Dreams
Stories
Sharing Visions
Divine Revelations, Angels, And Holy Coincidences
Several times in my life I have had precognitive dreams. It was not until a later time that I realized what the dreams foreshadowed. This past summer was one of those times.
I was having difficulty breathing due to asthma and bronchitis, but I continued to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day. I had smoked for forty years and was not about to quit. I had tried to quit once before, but was unable to stop. I loved smoking and hated it when anyone told me I "should really quit." On July 19, an "ozone action day," I was outside doing yard work: obviously something a person with asthma and bronchitis should not do. But I was stubborn and I wanted the yard to look perfect for the family party I was to host that Saturday.
When I awoke Saturday morning, I could barely breathe. I asked my neighbor to take me to the pharmacy to get a prescription for my bronchitis. When we got there, the pharmacist could tell I was having trouble breathing. He told my neighbor to take me to a doctor immediately.
I went to my regular clinic and was seen by a new physician. He gave me a nebulizing treatment that should have helped my breathing. However, it did not because I was in respiratory failure. The doctor told me I would have to go to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital or I would die. I told him I was going home to make a phone call to cancel my party. He reiterated that I would die if I didn't go to Intensive Care. I told him I would go home because I wanted to make a call to cancel the party, when what I really wanted to do was smoke. Despite having great difficulty breathing, I smoked one cigarette on the way home, one while I made the phone call to cancel the party, and one on the way to Intensive Care.
That afternoon, while I was in my hospital bed receiving oxygen, I remembered the dream I had twenty days before. In the dream, I was looking into my bedroom and saw Death walking around my bed, but he couldn't find me. This dream was enough to cause me to know that I was being given a second chance to live, that I would never be able to smoke again.
Two Bible passages have helped sustain me in what I consider to be a miracle, being smoke-free: "Death had its hands around my throat; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: 'Please, Lord, save me.' " (Psalm 116:3, 4) and "Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Acts 2:21).
I was having difficulty breathing due to asthma and bronchitis, but I continued to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day. I had smoked for forty years and was not about to quit. I had tried to quit once before, but was unable to stop. I loved smoking and hated it when anyone told me I "should really quit." On July 19, an "ozone action day," I was outside doing yard work: obviously something a person with asthma and bronchitis should not do. But I was stubborn and I wanted the yard to look perfect for the family party I was to host that Saturday.
When I awoke Saturday morning, I could barely breathe. I asked my neighbor to take me to the pharmacy to get a prescription for my bronchitis. When we got there, the pharmacist could tell I was having trouble breathing. He told my neighbor to take me to a doctor immediately.
I went to my regular clinic and was seen by a new physician. He gave me a nebulizing treatment that should have helped my breathing. However, it did not because I was in respiratory failure. The doctor told me I would have to go to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital or I would die. I told him I was going home to make a phone call to cancel my party. He reiterated that I would die if I didn't go to Intensive Care. I told him I would go home because I wanted to make a call to cancel the party, when what I really wanted to do was smoke. Despite having great difficulty breathing, I smoked one cigarette on the way home, one while I made the phone call to cancel the party, and one on the way to Intensive Care.
That afternoon, while I was in my hospital bed receiving oxygen, I remembered the dream I had twenty days before. In the dream, I was looking into my bedroom and saw Death walking around my bed, but he couldn't find me. This dream was enough to cause me to know that I was being given a second chance to live, that I would never be able to smoke again.
Two Bible passages have helped sustain me in what I consider to be a miracle, being smoke-free: "Death had its hands around my throat; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: 'Please, Lord, save me.' " (Psalm 116:3, 4) and "Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Acts 2:21).
