RockAware and Refugees

I love how God speaks to us in different ways, including our dreams!  The Lord gave me the name for RockAware from a dream I had in the summer of 2018.  It went something like this. 

In the beginning of the dream, I was watching a family spend time on a beach on the south-central shore of a nation.  I knew the beach was a place where refugees would arrive on boats.  (I want to note that at the time of the dream, I had no idea how refugees had anything to do with what the Lord was showing me in the rest of the dream.  More on that soon…)

In the second scene, I don’t know where I was, only that it was place where people gathered and visited.  I sat down in a row of chairs with a woman I knew—I’ll call her Jenny—on my right.  Jenny was someone I loved.  She and her husband had invited me to live with them one year in college, and they embraced me like I was a part of their family.  They mentored me in ministry, and simply put, let me witness how much they loved the Lord and each other. 

Jenny was having a conversation with someone, so she didn’t notice me sitting next to her at first.  I waited patiently as I gleaned from the conversation I overheard, not rushing to make my presence known.  When she finished her conversation, she shifted and began to sing sweetly to the Lord.  I didn’t interrupt her.  She softly cried joyful tears as she sang, “All that thrills my soul is Jesus.”

The beauty and simplicity of her song deeply impacted me, and I was content to sit and rest there for a while.  But then, I began to sing—and cry—along with her, and the sound drew her attention to me.  When Jenny saw that it was me, she reached out warmly to me and invited me to share what was on my heart. 

I told her about my concern for the children and my grief over the death of the family unit in our culture today.  I looked up, as if I was seeing a vision in the dream, and I saw a line of young and old people—at least three generations—all belonging to the same immigrant family, but they were all dead!  The vision increased the emotion welling up in me as I shared with Jenny.

After a time, I noticed Jenny was handling a box next to her.  It reminded me of a board game box, and it had the name “RockAware” printed with dark letters on the side.  Somehow, I understood that the box’s contents were homeschool curriculum. 

I asked Jenny, “Oh!  You homeschool your kids?!”  (In real life, Jenny’s kids were grown and had attended public school like me).   

“Oh, yes!  All the way through twelfth grade,” she answered.

“Was that the curriculum you used?” I asked her as I glanced at the box.

“Yes!”

“Hmm, I’ve never heard of that one,” I admitted.  Jenny then proceeded to tell me with joy and excitement all that she would do with her kids.  She made a big deal about the beginning of each school year, and they would even make a big cake together to celebrate the occasion.  I was interested in every detail she shared.

From that conversation, a new scene in the dream opened before me.  I was no longer participating in the dream (or so I thought), but I was watching Jenny make her way to a woman behind a table at a trade show.  I saw RockAware boxes—the same kind Jenny had—piled up nicely on the table, being sold under a big advertising banner.  Jenny hugged the woman, and I observed as the woman continued to interact and share her product with attendees.

And that was the end of the dream.

I knew the dream was one of those important ones.  I wrote down everything I could remember, and for the months (and years) that followed, God began to unpack the details.  Later, the Lord even told me, “Michelle, the woman at the end was you!  You’re going to carry this vision that I have for the family forward.”  So, as I understood each part, I wrote down the vision.

I love how the name, RockAware, was God’s idea, not ours.  He comes up with the best ideas and He loves when we run with them!  But I digress.  Let me share with you some take-aways from this dream:

• One of the greatest gifts we can give our children (and honestly anyone else we influence) is the example of a life wholly devoted to Jesus.

Both in the dream and in real life, I learned more from just watching and gleaning from Jenny than many classroom lessons combined.  Her life, her love, and her worship spoke volumes to me.  She would have done the same things whether or not I was watching, but I was certainly blessed to witness it.  We don’t always realize how much our children are watching us.  If we want them to serve God wholeheartedly, let them catch us doing it first. 

• If you love the Lord and have surrendered your life to Him, don’t be surprised when He presents you with something on His heart—something not previously on your radar.

This is where the “refugee” part comes in.  When I had this dream, I immediately began to grasp a vision for the family and the next generation.  But, for two and a half years, I did not understand why the Lord was pointing out refugees arriving to shore and immigrant families.  I never had a particular interest in or knowledge about refugees.  I never worked with a ministry aiding them.  And yet, as I began to seek Him on it, I could feel his compassion rising up in me for people the Lord loved. I knew in my heart there was a connection—RockAware and Refugees.

Here’s what I know.  God’s heart is for the nations, and especially for the orphan, widow, foreigner, and oppressed.  God wants us to have His heart for people.  Read more about that here.

• God is looking to resurrect the impact of the tri-generational family on the earth.

Even as I saw the vision of the deceased multigenerational family, in my spirit I knew God is raising up an army of families who are taking back their rightful place as the influencers not only in society, but in the individual lives of their natural and spiritual children.  And going back to the topic of refugees, I can see God’s desire to use the family as a vessel to impact individuals, families, and people groups for His name’s sake!

• “Homeschool” and “curriculum” are for every family.

In fact, let’s go ahead and redefine both of those words.  For our purposes at RockAware, home-school is any learning that happens at home.  Whether your child attends public school, private school, online school, or receives her education primarily at home, we have the opportunity as parents to teach our children about the Lord and train them up!  I love how God used a woman who sent her kids to public school to teach me about “home-school” in a dream.  In real life, Jenny maintained a lifestyle with her family that was centered around the Lord.  Read about the Deuteronomy 6 lifestyle here. 

The word curriculum most likely brings up images of textbooks and workbook pages in people’s minds.  But the curriculum in my dream came packaged in a board game box.  RockAware curriculum may include the books we read, but it’s also the stuff of life.  It’s the games we play and the music we move to.  We embrace the creativity of God to teach our children in different, sometimes unconventional, ways.  If we are willing to seek Him, God is giving parents the tools to train up their children like never before.

• We ought to make a big deal about beginnings and endings, acknowledging and celebrating those special milestones in a child’s spiritual and educational development.

Through Jenny’s stories in the dream, God was showing me how much he enjoys our family celebrations!  How many times did God’s people build altars or memorials or were told to celebrate and remember God’s mighty acts?  Remembering and celebrating has always been a part of our heritage as God’s people, and our homes should be a place for children to lock in the memories of those special days. (Check out verses on remembering.)

• God is wanting to take us on adventures if we are willing to go.

Just as I stepped out in faith on the vision that God gave me of RockAware, I encourage you to entrust every dream and promise He’s placed in your heart and allow Him to open up the way.  Move when He tells you to take the first step.  Allow him to catch you up in His story and take you wherever He wants to go.

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