On the first day of December 2010 at 5:30am, I was woken by my two year old crying. As I made my way to his crib, words of the dream I had been having were echoing in my ears, “God is speaking to me—JOY(in a unison cheer).” I prayed during those few steps to Jude’s room, “God, are you talking to  me ?” I was pretty amazed at how clear this seemed to be. However, I had never heard from God in a dream. My manner of hearing God usually came in the form of scripture from His Word after a prayer for a specific answer and only in the last two years, since I actively pursued knowing Him more through His Word.

After getting Jude back to sleep, I went into the bathroom where I could turn on a light and write down my dream.  Remember, this was new to me, so it wasn’t like I had a warm spot to cuddle up and write a journal entry. I sat on the cold toilet lid with hands shaking, in only as much light as illuminated by my phone, recounting my dream.

In that dream, my friend Joslyn was saying, “God is speaking to me.” Then everyone in that cozy living room there looked at the little girl I am bouncing on my lap and proclaims with such enthusiasm, “Joy!!!”

I was excited but confused. Was that little girl my child? Without a doubt, there wass celebration and JOY. As much as I would have loved a daughter, I was a little freaked out but more excited that God was talking to me in such a clear manner, even if I couldn’t decipher the dream.

When I woke my husband up to tell him this dream, Tony could discount certain things. I did see a lady named Joy recently. And I was also recently talking about my first child’s birth, which I love to recount. But I couldn’t help but expect the best and most powerful outcome from this dream. As I pondered why God used Joslyn to deliver this message, I realized her name has the letters J-O-Y in it. Cooooooool. God is cool!! And he knows I love nerdy stuff like that!

As I drove to work that morning, I prayed and cried. I was still buzzing and emotional from my encounter with God. I told God that I didn’t want to ask Him for more signs; that I was just going to live in faith that He  was  speaking to me and that he would clarify it when necessary. But as I turned on my audio bible (the Message version) to where I had left off, I clung on every word, EXPECTING to hear more from Him. And boy did He deliver. Matthew 15 began and relayed the story of the woman who persistently asked Jesus to heal her sick daughter. He replies, “Oh woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get! Right then her daughter became well.”

Now at this time, I was still getting the message of a mother and daughter and that faith was the key. Later I would go back to this message and wonder if my daughter is my soul and that He was making my soul right. Either way-wow!! He loves me this much!!!! Wowowowowowow! Reader, friend–He loves you that much too!! Guarantee it!

That evening, I got an email from a new friend that I fellowship with. After I looked through the family pictures she forwarded to a large list of people (this is the first time I am on this list), I saw the bible verse she used as her signature. She had been studying our relationship to the bridegroom so the first part of her scripture is not surprising  at all. Here is what it said, “John 3:29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is  full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ” And yes, the bold is something Jeanne did, not me!! She didn’t know about my dream.  I knew God was continuing to talk to me.

I looked up this verse in The Message Bible I use, and again God clarified His message to me, personally using the very words I use in my prayers to Him (“Become the center of my life…center of my marriage…”). Here is what the Message version says of John 29. “That’s why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for Him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines. “

Wow. Was He saying that this Joy is mine? That I will give birth to a joyous spirit; He at my core, my soul, my belly, my heart, my love…? My cup is running over and I called my friends and family to fill them in even if I sounded a little crazy.

The New King James version of John 3:29 says, “Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase but I must decrease.” Yes, this is my prayer: “More of You, Less of Me.” This is exactly what I wanted and in 24 hours God was answering these prayers. “This is the assigned moment…”