Prepared

Last night I had a "bad dream." 

I have been asked to be the ladies speaker at our upcoming Preaching in the Mountains Family Camp. So I have been trying to come up with 4 lessons. I have decided on two so far.

Along with that, our home church is the hosting church although several congregations assist with the food and setup. 

There is a lot of planning, cleaning, organizing, gathering, arranging, hoping and praying that goes on before it even takes place.

So, I guess that is what prompted my dream. 

In my dream my normal teaching area was changed at the last moment so the ladies were directed to a different area. When I got there, some women were singing while an old friend (who has passed away but was alive in my dream) played the piano. 

Some other ladies were carrying trays of ham slices and offering taste tests for them. 

I got up to teach and realized that I had grabbed my tax folder instead of my lesson folder so I had no notes or anything except my memory to go from. I began to get a little nervous.

Once I got started the ladies that were singing got up and left as if they would rather have kept singing. I was told that they were singing during service this evening and needed to practice.

Shortly after the ladies with the ham trays left as well with a few others. I was told that they were the ones preparing supper this night  and that they thought their ham tasted funny and now they had to redo supper.

After roughly trying to teach a lesson that I didn't have with me, I admitted to the 4 or 5 women that were left there that I had brought the wrong folder so I wasn't prepared. 

We all had a hardy chuckle over all of this then we settled in to pray for God to take charge and be glorified by the Camp Meeting.

Then we talked about preparation and the parables of the ten virgins.

I guess the point is, we need to be ready. We need to plan ahead and do what is necessary to make sure that when our bridegroom comes everything is proper and ready.

Are you ready?

"Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him. ' Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the prudent answered, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, lord, open up for us.' But he answered, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.' Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13 NASB)