Dreams...

I wish you could hear the things that go on in my head.

Seriously!

I am a certified obsessive-compulsive, and my mind is an absolute whirlwind of activity most of the time. Not that it's all intellectual, or even makes any sense--it doesn't. Here's a sampling of what's going on right now, more-or-less in stream of consciousness:

I HATE that Cheerio's commerical...will this make any sense? Kristi may be mad because I got up and left the living room...that dude's fake-Italian accent on the commerical stinks...oooooh!! I HATE the sound of slurping, especially when the dog is slurping from her water bowl....oh, GAG!! I just thought about the OTHER dog, Kristi's dog, Jennie, when she drinks water and it slops out of her jowls and onto the linoleum floor---I want going to take the trash out...hate when I double-type a letter...why did I just think about onions all of a sudden? I can' t wait for that church-planting conference on Tuesday...got to remember to talk to Johnny about the deacon-thing tomorrow night...didn't tell Kristi about that, gotta do that...my wrist hurts...I wonder when I'll finally be so crippled I can't type any more from this arthritis? I wish I'd had one of the leftover...oh, what are they called?? TAMALES!! I wish I'd had one of the leftover tamales instead of the leftover chicken and dumplings I had for dinner...my head is BUZZING!...That globe in the den always leans--I HATE that!...why is the floor so cold, but the room isn't? What time will the King truck come tomorrow morning?...I'm so glad I didn't get any sauce on that new tie at lunch...really nice of Lee to buy our lunch...I hope Kristi sleeps well tonight...

See?

That's the kind of thing that's happening in my head! And that's, like, MAYBE two minutes of it.
My mind RACES, and it's so hard to calm it down and focus it sometimes!
Do other people have this going on? I don't know.

Anyway, on to the DREAM part...

Here's what I'm currently dreaming, in about the same stream of consciousness order:

lots of young, misdirected people who have tons to give to God, coming to Him

A church with no committee structure, no church business meeting and no limits

People who LOVE sharing Christ

People who LOVE loving people

People who LOVE that Christ loves them

A city transformed

Christ exalted

A piece of heaven on earth, my wife and my friends and a lot of new friends I don't even know, all working together for the glory of God

PASSIONATE worship--some in song, some in service, some in creativity, some in stillness and prayer

reconnecting with the ancient disciplines of the faith: prayer, fasting, solitude, reflection, self-denial, contemplation

God's treasured people, delivered from the bonds of hurt and addiction and guilt

Everybody cool with everybody else

Everybody with their own junk, but everybody with their own God-story

A place where you can come in and ask questions and get answers, leave without choosing Christ, and still just be loved

A church that values service and activism, creativity and community, passion and spirit and individuality

A place where God uses anybody He chooses, just as long as I get to be along for the ride

A place where "leader" just means "lead servant"

No hangups

A place that grows converts into disciples, turns them into ministers, and sends them into the world as missionaries

Exalting God's fame.