CHOSEN For The Job

So it was 1980. I was at home with my two young boys and I was trying to teach myself to play the guitar. I thought maybe, because I could sing so well, perhaps playing the guitar would be something I could do to bring finances into my life!

That wasn't happening!

My fingers were so sore, there was no way I could play that thing! I put the guitar down and asked GOD to help me find something I could do to begin a career to help myself financially. I knew I needed to work, but doing "what" I thought?

It was then I clearly heard the voice of the LORD audibly say to me,

"Pick up the phone, call every Dentist in the phone book until you are hired"!

I didn't even give this a second thought! You see, GOD has always spoken audibly to me throughout my entire life, so, I picked up the phone book and started calling local Dental offices.

I identified myself and said I was wondering if they had any openings in their front offices? I called about 11 numbers in the book and was turned down so far by every one. The 12th number was a Dr. Christian, who was located a few miles from my home. A woman had answered the phone, identified herself as Sheila. She was extremely pleasant and was more than willing to listen to me as I made my verbal introductions.

I repeated to her what I had said to all 11 other woman who had answered the phone. She asked me after I made my inquisition, "how did you get this number, how did you hear about us"? I went quiet for a moment, pondered my reply, and then said, I had prayed and asked GOD for direction for a new job, and he told me to call every Dentist in the phone book until I was hired! She said to me in a stunned voice, "Are you kidding me"?

I replied very directly, "No, Mam, not at all".

She was quite on the phone for a minute, and then she said, "well, I am 7 months pregnant and I was just today thinking that we would need someone here at the office to take over while I'm away for maternity leave for about three months". She also asked me, "Did I have any experience working in a Dental office"?  I replied, "no, but I have worked front desks before, and for Honeywell in the past and I am a very quick learner"! With that, Sheila said to me, "I simply have to meet you! "Are you available to come here today, NOW"? 

I replied very excitedly, yes, I am!

 

So I quickly cleaned myself up, put the children in the car, and headed off to the Dental office to meet Sheila. The children stayed in the car with sandwiches and coloring books, yes, the windows were down, and a stern speaking to, too stay in the car and speak to no one! I could see them from the front office window. With that I went in the office. Sheila and I spoke for about a half hour and she hired me right there on the spot! I started my training a week later.

 

This began my career in Dentistry. It was a long very satisfying career. From 1980 to 2009, With a myriad of spiritual experiences in between!

If we all could just tune in to the voice of GOD that we all hear. Think of how simple life could be.

We have to know how to hear HIS voice when HE speaks to us.

Then follow and obey.

All it takes is the art of listening.

Training our ear to hear HIS voice!

I'll say it again, TRUTH is stranger than any written fiction!

The GIFT

So, it was 1978. The LORD had  guided me to help a young mother and her sister through some tuff times for them. The Husband of the sister worked in a chemical company that produced famous brand Shampoos and Body lotions and the like.

A few miracles had taken place while we all walked a very difficult road together for a season and The husband wanted to do something for me to repay their gratitude. How silly I thought, I hadn't done anything but pray for them and help them through a hard few years.. The husband and his wife had come to my attention through her sister and we all experienced the GRACE of GOD in miraculous ways together over a four year period. It all had nothing whatsoever to do with me. It was the LORD who blessed us all! I was just the blessed human who experienced the miracles along side these folks.

The husband would not take no for an answer from me! He kept offering me money, gifts, and the like, to repay me for my kindness.  I kept turning him down, firmly no! No favor I pleaded, PLEASE, stop!

He was so determined to do something for me, thinking I deserved it somehow. He was really very sweet, and thankful.

So being that he worked in management for a major chemical company he choose to do something for us in a practical manner. He drove by my home very early one day and left two, one gallon bottles of the company's most famous shampoo and conditioner on the door step.  I was passing the front window that morning and I saw something go by the house,  and looked quickly out the window as he dropped off "something". I then watched him get into his car, close the door, and then Drive away,  I got up from the kitchen table and went to the door wondering what had just happened here? I saw the two gallon jugs sitting there on the bricks with a note and curly colored confetti attached to them. The note read "please except SOMETHING for our gratitude", we love you! After I read the note, I laughed and said to myself, "well now this is a great gift", we can surly all use this! 

