a twisty tie engagement ring speaks volumes.

As many of you know I've been proposed to with a twisty tie by one of my dearest friends...  This was of course all in jest, but the story that inspired the proposal is actually pretty relevant.
I was at a summer camp one year, and two of the counselors were so madly in love that it was obvious to even ten year olds...  They had been engaged for a while, and they were so brilliantly happy they practically glowed.  Their happiness radiated.  They were dirt poor, but quite possibly the happiest couple I've ever met in my life.  He proposed to her with a twisty tie ring that he made.  It wasn't showy.  It wasn't elegant.  It was a twisty tie.  Just like the ones you use to keep your bread fresh.  Just a twisty tie.
She wasn't upset by this humble proposal.  In fact I'm fairly certain she didn't even care.  She just wanted to be with him.  He was enough.  His love was enough.
This is an interesting parallel.  There's a christian song called "open up the sky" it's a pretty legit song.  I like it.  It has lyrics speaking of God that say: "We don't want blessings we want you"  The woman with the twisty tie ring wasn't concerned with what her fiance could offer her.  She just wanted to be with him.
I want to be like that.  I don't want to be so concerned with the blessings God can and will potentially give me.  I just want to be with him.  I want to be in His presence.  Yes, our God delights in giving good gifts to his children, but do you seek the giver or the gift.
Seek the giver.   You'll be transformed.

The strangest of dreams.

So it seems as though I never dream.   Apparently I'm wrong.  My favorite psychology major best friend informs me that I just don't remember my dreams, but I have them.  So yeah.  I actually remembered one.  I found it kinda cool. . .  Semi disturbing, but none the less cool.
So I find myself at a lake house with a bunch of people I went to high school with.  The house is about 30 yards away from this huge lake covered in vividly green algae with a dock in the middle.  On that dock are three mountain lions.  Located in the water with vividly green algae there are about 20 more swimming mountain lions.  Surrounding the house on land are about 40 more mountain lions.  Mountain lions were everywhere...  EVERYWHERE!
Here's the really odd part some people were just walking around like they didn't see the mountain lions or they were at least un-phased by their shockingly well represented-ness.  The one's who didn't see the lions were getting attacked, clawed down and ripped limb from limb first without showing signs of distress or pain.  Once the lions killed off the blind people, they went for the people who could see.  The oddest part to me was that the people didn't fight, cry out or show any outward signs of distress...  They just allowed the lion to rip them apart...  It made me a little hesitant to leave the porch, but for some odd reason I new I had to get to the dock in the middle of the lake.  This made no sense to me, but it had to be done...  But this is the point at which I wake up.
When I woke up I was a little shaken.  I'm not going to lie... I didn't really enjoy seeing people ripped apart right in front of me, but I immediately thought of that one verse.  You're enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion waiting to devour.  *shudder*  wow those are my friends that he's devouring...  There is something I can do about it, and I'm cowering on the porch with my other christian friends from high school being terrified of something we all have complete authority over.  How silly.
Get off of your proverbial porch!  Face your lion (or Satan)... Pray.  He genuinely dislikes that.  
A couple days after the dream I was still confused about the dock.  It didn't make sense until today...  I was thinking about how some stuff needs to be done in steps.  Almost like video games, you have to beat one level to play the next one.  So getting to the dock was like making it to the next level...  Fight off the swarm. . .  pack. . .  herd. . . What the heck do you call a large gathering of mountain lions?!?!?  Anyway...  You have to get off the porch and get yourself to the dock to get to the next step or level of intimacy with God.
So basically what I feel like my dream was saying is:  Take a risk and trust God, face the devil he's not as powerful and intimidating as he seems, you've been given authority and for goodness sake stop along the way and tell some people how to get rid of the lion that's ripping them apart. . .   At least that's what I got...
Aren't dreams just so peculiar?