"Spelling Books" Dream
Michelle White
June 25, 2023
Linda - I've been acquainted with Michelle a little more than 2 years now and during that time, I've discovered that she receives quite a bit of guidance from the Lord through her dreams and it's been a joy to see how the Lord is at work in her soul. Michelle currently resides not far from Philadelphia with her husband John, her beloved daughter Kate, a very active puppy and a few chickens! Though she is very busy with her home life and her apostolate, she agreed to write up this dream post for our website. It's a very informative message from the Lord, designed to grant her wisdom and insight as to what is in store for her in the coming years.
Michelle - I have been a very big dreamer for all of my life, so that I've had many dreams, some scary, some sublime. In my childhood they were mostly filled with horror like black dogs chasing to harm me, and when they did catch me they singed my legs. (I can remember these dreams from age 5 when I would wake up with severe cramps in my legs). The nightmares have finally gone and in place of them are some very meaningful, profitable dreams from the Lord. When I was newly married, I had a dream about my husband’s parents who were living in Oklahoma, thousands of miles away from us. We were very young, in our 20s, and had no fears or thoughts of our parents dying at an early age. One night I had a dream of one of them being in a coffin, traveling on an airplane, arriving in Philadelphia Airport. In real life, my husband’s mother died exactly one week later and she was only 52. It was a scary dream and I told my husband John all about it in the morning. He just “poo-pooed” it and said it was just another nightmare. But then it really happened. This was the first time that I recognized that God was speaking to me in my dreams, in a powerful way. At the time of the dream I wanted to let my sisters-in-law know about it, but I never told them and then I regretted it.
​
Professionally I am a teacher and have taught everything from pre-school to high school. So many of my dreams are centered around a classroom filled with children. I’ve had dreams where I was the teacher and also where I was the student. Some schools were very small and others very very large. In many of these past dreams I have been looking through all the cupboards of the classroom in search of spelling books and up until now I could not find any spelling books in the classroom. Finally, on March 6, the Lord gave me a dream where I found some spelling books in the classroom. I was elated that this finally happened in my dream and the meaning could be resolved. This is the dream I had:
SPELLING BOOKS
I am standing in the classroom teaching elementary school children. It was the first day and I found some spelling books but there was not enough to go around to all the students. To solve the problem I rearranged the desks from 6 rows to 3 rows (the desks pushed together) so that two children in a row could share one book.
Suddenly we were all floating down a narrow river. (20-30 feet wide) The water was flowing fast but we were able to float down enjoying the scenery. All of a sudden I saw ahead churning waves that were very high and not going the direction of the river but going at a 90 degree angle over the side of the banks of the river. The only way I can describe it is that the waves looked like water in a washing machine; the waves were maybe 6 feet high and seemed to be on steroids. I was afraid for all of us that we would drown. But then, mysteriously, miraculously, the water parted right down the middle with the waters held back into walls on each side and as tall as a 3 to 4 story building. We had a smooth and level stream of water about 3 feet high, going in the middle of these 2 walls of water. You can picture it as the Israelites crossing the Red Sea when Moses parted the river. This event happened two separate times and both times God saved us by parting the waves.
​
1. The focus of this night parable is very clearly me, the dreamer, since all the action takes place around me.
​
2. The Sub-Focuses and Details:
A) Classroom = A place for learning - it was young children; teaching a group of people indicates teaching them as a ministry.
This dream element could indicate a call to teach actual children or a call to teach adults who are still young in the Lord, since this is an "elementary" school. So the classroom would have to do with teaching people the basics of the faith.
B) Spelling books = Teaching the students words and "spelling it out" for them.
​
Details about the spelling books:
From 6 rows to 3 rows of 2:
The number 6 refers to human beings and a human interpretation of words.
The number 3 refers to the Trinity and God’s meaning of the words.
The number 2 is often the number of witnessing (spreading the Good News).
​
The spelling books and the details about them point to a call for me to teach my students God's truths and meanings of His words of scripture and spelling things out for them. This will in turn enable them to go out and proclaim the Gospel by spelling out accurately the truths of the Kingdom of God.
​
C) The narrow river = It is the River of life, the water of the Holy Spirit, the springs of living water.
​
Details about the river:
- The river is narrow so it refers to walking the narrow road in the Lord that leads to life.
- The floating was easy and relaxed. We were enjoying the ride.
​
This dream element points to our ability to move in the things of the Spirit and to "go with the flow". There is a promise of God's help as we encounter trials along the way.
​
D) Waves churning = This points to some kind of demonic activity that is coming against me and my students, just like the danger the apostles faced while they were in the boat during a storm and were afraid of sinking.
​
Details about the churning waves:
- 90º angle over the side of the banks of the river.
- The water parted right down the middle.
- The walls of water were as tall as a 3-4 story building.
- This happened 2 times.
​
Through these details about the churning waves and their miraculous parting, the Lord is letting us know that, just as in the story of Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea to safety, He will get us safely to the other side. But the Lord is also letting us know that there will be two times or two seasons in which we will be attacked, so He is promising us that with His help, we will overcome these 2 great storms (spiritual battle, maybe also physical battle in the chaos of the chastisements).
​
This is what I believe the Lord is telling me through this dream:
In essence, the Lord is encouraging me to step out in my ministry of teaching his people (the classroom) the basics (elementary school) of the “word” of God such as the truths of the Catholic faith, the sacraments, scripture, prayer, and to spell it out simply and clearly (spelling books). He will grant me the wisdom to know how to go from worldy wisdom (6 rows) to divine wisdom (3 rows). This teaching will enable us all to travel down the “River of Life”. The ministry will go smoothly (floating) with great grace (flowing waters) but will go through two seasons of trouble (waves churning) when the Lord will save us (part the waters.) We will then be able to continue on our journey. In my ministry, I will be sending the students out in pairs (two by two) to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Linda - This is a wonderful dream and I can't wait to see how the message will be literally lived out in Michelle's life. The Lord is so kind and gracious to give her an insight about what He more specifically would like her to do and how to do it, but He is also gracious in giving her a heads-up about some of the difficulties that she and her students will encounter along the way. He is promising her ahead of time that He will be there for them and that they will see His mighty hand at work in their lives, protecting them from the attacks of the enemy. And most of all, because He has enabled her to understand the symbolism of the spelling books, Michelle now understands all the previous dreams He's given her over the years regarding these books.
Through these dreams in Michelle's own life, we can see that God can speak to us about our calling and our mission many years before we can actually understand the full scope of our call. And this is okay. The Lord knew that Michelle wouldn't understand right away the meaning behind all of her previous spelling book dreams. But He was preparing her for the full revelation of its symbolism at precisely the right time in her life when she would need it and more importantly, when He would give her the ability to carry out her mission. In essence, in this particular dream, He was telling her that she is now ready to go forth and teach her students the true "spelling" of the gospel of His Kingdom.
John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
​
​
Deuteronomy 17:19
And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully following all the words of this Law and these statutes,
Rev. 22:1
And he showed me a river of the water of life.