A Sunday to Remember!

So, this Sunday was like none other.
It was 1978.
 

Unknown to me, Divine intervention was on the menu today.
 

I woke up and got my day going as I always had.
I was so excited thinking about this up coming week as I would finally head out tomorrow for my very first interview into the Dental field. I was to see a local DDS about an amazing new career I had applied for. I knew my life was about to change forever once I enter the working world and started this new job....I had to pass the interview though first.

 

So today,  I would spend my Sunday watching the children playing in the front yard. I would focus on family. Just enjoying my two boy's. The joy of life. Running here and running there. I was watching them yelling and laughing with one another without a care in the world. They were so adorable. Brothers loving each other and having a wonderful time. I sat watching them thinking with my new job coming up days like this may be few and far between, I knew I needed to take in the joys of Motherhood today with no other concerns on my mind. It will be hard to be away from the children but I need to help with mounting bills and accept the responsibilities of becoming a working parent.
I had sat watching them for a very long time.
 

So, I got up to pour myself another cup of coffee in the kitchen so I could sit a bit longer. Just then, I heard a loud sound outside and I turned back for a second to see a huge orange church bus go past the living room window. As it did I noticed the name on the bus in that instant, I got my coffee and came back to my chair in the living room to watch the boys outside and enjoy them for just a bit more before I started my Sunday chores.

 

I didn't see them in the front yard anymore. I thought to myself, they must have gone to the back yard. So I got up and went to the kitchen window and I looked outback. It was so quite.
Where were the those children?

I went back to the front window and looked out again.

That's strange, I thought, where the heck did they run off to so quickly, I was away from the window for two minutes literally.
I felt the boys were too young to leave the front yard without me and they knew to stay where I could see them at all times.
But where were they?

I threw my slippers on and went out front. I yelled to the boys, but they were no where in sight. My heart started pounding! GOD where are the children I thought? I walked around the house, I yelled for them again. Nothing!

Then as I stood there in the back yard fear gripped my heart!

Had they been taken on that bus? No way, how could something like that happen? No! That's crazy thinking. My boys would never get on a strange bus! I kept shouting for the boys. I walked to the end of the street, I didn't see them anywhere. I called for them over and over. I was really getting fearful and somewhat angry! With each shout, my mind ran faster and faster. My heart started pounding with fear! Would my boys have gotten on that bus? What bus driver would take two small boys without their parents consent?
Where the heck are they? GOD help me!

Why would a church bus take my boy's without a signed permission slip, this kept running through my mind? What kind of bus driver would let strange children get on his bus? What was the name on that bus again I thought to myself?

With that I ran into the house and grabbed my car keys, and off I went! I was so mad thinking how could someone pick up children they don't even know? Why would they do something like that?      I drove so fast I was shocked I wasn't pulled over by the police! I had tears in my eyes hoping I was going to the right place?

I was at the church in five minutes. I parked the car out front and ran up the stairs of the huge church and into the main hallway!

With that I yelled very loud in the hall, Jason & Joshua are you here?

I yelled again loudly as I headed for the first closed door. My anger was off the charts? I was so afraid something had happened to them! Please GOD let them be here!

A sweet beautiful blonde haired woman came out into the hall just then and said, May I help you? What's going on?

I said I think someone driving one of your buses took my children! My two young boys! Are they here?

She asked me how old they were, what they were wearing, and what area of town I lived in.

I told her they were 5 and 3 years old and we lived in the central city.

She smiled and said, "Oh yes, No problem, My name is Joann, I remember them, I drive that bus".  I did pick up 2 small boy's who were standing at the bus stop. They're so adorable, What are their names she said ,while she was still smiling at me?
 

What! What! I was so mad, I said to her, "How could you"?

What kind of an idiot are you? I was furious with this smiling woman, I yelled at her again and said, "why would you pick up two small boys you don't even know, that don't belong to your church, and ride them away from their home"? How could you do such a thing with such young boys? I told her, I was worried out of my mind! What's wrong with you lady? What kind of a church are you running here? I only left the window for two minutes to get coffee and they were gone! You should be ashamed of yourself! I was sick with worry! We have our own church! They weren't standing at your bus stop, they were just out of their front yard!

Thank GOD I saw your bus and knew where they may have been taken!

