Dreams Do Come True

I can't believe I'm going to go "there," but I decided, what the heck. The blog's called TMI, so you have to know I'm going to go "there" on occasion. Going "there" just means I'm going somewhere uncomfortable and possibly inappropriate.

Today's "there" is: an ex-boyfriend.

I know. Gag. Who cares? Well, when his face headlines the local news, as his did last night, it gets you thinking. And because the outcome of that relationship was such a pivotal time in my life, when I got thinking about it, I thought a LOT. And when I think, I blog. It's just what I do. So here we are.

Bear with me as I share this story. There is joy, there are castles, there is darkness, there are angels, there is heartbreak, there is blood, there are police officers.... but I promise I will get to the point, so be patient.

So let's start the story 'back in the day.'

Picture it. 2002. I was "in between boyfriends" as I liked to call it. A long-term relationship had just ended, leaving me pretty sad and lonely. Never one to give up on my dreams, though, I trudged through the pain and tried to keep myself open to a future with someone else. Then one day at a church function for singles, a dark, tall, dapper man came up to me. He was rather charming and quite persistent.



An attorney, a man of God who went to church, had served a mission, loved his family, had delightful friends, and he seemed to truly adore me. He was sweet, thoughtful, fun. He made me very happy and I actually glowed....



He had a boat and a vacation home in Vegas. We were always going on little getaways with friends and family. We took Bible classes together (cheesy, yet true). We stayed up laughing and talking. We golfed, played tennis, rode bikes..... we were kind of like the Double Mint Twins.



There were no red flags.....

Except one. My ex-boyfriend, the one at the beginning of this story who had just dashed my heart, yeah him, he had a problem with the relationship. It turned out that my ex-boyfriend had been roommates in college with the new boyfriend, and they didn't get along. Ex-boyfriend went on and on about what a scumbag new boyfriend was and how he just wasn't the one for me.

Um, obviously that red flag didn't hold much merit.

And so the relationship continued to progress with new boyfriend. I flew to Texas to meet his family. He spent time with my family. We were almost never apart. After awhile, we talked about getting married and even picked out a home where we would live when we were married. It was a nice home, don't get me wrong, but I built it up in my mind to be larger than life, kind of like this:


Then one night after a romantic date, we just popped in to a fancy jeweler and picked out a few rings. They were lovely rings if I remember correctly, but at the time, in my mind, they looked a lot like this:



That night after picking out my lovely ring, I just felt so elated and peaceful about my future. I had already made my decision, but decided to run it by my Heavenly Father. I said a prayer explaining the decision I had made and asking for direction and guidance as I went forward with this decision. Expecting full approval from the powers that be, I snuggled up in my bed filled with as much joy and happiness as I had yet experienced.

After that prayer, I went to sleep, and I dreamed. In my dream, I flashed forward to my life as a wife to this man. We lived in the Cinderella castle, I had the giant ring, I was bouncing a baby on my hip, and I got a phone call. It was my husband's partner asking me to come pick him up from the office because he was drunk again. I packed up my child, picked up my drunk husband, and brought him home. I sat in our bedroom and watched him wake up with a hangover. I asked if he had ever cheated on me and he said that he had.

When I woke up from this dream, there was a dark -- BLACK -- feeling surrounded me. I wrestled with the darkness, until I realized that the dream was an answer to my prayer. As soon as I accepted that and knew that I had to immediately put an end to the relationship, the dark feeling was replaced with warmth and love and light.

It didn't seem logical. Surely he didn't drink and philander. Of course he wouldn't go against his religion and deceive me like that. He was perfect. But the spiritual feelings I had surpassed all logic. And so I went to this person, who had never said an unkind thing to me, handed him a few of his belongings, said that I could no longer have a relationship with him. He didn't ask for an explanation. We just said goodbye. And that was that.

There were a few times in the days and weeks that followed that I second-guessed myself. I thought I just might be going crazy.... having visions, losing my mind, pushing away love and happiness out of some sort of deep self-loathing. Then I would remember how real the dream and feelings that followed were, and I would be okay.

A month after the break-up, my phone rang at 3 am. It was him. Drunk. He had just been in an accident and was bleeding. My best friend who was my roommate at the time is a nurse and he knew it. He wanted her help. Because she was/is a saint, she went with me to help him.

He opened the door. His eyes were different, he seemed hollow. Somehow I noticed his eyes first. But after I got over that, I realized that blood was gushing out of his head and he was seriously injured. He explained that he had been drinking and been in an accident.

It's called a DUI.

But he was an attorney, and a DUI wouldn't look good for him and his professional future, so he had left the scene of his accident so he wouldn't get in trouble. We helped clean him up a bit, then took him straight to the ER. I told him I wouldn't lie for him and I didn't. The truth came out, all of it. It wasn't until then that I told him about the dream. In his drunken state, he said that when I broke up with him, he thought it was because somehow I had found out that he had been cheating on me with his client.

WHAT!?!?! He was a drunken, cheating son of a gun. Thank heavens for that dream. Thank heavens for answers to prayers. Further discussion also brought up the fact that he was anti-Mormon, even though I met him at an LDS activity, attended church with him, went to LDS-doctrine classes with him. To this day, I don't understand that aspect of it. Anti-Mormon, yet wants to pretend to be a Mormon with a Mormon girl? Don't get it.

Anyway, after more drama with police thinking I had aided a criminal, and then having to testify in court about what happened that drunken night, the whole ugly thing was behind me. And I was glad.

It's been seven years now. Obviously after that incident, I took my prayers, dreams, and relationships quite a bit more seriously. Nothing was ever that dramatic again, until the peace I felt after deciding to marry Oby. But that's for another post. I've known ever since that time how aware the Lord is of all his children. It is comforting to be in such good hands, isn't it?

I hadn't thought of this situation for ages, until last night when I got a phone call. It was my mom telling me to turn on the news, that they were going to be doing a story about something that might interest me. And so I paused my DVR, anxiously awaiting what might be so interesting.....

Attorney faces judge for 5th time on his own DUI charges

100 pounds heavier, 5 DUI's later, he's now in jail. Sad.

There's more about the story here if you're interested.

I dodged a bullet there, wouldn't ya say?

Please don't misunderstand my story. I don't claim to be prophetic, but extremely humble and reminded of how much the Lord loves his children, protects them, helps them, directs them. Even though it was hard to see a person I once cared for making poor choices and letting his potential go to waste, it was a good reminder to me of the power of prayer. Never, ever underestimate the power of prayer and the love of the Lord.