The Iron Rod

The other night I had a dream that scared me. I was in a city that appeared to have been destroyed by war. The buildings were mostly made of cement and not one of them was intact. I was holding hands with Sierra and she was holding hands with a beautiful little girl with dark hair and a red dress. I looked up and noticed the sky was filled with dark clouds. Through the crumble of buildings I could see the ocean. Suddenly a huge bolt of lightening struck the ocean and a giant wave formed. I grabbed Sierra and the dark haired girl and ran to a tree. During the first wave I was able to hold onto both of them and the tree trunk. But as the second wave crashed upon us both girls were pulled out of my arms. I was in complete panic. I ran around screaming, "The children, the children!" But no one stopped to help me. I kept running and searching. Finally I looked down and in a deep puddle I could see Sierra holding onto a pipe with one hand and the little girl with the other. I reached into the water, pulled them out, and we ran off to safety.
I woke up thinking that was the scariest dream I've ever had. The ocean and I do not get along (she's tried to drowned me before) and movies like "The Day After Tomorrow" (with scenes of "the ocean heaving beyond it's bounds" similar to my dream) really, really freak me out. But as I continued to ponder my dream over the next few days I received precious insights. The waves crashing on us felt like a symbol for the influence of evil. I could only protect the children from its influence for so long. I was overjoyed to find Sierra holding onto a pipe (which resembled a iron rod and in LDS theology this is symbolic of the Word of God, see here) which kept her safely in place. I was so grateful that she tightly held onto the dark haired girl with the red dress (if we have a little girl we want to name her Ruby, could this be who I saw?) and I felt that symbolized her good example and influence on others. This dream was a gift to me. I used it in my Sunday School lesson and I felt the Spirit there. I think of it often as I worry about my little ones turning into teenagers facing waves of evil influence in Junior High (and certainly before then, but I'm particularly worried about that infamous Junior High). I see Sierra and Kaia in emotional meltdowns, temper tantrums, random spouts of "I don't want to say family prayer tonight" or "I don't want to go to church anymore" and I wonder if I'll be hearing the same 10 years from now but I won't be able to hold them in my arms and lovingly talk to them.
I heard some very comforting words in Church last week. Someone was talking about how the Lord will step in and fight our battles for us and for our children, if we are righteous (see 2 Chr. 32:8 and D&C 98:37). I have faith that if I do all that I am inspired to do as a mother, when the time arises I will feel the Lord helping my children and I through our battles (and if I work on it, I will feel Him with us every moment of every day).
Today during Stake Conference I was blown away by how much I needed to hear the talk by President Eyring (does anyone know how I can get a copy of that? I guess I can look on LDS.org). He talked about President Kimball speaking to a group of youth. Afterwards he asked President Eyring, "Do you think they could hear me or was I too tough?" He meant that it isn't always what we say (when trying to admonish or correct), but if others hear love in our words that matter. President Eyring says that every morning he prays to have the Spirit guide him in conversations with others. Then he tells of an experience with a friend where "the call to repentance (from President Eyring to his friend) felt loving enough to not offend." I recently offended a treasured friend by being judgmental and not seeking the Spirit to guide my words. I felt so terrible about it. I decided to dedicate my upcoming Sacrament meeting talk to the commandment to not offend nor be offended (see Perry M. Christensen's talk , Psalms 119:165, and John 16:1 ).  I've learned a whole lot and President Eyring's talk was extremely helpful (although I couldn't take notes fast enough while trying to also entertain and keep 3 kids quiet during the meeting).