"Get my children for me NOW", I demanded in a very strong tone!
Other doors in the hallway were opening as others heard me yelling at this terrible woman! I found I had made a scene. Oh great I thought to myself! All I could think about was getting out of that church!

 

With that, the woman went and got Jason and Joshua and I grabbed their little hands and marched them off to the car.
The poor woman looked shocked!

It was then I realized I was out in public in my old brown nightgown and slippers! Oh my word!
No bra, no slip and for heavens sake you could almost see through this old nighty! E-Gad!

I hadn't even combed my long hair yet this morning, It must look like a rats nest! Oh my word, I thought to myself as I was walking towards the car, I must look and sound like a full blown witch to that lady!

I didn't care! I found my babies, that's all I cared about!

 

All the way home I reprimanded the boys for doing such a terrible  thing leaving home like that!

I explained how dangerous it was for them to get in a car or bus with strangers without Mommy and Daddy's permission.

I was crying with tears of joy that I had found my boys safe, but I was still so mad and afraid for them!
I thought I might send a letter to the Head of that church and report that crazy lady.

 

Once home we all settled into our normal routines after many hugs and kisses and my cold cup of coffee and enjoyed the rest of the day.

 

Monday finally came and off I went into the working world for my new career interview. I was so excited. I spent all morning getting ready for the big day. I wanted to have my best foot forward and look amazing for this job interview. I was so excited!

Off I went.

I entered the office and signed in and took my seat. I waited patiently for my turn. There were almost twelve other women waiting for an interview along with me. I was feeling as if my balloon of hope was deflating. How could I stand a chance getting this job with so many others also applying.

I thought to myself, well, it's in the LORDS hands. I'm not going to worry about it.

 

My name was finally called and I was escorted down a long hall and into a room to have another seat. I was told Mrs. Cheneville would be right in to speak with me.

So, I waited a bit more and then the door opened.

To my surprise there in front of me was that woman!

The woman whom I had screamed at in the hallway of the church! The woman who picked up my children! Who I had called an idiot!OH MY WORD!

She is the one doing my interview!
Oh No!

Oh, I'm never going to get this job, Oh, I wish I could run! This is a total disaster I thought to myself!

With that, she smiled so sweetly at me and said, Oh dear, you're the woman from yesterday with the boys from the bus!
Oh my!

"Yes", I said as I looked down towards the floor. I said in a very soft humbled voice , I'm so sorry for acting as I did, I was just so afraid!

She smiled and said, I was up all night feeling so bad about what I had done to that woman in the brown nightie. She said I thought your boys were a part of the church. They ran up to the bus as soon as it stopped and jumped on in and took a seat as if they always had done it. She said she hadn't had my area route for a while and wasn't sure who belonged on the bus or not actually. Then she apologized profusely to me.
 

We both laughed. She said, I came to see your point however. We will be much  more careful in the future with who we pick up for church!

With that she said, Oh and by the way, You're hired!

She said my resume was exactly what she had been looking for and since our encounter at the church she was sure I was the person for the job. She said, I know you'll do the right thing in any circumstance!

 

I spent the next 18 years in this career and rose to the top of my field. She became my closest and dearest friend even to this day.

You just can't make this stuff up.

Truth is always stranger than fiction!



The Fervent Prayers of Many

So, Yesterday I was in serious pain, after I sprained my ankle doing yard word. I had fallen over a tree stump in the yard and scraped my leg and ankle on the darn thing as I fell backwards onto my back and shoulder. Hard! My ankle instantly swelled to a huge nob! My neck was hurting and my thigh where I landed squarely on the tree stump. OUCH! I crawled along the grass into the house on my hands and knees and my son Jason helped me into a wheelchair he resurrected from the garage for me. My foot had swollen so large it literally felt as if it were going to explode. The bleeding areas were so swollen I actually wondered if the darn ankle was going to pop open? The pain was just so severe I could hardly believe a small sprain could present this much discomfort. I wondered if it might be more than a sprain? .

I immediately had Jason prepare the couch for me with pillows and blankets. We immediately elevated the leg. I was so grateful this hadn't happened to me while I was home alone! I can't imagine having to crawl from couch to freezer on my knees hurting this bad! Yikes, my prayers immediately went out to those who suffer something like this all alone! I felt so blessed to have Jason there with me. I was crying from the pain but not being alone was such a blessing!

