“A Dream and a Prayer” by Reva Lachica Moore
(Written in 2016)
I woke up from a disturbing dream but this is not the first time that I had a foreboding dream. Often, I don’t really know what my dream would mean so I would always tell my husband JR and Mary Grace about my dream per chance something in the future might happen, then I would understand how things should be.
In my dream, I saw two groups of people who were very bitter with each other, they were firing weapons at each other, and I got caught in the crossfire. In the dream, I had my little granddaughter, Kaitlyn, with me but somehow, I was able to place her in a safe place where I did not have to worry about her. Then I found a place, a dry ditch to hide and be safe and I lay down in there. There was another woman lying down in there, too, and we both stayed there until the chaos was over.
I don’t know why people dream, and I dream many dreams each night,. I have read that dreams can come from three sources: From continuation of everyday thoughts. From God. Or from the enemy. I do dream after I had a thought about something or someone or see something on TV, or read about something. But when the dream is foreboding and unusual, I would usually pray right away for protection and guidance.
The following morning after my dream, we took our 4-year-old granddaughter to her dance recital. Everything went very well, better than we had expected. On our way home, my husband decided to pass by Home Depot. He was going to be in there for just a few minutes. I had checked the weather forecast the day before and it predicted possible thunderstorm in the afternoon. We were on our way home and thunderstorms in Louisiana are everyday happenings, so I did not think anything of it.
The three of us decided to stay in the car while my husband went inside the store. Kaitlyn was asleep in her car seat, Mary Grace was sitting in the back while I sat in the front passenger’s seat. We were checking the Internet: Grace on her cell phone while I checked my IPad. When suddenly, lightning struck close by followed by a loud thunder. Then people were running to their cars. Then a succession of some more lightning and thunder. Then a heavy downpour with heavy wind coming from all directions. Our car started to rock. This lasted for several minutes. Of all the times that my husband would go to a store, why this time? I started to get worried. Suddenly, my cell phone rang. “Listen, there is a tornado warning and if you start seeing cars fly, you know why! They are closing the door because they do not want people to leave.” My husband warned me. I heard his alarming words and started to get worried. I was doing very well without any worry until his phone call. And so I remembered my dream the night before. In the dream I laid down in the ditch to keep from being hit. In real life, if you’re on the path of a tornado, you look for a ditch to hide in until the tornado passes. My dream had become real, it seemed.
I closed my eyes to stop seeing the lightning flash and thunder crash all around us, not really worried about anything because thunderstorms are a normal happening in our area. I told Mary Grace about what was happening. I felt relieved that my granddaughter was sound asleep in her car seat. She hates thunderstorms and lightning. I knew she would panic and cry.
Rain in torrents and the whipping wind continued to rock our car obscuring the parked cars ahead of us. I noticed our car was sandwiched in between two vans, which shielded us greatly. I could no longer see people running to their cars. Mary Grace had checked the weather on her cell phone and it said: “Severe thunderstorm capable of producing tornado will be in the Walker area around 2:00 p.m.” I looked at the car clock and it read: 1:52 p.m. I’ve never experienced a tornado although I have heard that there were a few tornados that had touched down around Baton Rouge. In sheer panic, I told Mary Grace that I was going to pray loud.
“Dear Jesus, You know where we are. We are very scared and we need You to calm this storm, like how You have calmed the storm during the Bible times. You are still the One in charge of the weather and You can stop this right now. Please do it before Kaitlyn wakes up. I don’t want her to get scared. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.”
I closed my eyes although I could still see the illuminating lightning and hear the deafening thunders around us. I continued to pray and that Kaitlyn will not wake up to see all that was happening. And she did not. A few minutes later, the storm passed through. My husband came back from the store and we were all relieved. We drove back to our subdivision. It must have rained a whole lot, there was standing water halfway on people’s yards. And our yard was littered with twigs, branches and leaves.
Could it have been worse had we been home? I always hated to hear the howling wind blowing the trees. Later, I heard from my daughter-in-law who lives a mile away. She said it was so eerie with the wind blowing so hard; they all went inside their closets and prayed until the storm passed. Thank God for not allowing a tornado.
Luke 4:10 “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them.”