How to illustrate today's topic?

I woke up this morning in a bit of a funk...not really a bad mood, but a little odd...I had a very strange dream before waking...was alternately staying at a resort where I had an assigned golf cart to get around...then trying to navigate through traffic in a major city (in the golf cart)....then turning the golf cart in on my departure day (very vivid scene, in the circular drive that is common to large resort hotels). In this particular scene, my Mom was present...not in a dramatic way, but just very matter of fact...she was standing there as I took my stuff out of the cart and turned in the keys.

Next, I was running down the street to a 7-11, taking off layers of shirts (not to worry, I ultimately still had a shirt on, after the peeling of layers)...I went in to get something for lunch...in a hurry. The woman who worked there was in the back office, rather than out front...there was a line of people, and I was searching the coolers for a Diet Coke. I had a difficult time finding one, and remember saying "How is it possible that a 7-11 doesn't have any Diet Cokes??"

I finally found one, and she told me it was 52 cents...at that point I realized I had come with no money...but managed to dig around and find 51 cents in my bag...she accepted it and put in a penny to make up the difference.

The oddest thing came next...I had not used or even been aware that I had my Chase bankcard with me, but another guy walked up and handed it to me. It had been mutilated in their ATM, which was in the front of the store...as I walked through the front section of the store, puzzled by the mutilated ATM card, I noticed that in the front of the store they stocked nothing but beer...no food...nothing else but beer.

As far as I can tell so far...there was no deep moral to the story...but it was memorable enough to warrant writing it down, so perhaps dream analysis is in order.

When I got up this morning I read Proverbs 30...not one of my favorites, but I have found that reading through Proverbs each month (there are 31 chapters) is a good discipline for me, and more often than not, there is wisdom found in each chapter that helps me "do life." I also read Colossians 3, which contains a favorite passage of mine. Here are the highlights:

As followers of Christ, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and a willingness to forgive. All of these traits are knitted and bound together by love.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, and be thankful.

I have paraphrased some of the passage for brevity, but I'm sure you can tell why it's a favorite, and even on a day when I woke up in a slightly foul mood, it lifts my spirits, and gives me a brighter focus for the day.