I was crying as I tried to transfer from the wheelchair to the couch. Screaming actually.

Jason made an ice pack for me as I yelled where to find the zip lock bags and towel.

Putting the ice pack on this ankle was like torture to it.

I laid there trying to assess my situation.

I decided I was going to live! LOL. But it was going to be uncomfortable for a few days.

 

I had Jason prepare dinner with me yelling instructions from the couch. It was really hysterical actually. I found something funny about everything he did. Men in the kitchen! It's a trip.

 

Three hours passed with me on the couch and I needed to get up to head to the restroom. Jason got the old crutches from the garage and off I went screaming the entire way.

I thought to myself maybe I should head off to the Emergency Room?

 

I didn't want to go to the ER for an x-ray as I knew it would be painful somehow. Never the less

I had Kevin who was now home from work call my Humana plan to prepare me to go to the emergency room. It took me till about 9:00pm to submit to going for x-rays now as the pain was so severe I couldn't take it another second.  I thought I may have really fractured something.

Kevin made all the calls for me and I got my clearance from Humana and was preparing to go. But, then I became so sleepy,  It just came on me. It was like all the Advil I had taken just kicked in  all at once and I could not keep my eyes open.  I couldn't fathom getting up and heading to the ER. 

 

Just then I tried to move off the couch just a tad, and a horrific charley horse hit this already distraught foot of mine. I must have awoken the neighbors I screamed so loud.

Both Kevin and Jason almost started crying they were so afraid for me in my pain. I know I was scaring them but I was in pain. They wanted to help me but clearly couldn't. The charley horse travelled up my leg as I was screaming so loud it sounded like I was being murdered. I really did try to stop screaming, but the pain in this swollen foot was just off the charts.

The swelling was now throbbing along with the charley horse! 

 Kevin grabbed my whole leg and the warmth of his hands started to ease the pain of my leg from the charley horse and ankle. He pushed the toes on my left foot back slowly, the heat from his hand and the light pressure on my toes caused  the charley horse to ease up a bit.  I could breath again! I finally stopped screaming. I was so worn out after this experience I  asked to be wheeled into bed to lay down for a few moments.

Off to bed I went, so we elevated my leg once again with pillows. It really felt good to lay down.  The throbbing finally stopped all together. I decided I could not go to the ER now,  I was worn out from all the screaming. I'd have to wait till the morning, I really needed to sleep right now! 

 

 As I was falling asleep my son Jason yelled into me from his room, "Mom, I'm praying for you", and I smiled and yelled back to him, "Thank you!" I need it! Then I fell asleep.

 I woke up at 3:33am and I got up to go to the restroom. I was looking for the wheelchair and the crutches when I realized, my foot did not hurt at all!! It was completly fine! I walked in disbelief to the restroom by myself , no crutches, no wheel chair! I was  being careful not to wake anyone in the house. I was really amazed that I had no pain at all. I could feel that my ankle was still swollen but I could put all my weight on it! The foot was actually still very swollen, but I had NO PAIN!

 

I had posted this incident on Face book after it happened and so many people were praying for me. They had shared loving, kind thoughts and advise for me. I really appreciated it all. As I walked into the restroom  last night I realized the prayers of all the people had been heard! I was healed.

Jason's prayer had worked a miracle on me!

His words were the last words I heard as I fell off to sleep.

Miracles are still happening! We just have to believe. It took this silly accident to remind me of so many blessings I endure everyday. When we ask for prayer, we should expect a miracle.

I got mine last night!

I thank all those here for their part in their prayers for me.

I am blessed to have praying friends!

<3

The Cold Night

 

It was the fall of 1980. My family and I, two young sons and my husband had been downtown  at  Williams Park in St. Petersburg . We had been there all day for a concert I was singing in. It was a  Christian celebration to celebrate, worship and entertain with other local bands and do a little advertising for all the different Christian groups in the city that were available to the down trodden and  homeless in our city. We were passing out business cards for a study that met in our home on Tuesday nights. 

The day went as planned and was simply wonderful.

 

The weather was beautiful, the food was scrumptious and everyone had such a great time. We had invited a lot of people to our study and had some really interesting conversations with around 100 people that day.

