The Gift of Tenacity

So, it was 1970. My boyfriend and I were going downtown St. Petersburg, FL to get some papers he needed from Tomlinson adult education center in the Mirror Lake area of St. Pete. He had just purchased a new motorcycle and we were so excited to drive it down town.  It was around 11:00 am, a bright and very hot summer day in July. We pulled up in front of the school parking area, he parked his motorcycle in one of the spots for bikes and we headed into the office to pick up his paperwork.

As we did, I had a strange feeling come over me. Like something was about to happen. I laughed at the thought of me thinking this way and simply literally laughed it off.

We were both in the Tomlinson office for around a half hour or so. We got his paperwork settled and were relived to be heading out the front door so quickly. We walked over to the area where he had parked the bike and it wasn't there? It was simply gone?

 

We stood there for a moment, just looking at each other. My boyfriend said he was so upset! He hadn't even made two payments on the bike and it was stolen! He was very distraught. I was shocked to see him this way. It hurt to see someone you cared so much for to be so upset and helpless. I remembered feeling strange before going into the office and having laughed it off as if it were nothing. This made me mad, why didn't I question that feeling? What had I missed here? Why was this happening to such a great guy? Oh, and it began to set in that, hey, we were walking 7 miles home at this point!

That didn't sit well with either of us.

 I suggested he call the police and make a report, so we went back into the office where we had just been and he called the police and said he would wait where the bike used to be to make his report to the police. They assured him they would be there in about ten minutes.

We walked back across the street and I felt a very powerful cloaking come over me, as if I were feeling an anointing come on me. It is really hard to put into words. But it was all over me and my hair was standing on end! I was feeling very strong in the spirit!

It was then, all of a sudden I said to my boyfriend, stay here for a moment, and wait for the police I am going to find your bike for you! I was very matter of fact when I said it. It almost shocked me hearing "myself" saying that to him! But somehow I knew I could find it! I just knew it! There was no doubt at all in my mind. I mean NONE! My boyfriend said no, just wait here with me, don't worry, I replied, NO, I'm going to find that bike! I then turned and started walking down the street as if being led by the hand by an unseen powerful presence. I was actually very angry that some creep had done this to my boyfriend! What a horrible thing to do I thought, steal something so valuable from someone! How could some creep do that, we were only gone for a half hour?  I was going for vengeance while I walked towards the buildings in front of me!  I looked in every shop window, I walked around this one two story  apartment building that was right across the street from where we had been. This was it! I just knew this was the place I would find the bike! I prayed, please take me to the bike! Someone led me to the second floor, I knew I was headed in the right direction. It was as if I could smell the dishonest soul that had done this and I was getting closer. Closer still, closer still with every step! It was like nothing I had ever experienced until now. I was focused completely on finding this bike! I walked past more than 10 apartments on the second floor and then...BINGO... the screen door was open to one of the apartments and inside was a very young and I must say, actually very good looking young man  (this shocked me as I had an ugly creep in mind) sitting on the floor of his apartment living room disassembling  my boyfriends motorcycle! He was right there, he had looked up at me as I passed the door just briefly,  I was shocked, there he was, there was the bike! I had found him right there in his apartment living room. I was elated! I had been led right to the very spot I wanted to be! I walked past the door and then stopped once out of his view. After seeing the bike in that room with this young man, I knew I had found the stolen bike! I asked the Lord, what do I do now? Here it is, here I am, I thought and before I even heard back from the Lord,  and with my heart pounding in my chest, I walked back past the door and looked in and said to the man very calmly,  "hey", that's a nice looking bike, why are you disassembling it, as I smiled and acted very flirty? He rose from the floor and said after looking quite shocked,  "I need to get some new parts for it", and he looked at me rather strangely. I asked him if  he would mind if I could come in and use his phone? (where that came from I have no idea?) He said "sure", come on in. We both smiled at each other as he opened the screen door and pointed to the phone on the counter in this very tiny little room. I acted as if I was calling someone and said, gee, the numbers busy, but thanks for letting me use your phone, I then had a sense of almost fear come over me, and knew I had to get out of the apartment immediately, I knew he was very suspicious of me and I could see he was holding a very large craftsman tool in his hand! I smiled at the man very kindly and said, "Thanks, have a good day", maybe I'll see ya around again some time? He smiled at me, but I also noticed a strange look in his eye, like he was beginning to really question this whole interaction so I quickly walked straight to the screen door and headed out to the hallway. Once out the door I made haste to go back downstairs and find my boyfriend!

