I was living in Chemnitz, Germany in 1996, teaching English for the ABC English School as an interim teacher. The day was Kinder Tag (Children’s Day) and it was time to celebrate!

All of my family were there, my mom and dad, my brothers and their families, my aunts and uncles, my cousins and their children, and…my wife and son. The entire family clan was lined up in a long row, segregated by nuclear families, and each nuclear family was standing to the side of the next, with a small intentional space between each family. In unison we were all facing a line of tables that spanned the length of the family row.

We all three stood there, my wife and I and our son, staring eagerly at the tables in front of us, anxious for the signal to be given. We wore the largest smiles we could muster on our faces, but remained as silent as possible. In a very Brady way we kept looking at each other, sharing our smiles and excited faces, waiting and waiting, getting more excited with every breath. Then, finally, the signal was given.

The signal was a soft gentle male voice that said, “Children, you may now go to the tables.” It was a simple signal, just a spoken phrase, but by a voice obviously recognized by the children. Immediately all of the children walked obediently and quickly to the tables directly in front of them; all of the children that is, except my son.

“Son, it’s ok.” I said with my smile still gleaming. “Go to the table and get your present!”

He gave me a nod and then obeyed.

The tables were only about five or six feet away, so it was easy to see my son’s Kinder Tag present. As a matter of fact, it was in this moment that I looked down the row of tables and saw that all of the presents for all of the children were exactly the same; they all looked identical to my son’s present.

I had never seen this type of present before. It was beautiful, yet very simple. A small square natural wood base with a hole driven in the middle of it rested on the table. This base supported an eighteen-inch wooden dowel rod standing straight up, fitted and secured in the hole. Also, lying on the base was an object resembling a badminton shuttlecock, yet instead of being made of rubber and nylon it was made of a soft light material. The dowel rod was projecting out of a hole at the top of the shuttlecock, and a short string about six inches long was attached to the top and hanging down its side.

When my son approached his present he knew instinctively what to do. He promptly grabbed the string hanging on the side of the shuttlecock and pulled it all the way up to the top of the dowel rod, and then…he let it go. In slow motion the shuttlecock began to float down the length of the dowel rod. It was so amazing to watch, yet I didn’t know why. I stood there totally mesmerized from my position away from the tables. Nothing was more beautiful than what I was seeing in that moment. It seemed like it took a full minute for the shuttlecock to descend only a few inches, so smoothly, and with so little effort.

But then, when the shuttlecock floated to about halfway down the dowel rod, I heard something. I couldn’t make it out, I was too far away…but it was certainly something. Instantly I became entirely seduced by this mysterious sound; nothing was going to alleviate this newfound captivation. Whatever it was I had to hear it again, and now.

So, with eyes firmly fixed on his present, I rushed over to the tables and gently pushed my son to the side. I frantically grabbed the string and swiftly lifted to the top of the dowel rod what I now realized looked much more like an angel than a badminton shuttlecock. The angel began to float down the dowel rod again just as it had before. I leaned my head in closer to the toy, as close as I could. My head was now turned to the left and my ear was facing the shuttlecock. And then I heard it again, the sound that so captivated me, but this time it was crystal clear. As a matter of fact, it couldn’t have been clearer.

The sound I heard was a voice. It was the man’s voice again, the same soft gentle recognizable one that signaled our children to go to the tables. Directly into my ear the voice undoubtedly stated, “I am coming back now.”

After I heard this statement I was instantly overwhelmed with emotion. My heart was filled with a life-time’s amount of excitement and joy, as if I was just given the most wonderful gift in existence! However, at the very same time I experienced these positive emotions, the most dreadful and genuine fear I had ever known came over me, and I felt its effects in the pit of my stomach. I was confused. I couldn’t figure out if I should jump for joy, or weep and hide. My heart began to pound uncontrollably in the midst of my confusion. For a moment I just looked around with a shocked look on my face trying to make sense of the statement, grasping for understanding.

Then, from one second to the next, all of a sudden I understood completely. As if I had just put a final puzzle piece into an extremely difficult puzzle, the statement made perfect sense to me and the mixed emotions I was feeling were suddenly and completely justified. The statement meant that…what I had been anticipating now for so long was about to finally happen.

I looked up and saw thick clouds separate like two enormous white curtains, and there stood Jesus with thousands and thousands of angels. This was The Great Day chosen for his return, and I was privileged to be an eye-witness.

The next thing I knew I was sitting straight up in my bed, in my German apartment, grasping sweat soaked covers, panting like a dog, still feeling all of those mixed emotions. It was just a dream, and wow, what a dream! Once I gained my bearings about where I was, all I could do was smile and chuckle because I knew I had just experienced something special, a vision that would be replayed in my mind over and over again until the day I see this dream for real.

I consider that night’s dream a gift from God. Oh, it was certainly only a dream, but to me it was a very convicting dream. I have carried that dream with me for the last thirteen years as a cherished possession, a token in my pocket that reminds me constantly about what is surely to come. Don’t get me wrong, I am not claiming to be some special prophet who has received some unique ability or gift. However, I do believe with all my heart that this special Day of Judgment will occur. There will be a specific time when Jesus, the Son of God returns, and we all (that is everyone in the world) must be ready for him. I couldn’t be more certain of this and I will be ready to call him Lord on that day just as I do now.

Here’s the message plainly written by Paul:

“God is just. He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among those who have believed.”  (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10)

Get ready now, so you can be ready then.