With that I closed the door and went into the house and put the shampoo and conditioner in the shower and didn't think of it again!

It just left my thoughts.

We used the "gift" every night with every shower, my husband and my two boys and myself. I marveled at how having a gallon of this stuff really made a difference as it seemed to never run out.

I thought to myself, from now on, I'm always buying in this bulk size!  It lasts forever! And again I forgot about it.

Life went on and showers happened every night!

A year later I was at the store and I was going over my grocery list. I thought to myself, gee, I'm so sick of that gallon of shampoo, perhaps I should get something new? I was sick of looking at the big jug on the shelf in the bathroom! But then I thought, "well, it's more frugal to wait until it runs out I guess, were not millionaires, I won't spend the grocery money on shampoo if I still have some left, It does smell really good and heck, we have hardly used any of the conditioner"!

So with that I again just forgot about it.

A year later, YES, a year later, I looked at that large jug of shampoo and conditioner and said, "HEY, wait a minute here, this is still half full"! "How can that be"? "What's going on here"? I asked my boys and husband if they remembered the kind husband two years ago that dropped this off to us as a gift? They all said, "yes", I said, hey guy's, that was two years ago! We still have shampoo and conditioner left! This is a miracle! There is no other way to explain it. My oldest son Jason said "Mom, I use that every night" I said as do I, and I use it on your brother, and my husband said I have also only used that stuff! We all sat there quietly for a moment and then just burst into laughter! Why? Shampoo? Really?

YES, really! It was an anointed gift. GOD showed us great favor.

We to this day still talk about the miraculous shampoo incident.

Miracles happen every day, we don't always recognize them but none the less they happen!

I'm grateful, very grateful to see how GOD cares for us in ways we would never expect!

It's hard to believe I just forgot about it over and over for two years. I wonder if the LORD allowed me to "Not recall" how long we were using the "gift" so we would experience that wonderful moment together?

Truth my friend is always stranger than fiction!

The Ticket

So, it was 2104 and we (My fiance and I) were on vacation heading from Florida to North Carolina.

We were going to do interviews of a few people in Pensacola FL on our way as well as in Georgia. This was going to be an expensive trip. There were many stops planned along the way and we were very excited.

We stayed in wonderful bed and breakfast haunts as well as wonderful areas where we knew many oddities had happened.

We were having such a wonderful time.

We had completed our week in Pensacola and went on to Georgia. We had such a marvelous time there interviewing and photographing our person of interest we stayed longer than we probably should have! I kept thinking, wow this is costing us a fortune, but we were elated at all the information we were gleaning!

So after a few days we finally packed up our gear and headed to North Carolina.

 

I wanted to visit the grave of my Mother so badly as I hadn't been there in a few years. I was really missing her that year. So much more than most other years.

Grave sites are so interesting. I know the loved one is not there, but a remnant of the flesh that I had loved so was all that was really there. Yet, it always amazes me as we sit and meditate in these areas where our loved ones who have passed once lived, we feel a connection to them. Their home turf if you will. Those things that were dear to them. The sights, sounds and smells of where they had chosen in this life to make home.

So as I sat in the very cold Carolina winter sun at the site of the mausoleum where my Mother is buried, I reflected on all things I held dear in her remembrance. Hours had passed.

It was starting to really get cold and uncomfortable as the wind was whipping up on the high mountain area she is buried on. My ears were freezing, I said my goodbyes quickly wondering when I would come this way again? I was pretty sad for the most part but I knew she was always with me, so I smiled and pondered the whole visit for a moment and then we headed off to the city to get a warm cup of coffee.

We also needed gas, so we stopped at one of my Mom's favorite haunts. The infamous "Hot Spot" in the center of Franklin. It's nothing special, but for those who live so far from the big cities these little stores are a regular happening. She always stopped there with me to get her gas when I visited her. She said they had pretty good prices all the time and great coffee.

I went inside remembering her being there with me only a few years before. I got my  extra large hot coffee and decided to sit on their tables where many local workers would have their lunch breaks inside the store.

It was a pretty busy day in the little store and I heard people saying we would be getting snow later on in the evening. I could see Kevin pumping the gas outside. It was a fun memory. He was waving at me!

It was then as I waved back at Kevin and I turned and watched all the chatter and goings on in the store that I clearly heard my Mothers voice say, "go ahead Ter, get yourself a lottery ticket for fun". I laughed out loud as this was comical to me. I'm so frugal, I never purchase lottery scratch offs or the lottery tickets EVER!

But it was so clearly her voice. I thought to myself, "that's just nuts" that was clearly her voice!

But "Why" would I do that I thought, I never get those things? So , as if led by the fun of the thought, I got up and walked over to the counter and asked to purchase a lottery scratch off ticket, I thought, what the heck, why not?

So I did.

I was shocked as I scratched this ticket to find I just won $100.00 dollars! I screamed for Kevin as he was walking in the store to get his coffee and said to him, "please look at this, my Mom told me to buy a ticket, so I did and look at this thing, I think I won $100.00 dollars".  

He looked at it, laughed, and then I showed it to the clerk. She immediately shelled out my $100.00 to me.

I was dumbfounded! I never win anything as I never gamble! I never buy those silly scratch offs, but when Mom said, go ahead Ter, I knew if I ever was going to do it, it would be then! I was so happy! Here we're on the second week of vacation and we really needed that extra cash.

I smiled as I sat down to finish my coffee and thanked my Mom for the "Tip off".

That was just like her too! She always wanted me to have "enough"

and once again from beyond the veil she was keeping herself real to me!

Truth is always stranger than fiction and this truth is no exception.

 

The Prophetic WAKE UP!

It was a beautiful summer morning in 1982. I was driving on my way to work as I do every weekday.

 I was praying on and off as I also usually do on long jaunts across the bridge but I always get so easily distracted, I don't know why.

This particular morning I was flying down the interstate 275 heading North towards Tampa from St. Petersburg. I was working in Tampa but lived in St. Petersburg, which is on the West side of the Howard Frankland bridge. It was always a long, grueling  bumper to bumper ride at 7:30 a.m. in the morning, and like many others I did this every morning.

 

On this particular wonderfully warm summer morning I was riding along with my radio on but turned down a bit. I wasn't thinking about anything much really that I can remember, just sort of in and out of prayerful thoughts, and just focused on the grind.

Nothing seemed unusual at all.

When all of a sudden I heard an audible male voice

SCREAM out loudly in the car, he said;

"WAKE UP!........ WAKE UP"!

Just like that, and so loud it was deafening!

It seemed to come at me from my left ear!

That was the ear up against the drivers side window!

I was shocked!

What the heck!

I almost had an accident as I jerked the wheel when I heard him scream this. It was frightening and so unexpected. It startled me and scared me beyond belief! It was so loud!

Who said that I thought? Is it going to happen again?

 

I kept driving somehow and I quickly reached over to shut the radio off and said out loud in an agitated voice, "Are you kidding me"! I am awake, I'm driving 60 miles an hour down the interstate, what do you mean WAKE UP? You can clearly see I'm awake. I'm on my way to work! Who said this?

Silence.....

There was no reply. I waited for a moment more, still no reply.

"Are you kidding me" I said, Who am I talking to here?

 

I asked again, what do you mean wake up? How can I be driving down the interstate and not be awake? HELLO! Why are you asking me this?

Still, no reply.

I was baffled, I just didn't understand. What could that mean,

wake up, Is this a spiritual question, am I suppose to know what that means???

 

Sadly to say,

It wasn't until 20 years later that I really understood what that prophetic voice was trying to tell me.

I was spiritually asleep even though I was searching. I was asleep in the light. I only understood parts of what were happening to me throughout my life. It seemed as if every week it was something more I couldn't piece together.

I was being guided to wake up from my spiritual slumber!

 I thank GOD I have lived long enough to finally figure out what was meant by the prophetic voice.

 

I'm wide awake today. The veil has been opened between this life and the next. I have eyes that see now and ears that hear. I'm learning as I walk with those in the land of the living towards home. I now truly understand.

We are not taught in churches the deep oracles of GOD, we are taught through personal asking, seeking, and knocking until we hear HIS voice! We come to understand truly once we embrace the SPIRIT of life! The HOLY SPIRIT Himself!

We are all on this journey together in this life, walking each other towards home.

I'm so very grateful to be awake.

Are you awake?