Dream

I had this funny dream Saturday night. In it, I was in the kitchen of my church washing dishes or toys for the nursery (which I did Saturday afternoon) and I was talking with my Pastor, David. He was standing across the kitchen's island at the stove and he said casually "Oh, yeah, Stacie, I have that mouthwash you wanted in my office. Don't let me forget to give it to you later." I was puzzled so I asked him what mouthwash he was talking about. And he said "You know, I asked all the Sunday School teachers to give me a list of things they needed for their class and you gave me a list that just had mouthwash on it. So, I bought you mouthwash. It's in my office on my desk." I started laughing and said "Oops! I accidentally gave you my Wal-Mart list. I'd just started it and only had one thing on it so far. I wondered what happened to that piece of paper!" And we both had a good laugh over that one, in my dream. I even chuckled about it the next day at church with a fellow Sunday School teacher. I told her I knew I'd been forgetting to buy mouthwash the last few trips to Wal-Mart but I didn't know it was such a big deal to me that I'd start dreaming about it.
Well, the dream has kind of lingered with me since then and today I thought "Okay, God. Usually when a dream lingers with me this long, You are usually trying to teach me something". So, I looked it up on the Internet. Now, I know a lot of those dream dictionary sites are a lot of hooey, but there's some that I find interesting enough and can bear witness with through my own experiences with dreams. This is what I found under mouthwash:

To see or use mouthwash in your dream, indicates that you need to literally wash your mouth as a result of something you said. Perhaps you need to think first before saying something you might regret.

Let me tell you, I almost started crying. Psalm 34:11-14 says "Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desired life, And loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it." And in James 1:26 "If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless." James goes on, in chapter three, to compare a tongue to a bit in a horse's mouth or a rudder on a boat. Even a small spark that starts a huge forest fire. Small parts that play a large role in something bigger.

There is definitely a lesson here to be learned. I hope I learn this lesson. James is my favorite book in the Bible. Most people, I think, like it for the "faith lessons" throughout most of the book. I like it for that one section of chapter three that tells you to watch what you say. Bridle your tongue!

In the words made famous by Forrest Gump: That's all I got to say about that.