The police were with him and I said, "I found the bike"! My boyfriend smiled and said, "you're kidding", I said "no", I'm not, so I told the police exactly where to find the bike and they went and handcuffed the young man and that was it! The bike was not ride able so we took the bus home. But I was elated that we were able to locate the bike and get it back. I was so grateful for the tenacious spirit that walked me to the site of the stolen bike!

I never thought twice about not looking for that bike that day, and I had a certain knowing that I would find the bike. It's very interesting to me how the spirit world works. GOD gives us a knowing, we can have complete confidence in HIM when the anointing comes over us, regardless if we feel qualified or not!

Isn't HE good! I will always treasure that day. That was the day that the LORD gave me the gift of tenacity.

I treasure it with all my heart!

 

The Choice

So, what are the secrets to the universe?

Why are we here?

What's it all about?

Many people have moments in their life when they ask these same questions.

I'll bet you've asked yourself these questions many times over in your life. Or maybe you haven't yet.

They have made movies about these questions. They have songs as well. So, it must be a question worth asking yourself, right?

I know I've asked more than once in my lifetime. I've pondered this subject at great length!

Why are there bad things that happen to good people?

Why is there war?

Why isn't it ever fair?

Why can't everybody just tell the truth?

It's really a simple but painful answer. One that seems too easy....

Choice.

 

Yes, choice. The big reason you're here is all about the choices you make while you're here.

Believe it or not, you won't be here forever.

So the choices you make now will have eternal consequences!

No one gets out of life alive. We will all pass through that "Veil".

 

Really stop and think about that.

Have you ever allowed yourself to have this conversation with yourself?

 

A day is coming and "no one" knows that day. They never have and they never will know "that day" until it arrives.  History proves this. (that alone should get your attention) It is as sure as the sun rising and setting on a daily basis. You well know however, it is ever before you, until that day arrives.

 

When it does, that's the day we are free from making choices as we know them because then we  will face the sum of our choices thus far.

We are quickly becoming what we will always be in eternity!

 

While we wear the identifiable skin here that binds us to the earth there are many decisions we face daily.

 

How to, where to, why to, when to....choose our choices.

 

We are spiritual beings on a human dimensional journey.

We are wonderfully made.

The choices we make prepare us for the next step. The one beyond. The one every one wonders about from time to time in this life.

Everybody has their own belief about it. You have yours, I have mine., it's just another choice we have all already made.

So, when things happen here in this life, how we choose to entertain the happening is how we come to our belief structure.

Do we complain? Do we accept? Do we learn? Do WE change?

Do we understand?

It's all a matter of choice.

We are free will agents here to choose as we will.

 

Let me add here, we must choose wisely.

The day's for making choices are numbered like the hairs on your head are numbered!

Because we know there is more, we understand that, we know once we die we move on into the next spiritual realm.

Or maybe you don't know that?

That's a choice you'll have to make. Or not.

Ask yourself this, why are you here? What do you think this is all about?

There is Love, hate, paranormal, spiritual, extraterrestrial and truth

in this life.

You are here to find this to be so.

You are hear to find love and understand it.

You are here to experience hate and learn from it.

You are here to see all that there is here.

And then to make your choice.

We are all here to know the truth, but we will not all find it.

Whom will you serve in your conquest while you are here?

Love or hate?

The choice is yours.

