How much belief or disbelief do you have in dreams? Sometimes I remember dreams the following morning, but other times I remember a restless night of desire, sadness, and unfulfilled dreams. After listening to a service about dreams, I reviewed some of the dreams that became real events in my life. I would like to share some of those with readers who seem to enjoy my stories.

One of my very first dreams that I remember was like an ongoing desire to have a happier adulthood then my childhood had been. I prayed for a loving husband and a better marriage than some I had seen. That dream was fulfilled with 27 years of love, laughter, sadness, loss, gain, and an early ending when my husband died of cancer at age 47.

I was only 45 years old but there had been another dream in the early years when we had experienced my first signs of poor health. With the diagnosis of myasthenia gravis, surgery, a staph infection, an extended stay in the hospital in 1976, I had prayed that I would survive to raise my two young daughters.

That dream was fulfilled and they had a much better childhood than I did. They are adults now with their own dreams. After my husband’s death, I would experience dreams and pray to see if those dreams would come true and many of them did. I dreamed that at some point I would be able to drive again and three years after the loss of my husband, my health had improved so much that I was able to buy a car and start driving after seven years of not driving.

From 1996 until 2002 I drove my car just about anywhere I wanted to go. I traveled all over North Carolina, some of South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia speaking for Christian Women’s Clubs. Invitations kept coming and I felt that the Lord was calling me to share my testimony with believers and unbelievers. Many times unbelievers asked Christ into their hearts in the closing prayers and spoke to me later about what hearing my life story had done for them. I felt honored and blessed to have had those opportunities.

But in 2002 I had a major multiple sclerosis exacerbation which ended my driving and speaking engagements for a very long time. I had prayed and dreamed about what I would do with my time during another period of more disability. God answered that dream with new friends and a card ministry for our soldiers.

With the passing of time, I dreamed about buying a handicap conversion van so that I would be able to drive and go out more than once a week as I did on the County Van service. The Lord answered that dream and enabled me to buy one and for five years I traveled again. I spoke at local churches and senior groups. But in 2015, I could no longer make the payments and it was time for me to quit driving. Once again, I have to rely on the Rita Van service one day a week which allows me three stops.

I wish that dream had not ended, but I know God has other plans for me. I have made many new friends who visit my home and I’ve received so many blessings that I don’t allow myself to ask “why” more than once per episode.

Now the Lord has renewed one of my old dreams. While writing the story, “Facing the Giants,” there was some Scripture that came to my attention from the Book of Revelation. About the same time, I received an e-mail from lulu.com, the publisher of my two books. It was an offer for the ads and marketing services that are available. If I were willing to take the chance and invest some money, they would create a Press Release and run an ad for 30 days at five sites in the USA. I would be allowed to select the cities and states.

By advertising it as Christian literature and “living with disability,” the Lord may open many new doors if it is His will. Should I, or should I not, risk $500 to possibly open up a new field of readers. How many readers would come to know the Lord by reading about my experiences and His presence in my daily life?

I prayed and asked the Lord if I should “step through this new door.” I didn’t hear him say “yes” are “no,” but I felt the urge to at least check into this.

I have read a lot of books written by best-selling authors that have sold millions of books worldwide and some in many languages. With this offer, I may reach hundreds or even maybe a few thousand buyers. That may be just a dream or maybe it is God’s plan for me. He knows my needs and desires for the remainder of time He plans for me to remain in my home staying busy as

I strive to serve Him the best I can.

In the Old Testament, Joseph was known as “a dreamer.” He went through a period of troubled times, but God had a plan for him to change his world. He also changed the world of others as he followed the Lord’s plan. It is my dream and desire that He will be pleased with my attempt to enter another new door He has opened. There is a quotation that reads: “To the world you may be one person but to one person you may be the world.” I pray I am that person in someone’s world.

 

Linda Beck is a local writer who lives in Woodleaf.