Crazy Dreams

Last night I had a lot of wild dreams. Firefly was going back into production, and I was in the cast: yay! In other news, I was on a covert mission in a weird foreign country or on a different planet. Things went pear-shaped and I was sold into slavery (boo!). One of my partners was played by Adam Baldwin (yay!). It was pretty long, involved, and grim. I wasn't interested in being a sexual plaything for a spoiled potentate, so they roughed me up. A lot. The last segment before I woke up involved being back "home" somewhere in recovery. Not sure how we escaped, but my pard had something to do with it. We were somewhere warm, near a beach, and the last thing I did was stagger out of my bed and into the water where I hovered on the sea floor, picking mussels with a steak knife. Pard came looking for me and was happy to see me out and about. Apparently I'd been catatonic for awhile, so I guess it was a happy ending of sorts.

As powerful dreams often do, this one left a strong emotional impression on me that will last until bedtime tonight, and perhaps a bit into tomorrow. I feel like I survived a major trial and grew in the process, and I also feel extremely well-loved and cared for in the aftermath of the ordeal. I've been pretty happy all day as a result, but also a bit shell-shocked. Yes, my dreams are often very, very real to me. Sometimes I confuse memories of actual events with dreams, and vice-versa. My husband helps me out with a lot of that confusion. So far it hasn't been a big deal, but if I survive into old age, it could get interesting.

Wells Fargo Opens Eagle Aid Account

Folks wishing to help the devastated town of Eagle, Alaska can donate to a special account at Wells Fargo now. It's called "Rebuild Eagle", but as of this moment I have no other information. Stay tuned...

Whole Armor...plus Artillery

Many of us are familiar with the oft-reviewed passage in Ephesians dealing with "putting on the Whole Armor of God" (Eph. 6:10-18). If there were ever an argument against being passive Christians, this is it. It talks about the "breastplate" of righteousness, the shoes (footwork) of scriptural preparation and study, the "shield" of faith, the "helmet" of salvation, and the "sword" of the Spirit. This list of equipment is worth serious study. Many people stop right there at verse 17, with the personal kit, as it were, but they need to go one more verse:

...praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints...

Prayer is so important, Paul put it last as the capstone of this TOE. If the preceding items are armor and personal weapons, then prayer is our Heavy Artillery. We have a direct hotline to the Creator of the universe, but how often do we really "call in fire" when things are going "pear-shaped", as a Special Forces friend of mine is fond of saying.

It's bad enough that we decline to talk to God about the little things, problems or sucesses, because we think they're beneath His notice (which is not true. His "eye is on the sparrow", etc.), but it's just negligent to forget to call on Him when things are really rough. I'm often guilty of this, due to an overdeveloped sense of competency, and so I've spent a fair bit of time thanking God for help even if I was too caught up in the world to ask for it in the first place.

Prayer is not a magic formula, a spell to call on some kind of natural force, or a ritual to impart a false sense of harmony with the universe, it's talking to a personal God who made humankind because He wanted sentient beings to love and interact with. Don't deny Him that interaction.

Horses on Pedestals

How to help Eagle, AK

Alaskan Red Cross: http://alaska.redcross.org/

This from Jackie Helmer (a resident):

"I'm in Eagle and we thank all of you so much for all the donations thats came in and are coming in steadily. The Taylor Highway is open but travel carefully, DOT has been repairing the road daily. As so helping, you can still send any kind of donation you want to but we do have a list of things that are needed. To get that list, you can call Krystie at 547-2310 during the day. There also has been some bank accounts opened to help in the rebuilding of homes that have been completely lost. Denali Bank is 1 and the other is Wells Fargo, the Wells Fargo account number is 5943966530. I believe both accounts are under the name "Rebuild Eagle", also the Eagle Bible Chapel is accepting donations for the members of their church. You can send those donations to the the church and make note it's for the flood victims. I know some folks here are asking for plant starters, seeds, trays, peet pellets. Many families depend on a good crop to harvest in the fall. Everyone in Eagle and Eagle Village are in good spirits and being well taken care of thanks to all of the donations coming in. It will take some time to clear the huge ice chunks in the road blocking us from the village. They don't want to just plow thru it because there are houses and vehicles on them and there might be things the owners and salvage. We just have to be patient. They are putting in a temp. road behind the airport to access the new village. They should shart that on Tuesday. Thank you again for all of your support and God Bless."

Finally, here's today's NewsMiner update. As usual, don't forget to read the comments to get the "between the lines" news.

Veggie Starts Needed in Eagle, AK

This information was gleaned from the "comments" at the bottom of the page of this article, although there is a bit of news in the article itself. The Growing season is short but intensive up there. You have about a week to get things in, starting, oh, in about a week...or you get no fresh anything to eat until next year (unless you're independently wealthy).

Sounds like cod liver oil and vitamin C might be good things to send up, too...