Dream #239 (June 12, 2010)

This was aggravating.

I was in Koontz Lake Missionary Church talking with my little brother as he played Solitaire on the computer in my father's office. He asked me if I was going to the Paul McCartney show that would take place in the fellowship hall of the church twenty minutes from that moment. I freaked out and ran up to the fellowship hall and, sure enough, Paul was warming up with his band. I desperately wanted to record the event with my video and audio equipment, but I wasn't sure if I could make it back to the church in time after going home to get my stuff. I wanted to preserve the event, but I didn't want to miss a single moment of it.

I rushed outside to my white Cutlas Sierra (which I no longer own). As I pulled out of the church parking lot, I pictured in my head where I last left my camera and microphone. I figured that it was probably still sitting on the couch in my parents' living room from the last time I used it. As I distanced myself from the church, I heard Paul covering a Broken Bells song (High Road), and I panicked, for I didn't not to miss any cool covers.

I sped down the road, hoping that I would not get pulled over on the short trip. However, something worse happened. An insane snow storm hit all of the sudden (the dream took place in the middle of the summer; well, until that point it did, if that makes any sense). The roads instantly became covered with several feet of snow, and I no longer moved ahead, though my wheels were still rapidly spinning.

I sat in the car, going only inches, for several minutes before I finally awoke.

Dream #238 (June 11, 2010)

So strange.

I dreamt that I was in an expansive and dark warehouse, which doubled as a shelter for abused extraterrestrial beings. There were many different creatures. Some had long tentacles, others looked very similar to humans, and still others bore the characteristics of various amazonian animals. I was a nurse, and I tended the wounds of the aliens and tried to comfort them psychologically as well. The one alien I remember treating the most looked like a human when I first walked up to him. But as I approached, he began to turn orange. By the time I reached him, he turned into a slimy neon orange squid, with blood all over him.

It was at that moment that I awoke.

Dream #237 (June 10, 2010)

This was very thought-provoking.

The dream began in the city during the middle of a sunny afternoon. I was walking up several flights of stairs to reach the apartment room of Daniel Jeter (a friend of mine from Regent University). When I finally got there I, without knocking, cracked the door of his room open. The chain lock prevented me from getting a good view of the inside of the room, but I could see Daniel's feet at the end of a couch. I yelled into the room, asking if he would help me shoot a movie. He didn't wake up, but an African woman (she was from Africa; she spoke no English) came to the door and closed it in my face.

Confused, I opened the door again, this time opening it all the way, for the woman had unlocked the door. When I asked for Daniel, she went to the couch and woke him up. Dan was out of sorts, and it took me a long time to explain to him what I wanted from him. After I finished making my request, I realized how much of a mess his place was. There were food packages, tableware, and clothes strewn all about the room. Several wet towels hung over a fake fireplace, and there were still some Christmas decorations up (it wasn't even Christmas in my dream). Dan didn't really want to help me, so I argued with him for a few minutes until I finally convinced him to assist me in shooting my film.

After that, he and I went to a doctor's office, which was on a high story of a skyscraper. The doctor was my friend Amy Ennis (co-worker at camp), and I was asking her to act in my film. She sat me down at a long white table as she flipped through her paperwork. She told me she was far too busy, so I again had to do much persuading and begging to finally get her to commit to the film.

Right after she decided to help me out, I jumped into the future. I was inside of a very fancy restaurant with Amy (who was wearing a overly glittery dress) and Neil Silveus (a friend of mine from Bethel College who, in my dream, had agreed to act in my film). Neil and I were both wearing black tuxedos, and we were all three sitting at a round table that sat in a three-foot recess in the floor. After the waitress delivered the waters to the three of us, we began talking about God.

This conversation was not a base conversation about God, but a deep and spiritual look at why and how God exists. The conversation became so intense that we all had to get up from the table and walk around the restaurant. As we talked, we passed by many fountains and paintings, for the place was gorgeously decorated.

We discussed what God's motives were for creating mankind. We looked at the size of the universe and wondered if we were as important to God as many say we are. We talked about what is important in life and what is trivial. I brought up my opinions about how much time mankind wastes with various activities, such as athletics, certain scientific research, and more. I even brought up questions about the importance of life.

