Tuesday, December 16, 2008

My Hiding Place

"I'm 34 years old," I thought. "Why in the world am I high school again?"

But there I was, waltzing into science class, late for some reason. No one seemed to be bothered by my tardiness. I took my seat, and was relieved that the teacher seemed to be understanding. There was a kindness in his eyes, and as he talked and interacted with the students, I was definitely drawn to him. A little crush, maybe? Yea, it was a crush.

I loved how he talked to the loner kid about what was going on in his life. He just asked him in a real straightforward way if he's into alcohol. The kid really opened up to him, like maybe he was the first person to see right into his soul and ask the question that even his parents were too busy to notice needed asking. This teacher had a real way with young people.

I tried not to let my feelings for him show, but something about him seemed like such a safe person. I just wanted to know him more. He was married, and so was I, so I really wasn't worried about anything inappropriate happening. Still, there was just something so humble, yet so magical about him. I was drawn to him.

He got my attention and motioned toward the door. There in the doorway was a flower delivery man, with a bouquet of flowers for me! Oh, I bet the other kids would think I was cool getting flowers sent to me at school. The flowers were from my husband. I was relieved that they arrived, because it let my teacher know that this 34 year old high schooler was married and off the market, but mostly it was good for keeping my crush in check.

Attached to the flowers, though, was a note. "Open it," the teacher said. So I did. It was from my grandmother, who wasn't always the nicest person. In fact, she could be downright mean. Not a safe person at all. Somehow, though, I felt safe reading the letter out loud with the class listening, and in the presence of my teacher. He was a safe and reassuring presence, and I just liked being with him. School had ended 45 minutes ago, but so many of us students were just hanging out with him in the classroom. And best of all, he wasn't in any hurry to get us out of there. He enjoyed being with us too.

...And then I woke up. "What a dream!", I thought. And through the haze of waking, the still, small voice of God said, "That teacher is like Me."

8 comments:

J said...

Your dreams are better than mine. My school dreams always involve either me forgetting to get dressed (yes, I'm naked! ACK!) or forgetting to attend class for the last few months, and today's the final. Or, worst of all, today's the final AND I'm naked.

Sigh.

My word verification is 'perful'. I wonder, is that a color, or a mood? "I feel perful today", or "let's paint the guest room perful".

You are indeed like that teacher. :)

Anonymous said...

What a nice dream!

I don't have dreams like that either. and It has been a really long time since I had the show up to school naked dream..and for that, I am very thankful!

Katie said...

I have been dreaming a lot lately too. Weird.

What an interesting dream.

Tracy said...

J,

I meant for it to read that God was saying that the teacher was like Him...a safe Person who wants to spend time with me.

It's funny, "perful" reminded me of "prayerful" with a Texan accent!

:)

xo,
Tracy

Mrs. G. said...

I wish God would visit me in my dreams. Really.

Tracy said...

Mrs. G,

Maybe you should ask Him to! When Hubs and I are asking God to draw near to us, sometimes he prays that God will speak to us in our dreams. God definitely spoke to people in the Bible through dreams, so it doesn't seem weird to me that He would still communicate with us that way. The thing that was so special about this dream for me is that it came on the heals of my expressing to God in prayer that I really needed Him to get through to me about something that was addressed in this dream. :)

So often I forget my dreams, but I woke up in the midst of this dream, and I wrote it down not too long after I woke up because dreams fade from my memory fairly quickly.

Love to you and yours this holiday season!

Anonymous said...

As I was reading this, I thought "That sounds like Jesus." Just beautiful, Tracy. So glad the Lord blessed your with a dream like that.
Love ya,
Kerith

Saucy said...

Such an interesting dream! Very. The flowers were the best part, I think dreams really say lots. That part about your Grandma... I can relate.