Experiencing Joy After a Nightmare

 

The first rays of dawn’s early light were nowhere close to breaking through this cold late, late fall morning when at 4:49 a.m. I  am up reading Ann Voskamp’s The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas. 

I am up because of a nightmare. One involving a house with a loft, my brother-in-law, my sister-in-law, my dad’s cousin, Sharon Tate’s ghost, and being punched in the left eye.

I had already read Jesus Calling : Enjoy Peace in His Presence on my Kindle. This is twice in one week I’ve had a weird dream. I went to the second service last Sunday because a dream disturbed my sleep last Saturday night. I eagerly and thankfully devoured communion in hopes it would restore, refresh and get rid of bad dreams.

12/5’s Verse

Today’s verse from Ann’s book is:

I will bless you and…and you will be a blessing to others.

Genesis 12:2 

That is why this blog and I exist – to be a blessing to others whether or not you are on a grief journey.

I will not sugar coat things as that is not my style. You need to know what you are possibly facing as a widow. If you are not a widow you need to know what life is like, at least what I experience. All grief journey’s are unique. Thankfully my journey will not be your journey.

Precious Words Circled in Green

Green pen and lavender Post-It- Note Flags represent the 2015 read through of Ann’s book. Last year it was pink flags, black pen and yellow hi-liter.

Genesis 12:2 is circled in green pen – numerous times.

I will bless you. 

This is what I need to hear today, especially after the nightmare. It is what I need to hear in this hard season of career transition.

May these words be the light that drives out the darkness of another hard year of barely surviving instead of thriving.

Before and Again

Of course God will bless me – He’s done it before and will continue to do what He started in Genesis 1:28

And God blessed them. 

There is only a period and  a space between Genesis 1:27 and 1:28. There is no other sentence that says humans did this or humans did that and God blessed them.

He simply blessed them because of who He is. It is in His nature to bless us, because He is love.

I simply need to open my eyes, notice the blessings and be thankful for what I see.

His Presence

Ann wrote about the greatest gift being God gracing our soul with is His presence. Funny – that is what today’s devotion in Jesus Calling was about – His presence.

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”

Genesis 28:16

Surely God is in this place even after a nightmare whether the nightmare is a dream or a season of life.

At 5:43 a.m. I finished the draft of this post and went back to bed peacefully drifting off to sleep feeling God blessing me with His presence.

Now that is joy.