 

As the sun set we all packed our stuff up from the band shell and headed home.

The night was uneventful. We enjoyed a nice simple dinner and headed to bed around 10.00 p.m.

 

I tucked the children in and prayed for protection through the night, a prayer similar to every nights prayers. After being downtown however I also prayed for the many people on the streets to be safe as well. All those people who didn't have clean, soft beds to sleep in. The children also prayed their fervent prayers for those less fortunate than us.

The prayer brought me to tears. The boys were so precious as they prayed for others to be protected from harm.

After kisses and hugs I turned out the lights and headed down the hall to my room.

Before we jumped into bed both my husband and I

checked the doors to make sure they were all locked, as was the every night routine and then we shut off all the lights throughout the house.

We did that without even thinking it was so common place.

Then we both jumped into bed.

I drifted off to sleep as did my husband in less than ten minutes as the day had worn us both out.

 

I woke up first the next morning. And as always in my normal everyday routine I headed for the kitchen to start the coffee.

The house however felt oddly cool.  I didn't think much of it. I thought maybe I would turn up the heat, but it was just a passing thought.

I then headed toward the living room to go out  front and get the  newspaper that is always on the sidewalk just out the front door.

But today I stopped dead in my tracks before I got to the front door.

 

The window curtains were lying on the floor and the wind was blowing the other curtains throughout the room.. My tall indoor palm tree was lying on it's side with all the dirt spread across the tile floor. There were shoe marks on my leather couch, in dirt! The window was open and the screen was sitting up against the wall  near the window but clearly bent badly.

I was cold standing there in my bare feet in this filthy room. 

I gasped.

Then as I stood there taking all this in I thought what is happening here? Have we been robbed?

Oh my GOD I thought next, The children!

 I then turned and ran into the children's bedroom and pushed the door open. I was afraid of what I might see but that didn't stop me.

I had to know what happened last night. Were my children safe?

Please GOD I thought, let them be safe!

As I opened the door I saw my two young son's sound asleep in their beds. Everything looked in place. Nothing was out of order.

Except the house was very cold!

I watched them for a moment as I tried to understand what had taken place in the house last night. I was so grateful to know the boy's were OK, it was all that mattered to me at that moment! 

So why was this mess in the living room?

What happened?

I heard nothing last night nor did my husband. We never woke up!

I'm really a light sleeper, how could this be?

 

I now woke my husband up and told him to hurry into the living room to see what I had discovered when I woke up.

He stood there in amazement that with all this mess we never heard anything last night.  We both just stood there in amazement. This  had to have made a lot of noise!

I went to call the police to report the break in.

 

When the police arrived, they asked us to check and see where my purse and my husbands wallet were. We checked. They were in plain sight both of them. My purse with cash and credit cards was sitting on the dining room table. Nothing missing from it. My husbands wallet with over $300.00 in cash was sitting on the top of his dresser along with his wedding ring.  Many other expensive items in the room were all accounted for.

 The doors in the living room had still been locked from the inside!

Our night visitor came in and went out the living room window.

But why? Who was it that came in this manner?

 They didn't rob us! They didn't harm us!

What was going on?

 

It was then I remembered the prayer the night before with the children. Asking GOD to protect us.

I saw the faces of the boy's praying with their eyes tightly closed and hands clasped in prayer.

Someone was clearly in the house. Finger prints were taken, the police report had been made, the police thought perhaps a rape was what the perpetrator was after?  Thank GOD that didn't happen either!

 

I know some day after this life is through and I am on the other side of the Veil, the LORD will run the tapes and show me what he protected us all from that cold night.

HE kept us all safe, just as we had prayed.

What was meant to be evil against us was turned into a blessing!

 

 

Extraterrestrial Awareness

So, it was 1979, I was on my way home from work late one night. I had left my place of employment at 2:00 a.m. I had about a 20 minute drive to St. Petersburg from Clearwater.  I was headed South on 28th Street North as I was nearing 34th Avenue where I would make my left into my neighborhood. As I was approaching this intersection I could see just past my left turn, straight ahead of me, something hovering over the railroad tracks.

I had no idea what it was. It was certainly not a train of any sort I thought as I approached it, as it was too high off the track and I could see clearly underneath it. What was that I thought out loud?

