Dreams are funny things . . .

As I may have mentioned in the past, Todd and I belong to a scripture study group. It's not something that people in our church generally do on their own, but a group of us decided, several years ago now, that we wanted to get together outside of church and study the scripture together. We meet once a month and we take turns each month meeting in each other's homes. we have a time of scripture study, which usually lasts a couple of hours, and then we have a time of fellowship and refreshment. We really enjoy these evenings. It is a wonderful opportunity to get together with like minded folk and share our thoughts and feelings about the scriptures with each other.



We had our October meeting last Saturday evening and during the discussion the question was asked had anyone ever dreamt about the Saviour. Well, the answer was yes. I have. It was probably about 8 years ago now and in my dream He was in the heaven's above me and I cannot remember anything else but a great feeling of peace and love. It was a nice dream.



Well . . . last night I dreamt about Him again. In my dream I was walking through a field with an older child (a boy), beside me, and a baby in my arms. We got into a boat, which was filled with men and all of a sudden a great storm came up and everyone was afraid, and then . . . there was the Saviour, sitting in the front of the boat, and he calmed the storm. It was pretty special, but . . . all of a sudden, I noticed my baby was missing . . . and then the boat, the men, and the Saviour disappeared as well. I was left with only the older child and the most horrible feeling of bereavement. I spent the whole rest of the night heartsick and searching for my baby. Finally just before I woke up I found a man that I recognized from being in the boat. He said if I brought him a piece of cake and left it in a certain place, he would tell me where my baby was . . . I got as far as the bakery where I was choosing the most delicious looking piece of cake I could find so that this man wouldn't let me down . . . and I woke up.

Dreams are such strange things. I think they sometimes mirror life and I have been pondering what this dream might mean. I don't really know . . .



I did give a talk several weeks ago about the hymn, Master The Tempest is Raging . . . and it is no secret that I have felt particularly bereft about not having been able to finish bringing up my youngest son. Perhaps this influenced my dream in some way. I'm not sure where the stranger and the piece of cake comes into it! It was a particularly nice piece of cake though . . . chocolate, with a caramel filling and gooey chocolate icing. I almost wanted it for myself, but was willing to sacrifice it in order to get my baby back. In my dream I would have given anything . . .

I think all of us have certain regrets in life. Things that we might have done differently had we known better at the time, or things we might do differently were we given a chance to re-d0 them. I am no different, but I do try hard not to dwell on the past, on the things I cannot change . . .

I think it is wise to try not to bear up more than one kind of trouble at a time. Some people try to bear up all three . . . the troubles they have had, the troubles they have now, and any troubles they fear might crop up in the future.



It's such a pity that some folks are unable to put their past problems behind them . . . and to go into the future actively looking for trouble must be rather self defeating.

If we could all just learn to live one day at a time, and to deal only with today and what it may bring to us, we'd all get along a lot better I think . . .

"Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." ~Matthew 6:34

Once more the time got away from me and I wasn't able to get to the Tuesdays With Dorie challenge this week. I just don't know where my time disappears! Hopefully I will get them done later today, delicious Sweet Potato Biscuits as chosen by Erin of Prudence Pennywise, one of my favourite food blogs! Hopefully I will get to them later today. We are having the sister missionaries over for tea tonight and I know they would love them. I am making corn chowder. I have a dentist appointment this afternoon so I won't have a lot of time ahead of time.

I think they'll like the corn chowder. Soup always goes down well this time of year. Our temperatures have really dipped these past days and there's a distinct chill in the air. Hot soup is always more than welcome on a cold day, especially when you have spent a great deal of it traipsing around like they will have done. Speaking of soup, I made this tasty Split Pea soup the other day for our tea. You can never go wrong with soup. It is the great curative for whatever ails you . . .



*Split Pea and Ham Soup*
Serves 6 to 9
Printable Recipe

I had a mother who could make soup out of anything. I reckon that's not a bad thing in today's financial economy. Thankfully I inherited her ability. One of our favourite soups was her pea soup. She cooked it in the French way with whole dried peas and a bone leftover from ham. Yes, we always had this soup after Easter. I, more often than not, choose to use a ham hock and well, I have never seen the whole peas over here so I just use split peas. We love this!

1 smoked ham hock
1 pound of yellow split peas
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
3 onions, peeled and chopped
2 bay leaves
1 spring of thyme
1 1/2 quarts of water
Sea salt and pepper



Place the smoked ham hock, yellow split peas, chopped carrots, celery, onion, thyme and bay leaves in your largest pot, cover with the water and bring to the boil. Skim off any foam that may rise to the surface and discard. Reduce the heat and cook for two hours at a gentle simmer, partially covered, continuing to skim as necessary. Taste and season as needed with some salt and pepper. (Ham can be quite salty so you may not need much salt) Remove the ham hock and shred the meat, discarding any bone, skin and fat. Fish out the bay leaves and the stalk from the thyme and discard. Using a stick blender, blitz the soup until it is smooth. Add the shredded ham. Gently reheat and serve. I like to keep a few chunks of carrots whole. This is probably a throwback to my mom's soup. We used to fight over who was going to get the whole carrot. She also added a couple of whole potatoes. She said they absorbed any excess salt. We used to fight over those as well!



Over on The English Kitchen, there's Date and Pistachio Hotcakes on offer this morning. mmm . . . mmm . . . delicious!