A dream

In the dream, we are hurriedly packing to move. It's not clear where we are going - somehow it feels like someplace overseas. We have 4 days to get ready to go, and have to leave most of our belongings in storage here. We can take only one box of books - we have about 75. There's a flurry of phone calls to schedule last-minute get-togethers with people before we go. But, who are these people? It's a mixture of the boy's occupational therapists and people I worked with 3 states and what seems like a lifetime ago. Someone keeps reminding me that we need to tell our next-door neighbor soon.

But wait! What about the dog?

The dream changes. Now we are on a plane – the dog in a cargo hold. I can see him fighting as he is put into the crate. We never did get him crate-trained.

We are walking into our temporary home – our old church in Oregon. We're sleeping there till our renters leave our old house. It has a great kitchen, but how will we bathe?

Now we are moving back into our old house. Boxes of books move into the new library – what was our kids' first bedroom. Glasses and plates move onto their old shelves in the kitchen.

Now I see my kids running to their woods, their beloved dog beside them. He is on his leash, as there is no fence. How quickly can we get a fence? At that, I wake up.

Which part of this dream will come true? Any of it?

(Sometimes people ask me how I can live with such an uncertain future. When the seminarian graduates, where will we go? What will we do? Why did we decide he should quit his job, move across the country, and go back to school anyway? Of course everyone's life is full of uncertainty, but I guess we asked for an extra measure. I don't think I worry about it too much. We are trusting God with our future, our children, and even our dog – yes, I pray that wherever we go next, the dog can come too. Maybe this dream comes from worry that I don't even know about. Or maybe I'm being asked to live with uncertainty a little longer. Like I have a choice?)