 

 

 

 



A Kiss From Above

 

So, it was 1977 and I was at a weekly home church meeting in Clearwater Florida with my family and some very dear friends.

My children, two boys, were very young. Three and five year olds.

They loved getting together with all their friends and were

in one of the other rooms in the large house with all the other children playing, coloring and watching videos.

 

We adults had been at the meeting for a couple of hours and had been singing and jamming on worship songs. It was a really wonderful fun filled time, as I so enjoyed singing and hanging out together with everybody.

 

As we all stood up to pray before the close of the meeting I remember that one of the pastors had said we would all give thanks for all that we had been blessed with in this life thus far.

 

I was immediately overwhelmed with a feeling of thanksgiving.

My life was beyond blessed I thought to myself. I had so much to be thankful for how does one begin to express this to such a great God I wondered?

I closed my eyes and prayed along with the rest of the gang and entered into a wonderful peaceful place spiritually.

There was an abundance of serenity. It was like floating. It really felt warm and wonderful. Safe and loving.

We all started singing very softly as it was evident that I was not the only person in the room feeling very connected with the Holy Spirit.

I felt as if I could just cry it was so peaceful. I whispered inwardly to the LORD how very grateful I was for HIS love and great care of me and my family.

Then something really bizarre and odd happened. I felt a touch on my face on my left cheek, almost like a kiss.

Yes, it was exactly like a kiss. Like a Daddy would give his little girl. It was amazing. It was so powerfully felt I started to cry and spoke right out loud in the meeting and said, "I felt a kiss on my face".

Everyone smiled, we all opened our eyes slowly. Others said they had felt a very similar experience at times when the spirit was overwhelming as it was tonight.

I was deeply moved. That had never happened before that nor since that time again.

How wonderful it is to experience  love like that from the Father.

I will always be grateful for the memory of that day.

A Life of Blessings and MIRACLES!

 

So,I was just 16 years old.

I had met a new group of friends who went to another school in town and they were a bit different to say the least. They had a different way of looking at things than I did. They had a rebellious side to them that showed, but they seemed O.K. I knew I should steer clear of them, but they also seemed nice. I started to hang around with them every now and then and I found that they were pretty much like everyone else, the only difference was, was they were more vocal about what they believed. Different. They stayed out longer and talked a little to rough perhaps. But they became friends none the less and I guess I had to respect them in a way.

What can I say, I was young and an extremely shy introvert. They all seemed edgy, like at that time I thought I might want to be.

After being around these friends I ended up seeing some things that I didn't like much however as well.  I felt I had my own path to follow. I was making more of an effort for my future than most of them were. It was time for me to move on.

I decided to stop hanging around with them. 

 

But not before I ended up being impregnated from hanging around one of these  controlling, ruff young men. I broke off my friendship with him a bit to late.

 It was horrible for me how it all happened.

Life had just taught me a very sad lesson.  

 

I immediately changed to a new group of friends at my own school.

The old adage "Bad friends corrupt good morals" is TRUE!

I found this out the hard way.

So, here I was pregnant from the bad choices I had made. 

My Mom had me enroll in a certain home called Florence Crittendon to stay there until my child was born. I lived there 24/7 and went to their private school for seven months.

My daughter was born right after I turned 17.

I grew up really fast.

 

The terms of the unwed mothers home I was in, was that they would put your child up for adoption in exchange for covering your hospital delivery and schooling finances while you were there.  So my Mom made all these provisions, without my awareness of this.

I had no idea that these terms had been made behind my back.

My Mother was very upset with me and did not visit me while I was there.

I was young, there was a lot of things I didn't understand.

After my daughter was born, she was taken from me and adopted out to a family in Florida. The money for her adoption paid for my hospital delivery and private schooling. I had no idea where she was adopted out to or what her new name was. 

I always wondered about her. This had all been so strange.

There were many sleepless nights and troubled days that followed.

