When Debbie turned 12, it meant she was finally after a few years of anticipation, old enough to go to our church’s Youth Camp (back then, 12 was the minimum age). Kids from all over the State of Georgia looked forward to this week-long event full of swimming, playing ball, art, Bible class and evening service.
Friday, the last night of Camp, families were invited to see things campers had made, hear about their adventures, and attend that evening’s service.
After service that night, somehow (ahem!) it came about that I was allowed to spend the last night in the cabin with Debbie.
Janice McClure, the leader of this group of girls, was surprised when her husband arrived and insisted she come home. That meant all us girls got our things and went to another cabin for the rest of the night.
Now, I had never slept on the top of a bunk bed, and I wanted to at least once before I died. It worked out that I could. 😁 (Give me a break! I was 7…)
One more thing happened that escapes my memory at this moment, but keep it in mind that there were three things. Janice went home, I wanted to sleep on the top bunk, and whatever the third thing was.
We all had a ball!
The next morning, Mother showed up to collect her girls. On the way home after Debbie and I had finished telling her all of our exciting stuff, Mother said, “I had the strangest dream last night! I dreamed that James came and got Janice to go home early and y’all had to go to another cabin. Then I dreamed that Beverly didn’t want to sleep on the bottom bunk and I was reaching out to get her out of the bottom bunk and put her on top. Then, I dreamed {whatever the third thing was I couldn’t remember}.”
Debbie and I started squealing to confirm that everything she dreamed is exactly what happened.
In those days, James and Janice lived in Villa Rica. We lived in New Georgia (a Dallas community about 6 miles away). Phone calls from Dallas to Villa Rica were charged long distance on your phone bill so most people avoided those calls unless it was for emergencies or if money didn’t matter to your family. Janice had not called Mother about what had happened.
We knew that God had given Mother that dream and to this day think of it as a God wink.
And it’s no surprise that that wasn’t the first time or the last time that similar things happened. Mother just always knew things!
