He's not an imaginary friend; He is real!

“Fear of the Lord leads to friendship, which leads to favor,” my Pastor once said. Certainly at three years-old, I didn't know this and wasn’t mature enough to grasp this concept. But in its simplest forms, I have been well aware and in AWE of God’s presence in my life from one continuous vision that comes to me during deep moments of prayer. In the first childhood dream, a man walked with me holding my left hand. He was clothed in dazzling white so bright I couldn't see much of him or know where we were. There was a cross ahead of us and He was leading me there. I woke with nothing but a assuring sense this man is my best friend. Throughout grade school, I didn't connect this man with the name of Jesus who I learned about at church, but somewhere, my soul must have sensed it. When I was 12, I was introduced to Jesus as Savior. I was attending a Protestant summer camp with my earthly best friend and her church was teaching us what Jesus can mean to us personally. The Bible was so powerful and intriguing I accepted Christ was who He said he was; the Savior. As life goes on, the story continues with more and more revelation of what the dream means. Eventually I'd understand where I the road I went wrong, why parts of it were scary and how to get there in meditation to learn more. I've learned to lean on the Spirit's guiding to seeing this road and evaluating my life on it. The first time I was assured this was all God's leading was when my dream became a real, live scene played on an altar during one Easter week. I was 19. A giant wooden cross stood in the center and the priest walked out clothed in dazzling white. I fell to my knees. Tears flooded my face. I returned to my best friend who I ignored in rebellous teen years at times. Countless times God would bring me back on this road in the last two decades showing me more and more evidence like this real experience. For me, spiritual life is deeply impacted by a childhood dream then practiced with a real world relationship. We saw things most kids never do. We had spiritual occurrences most people would classify me mentally insane if I told them. But they were real! And Jesus knew what would happen so He prepared me in advance to know Jesus would be my best friend to the end. These moments with Jesus give me hope, an everlasting eternal assurance of the One who holds my left hand and leads me to Heaven. This is what allows me to persevere in faith, to stay in a state of AWE, and to never let go of my friendship with the Lord .