 

For 26 years I worked hard on  trying to find her. I often went back to the place where the adoption took place, but they would always ask me to pay them $75.00 dollars for any information they might have. Then they would come back with the same answer over and over again for years, "We have no new information for you".

 I would inquire almost every year.  Every year I would pay them, and I heard the same thing, we have no new information concerning your daughter. I would leave my phone number and my address again and again and again over the years.

 

About five years had past. One afternoon I was flipping through a magazine and I saw a picture in the magazine of an adorable little girl standing looking out a window eating a spoonful of peanut butter as the rain slid down the window while she peered out.

Something gripped me!

Lord I feel as if this is her!

It's just my imagination I told myself!

I starred at that picture for over an hour. It looked a little bit like me when I was young. I wondered if it was my daughter?  Could it possibly be? That would be an amazing coincidence if it was. Something about that picture caused me to connect with it! I wondered if she was even still alive? Was she O.K.? Did she live in Florida? What were her parents like?  Where is she? These thoughts and many more would just haunt me.

It was all so sad. I never wanted to be alone without her, and yet, here I was. All alone.

 Looking at the picture in the magazine I laughed and said, yeah, right, that would be impossible. It can't be her. It's just my imagination. But I wish I just knew if she was O.K.!

I ripped the picture out of my magazine, and kept it in my Bible for the longest time. I would pull the picture out over the next few years as I would pray for her, over and over again. I would pray for my daughter and hope she was in good hands!  I know it seemed silly. But I did it none the less it was a discernment I was having when I looked at that picture. It truly gripped me!

 

Twenty six years after my daughter was born I still had not been able to find her, it was now 1996.

One day as I was sitting at my desk at work, I heard a strong audible  male  voice say to me,

"Teri, go to the orphanage, inquire about your daughter, Now"!

When he said NOW it was very strong and commanding.

I stood right up and went into my boss and said, "excuse me, there is something I have to do right away. I'll be back in a few minutes". He looked up at me and said O.K., he didn't question me at all,  and with that I went to the  parking lot, got in my car and drove quickly to the orphanage. Again I inquired about my daughter. To my shock and surprise the same now very old woman behind the desk, the same woman I had spoken to many, many times before, got up and walked over to a file and came over to me and requested I pay her yet again, the $75.00 dollars. Once I paid her, she handed me a phone number and a manila envelope.

 I started crying.

 

I was shaking so hard I almost fainted, I was very weak at my knees. I turned around and walked slowly to my car in utter amazement. I sat there remembering the Voice that told me to come NOW! I was so grateful and yet so amazed at this. I opened the information in my car and read the letters in the manila envelope.

I read it over and over again.

I had found her! Thank you GOD! I had found her! Finally after searching for 26 years.

The voice that came to me spoke the truth!

I was in possession of her phone number and address. Just like that!

Just as he suggested!

It felt amazing, surreal, anointed!! 

 

I made the call that night. I made plans to fly out to see her.

 

When I got there to her, we spoke of so many things. We just went on and on and on. We cried, we laughed, we starred at each other. It was like looking into a mirror. She looked exactly like me in every way!

She was so beautiful to me. She spoke and acted just like me.

 

She mentioned she was a child model. She told me about all the different companies she modeled for. She mentioned a peanut butter modeling job. I almost fainted! I gasped and said Really! I then described the picture I had taken out of the magazine so many years earlier. She confirmed to me, it was in fact her! She remembered everything about that job, even though she was so young.  That was one of her favorite modeling jobs as a child she told me. I started crying. The picture I had been led to in the magazine, the picture I had kept in my Bible, was in fact, my very own daughter. It was GOD'S way of showing me that she was O.K., healthy and happy.

 

What peace I have now as I look back over my sometimes unfortunate life. I have been guided and vocally directed my entire life.

I am grateful to GOD for his kind care of me here.

I am thankful for HIS care over my children as well.

This truth is much stranger than any fiction I have ever read!

