For many years, I had the same recurring dream. I was led by a stranger to the same deserted, drab-colored building in the midst of a large city, being told, “I want you to come here because there is an important work for you to do.” My reply was always the same: “Me? I'm not ready to do this work.”

I grew up in Jamaica and first had the dream when I was about thirteen. But it followed me wherever I went: through nursing school, to the United States when I left Jamaica, to ministerial school, and back to Jamaica after I was ordained.

Once back home, I began my ministry with a little prayer group in Montego Bay. Making a connection with four small children who would come to visit our center, I found myself working more and more with them. When the parents of these children begged me to create a school, my old recurring dream stepped out of the cloistered recesses of my subconscious and into the light of reality.

When I came to look at a building for the school on that fateful day, I couldn't believe my eyes. The building was identical to the one I had been visiting in my dreams!

Simple Beginnings
Establishing a school was not easy. Basically, using a positive approach, I taught the children the truth about themselves: They are special, they are important, and they can do anything they desire to do if they believe in it. They would run home and tell their parents, “Mommy, Daddy, I am special! I am important!” The parents were not familiar with such ideas and had to get used to this new way of thinking.

One of the first things I instituted was a daily quiet period, and I encouraged the children to focus on their inner selves and the potential waiting to be expressed. It worked wonders. Some of them were so creative—very musical, very talented—and many of them later received scholarships to colleges. In fact, the original four are all college graduates and such blessings to their communities.

The Universe Wants to Help
A typical day at the school includes regular classroom work, plus extracurricular activities to stretch the minds and bodies of the students. We believe strongly in nutrition, so we prepare a hot lunch for the children every day.

Back when we were first starting the school and didn't have any money, I just knew it would come. And it did. I never allow myself to forget that God is totally and completely in charge of what I do. I wish every person in the world could know that the Universe wants to rush in and help us. God works and lives through us!

The Message of the Rose
These principles are the foundation of what I want to impart to the students in my school. Often, I use a rose to help them focus their attention on their sacredness and to settle them into a quiet time. As they remark about the tenderness, the softness, the fragrance, they are learning that God created this magnificent object.

“And God created you too!” I tell them. 

We are all beautiful roses in God's garden of life. Knowing this is true for myself, the children, and all people has blessed me in everything I do. In fact, it has turned a dream into the way I live my life.

Pearl Davis currently serves as the minister of Unity of Montego Bay in Jamaica. She founded the Unity Faith Center Kindergarten and Preparatory School in 1985.

This article was excerpted from Daily Word.