I was just under 200 feet from the craft now.

I slowed the car down as I passed my turn into the neighborhood and drove closer to the railroad tracks.

I remember the car now just shutting off as if I had turned the key off, but I never touched the key, my hands were still on the steering wheel!

I thought to myself, "Wow, that's odd", but before I could finish much of that thought I looked up through my cars window shield and saw the most amazing, beautiful object. 

This was like a living machine. It was stunning. It looked like one singular piece of metal that shown in the moonlight with a pewter like silver glow. It had a white blue light running along the center of it ever so slowly. It spread out over both lanes of the road, I found out later it was 42 feet in length and about 5 feet high. The blue light on the middle of the craft was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was a soft white pulsating blue glow. It was beautiful! The  craft was hovered, yet silent. No noise at all, no exhaust or emission of any kind. No steam either, how odd I thought. How can it do that?

I thought to myself, I have must have had an accident? Am I dreaming? Did I die? How can this be hovered over the railroad track? I don't believe in other worldly flying saucers. I have always thought they were comic book entertainment. I actually slapped my face hard on both sides to make sure I hadn't crashed and died!

No I felt that slap! Both times. I'm sitting here in the middle of 28th Street North staring south at something I don't believe in that is hovered over the railroad tracks! I was shocked! Truly dumbfounded in every sense of the word.

I was in awe of this amazing sight before my eyes.

I said to myself "whatever you do Teri, DON'T get out of the car!

And just as soon as I said that, I reached for the handle to let myself out of the car!

I started to call on GOD, "what is that GOD"?

How can this be happening to me? I remember saying "LORD, where do I file this in my mind"? How is this real?

Once out of the car I  stood firm holding tightly onto the open door jam of my little Honda Civic. I was truly white knuckle holding on tight to that door jam. I looked to my right and to my left, I looked behind me, there was no one anywhere. Not a sound either, No other cars anywhere. Where was every body? Then I thought to myself, of course no one is out here, it's 2:30 in the morning by now. I'm here all alone! But isn't anyone else around here awake?

Am I the only one seeing this?

 

I couldn't hear the noise of the city. Everything was perfectly still, as if I were in some protected bubble. Somehow I could see clearly even though it was dark out? Not even the slightest breeze could I see or feel. I could see the lights from businesses down the street and the light kept going from green to red on the corner of 28th Street and 30th Avenue, but there were no sounds. It was surreal.

I continued to stare at the craft hovering over the train tracks.

It was a mesmerizingly beautiful sight. Like nothing I had ever seen or imagined.

I thought to myself, "if GOD has allowed me to see this amazing sight here tonight there must be a reason for it. HE is showing me  there is a lot more to HIS story than what I currently know"!

I felt safe, and calm for some reason but  I was extremely curious.

 

All of a sudden after what seemed like only a few seconds I saw a huge blue white light shining towards me from my far right. It was the same sort of light that was circling the craft in front of me. 

 I looked into the light and saw a figure standing in the light. It had a huge head and was very thin and tall. It appeared to be whitish. The white blue light shown almost through it, which I thought was really odd. The being was very ugly and I remember looking away from it, thinking Oh GOD, you have to be kidding me, what the hell is that?  I seriously was shocked at this point as I tried to look away from the being. It was very creepy. Like nothing I had ever seen before. But somehow I was not completely afraid. I know that seems hard to believe, but I believe I was in denial a bit at what I was actually seeing. I know I didn't want to look straight at it because it was so ugly and different from anything I had ever seen. It had two of the biggest eyes I had ever seen on any creature in my life. But I wasn't afraid to the point of running. I felt I was again, somehow safe. Like this being was actually calming me somehow. I have no clue how however!

 

I remember looking down at the pavement to take my eyes off this being for a moment and I saw that I was standing on the road just in front of my car now. How did I get here? When did I let go of the car door jam?  I thought to myself, well, I'm certainly not going over there near that thing! And just as I said that, I saw my feet floating towards the creature in the blue light. I was not walking on the pavement, I was moving closer to the grass where the light and the creature were.  I could barely feel my feet, they seemed very heavy!