I eventually awoke, with a sore mind.

Dream #236 (June 9, 2010)

The following dreams all took place on one night and were each very vivid and unique.

The first dream took place in a Utah-like desert. Everything was rocky and red, even the many small houses that were in the area. I walked down the street and found a group of strong monster-human hybrids playing basketball. I joined in the game and did pretty well for being only a full human. Then a bunch of gangster monsters came in a fancy 40s black car and began beating some of the monster-humans with huge baseball bats.

At first I was terrified. How could I stand up to such beings? Then I found some courage that was hidden within me and confronted the gangsters. Their leader, a dark green monster with a black tank-top, laughed at me and pounced in my direction. Somehow I took him to the ground with me, and we tumbled around for a while. I remember thinking that I could potentially defeat the monster, but I never got the chance, for I switched over to a different dream.

I found myself in the kitchen of my parents house. My little brother told me he was going to listen to a book on tape in my bedroom (I believe the book was robin hood), so I said I would listen to mine in the kitchen. He left, and I sat by the kitchen table and listened to the tape that played in the tape player that was built into the oven.

I then completely entered into the story. I was a great man in an epic novel. I had already journeyed through many strange and treacherous lands in the previous chapters, but I was then just starting chapter nine, which had a picture of blood falling from the Roman numerals.

I was traveling with my friend, Peter the Giant, and the love of my life, who was a former princess. In the previous chapters I had learned that she no longer desired the life of royalty and had made herself a member of the lowest class of people. I, in the book as the main character, admired her for that. However, I knew that some thing dreadful was going to happen in chapter nine, and I did not want to keep reading.

But I did, and I walked toward a lake. I found my friend Peter the Giant trying to win over the love of my life by singing to her in his deep, soulful voice. He was quite good, but her heart already belonged to me, so she gently told him that she could not love him in the way that he needed to be loved. He became very sad, so he dragged her into the lake. He was so strong that she was unable to break free.

I ran in after her, as fast as I could. I soon caught up to Peter, who was treading water, crying, and I pushed him aside. I dove down into the lake, searching frantically for my love, but I could not find her. I came back up for a gasp of air and went back down. I probably could have lasted longer, but the thought of losing my love weakened me severely. When I went down to the floor of the lake, I found my love. She was dead. I instantly lost much of the joy in my life, and I became a very hard man at that very moment.

Then I switched to a different dream.

I was preparing to follow a large battalion of soldiers, tanks, and cavalry through a long, ceilingless corridor. All of the soldiers would have to put up quite a fight if we were to make it to the end of the corridor.

Well, we all fought very hard. I witnessed the people around me falling to the many bullets and grenades that were flying about. I also saw many tanks taken out by stronger machinery. Even so, a small group of the soldiers on my team made it to the end of the corridor. On the very last stretch, a little white rabbit man threw a grenade at me. I somehow managed to punch it back at him so that it landed right at his feet. Them my dream became a farce. The rabbit said, "Nuts," which was when the grenade should have exploded for comic effect; however, it didn't explode. The rabbit even said that he thought it should have blown up in his face. Well, he decided to throw it back at me. Then I threw it back at him, then he threw it back at me.

Then I awoke.

Dream #235 (June 8, 2010)

I can't remember much.

I was running through a high school (I was a graduating senior cleaning out my locker for the last day of school). The school was made completely of aluminum, and it was very dreary. After I cleaned out my locker, I ran into a large group of students who could not move, for the doors were sealed shut so that nobody could get out.

I didn't panic, for I knew my way to a special exit. I ran through the aluminum halls to a guarded gate. I acted like I knew the password, then busted through the glass doors into a large and damp parking garage.

Then I awoke.

Dream #234 (June 7, 2010)

This was fantastic.

I started off the dream rowing down an icy river through an enchanted forest. It was very dark, yet the ice was glowing.

