When I was younger I had a recurring nightmare over the course of years.
I was on the forest moon of Endor in my nightmare. I watched Return of the Jedi a lot so the setting makes sense. Instead of hanging out with Ewoks in my nightmare, which would have been awesome, I was terrorized by a demon. Along with some bounty hunters from the Star Wars universe, this demon chased me all over Endor.
What made my nightmare worse was that I wasn’t being chased by a demon that might show up in a horror movie. I was chased by the type of demon that would pop up on a cartoon character’s shoulder. Imagine being chased by Bobby from Bobby’s World dressed in a demon costume and that’s what was chasing me.
That nightmare terrorized me for years. I remember waking up in the middle of the night full of fear, looking for that little red demon chasing me, hoping that Chewbacca would save me.
It’s weird how our nightmares and our dreams change over time. When I was younger my nightmares were filled with Star Wars locales and cartoon demons. My dreams, the ones that occurred when I was awake, were mostly about my friends being home on the weekend so that we could play with our G.I. Joes.
Two nights ago I had a nightmare that scared me more than any demon ever could. In my nightmare Alycia told me that she wanted a divorce; I woke up wondering whether or not I still had a wife. Thankfully Alycia and I aren’t having any marriage problems and she assured me that she wasn’t going to ask for a divorce. At this point in my life, though, I can think of few things more nightmarish than a divorce.
My waking dreams have also changed. Instead of hoping I’ll have friends with whom I can play G.I. Joe, I dream about simply having enough time for all of my work and to maybe watch some Bob’s Burgers. I also have dreams for our daughter, praying that God would capture her heart and that she would do amazing things for his kingdom. I also have dreams for The Christian Nerd; that it would give be a larger platform to share about how God reaches out to all of us, often through our favorite nerdclinations.
We have nightmares and dreams all throughout our lives. Unfortunately, though, sometimes it seems like the nightmares become more realistic and the dreams become more unattainable. Thankfully, we have a God who can allay the fears of our adult nightmares, and give us purpose and vision for the dreams he wants to accomplish in our lives.
How have your nightmares and dreams changed as you’ve gotten older?
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