  

(I don't remember much after that until 32 years later, when I had a regression therapy with my then friend "Kathleen Marden". What I remembered in the regression session came to me over the period of her walking me through the process four different times).  Remembrance came slowly and unraveled a bit more with each visit. I was so grateful. I wanted to understand what happened to me that night. I just wanted to understand!

 

What I remembered with her expert help was being on the craft. In a small, very softly lit room of all white. No seams in the room I noticed, just a soft white glow with a table that I was lying on. The walls seemed to be the light in the room, the whole wall! It was like nothing I ever saw before. The room felt sterile but small. I lifted up my head from the table and saw my legs stretched out in front of me  and my sandals still on my feet. I am 5' 71/2" and I really felt somewhat cramped. I saw my uniform from my job still on me. I saw two different small creatures near my ankles. One on each side. The one on the left side was touching my ankle. I was very concerned! I don't know how I got in here? What are these things in here with me I was thinking? They were not the same as the one I had seen outside this room in the light. But the tall white creature was near my right shoulder and looking down on me. I looked up at it and noticed there was no nose or mouth. Just small slits like. The eyes were dominant. The skin was puffed but smooth and white. He (and I say he, because the voice seemed male), had no ears or hair on his body. He looked at me and said to me through his eyes, which I later found out was mental telepathy,

"We will not hurt you.  We will not take you".

It was just very matter of fact!

I immediately thought to myself "take me where"?

That was all I remember hearing audibly.

 

The next thing I remembered, I was again in front of my car. Just standing there. Alone in the middle of the street again. I looked around behind me and to both sides. My car door was still wide open. There was still no one else around. The light to my right was now gone. The craft I had seen earlier was still hovered over the railroad tracks in the exact same place it was before. I don't know how long I stood there staring at it, but all of a sudden it flipped vertically 90 degrees to it's right side. And now I beheld it vertically. It happened so fast I don't even recall seeing it flip. It instantaneously just flipped. I watched it there in the vertical position for a few minutes. I'm just not sure how long. Then I said something out loud that shocked me! I said "Please don't leave me here"! Please, don't go! I actually was begging this craft to stay! I thought to myself, what the heck am I saying here? Why am I saying that? That makes no sense at all.

And then I said it all again!

With that the craft took off at an incredible rate of speed towards the south and again came to a dead stop about 500 feet up in the air above me. I could still see the craft clearly. It was still in the vertical position with the belly of the craft to the left side.

All of a sudden, as if this experience weren't enough, I saw a huge ball of fire exit the belly of the craft and pulsate there next to the craft for a few minutes. Again I don't know how long it stayed there with the craft. I wondered what the fireball was going to do?

Again, I yelled out,

Please don't leave me here! Come back! Don't leave me!

Then, all of a sudden the craft and the fireball took off instantly at the same time at an incredible rate of speed to the west, towards the Gulf of Mexico.

I stood all alone now in the dark in the middle of the street and looked up in the sky saying "please, please come back".

 

I was so very confused by all this. I walked around for a minute or two in the center of the road. I had to try to wrap my mind around all this. What just happened here? Why? I had to talk to someone. I had to tell someone who knew and loved me. I needed to feel safe sharing this amazing experience. I decided right there and then that I would drive over to my Mom's and tell her what had just happened. So I got into my car and headed north back down 28th street to 50th Avenue North, where she lived. It was only about a minutes trip to her house from mine. I knocked on her door and her husband came to the door and said, "Teri, what are you doing here at this time in the morning"? I said, "Marty, Please, I just have to talk to my Mom, He said, "do you know what time it is"? I said, yes, I do, he said, it's 4:00 a.m. in the morning Teri, your mother is sleeping! (I laughed as he said this because I thought to myself, this nut thinks it's 4:00 a.m. in the morning, but it's only around 2:45 a.m. I thought to myself  because I was just was coming home from work, so it can't possibly be 4:00 a.m.) So I said to him again, "please Marty, can you wake her up, I really need to speak to her"?

I had no idea I had just experienced missing time. I didn't know there was such a thing as missing time, so how could it have made any sense to me? I thought Marty was mistaken when he told me what time it actually was.

