Originally posted 4/1/2014:

On Monday I finally got around to writing a blog post about the second dream that I had on the 18th. I was expectant after posting it and looking forward to whenever my third dream would come, however, I wasn’t really anticipating my third dream to come that same night. I guess God has something he was anxious to say.
I was in the middle of a room with wood floors and high ceilings that came to a point which were also covered in wood. I was with two young girls and all of a sudden there was a noticeable change in the mood. The girls looked panicky and unsettled. If I had to guess I would say one was 11 and the other was 9. I knew instinctively that the change in mood was because “they were coming”. Both girls were wearing hoodies with the sleeves pushed up and I told them to pull down their sleeves and cover their heads with the hoods. They got down on their knees on the floor on either side of me. They bent forward so their heads were on top of their knees and I heard the buzzing coming. I covered their shoulders with my arms and put my chest on top of their backs. I had no hood but I think I had long sleeves on. There were tons of bees and I remember how loud the buzzing was. I could feel their bodies bumping into my head and crawling around in my hair. My hair became ratty and frizzy with the speed of their wings and heavy with the amount of bees that started to get stuck in my hair. I felt a few more fuzzy bodies bumping into the nape of my neck and still had that phantom feeling when I woke up.

When was thinking about it today I wasn’t entirely sure what I thought about it and to be honest I still don’t know as I am writing this. Why were there young girls with me this time? The first time I was stung and escaped with another young woman and was more worried about her getting medicine over me. The second dream I was with a young man, a young woman, and briefly saw an older woman because it was her house. The young woman with me found nothing and seemed to just be there. But in this third dream there were two young girls alongside me. The common theme if looking at 2/3 dreams is the presence of bees. But in this last dream no one was stung. Instead they seemed to be trying to get to get to me directly, they were drawn to my head, and they all ended up stuck to my hair.

In “Dry Bones” I posted that “I feel certain that if God is trying to tell me something I can expect a third dream. Biblically if something happens three times it points to greater fulfillment yet to unfold. It’s exciting to think my next dream could have to do with my future and provide clarity.” Although I find myself confused by my dream this time I’m choosing to believe that God heard me, saw what I was writing on Monday, knew in advance that I would write this, and chose to give me another dream that same night. Even though I do not fully understand what it all means I am going to try to unpack whatever I can about it now.

I tried to first think about a timeline for when these dreams came:
– February 24th First Dream, Last Monday of the month = Bees
– March 18th Second Dream = Baby
– March 31st/ Technically April 1st (morning) Third Dream, Last Monday of the month = Bees

Observations:
– The Bee dreams were both right before the end of the month
– The Baby dream was completely different and seemingly out of the blue in the middle of the month
– All dreams involved at least one other person
– There was always another young woman/girl with me
– The Bee dreams took place in the same lush green locations
– There were 21 days between my 1st Bee Dream and my Baby Dream and then 14 days (one week shorter) until the 2nd Bee Dream
– I woke up feeling kind of scared or sick after my first two dreams but fine after my third dream except for the phantom feeling of bees in my hair when I woke up
– In the first dream the last thing I saw before I woke up was a close up of my shin because I pulled up my pant leg and that’s when I saw the last bee sting me
– In the second dream the last thing I saw before I woke up was a close up of my hand because I saw a body-likeness of myself in miniature dried up in my hand
– In the third dream the last thing I saw before I woke up was a close up of my hair because I saw all of these bees crawling around in it including the nape of my neck
– Other than the young man who found the quilt in the house there were always women in my dreams

Symbols: http://www.unlockingyourdreams.org/index.php/dream-dictionary/bodyparts/
Hand – relationship; healing
Hair – wisdom & anointing
Shin/Calf – TBD (I couldn’t find anything)

When looking at all of that now side by side, this is what I can generally come up with. In my first dream I saw the bees/attacks and I ran, taking another young woman with me while most of the crowd had stayed behind. They appeared to have taken the majority of the beating because they did not flee from it with us and perhaps were too close to where the bees landed. We ended up in a town and headed directly to a general store. I made sure the girl with me got taken care of first and make sure she was the priority. I got my wounds treated but when I had looked over my swelling/recovery I had noticed another bee landed on me and was poised for attack. In one sentence I can say this dream could definitely be related to my past. I have helped others run and heal from their past–I’ve empathized with tons of girls about their past wounds, relationships, etc and even though my wounds have been “treated” and have only left scars, there is always going to be another bee. In other words, there will always be another trigger thrown in to aggravate your recovery.

