"There was a huge battle between good and evil. Good was bright and light . . . almost blinding . . . and evil was a swirling, dark tornado. The tornado caught all of us (and he went on to list most of the foreigners who either currently live or have recently lived in our Chinese city). We were all being tossed around, but then the bright light caught the tornado and broke it up. We were all safe.
"The tornado all came again. Everyone ran into a very tall building and the tornado threw the building into the sea. The building started to sink, so everyone got out. I (my son) was the last one out and I couldn't get the door open. I was very afraid because I knew the building was sinking. I broke open a window and was able to get out that way. As I splashed into the water, I realized that the building wasn't sinking, but was rising up . . . kind of floating. Then I woke up."
I asked him what he thought the dream meant. He said, "Mommy, things are really, really hard, but God is always there. There's always another way even if we can't use the door. He will help us find that way."
I'm not one who typically thinks that dreams have deeper meaning, but I do believe that God spoke to my son (and all of us) through his dream. God IS always with us. He never leaves us, in spite of how dark and chaotic things seem. This dream will help my son through our story and I will remind him of this as time goes on.