An amazing dream… a taste of the future.

Ron reached out cautiously to his sleeping daughter Kacey, and wondered about her breathing. It seemed non-existent and he couldn’t see any movement. None. Feeling slightly alarmed, he shook her gently and then harder.

She awoke with a start!

“Thanks, daddy, for waking me up,” Kacey, said groggily. “I was having a bad dream. Well, not really a bad dream, but…” she hesitated.

Heart, Mind & Soul.

We all know of at least a few things that we have in common. For instance, a body, a mind and a spirit or soul or as the Bible says “…heart, mind and soul…” Of course we do.

What about a child like Jessica? What does she have, you might ask, or at least think? She is compromised. You know, ‘handicapped,’ so, isn’t she just an empty shell?

I will admit, that these questions are faced at some point, by every parent who finds themselves in our position. Especially in our sometimes prevalent ‘throw-away’ society.

We have all been exposed to those who say, “Don’t like that thing, just throw it away.”or“Are those older relatives a pain in the neck? Just, cast them off!” “Don’t want that unborn baby? Just throw its life away.” And, on and on.

So, you can imagine the ‘looks’ and the ‘comments’ that come our way. Comments like, “We could easily terminate this pregnancy,” or “You two deserve your time together, without this burden,” or “We could have her institutionalized. You know, so you could be free!”

Sometimes the odd looks we get, say it all.

More Than Meets the Eye.

People who don’t know her, look at Jessica. She is a rather petite little girl who cannot speak or sing, walk, run or jump or play. She can’t stand or feed herself or scratch her curly, black hair covered head but they can’t see her mind or her soul, and believe me, they are there. She is temporarily trapped in a tough physical condition, but, there is much more to her than meets the eye.

I sometimes watch Jessica as she is sleeping and I watch her dreaming. I know she is dreaming, because I can see her eyes moving under her eyelids, and some slight movements in her extremities. The expression on her face will change. Sometimes
a dimpled smile, once in a while she will actually wake up smiling happily, and looking very pleased. I marvel at this very sweet activity and I pause as I wonder…

‘Just exactly what… is she dreaming about?’

Kacey’s Dream.

Kacey went on, “I was somewhere above the room looking down, and then I noticed a bright light, and someone was walking towards me,” she said, shaking off the effects of her sleep medication,“…and then, I thought I recognized the person walking out of the light…” she paused again.

Renée and I look forward to the day when we will behold the completely restored Jessica. Sometimes we get a taste, just a taste, of what that will be like. A taste of the future. The dream that Kacey had that day is a part of that future promise.

Kacey took a deep breath and continued, “…and as I looked, and the person walking got closer, I could see that… that it was Jessica!” she blurted out. “She reached down and took my hand and said, ‘Kacey, Jesus loves you. You have cancer, but you are going to be all right!’ ”

Renée’s brother Ron’s daughter Kacey, had gone into the out patient surgery that day for what was supposed to be a one hour surgery to remove a cyst. Her operation lasted over 4 hours because the doctors had discovered an unidentified mass and had taken samples for a biopsy.

The test results were to come in a few days.

Ron, and his wife Joyce, had taken their little daughter home that day, to recover from the grueling procedure. Kacey had fallen into a deep sleep from which Ron had aroused her and then she had begun to share her amazing dream.

There was more.

“I will be Okay!”

Jessica had continued, “Tell my mom and dad that I love them, and that I will be okay!” and then Kacey was awakened and the dream had ended.

Yes, Kacey did turn out to have a very serious form of cancer with a very high mortality rate that was confirmed when her biopsy was completed a few days later.

And yes, she did survive, and survives to this day.

When Renée and I first heard about this dream, we were amazed, and it touched our hearts. Jessica had said she loved us, in a very dramatic way, and was apparently trying to send us some kind of a message. “I will be okay,” she had said to Kacey. “I will be okay.”

Well, of course she would. After all, weren’t we taking very careful care of her? However, at that point in time, we had no idea what was waiting around the bend for us.

We had missed her bigger point.

Jessica’s message wasn’t a confirmation of what we knew. It was a word of warning and encouragement concerning the future.

Four Little Words.

“I will be okay.” she had said, “I WILL be okay.” At the time, the significance of her statement went right over our heads.

But a day was fast approaching when those four little words would be the most precious words in our memory.

During that traumatic experience, yet in the future, we would cling tenaciously to Jessica’s promise to us, spoken to Kacey that day, many months earlier in her amazing dream!

Next Week: “Major Surgery… The confirmation of Love.”

I will continue to share the answers to the question “What happened to Jessica?” every Monday in the weeks ahead. When I have received sufficient feedback and questions, I will add a Thursday episode, as needed, to this blog, focused on answering your questions and comments.

Thanks for your interest.

Jim, Renée & Jessica