the condition (soil) of one’s heart. In real life, this family worked tirelessly to sow seeds into the kingdom and played a huge role in sharing the gospel. They started within the four walls of their home and in “their own back yard.” They raised their children to know Jesus and the Word of God. What they taught at home took root in the lives of many and throughout their community. Mark 4:1-20

Sundaes: Represents the fruit they produced in their lives from the seeds they sowed. i.e., word of God. John 12:24-25; (3) Mark 4:28. 

          “And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Mark 18-20

         This was also represented by those who were in the valley enjoying the harvest (fruit of the gospel). I am one of them.

         There are those who won’t hear to understand the gospel (prodigal son – Luke 15:11-32 ). Everyone must choose Christ for themselves.

Corn: The corncob wasn’t seen until the party was over. Each life was bearing fruit (strawberries) and part of bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God is planting seeds (sharing the gospel). The corncob was left in the field, symbolizing that the seeds were planted and it was time for God to do the watering. I Corinthians 3:6-9

Childhood scene: I was saved in my youth and it’s a scene to remind me where God brought me from and where he has me today. It’s also a scene of someone who is near me needing compassion (neighbor).

Den: A room for worship, prayer, work, writing.

Soil and fertilizer were being laid throughout the house. My house is “fertile ground.” Our homes should be where the work of the Lord begins to take root in our lives. Each of us must make a personal choice to accept and serve Christ's heart, mind, body, and soul. Psalm 1:3 John 15:1-27

The old furniture in the house represents, “don’t go back to your childish ways.” Is my house in order? Are there areas in my life that need to be uprooted in order for God to plant new seeds? I can use this dream as a tool for some self-reflection to ensure I’m bearing fruit for the kingdom of God.

“Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:7 

Self-reflection:

• Do you embrace the Word of God?

• What’s the condition of your heart? Is your “soil” half-hearted, hard, or fully devoted to God?

• Are you rooted in Christ? How does this look in your life?

• Are you producing a harvest for the kingdom of God?

 Thumbnail photo: Jess / The Market Homestead