About a year ago, I was questioning a period in my life, where I was not sure about my relationship with the Lord. I knew I had went to an altar at 14, and had invited Jesus into my heart. I knew at age 28, I had dedicated my life to him. By that time, I had married, had two children, and divorced. But, my question was: Where was Jesus in my life during all of this? Had I really received Him when I knelt at 14? So I prayed for God to reveal the answer to me, so I could look back on my life and see where I stood with Him during that time. In reply, He gave me a dream to explain it all.
Part 1: The Calf and the Rabbit
The dream began with me as a young girl in my teens, riding in the backseat of a car driven by my father, down a country lane. My great grandfather, his grandfather, was sitting in the passenger seat, and the two of them were talking. We came to a stop sign at an intersection, and while sitting there, I looked out into a field to my left and saw a just-born, black and white calf. I quietly opened the car door, hurried through the fence, scooped up the tiny calf, and returned to the car. It lay in my lap, but as the car began to move again, it turned into a fluffy, black and white rabbit.
As we drove along, the two men in the front continued to talk, while I focused all my attention into petting the rabbit. While I cuddled it, and moved my hand across its soft fur, it looked up at me with eyes so full of love that I could feel it permeating my being.
Part 2: The Turtle
At this point, the dream changed to me walking along a small stream, only about two feet wide, carrying a bucket. My rabbit had turned into a small turtle~the kind that lives in water~and it was inside the bucket. As I walked along, I saw another turtle, just slightly bigger. I thought it would be nice if my turtle had a friend to play with, so I picked up the turtle and put it into the bucket. Immediately, the larger turtle began attacking my turtle, trying to kill it. I was horrified.
Part 3: The Chicken
At this point, the scenery changed, and I was standing in Jim Phillips’ store, a little country store in the community where I grew up. I was behind the counter, lining a wooden crate with plastic. I planned to fill it with water, put the turtle into it, to give it a better home. I questioned myself on whether it would be a comfortable home for my turtle, and went around from behind the counter to get it. Sitting across the room on a bench was my husband, James.
I made eye-contact with him, then looked down to where I had placed the turtle in the bucket. Instead of the bucket stood a blood-red colored chicken, a hen, that looked up at me with the same loving eyes that the rabbit had. I stood staring at it, feeling the love expressed in the chicken’s eyes pour over me like warm water. It was at this point that I woke up.
I pondered the meaning of the dream for days; nothing I thought of seemed to make sense. Then, I realized that each part of the dream corresponded with a timeline in my life, beginning at salvation at 14, and ending with the introduction of a Godly husband into my life. It was a span of 27 years.
Interpretation: Part 1
At 14, I was still under my father’s authority, in his household, and that is why he was driving the car, with me in the backseat. He had just been called to preach around that time, and was greatly influenced by his grandfather, who was also a preacher, hence their conversation while driving.
The calf I took out of the field was my initial acceptance of Jesus when I went to the altar at 14. The rabbit represented my Christian walk as I grew and multiplied in the knowledge of Him. In reality, that was age 14 until I got married at age 20.
Interpretation: Part 2
My rabbit turned into a turtle when I got married. After researching the type of turtle I saw in the dream, I realized what its symbolism meant. I learned that they dig themselves down to the muddy bottom of ponds, and hibernate there all winter.
My Christianity, as weak as it was, was never on the surface. It was always on the bottom, and only surfaced when everything was sunny in my life, which was seldom during that time.
After being married for over 8 years, I divorced my unfaithful husband, and soon after began a new relationaship with another man. He turned out to be very violent~even more violent than my ex had been.
He was the turtle that tried to kill my turtle. In 2004, after suffering at his hands for years, I attempted suicide. I spent 2 days in intensive care, and another week in a 'guest' in a psych hospital.
Interpretation: Part 3
Jim Phillip's little country store was a pillar in the small community in which I grew up. Even though it has long since been bulldozed, I still dream of it often. In every dream about it I have had in the last 4+ years, it has symbolized my present husband, James, who is also known as Jim to some.
The crate I was trying to put together for the turtle (as yet I didn't know it had turned into a chicken) represents the beginning of our relationship almost 5 years ago, when I was still in my 'old' frame of mind. The chicken reprsents Jesus, my Lord, Abba Father, and Healer, who is no longer hibernating unseen inside of me. Instead, He is shown on the outside, living and breathing through my testimony and obedience to Him.
I was satified that I had interpreted the dream well, except for the chicken. The loving eyes aside, why would Jesus choose to symbolize Himself in my life as a chicken, and a hen, at that?
The question perplexed me, and everything I researched about chickens made no sense to me. It was all associated with having no courage. I knew that wasn't right! Then, I began to think: What does a hen do?
It came to me clearly: a chicken, specifically a hen, can feed a person every day, through the natural process of laying an egg, without losing its own life in the process. The chicken then made perfect sense, especially it being the deep red color.
He feeds me daily~the daily bread~keeping me alive spiritually, all the while, looking at me with love in His eyes.
Interpretation: Part 2
My rabbit turned into a turtle when I got married. After researching the type of turtle I saw in the dream, I realized what its symbolism meant. I learned that they dig themselves down to the muddy bottom of ponds, and hibernate there all winter.
My Christianity, as weak as it was, was never on the surface. It was always on the bottom, and only surfaced when everything was sunny in my life, which was seldom during that time.
After being married for over 8 years, I divorced my unfaithful husband, and soon after began a new relationaship with another man. He turned out to be very violent~even more violent than my ex had been.
He was the turtle that tried to kill my turtle. In 2004, after suffering at his hands for years, I attempted suicide. I spent 2 days in intensive care, and another week in a 'guest' in a psych hospital.
Interpretation: Part 3
Jim Phillip's little country store was a pillar in the small community in which I grew up. Even though it has long since been bulldozed, I still dream of it often. In every dream about it I have had in the last 4+ years, it has symbolized my present husband, James, who is also known as Jim to some.
The crate I was trying to put together for the turtle (as yet I didn't know it had turned into a chicken) represents the beginning of our relationship almost 5 years ago, when I was still in my 'old' frame of mind. The chicken reprsents Jesus, my Lord, Abba Father, and Healer, who is no longer hibernating unseen inside of me. Instead, He is shown on the outside, living and breathing through my testimony and obedience to Him.
I was satified that I had interpreted the dream well, except for the chicken. The loving eyes aside, why would Jesus choose to symbolize Himself in my life as a chicken, and a hen, at that?
The question perplexed me, and everything I researched about chickens made no sense to me. It was all associated with having no courage. I knew that wasn't right! Then, I began to think: What does a hen do?
It came to me clearly: a chicken, specifically a hen, can feed a person every day, through the natural process of laying an egg, without losing its own life in the process. The chicken then made perfect sense, especially it being the deep red color.
He feeds me daily~the daily bread~keeping me alive spiritually, all the while, looking at me with love in His eyes.
