Aug 18, 2004

Dear Brieanna,

I just finished watching "Run Away Jury", which was very entertaining. It's about midnight here, and everyone is sleeping but me. I'm a bit of a night owl. I have a hard time falling asleep, and hard time waking up. Melanie is just the opposite. It took some getting used to when she would wake up at 6 am in the morning for no apparent reason. Melanie teaches early morning piano and so nearly every morning starting about 6:30 am we have piano music playing in our home. For the most part I can sleep through it. Melanie also falls asleep early, she falls asleep in nearly all of the movies we watch. She gets about half way through. She missed the ending tonight as well.

Asher an Seth started the new school year this week. Seth started 1st grade and so he is in school all day, so we only have little Noelle at home with us. In two years she will be in school as well. We are considering having another baby, but we'll see. Melanie is getting older, and the probability of pregnancy goes down with age. She had a dream of a baby boy named "Joseph", a few months ago. So if we have a boy, I guess the name is already picked out.

Melanie has a spiritual gift for dreams. When she has a special dream, it is prophetic. She tells me that she dreamed of me, when she was younger, before we met. I've never had prophetic dreams, so I don't understand them, or know how they feel. I think some of the dreams I've had are spiritual, but they don't reveal the future, they just reveal me to myself. My dreams, are typically about engineering problems. I solved a complex electronics problem the other night as I was sleeping. The rest of the time my dreams are just nonsensical. I find it interesting that my own behavior in my dreams is consistent with the way I would normally act and respond, regardless of how outrageous the situation. I just accept the situation in the dream, and try to make the best of it. I have a reoccurring dream of alienation, and loneliness, where I'm surrounded by people but don't know anyone, and am searching for a friend. I know that this reveals a lot about me. My dreams are rarely, ever scary, or violent. They are typically, calm and peaceful, with the exception of the dreams where I feel alone. I have only on a few occasion dreamed of you, during these years. The dreams are not usually pleasant ones. They consist of me seeing you, but you not really wanting to see me, because you are in the shadow and control of your mother. I don't feel like dreams are my spiritual gift. I feel that I am directly prompted by the spirit from time to time, and am given sudden flashes of intelligence, and insight into the future. I would like to have the gift of prophetic dreams, because there are things I would like to actually see. I would like to see the second coming of Christ, when he comes in the clouds dressed in red robes. I would like to see the resurrection day, as well as many other events that are coming. The problem that I have with dreams, is that it seems like it would be hard to tell if a dream was prophetic, or just a dream. I suppose, that there must be some sort of feeling that accompanies a spiritual dream. Just as I know personally that my flashes of insight are spiritual, rather than mania or excitement, I suppose dreamers can tell the difference as well. My mother is a dreamer, and spiritually sensitive. As I recall, she was awaken the night my great grandmother died, and knew that she had passed away. She also has told me that she had a dream that let her know that the Baptist church was not for her, even though that's how she had been raised. This eventually lead her to the church of Jesus Christ. Asher is spiritual as well. He has dreamed of Christ, just as a little 3 or 4 year old boy. This is my greatest aspiration. I hope that someday I will be granted a vision of Him.

Well, it's almost 1am in the morning. I better try to get some sleep. I love you. I hope I have dreams of you tonight, and that they are pleasant. I hope that you have dreams of us as well.

Love,

Dad.