Upon returning from Daytona Beach to Naples, I found employment and continued on with my life.  I also continued to attend the church that God had showed me.  While in Naples, there were many “little” instances in which God revealed his existence to me but two stood out.  Both involved dreams; one in which God revealed my wife to me and one in which God revealed to me the direction and path that a hurricane would be taking. 

During this time, I had a deep desire to find a girlfriend.  As time will prove, God was aware of my desire and responded.  It was not long after I returned to Naples that God showed me through a dream this beautiful girl with long dark hair and we kissed.  It was now 1965.  Along with that, God showed me that this girl was to be my wife and that He would bring her in my life sometime in the future.  I had been lonely and praying that God would help me find someone to share my life with.  Waking up, I determined to wait for her.  It took seven years and at times the wait was a real test as time dragged on.  The story of that seven year journey is another story of faith, trust, and perseverance described in two other experiences in this website: “20 – The wedding ring: choosing faith over doubt!” and “24 – Patricia Trexler Arnold: the girl God brought into my life!“.   Neat.

Sometime later that same year God revealed to me through a dream the direction and path of a hurricane, Hurricane Betsy.  The dream was similar to a video reflecting, as it were, a view of a hurricane from the space station but with a difference.  The difference was that the view reflected not a single snapshot of the storm but rather that of a video revealing the exact direction and path that the storm would take over its duration.  It was a very unusual and unexpected track for a hurricane but of concern to me was that it reflected that path coming relatively close to Naples.

The day after this dream my Dad called and asked if I could come over to Daytona Beach for a visit the following weekend.  It had been some time since I had seen them nevertheless I told him about the dream and said that I thought I should stay in Naples and use the time to brace and anchor the trailer he had on his property in Naples.  What my Dad did not know and I did not realize at the time was the purpose God had in showing me this storm’s direction and path through this storm. 

The short of it is that my Dad asked me not to prepare and brace the trailer but to come anyway. Recognizing this was important to my Dad and Mom, I remembered the scripture that says “Honor thy Father and Mother…” and agreed to come despite what God had revealed to me about the storm.  The weekend came and I took off for Daytona Beach to visit them.  Hadn’t gone five miles when the car died and I had to have it towed to a garage for repair.  Since I couldn’t continue with my trip to visit my folks, I called to let them know what had happened and told them I was going to go ahead and brace the trailer. 

It was upon the appearance of the storm shortly thereafter, Hurricane Betsy, that my folks began to accept that something real was going on in my life.  It was for this purpose, knowing the worry and concern that my folks had for me, that God told me of the storm; knowing that I would relay it to them.