 

You Are Loved

Back in 1973 I was just another pretty face in the hippie movement. I was a believer in all things peaceful and groovey. Loved the music and the spirit of the day. Especially my flower braided hair and my comfy jeans with the engraved sayings of Jimi Hendrix I stitched on them. It was a time in my life I smiled a lot.

 

I was searching for something, but I was to young to know what it was. Music guided me at that time like I believe it did so many others. My fear was that music was like a pied piper leading us all into some strange trap. I wanted to understand life and live life well. I watched some friends succumb to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, strange religions and odd life styles. I watched but never followed. The pressure was there but I saw emptiness at the end of the day. I just didn't want anything controlling my every waking hour or my finances.

 

I found myself alone a lot. I was different. I felt like I was an observer, not part of the crowd. It was desperately lonely, but it was also very peaceful. I was O.K. with it.

 

One afternoon I decided to visit a friend and while there I had an experience with the LORD. It lasted 2 hours at my friends home.  It just happened. No one was talking religion or witnessing to me. It was like the time had come to fruition and it was upon me. Predestined for that very moment in time. 

 

My friend saw what I was experiencing, along with another friend that came to visit as well. I didn't really know who JESUS was but HE wanted me to know who HE was. I wasn't looking for HIM.  HE drew me to HIM.  I later found out HE was with me all along. Showing me the choices in this life that were available for the choosing, if you wanted them.

 

I began a relationship with JESUS that day that turned my life around. I hold fast to HIM still today from that one meeting with HIM.

No one witnessed to me, read scripture to me or shared their salvation message. I didn't go to a church service or have some one hand me a tract. JESUS introduced himself to me

 and I have never been the same.

 

YOU can know HIM as I do. Just as I did. You don't need any invitation to go anywhere or do anything special. HE already knows you and is crazy in love with you.  It's all so simple really. You only have to ask HIM to come into your life. HE will. Then your new relationship with HIM begins. You won't be perfect, your face won't change or many other outwards things. However, your entire spiritual life will be born again. You will have an inheritance instantly that is beyond your widest imagining's. You will live forever securely in HIS presence and peace. 

Life will look different, yet be much the same. What do you have to loose?

 

YOU are already Loved!

 

The Connection

So as I see it in this life, the paranormal, the extraterrestrial and the spiritual are all interrelated. You have them all happening in this life and sometimes at the same time.  Then there is the mystery of the afterlife as well. It intertwines with this life as we know it. We're not always aware of it however, but I once heard from a very Godly man, that "we are quickly becoming what we will always be, in eternity". GOD guides us through each season in this life, one by one. And one by one lessons are learned  (or not). We however continue walking towards that day.

That "one day" we are all wondering about,

and yet trying to ignore. The day that we should be well prepared for and aware of the options and outcomes. So I ask you then, what if anything are you doing to be prepared for your "final day"? There is so much mentioned about it in books and faith. Ignoring it will not matter, running from it is not possible and denying yourself wisdom about it is simple foolishness. The day of a man's (woman's) death is greater than the day of their birth.

Jesus said this.

Do you at least wonder why?

 

I have my eye on the prize. I'm focused on that day and I want to encourage you to consider the same.

All our answers are

on the way, along the way, and behind us as well.  

We are all walking each other home. We are spiritual beings on a very human journey.

Truth in this life is so much stranger than any written fiction
could ever be.
We may not understand why something is happening to us at any given moment, but we can be sure that nothing happens to us that isn't allowed by GOD for our growth and illumination.
Because we know life is a vapor that none of us truly understands, we look to GOD for wisdom and comfort while we live here in "the land of the living".
We are just passing through. We won't always be here.
What do you want to leave once your day's have come to an end here. We know we take nothing with us. The Egyptians have proven this to us. But we leave a legacy of who we were once we're gone. Consider this, "how will you be remembered"?
Be ready for where you are going, and know that all we speak, all we do and all we are, will one day be known.  
Your book is being written as you live your life.
Live well.