Just then I saw my Mom come around the corner tying her robe belt and she said, "Marty, who is it there?  He replied to her, it's Teri, and my Mom said well for heavens sake Mart, let her in! I apologized to my Mom and Marty and said "I'm so sorry to come over so late at night, but I have just experienced something so bizarre I don't know what to think about it and I had to talk to someone who knows and loves me.

I relayed the entire night to her at that point.

And she listened quietly. She never questioned or interrupted me.

After I had finished explaining it all as it had happened, she looked me right in the eyes and said calmly and softly,

"Teri, don't worry about this, I have seen them too"!

I was beyond shocked when she said that!

 

There is so much more to this experience. But this is all I will share here. We are truly NOT alone on this planet. And again I will say,

Truth is stranger than any fiction!

WE ARE NOT ALONE!

~

 

Connecting After Death

 

It was 2001, I was at home in my living room and reading the local news paper. The St. Petersburg Times.

I was just paging quickly through and then something strange happened.

Some unseen hands held my face and turned my head to the right. I felt the hands holding my head and I didn't resist them. It was so odd feeling it made me focus on what was transpiring. These gentle hands moved my head into a position and then stopped. I was unable to change the position. But I really didn't want to. I was wondering what was happening. I wasn't afraid, but it was certainly odd. This had never happened before to me.

Then as if to reach inside my head, the hands took hold of my eyes and caused me to move them to the center of the page and then to the inside column. It was completely bizarre.

I had been manipulated to look at a vey specific point on the page I was now looking at.

I started to focus on the notice I found myself reading that I had been directed to, and to my surprise and utter amazement, I began to absorb what it was I was reading.

These hands that held my head and directed me to this particular point on the page had led me to an obituary. It was more than surreal. It was miraculous!

I gasped as I read the name of one of my dearest and oldest friends who  had just passed away. I read that she had been killed on 49th Street not far from where I lived. I read that she was the victim of a careless driver that was on her laptop in her car while driving. The woman who killed my friend was a real estate person speeding through a red light while on her computer and T-boned my friends van, causing it to roll several times and in the process my friend broke her neck.

My friend was on her way back home from picking up food from a "Hope Kitchen" to serve unfortunate families with children and also bring them gifts.

 She had just picked up the food for the children and was on her way back home to get things ready.

 

I was shocked. I was in disbelief, and then I heard her voice speak to me as if she were standing right there in the room. I heard her say in the most reassuring tone, "It's O.K. Teri, don't worry for me. I'm fine, I'm happy, I'm home".

She said it so softly and I could feel her right there with me.

The bond of deep friendship we had in this life has carried over to the next.

 

My friend and I went to the same church 25 years earlier and were close and special friends. She was different. We had a certain connection. We were like family instantly when we met and respected one another deeply.

 

I was at her house one year in the 90's during a horrible storm to check on her while she was pregnant and alone. I was getting ready to leave after a day of visiting and something told me to stay a bit longer, so I did. She began to go into labor right after I had decided to stay. I will never forget it. She was so grateful I stayed.

 It was I who delivered her baby that night. Just she and I in the house. The storm that came that night was so strong it prevented the mid wife getting to her from over the bridge in Tampa. I had been sent there that day to visit and to be with her to help her deliver her daughter that night.

I had never delivered a baby before. But it all came to me as I assisted her and it was all so natural.

 

 I believe she wanted me to know she had passed on.

It occurred to me that I was led to sit down and read the paper that day. I never really read the newspaper much back then. I was always a "Live News at 6:00 pm", with dinner kind of girl so I didn't bother reading the paper that much.

 

This was special and she wanted me to know she was now gone.

 

I called her husband and confirmed all I had read. I shared with him how this all happened and what I had heard. He said she had been saying she wanted to get in touch with me just a week before the accident.

She kept that promise.

I believe the true friends we make here will be our friends throughout eternity.

See you again sweet Jay!

The Miraculous Trip

 

It was 1968. My oldest sister was living in Gainesville Florida while managing a department store there.

I was there checking out the college and looking for work along with her. We were room mates for the time being. It was wonderful. She came home one evening to tell me she had been transferred to Tampa Florida and had already begun the transition to Tampa.

 

I decided to head back to St. Petersburg, looks like the sister time was going to end abruptly. The trip from Gainesville to St. Petersburg is about 170 miles. So, I mentally prepared myself for the move. 

