The Heart of a Servant

I rarely remember my dreams, but when I do I try to make sense of them. A few nights ago I heard a sermon about God speaking through your dreams so after hearing this message, I was more aware of the possibility of having a dream with a message. In the dreams that I do remember many of them symbolize futility. I’m either trying to do something that doesn’t work out or something is occurring that is frustrating me. A few nights ago I had a dream that I was working summer school but not as a teacher. I was hired as a summer school teacher, but the administrators kept asking me to make copies. I would wait in long lines getting more and more frustrated by the minute. Then they would ask me to cut out materials for grade levels I didn’t even teach. Again more frustration. When I woke up I laughed it off thinking, whew, I’m not teaching summer school! But then I remembered the sermon I heard. What was I supposed to get out of this? Easy. I clearly had NOT demonstrated the heart of a servant in this dream. I thought about the ugly attitude I had and how I thought cutting out shapes for kindergarten was a waste of my time. I cringe just writing this, but it was how I felt in the dream. Could it be that God was trying to tell me something? Absolutely! I hear people talk about staying humble all the time, but what does that actually mean? It means not thinking more highly of yourself than you should. If I’m working summer school, just make the copies and cut out the shapes, and do it with a smile. It’s about the attitude of the heart. I immediately thought of an administrator for whom I worked and whom I greatly admired. To this day I have the utmost respect for her, and I know exactly when it happened. We were working lunch duty together, which she always worked, and there was a mess on the floor. She went to the outskirts of the cafeteria, picked up a broom and dustpan, and cleaned it up. I had been teaching 20+ years and couldn’t tell you another administrator I had worked for whom I saw sweeping the cafeteria floor! It may sound small to some, but to me it spoke volumes. This was a woman who would never give her staff an assignment that she herself would not do. She was highly intelligent, self-motivated, and hardworking, but she never lost the meaning of serving others. In my dream I was distinctly reminded that no matter what new doors open for me, I must demonstrate humility by having the heart of a servant.