Three Trains

    I heard her whisper to him, "I had a dream about you last night."

    [beginning of dream]

    You and I were riding on a train trying to get home. Apparently this was your commute time. You wanted  to figure out how to avoid the long drive and gas expense from using the car.  

    So one day you and I and some of our kids (not sure which ones) rode home from your work together on a train as a trial run.  The train we were on was not a direct line so we had to switch trains twice.  

    The third train is what took us home.  [Here she paused for a long time, and then she resumed with the dream, still whispering.]

    Yes, it was the third train that took us home.
 
    I remember that the dream was pleasant.  You and I were resting against one another at one point, and at that moment I felt safe and peaceful amidst the hums and clanking, the bumps, jerks, and sways of the train ride.  

    There was the one point, however, when the first train stopped abruptly, and we both realized that it was not a direct line home.  For a second, I felt anxious and concluded that the train might not be the answer or perhaps wasn't a good idea after all.  
  
     But then an otherwise serene, matter-of-fact gentleman inside the train who was wearing a uniform and hat (perhaps the baggage guy or porter) told us that we could transfer to other trains that were going in that same direction.  He never looked at us when he spoke, but focused instead on fitting what looked like an oversized satchel into an overhead compartment.

    I do remember thinking in the dream that it would actually take longer to get home this way than it would have by riding in a single train or in your own car, but somehow we decided this would work.  I felt like I would miss you while you were taking longer to get home by transferring from train to train to train, but no matter:  You would make it home. 

[end of dream]
  
 

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"I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, 
  In lovingkindness and in compassion,
  And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will know the LORD..."
Hosea 2:19-20