When I reached the end of the river, an angel met with me and told me he was preparing a set of trials for me and three others to go through. The angel, who was flying and carrying a golden sword, told me that there would be two other good characters in the trial and one evil one. Then an evil ladybug devil arrived, flying at and attacking the angel. With him came a supposedly good floating finger. However, I soon figured out that the finger was actually going to turn out to be evil, for he kept rubbing up against the angel. When he did so, he erased parts of him. The angel would almost be completely gone before noticing what was happening (this happened three times), but he would gather himself from the air around him and reform to his full self. Finally, a mouse creature arrived and the angel sent the four of us through the trials.

The trials took place in a video game format, for everything was two-dimensional (I guess it must have been an old school video game), and the angel of the dream never changed from that point on.

Some of the trials involved crossing water with a rickety bridge, passing through fire, and mining our way through a cave. It was always a competition between two groups: the mouse and me, and the finger and the ladybug.

After mining the cave, I awoke.

Dream #233 (June 6, 2010)

I enjoyed this.

I was walking around a mall in the middle of the night (I hate malls and I hate shopping, but this was actually pretty fun for me). I passed by several stupid stores when I stumbled upon an OK Go concert that was being held near the central fountain of the mall.

I desperately wanted to get to know the guys from OK Go (to be honest, in real life I'm not a huge fan of them, but I do like their music and music videos), so I took a brown folding chair and sat right in the middle of all of the performers. Instead of being upset with me, though, they made me a part of their show. They gave me a haircut right onstage as they sang, and they even allowed me to dance with them.

After the show, I talked with the guy with the thick glasses for a few minutes about music (I don't even know any of the names of the band members).

Then I switched over to another dream. I was a substitute teacher for a junior high geometry class. I was taking the place of Mrs. Richie (a teacher at my old high school), but instead of being in her classroom, I was in a small library. There were loads of book shelves; so many that no walls were visible.

Anyway, I began to teach about Sine and Cosine, but the students soon began ignoring me. I had no control over them, and soon enough they were running about the room, throwing pencils, breaking calculators, getting into fights, and ripping pages from their books. I didn't know what to do, so I called the office and told the assistant principal of Oregon-Davis (Rex Miller) to come to the room and straighten things out.

Then I awoke.

Dream #232 (June 5, 2010)

This was fun.

The first part of my dream took place at a crazy party in a gigantic mansion that rested on a cliff by the ocean. I walked around inside for a while, talking to my older brother about the punch that I had in my hand, watching all of the other people at the party enjoying themselves. Some were just talking, others were playing yard games, a few were playing pinball, and still others were sliding down the rails of the staircases. The activity that stuck out most to me was the break-dancing that was being performed by many elderly men from Koontz Lake Missionary Church, including Phil Bridges and Rich Amon (I'm not sure if that is spelled right). Phil was quite an exceptional break dancer. He would leap around the rafters, spin his body at mind-blowing speeds, and flip multiple times in the air in a single leap.

After watching Mr. Bridges tear up the dance circle, I went outside with my brother (Matt). We looked down at the bottom of the cliff where there were all kinds of people packing up their fishing gear, giving up on trying to win the fishing contest, where they were supposed to catch a giant electric eel that was known to reside somewhere in the waters near the mansion.

I thought this was a great time to attempt to catch the eel, for everyone else seemed to be giving up. So I climbed to the bottom of the cliff. My brother watched me for a short while, then returned to the party. There were a few boats out on the ocean, but nobody else was on the shore with me when I cast the line out.

I then went into another dream. I was at Prairie Camp. I had just walked out of the 'Rookie' bathrooms, and I entered into the tabernacle, where my boss, Carrie Badertscher, was speaking. She was very serious about the subject, and she drove many of the people of her audience to fear. People actually began to leave the tabernacle because they were so afraid of whatever Carrie was talking about.

After she finished, I walked up to her and told her that she was very prideful for doing what she did. I don't know where that came from, but I said it, and, in my dream, it cost me my friendship, for I jumped ahead in time to a meal that I was eating with her and the rest of the Prairie Camp staff, and she would not acknowledge my existence.

Then I awoke.

Dream #231 (June 4, 2010)

This is short but interesting.

I was at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana, and I was with several of my friends from there and from Prairie Camp, including Kevin Chupp, Amber and Jeff Kreider, Amy Ennis, Shana Beers, Carrie and David Badertscher, and Jason Suter.