Now with my second dream I was in a helicopter. In a way instead of running away like the first time and escaping from the source of the attacks I had learned to fly above ground. This time there was transportation. Everything below me was lush and green and beautiful. When I had landed we ended up in a town that was old. I don’t think it was a mistake now that the house belonged to an old lady. The unidentifiable fetus/little miniature of me was dry and old, the quilt the young man found was hidden/buried in the floorboards and old. In one sentence I can say this dream is my present. There are moments where I am flying above everything taking place on the ground, moments where I see new growth, everything looks healthy and green, and then I find something in me that hasn’t been fully restored. Something that was trying to grow but has died, dreams maybe, hopes maybe. Perhaps the young man finding the quilt was not for comparison to my dead thing but a physical example to symbolize the stitching together of the “green parts” with the “brown dead parts”. It could have been to show me that both parts would eventually become one.

As I was typing this I just got a word..”wineskins”. And I looked up the verse again in Mark 2:22: The Patches and Wineskins 21“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. 22“No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.” Not only is this verse great because I forgot the part about patchwork and that matches perfectly with the part in my dream with the quilt but it talks about the new and the old. God would not pour something brand new into me, the old brittle flakey dried up me because I would burst at the seams trying to contain it. Instead He is making me new (“It’s a baby!”) and it’ll take time to fully form to be able to hold what he wants to pour into me.

Finally with the last dream I am in an attic perhaps. An attic maybe because the ceilings come to a point and I am protecting two young girls who are with me from being attacked. No one gets stung in this dream, instead when bees come they all end up stuck my wild hair. Random thought but did you know that most bees are female? Pretty cool considering all the women in my dreams, right? I was actually looking around on Google today and stumbled upon Beekeeping–Wikipedia said this “A beekeeper (or apiarist) keeps bees in order to collect their honey and other products that the hive produces”. As simple as that sounded it blew my mind. When I was in these dreams I responded like I was being hunted by these bees. But my perception could be all wrong. What if there was a reason these bees were swarming to me? What if they aren’t really all that scary? But my reaction to them made them sting me out of fear? Maybe God is calling me to be a beekeeper; to see what is threatening on the outside but will produce honey–have a sweet outcome in the end? And how much cooler is that to think about if bees really are mostly females? Are the ones who are the worker bees? What if something in my future has to do with helping lead other women? Maybe my dreams of working with victims of sex trafficking, maybe being a mentor, maybe just encouraging other women with my life experiences, are what God is trying to reveal to me while I sleep.
But again what’s the deal with the swarming and stinging?

On buzzaboutbees.net it explains “The reason a bee swarm looks like a clump of bees, is because all of the workers are gathered around the queen, hence forming a clump. But note, the queen is not the strongest of flyers, and so inevitably it will need to rest at some point – perhaps on a branch, post or fence. Meanwhile, ‘Scout bees’ will be sent out to look for a suitable new place for the colony to live.” So the bees are in a sense…lost. They are looking for places to live. They are looking for a new nest. And guess what? My hair seems to be a good place for them to land! Maybe I am being anointed in the sense of this is what my future position is. To be a home for these buzzing “bees”. Maybe this is a reference to my “calling” in life. The bees aren’t threatened by me this time and I am not scared of them–instead they are buzzing around in my hair. Haha does that make me the Queen Bee? 🙂 I suppose now I was flying in the helicopter because I very literally wouldn’t be the “strongest of flyers”!! I don’t have wings. On a serious note though that’s kind of an awesome picture. I certainly hope to be able to help bring out the “honey” in people, to encourage them in their giftings, to help them see themselves in a better light, and to give them a sense of safety.

Jesus thank you for my dream. I do not know the details of what my future hold but you gave me a glimpse of something good–something very tangibly sweet. I know you are the ultimate Beekeeper, keeping your colony in order and making sure that only the finest honey is produced from our lives. Help me to see beyond the stings that happen in life so I can see the final product and not be afraid. It’s in your name I pray. Amen.

BONUS–Some awesome quotes:

“Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don’t they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.”
― Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine

“Honeybees depend not only on physical contact with the colony, but also require it’s social companionship and support. Isolate a honeybee from her sisters and she will soon die.”
― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

“Women made the best beekeepers ’cause they have a special ability built into them to love creatures that sting.”
― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees