A Series of Dreams

Follow your intuition, listening to your dreams, your inner voice to guide you.

~Katori Hall

Easter was less than a week away. I worked nights, and before I went to bed each morning, I watched the news and checked out the weather. I remember thinking it looked like the warm weather would hold for Easter.

Dream One: Tuesday Morning After Working Monday Night

It wasn’t a spectacular dream, and I just ignored it. I figured it was caused by something I had watched on TV before going to bed, like the weather. It was no big deal. I dreamed of a bad storm, and there was the sound of a train in the background. I heard the word “closet.” There must have been more, but all else was forgotten as soon as I opened my eyes.

Dream Two: Wednesday Morning After Working Tuesday Night

I had the same dream. I remembered more this time. There was a terrible storm. High winds, heavy rain, the sound of a train, and a voice in my head saying, “Safe in your closet.” I saw a flash of light out my bedroom window. Getting up to look, I saw skid marks right outside my window in my perfectly manicured lawn.

When I woke up, I even looked out the window. Lawn undisturbed. Sky clear. Weather warm. I hoped it would stay this way for a few more days. Easter was this Sunday.

Dream Three: Thursday Morning After Working Wednesday Night

There were high winds and heavy rains. A tornado had been spotted overhead. The sound of a train was getting louder and louder. As my doublewide began to shake, I heard a voice say, “Safe in your closet.”

Needless to say, this dream left me shaking. When I got to work, everyone was talking about the coming weekend and their plans for Easter. I had a three-day weekend coming up, and plans with my kids, and I quickly forgot about the dream… until I returned home and prepared for bed. Would I dream again?

Dream Four: Friday Morning After Working Thursday Night

I worked Thursday night. I was off from Good Friday through Easter. But Friday morning, after working all night, I still needed a few hours of sleep before going to a bridal shower that afternoon. Would I have the same dream? I couldn’t have been asleep long when it started.

The high winds, heavy rain, thunder, and lightning. The flash at the window. I got up and looked out. I saw a huge angel struggling to hold down the house, fighting against the wind. I could see ridges in the mud where the angel slid. That corner of the house held steady.

Suddenly, I was back in bed. I heard my daughter calling and felt her shaking me. “Mom! Mom, wake up! This is not a normal storm!”

My eyes popped open. I sat up and, without thinking, said, “Safe in the closet.”

Once we were inside the closet, I added, “We are safe. We need to pray for the neighbors.”

The sound intensified on the other side of the closet door, and the floor beneath us began to shudder. It sounded and felt like we were in a tunnel with a train passing through. It seemed to go on and on.

We lived in an area with mostly single trailers and doublewide homes spread out on five-acre lots. We began to pray for protection for each neighbor by name.

The storm passed as quickly as it came. When we came out of the closet, everything was a mess. Things were tossed around; storm windows were blown inside; walls were lopsided; cabinets had been emptied; furniture was thrown around. The cement pilings from under the house were pushing up through the floorboards but not breaking through the carpet in every room except the one where we were.

The house was warped, and the outside doors would not open. I could see that our three large covered decks and three-car carport were all gone. I opened the bedroom window and climbed outside. Our well house was gone. The wooden play set, with swings, slide, sandbox and a fort, was missing. The room under the home was smashed. I would have thought that would have been the safest place if not for the dreams. That’s where we would have sheltered if the dream hadn’t told me to go in the closet.

Neighbors, emergency crews and sightseers began arriving. The area had to be closed to traffic. Even though it was Good Friday and school was out, there were no injuries. Every family we prayed for remained unharmed and had minimal property damage. There were two families we did not know and missed praying for. Both singlewide trailers were destroyed. One flipped, and one blew apart from the pressure. Thankfully, neither family was home when the storm struck.

Yes, it took four dreams, but I learned to listen.

— Debbie Sistare —