We were all playing put-put golf in the practice soccer field. It wasn't typical put-put though, for we were all riding on Razor scooters while we played, which was actually a lot of fun. Interestingly enough, I believe Amber Kreider was the most talented scooter-put-put golfer amongst the group.

We played nine holes, which were all typical put-put golf holes.

I awoke after those nine holes (though there were at least thirty holes left to play).

Dream #230 (June 3, 2010)

There is a little more detail than the night before.

I was living in a city that much resembled Harlem. Unlike the real Harlem, however, it was always golden hour there, and the buildings were shining brightly and beautifully.

I was riding my bike around the city when Andrew Jensen (a former high school classmate of mine) ran up to me and said that the basketball team was traveling to New York City. I was tired of basketball, but I thought a trip to New York sounded fun.

So, I bought some gear at a sporting goods store that had no people inside, not even employees (I paid for everything at a paying machine). I purchased a red jersey and some new basketball sneakers.

I then biked over to a dome-shaped gymnasium and joined the team for a summer practice. In the dream I had already quit the team, but they let me back on without asking any questions.

After practicing some plays, we did some suicides (there wasn't even a coach there; we were that disciplined).

Then I awoke.

Dream #229 (June 2, 2010)

Well, I don't remember much.

All I can recall is Amber Kreider commenting on somebody's post on my Facebook wall. It was a female (I don't know if she exists), and Amber wrote, "Oh, a girl is writing on Joe's Facebook!!!"

That is all I know.

Dream #228 (June 1, 2010)

June has come.

The first part of my dream took place in a small city in the middle of the night. There were very few people out and about, but I was nonetheless shopping at a Lowe's. This was not a typical shopping experience, however, for there was a massive hole blown into the side of the building. It had actually been put there by an explosion that occurred in the building next door, but it sure left its mark. I remember looking for large tires in the section that had been blown up.

Then I switched over to a different dream. I was an entertainer at a young kid's birthday party. It was all going down at David and Carrie Badertscher's house (not their house in real life, but the house my subconscious gave them). It looked like the house of one of my little brother's childhood friends (Blake Sloan), but it was in the middle of a bright green woods.

Anyway, Lucy Kreider and Stella Badertscher were there (a couple of cool babies I know), and they had all kinds of friends and balloons with them. After clowning around, juggling a bunch of pies, and singing songs atop a picnic table, I went into a small garage and built Stella a bicycle from scratch (with instructions, of coarse). When I finally had the bike all put together (this took a long time, and all the kids watched me for some reason), I realized that one tire was where it should be, but the other tire was above the handle bars.

Then I awoke.

Dream #227 (May 31, 2010)

I don't remember much from this.

I know that I was leaving from my house that reminded me of a movie I once saw as a kid (though I can't quite recall which one), and I was riding in a Jeep with Kyle and Kody Heffelfinger and my little brother.

That is all I can recall.

Dream #226 (May 30, 2010)

Interesting.

I dreamt that Kevin Chupp (a good friend of mine), a middle-aged balding guy, Wolverine (from X-Men), and I were on a special team that was ransacking Koontz Lake Missionary Church in search for a missing young woman. We were hired by a wealthy retired man to find this missing person, who was his granddaughter.

We first searched through the kitchen, then through the fellowship hall. Next we went into the basement, throwing everything in sight, most of the time for no real reason.

We found no leads at the church, so we fled the scene by foot and ran into a nearby city (fictional) and began ransacking a seemingly random apartment building. As we did this, we heard some commotion coming from the building next to us. We ran next door, just as a small explosion went off inside. When we went through the front door, we could see nothing but smoke. We finally found a clear room where we could see the young woman and a few young men, none of them bound.

Then I switched over to a different dream. In this dream I was running a daycare inside the same apartment building I had ransacked in the dream before. There were tons of infants on the carpeted floor playing a game I had invented. They all had to crawl through a maze that I had created with masking tape. These babies, though they looked very young, could all talk with the vocabulary of a high schooler. It was quite interesting, especially when one young baby boy began asking me about Christianity and salvation. I explained to him who Christ was and what he did. He told me he wanted to consider Christianity, but he wanted to be left alone for a while.

Then I awoke.