Dream last night. I was in the kitchen of my childhood home. There were so many dirty dishes stacked everywhere that no counter top could be seen and I noticed that the dishes themselves were very beautiful, like gold cups and plates and very nice china. The mess was terrible like a huge party had taken place the night before and everything was simply stacked about in this kitchen. I was feeling quite overwhelmed as I began to clean. As the process began I was giving instructions to the kids that were milling about the kitchen. There were many. My children were there but they were very young. My younger brother Kenny’s children were all there too. I kept trying to clean and keep them safe at the same time. Kenny’s kids got bored of me doing this and walked out of the house through the back door. I wiped my hands and dashed out the back door to find them. They were too young to leave with no supervision. I caught up to them at their house which is just three houses down the street and a crossed one street. As I ran a crossed that street I thought, now my kids are alone at the house and how am I supposed to take care of all these children with no help and clean this kitchen at the same time? As I ran up the front walk of Kenny’s house I notice a number of kids that I didn’t know playing something very dangerous on a loose swing set in the front yard. “This swing set is not stable!” I yelled and the kids on it all fell backward. Each hurt their head and some their arms and two were crying. Somehow Sophie had gotten down here onto that swing set. I ran up into the house to be sure that Kenny’s kids were okay and saw that they were sitting on the couch looking very bored. So I ran back to my house and found Elias, who looked to be two years old, holding some kind of high tech ice cube. This thing was used to put into drinks and it would freeze up the liquid into an instant slush. It had frozen his pinky and he was slipping the cube into his mouth. He had picked it up from a glass in the dirty dishes. I got down by him and was trying not to panic, “Elias spit the cube out.” But he didn’t know how. So I made the motion with my mouth like it was so fun to do and he mimicked me and it popped out. I grabbed it, looked at it and thought; ‘these do not exist yet’ and at that moment I knew I was in a dream from the Lord. I went back into the kitchen and started cleaning again when my eldest brother Ron came in. He was scurrying around looking for something. “What are you looking for?” He laughed and said, “The good scotch”. Just then he found a really golden bottle that I assumed was it. He dashed out carrying the bottle. As he left I asked, “Where is everyone?” He did not answer. A few seconds later my brother in law Mike entered. He was drunk and smiling. They must all still be at the party I thought. He asked me if I knew where the good alcohol was and I thought ‘why are they drinking the good alcohol in the morning and why won’t they help me even a little.’ When I thought this Mike turned and said, “If I begin to help just for a second you will expect me to help until you are finished.” And he left. Then my youngest sister Annie came in. She also was looking about. “Help me!” I said to her and she rolled her eyes and walked out. I became angry and called for Sophie who I knew had been hurt on the swing set and also for Elias. I yelled at them and said mean things and told them to help me but they just did not know how. I shook my head and walked out to the backyard. There I found a large structure. It was very strange. Low to the ground and wide, made out of some sort of high tech material that was a light bluish white. It sprawled over the entire yard. I ducked down and went inside. Inside were large covered tanks of water. In these tanks I saw a young teenage girl climb out and she was wet and had been under water for quite some time. I was amazed and horrified. “What are you doing?” I yelled and tore off the top of the next tank. Inside was another small teenager and I pulled this kid out of the water. This kid was nearly drowned. The man working there said, “We are testing.” “Testing what?” I demanded. “Too see how much they can take before they are really in danger. We are creating a number of high end tests to build stamina and see what these young ones can endure on their own”. I was a bit confused but as he spoke I realized he was testing to find ways to leave the children alone, and yet make sure they could either endure what could happen to them, or learn how to deal with it through as little attention from adults as possible. “For Pete’s sake!” I yelled as I destroyed the remaining structures, thinking how very expensive they were to create, “just sit with them! Teach them. They will be safe doing what we have always done!” And I took the three kids back to the kitchen with me. I began to cry as I walked them up the steps and thought, ‘what is happening? Everyone wants to be at the party and no one wants to tend to the children and here they all are…’ and then I woke up. I was so deeply disturbed and angry that I had to take a few minutes to get my composure. Then I thought about the ice cube. It was a really amazing little thing. It was black with tiny holes all over one side and it had a gold band and small writing on one side. It was made with high quality parts. It also had a little switch that you pushed to turn it on, then you drop it into your drink and bam, your drink is frozen; not solid, but just to the place where you stir and have a slushy. I could feel that aftermath kind of sick feeling where I know God is waiting for me to ask, so I did. He told me that my family in the dream was the Family of God. My sisters and brothers were the mature Christians and the kids were the new babes in the Lord. The difficult work not being done was the everyday mechanics of Christian life that need to be done in order to function properly, (my examples here for the impression I got but not given as a list by the Lord) prayer and fasting, learning the Bible, discipling, hands on work like cleaning the church building, setting up chairs and so on. The party was symbolic of all the fun benefits of Church life, the fellowship, the worship, hearing from God, and so on. He was showing me that almost every mature believer was very given to the benefits of the Body and was engaged to the point of being excessive. And yet they were grossly neglecting their children; the new believers. They had put a large amount of money into the testing tanks which represented the new programs that are developed to minister to new believer’s void of personal one on one interaction with mature believers. They were willing to give money but not their time and attentions. I found it very interesting that the mature believers represented by my siblings had to come into that dirty kitchen to get the alcohol. I believe that alcohol represented the Holy Spirit, the new wine. The unstable swing set represented the efforts of the Babes to create a structure on which they also could find joy but they were not mature enough to build it and when it fell it hurt them all. This is like the new upshot ministries the immature believers create because they see such an enormous need. But no one was taking the time to instruct them or better yet build it for them. I don’t know why God keeps showing me the Church in these ways. It is my tendency to see the glass half full and enjoy whatever we can but God keeps wanting me/us to take a mature and serious look at where we really are. What are we actually doing with our time? Are we living the full Christian life where we are doing the tedious work, tending to the children, and fellowshipping in joy; all of it so as to be healthy and multiply? Well, no we are not. Take a look at the numbers. The Church is declining all over the country. And here God is asking me to warn you. Stop. Take stock. Grow up. Be responsible. Work hard. Live well. And for the Love of God tend to His children.