Stay with me today.  Last night I had a very odd dream.   A strange dream.  And I have spent the entire day trying to figure out exactly what was going on....what was the real meaning of this dream.  Now I didn't have much time to ponder today.  It was a very busy day at work.  Lots of kids, rain (so no outside) and then to add to the "normal busy" we are getting 3 new kids on Monday and it was the beginning of the month.  The new kids mean making new name tags, cubby markers, file folders, etc. And with the beginning of a new month all of the cubbies get new name tags, the calendar has to be changed and bulletin boards need to be changed.  So it was while I was on my way home from work, that things started to "click" about this dream.  And, I am showing my age, I doubt that most of you will remember the crazy show that was the story line of this dream...

I very clearly remember watching this cartoon in the morning, before school.   I was a "latch key" kid and I was responsible for getting myself out the door to the bus stop and this show was my "alarm".  When it was over, I had to leave the house.  I looked it up on the internet and found out that it began airing in 1960.  There were 59 episodes and I found it very interesting that each episode was created in 6, 5 minute blocks.  It was intended to run one segment each day and then rerun on Saturday as a full 30 minute show. And that last 5 minutes held the solution to the problem.  So you had to watch on Saturday to find out what happened.  Clutch (the white haired guy) was quite the adventurer.  He was part 007 and part explorer.  The little boy, Spinner, and his dog Paddlefoot always went with him on his adventures.  Swampy provided the "information" that was needed to complete the mission, but always in some odd way.  This show had TERRIBLE animation.  Anyone who saw this show today would wonder why we had even watched it.  However, there was a real educational component to this show.  Every episode took you somewhere around the world.  And there were great things learned through every show.   Anyway....here is my dream, and what I think I am supposed to take away from this dream.

 

I was on a Clutch Cargo adventure.  I don't know exactly where we were headed, but we were in that amazing plane that he always had (just a note, that plane was one of the best things about this show). The interesting thing was that Paddlefoot was talking to me!  And the only thing he said was "your mission is to go to the nations".  Okay, I understand this message, but why Clutch Cargo? And why Paddlefoot?  Here is my first thoughts on this dream.   I believe that I need to hang on to the earliest message that I received from Jesus.  (Get it??? CLUTCH - hang on to CARGO - the message, the word).Especially important in this is that my first very clear encounter with Jesus happened around the time that this show began to air.  And the message I received was that Jesus was real, I had walked with him in a beautiful garden, and I needed to tell everyone about this.  And I believe that the reason it was the dog that spoke to me in the dream, was to remind me that messages come in very different ways ...... expect the unexpected.   

 

I'm not sure if this is the entire word behind this dream.  But tonight I am feeling a bit nostalgic for Clutch Cargo.   But more than that, I am so thankful for that early dream I had and the way the Holy Spirit has continued to use this dream to speak to me.  And I am very grateful that I have plenty of time to ponder this dream.

 

Jesus, thank you so much for using everything - even a silly old television show - to get our attention.  Holy Spirit, thank you for speaking to us in sometimes hidden ways.  Help us to ponder these things and go deeper, rather than just dismissing them.   Thank you for your message to all of us to go to the nations.  And keep us expecting the unexpected.   Amen