Journal - Sunday

Sunday was a pretty good day. We went to church as usual and had kind of a special treat. We had a minister from the African Congo visiting. Our church is very active in the Congo, sending money to support missionary efforts over there, and also sending people from our own church to volunteer. Anyway, that minister, who’s name I cannot pronounce, gave us a short sermon in his native language while his interpreter translated for us. It was interesting, and it really drove home the fact that people are really the same all over the world. His sermon was no different than what you might hear in your own church.

After church, we came home for a quick lunch of bacon and French toast, one of our favorites, and then it was off to the new school in Gibbon for a play. Bobbi’s stepson Elliott had one of the leading roles in “Oklahoma", and he really did a great job. That was my second play as a blind man and sometimes it's hard to follow the story, but I enjoy the music. The new school has a nice little auditorium, which we never had at the old school. We always had to use the cafegymatorium for everything.

It was about 4:30 when we got home. It was a really beautiful day. I’m not sure what the temperature was but it was the first time I really enjoyed going outside since last fall. When we got home I actually opened up a couple of windows in the house and the air and sunshine coming in felt wonderful. We grabbed a bite to eat, then I took my shower and started waiting for the game to come on.

It was the big game between Nebraska and Kentucky in the sweet sixteen round of the playoffs. It was the last basketball game of the day and wasn’t schedule to start until 8:30, but the previous game between Oklahoma and Notre Dame went into overtime, so Nebraska started late. It was a little after nine when it finally tipped off.

Well, it was another exciting game. I have to admit, I didn’t really think theLady Huskers would have too much trouble with Kentucky, but Kentucky really came out fighting. The score was pretty much even through the first half, but then Kentucky rallied and finished the half with a ten point lead.

The second half was all downhill, with Kentucky pretty much controlling the game. They extended their lead to nineteen points an the Huskers just couldn't seem to do anything. I began to lose hope. With just a few minutes left in the game, with nothing to lose, Nebraska began to fight. Kentucky's nineteen point lead dwindled down to seven. But the rally came too late. The final score was Kentucky 76 and Nebraska 67. I never really got the impression that Kentucky was the better team, itt just wasn’t Nebraska's night. All of Kentucky's shots seemed to fall in, and all of Nebraska's seemed to fall out.

And so, the magical season ends. It’s a bitter disappointment after coming so close, but I'm really proud of our basketball team, as I'm sure all Nebraskans are. Good luck next year!

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Dream Diary - Seeing Again

Hi there folks. Boy, I’m posting like crazy this week aren’t I? It’s Thursday night, kinda late. I had actually gone to bed, but I was just laying there thinking about something and I had the feeling that I wouldn’t get any sleep until I wrote this down.

You see, I had the dream again last night. Wednesday night I mean. That dream. The one where I can see. Let me see if I can explain this…

I have never had a dream where I was blind. Not a single one. But occasionally I have dreams where I can see again. Does that make any sense? I’m talking about dreams in which I suddenly realize that I am not blind. I have had three or four of these in the last year.

The one I had last night was particularly strong. I was just going about my dreamy business as usual and suddenly I realized that I was not blind. I started looking around at everything in amazement. I wish I had written this down right away because I can’t really remember now exactly what I was looking at. I can’t exactly remember if I was in a familiar place or not, although I think I was not. I became so overjoyed at getting my sight back, that I began to cry, and I remember thinking “I have to stop crying so I don’t damage my eyes again.”

When I woke from the dream it was still night-time. I still have a little bit of light perception in my right eye so I can tell if there’s a light on in the room, or if the sun is shining in through the window. It was dark when I woke. I looked to my right where the night stand is. I have one of those clocks with the red digital numbers on it. I just had to look to make sure, you know. Nothing. That was not a happy moment.

Like I said, I’ve had dreams like this three or four times now; never exactly the same but similar. Waking from these is heart-breaking. And this one was so strong. Even though most of the details have faded, the power of the dream remains, even 24 hours later.

Anyway, I just wanted to get this in my blog before it slips my mind completely. Someday, when I get my sight back, it will be interesting to read back over these and see what was going through my mind during this time of my life. To my future self I would like to say this: “Check it out man, dream come true.