My sister had already packed up her belongings and headed to Tampa the week before I left.

I stayed in the apartment for a week or so while she got things together in Tampa.

It was late the night I gathered my belongings, closed up the apartment and headed out to Interstate 75 heading South.

 

I had no money in my wallet and I glanced down at the gas tank and noticed I was on empty.

I thought to myself, this isn't good. I'm already 20 miles down the road and I just now check for gas? What am I doing?

I guess with all the things going on with moving and packing I forgot to check the most important thing, the gas tank!

So, I started to pray!

I wasn't "good " at praying. I didn't do it much in those days, but I thought I'd give it a try tonight. I was alone, I was afraid, and I needed help! There were not many cars on the highway. I felt so alone. I was fearful of running out of gas and being stuck alone on the side of the road in the dark. But I kept praying, "PLEASE, if you're up there GOD, PLEASE help me now".

 

I wondered with each exit I passed if this would be the one I should pull into and call for help? I kept thinking, But I've prayed, I've asked for help so maybe GOD will come through for me, maybe I should just have a little faith? Wouldn't pulling over mean giving up? I didn't know for sure how "HE" would take me serious if I stopped the car. I Just decided I  wouldn't doubt, so I kept on driving, it was a long, lonely drive.

Please GOD get me home!

I remember thinking I hope HE hears me. I hope HE knows how afraid I am! The miles kept passing, the exits were going by one by one and my trusty Dodge Dart just kept plugging along. It hadn't even sputtered or missed a beat.

The trip took so long though. I didn't remember it taking so long before coming into Gainesville. Why was going back  home taking so long?

I passed so many exit's. It seemed like forever!

The moon was full and it was just beautiful. It made such an impression on me that night. I kept looking up at it as I drove! It comforted me because it was so bright it was almost surreal. Like a big comforting spot light in the night sky.

I must admit though, I still did feel a bit nervous wondering

when I would finally get close to home. I felt as if the night were almost magical. I had cried on and off  wondering how my car was still flying down the road on empty! This was just miraculous! How could I have gotten this far? Why hadn't I run out of gas yet? It truly was a miracle.

I couldn't remember when the last time was I had put gas in that tank? I thought it had been awhile.

I tried to remember going over and over it again in my mind, as I kept on flying down the road but it seemed like it had been a week or so before I left Gainesville.

How was this possible?

 

It was now about twelve midnight.  I'd been on the road for over an hour. My gas tank still read "EMPTY".  I had never had a problem with my gas meter before. It wasn't a mistake. I was on empty! I was clearly in a conundrum here.  I kept staring at it thanking GOD for getting me this far! I started singing little songs to HIM and blessing HIM for keeping me safe. I laughed and felt really stupid. I kept talking to HIM as if HE were right there in the car with me.  Over an hour had past.

Finally I saw the sign to exit for Tampa ahead. I was so relieved! Finally a sign I actually recognized. I hadn't travelled the state that much. And hardly ever alone, so I really didn't know where I was. I only recognized the cities closer to my home. I felt a bit safer just seeing that Tampa sign. But I wasn't safe yet! Driving at night just made everything a bit more challenging as well.

I was so sick of all the advertisements I had seen all along the way thus far. Peanuts for sale, Gas stations and Motels, stop here, go there, all the beaches had advertised and Gator Land, and Coco Beach? It was so far away I thought, why advertise way over here?   Ron Jon surf shop, Geeze, they just never stopped. They were all just cluttering the highway back in those days, it was like a color assault! Signs were everywhere. I hadn't ever noticed that until this night!  And all the cob webs covering all the signs I could see from the lights surrounding them  made me extra fearful, had I gotten stranded, I wondered if the bugs would eat me alive before someone came for help!

 

I was now entering into the city of Tampa. All the bright lights made me feel safe somehow.

I found myself driving over the Gandy Bridge and then into my city! I could hardly believe my eyes! I was so close to my Mom's home.

I kept thinking, if worse came to worse I could almost walk home from here. I was so relieved.

(It would have been a really long walk).

I only had to stop at a few lights. I was getting closer, closer, Please GOD get me home I prayed!

Then that magical moment. I pulled into my Mom's driveway after being on the long road home and you cannot imagine what happened next. Before I had a chance to shut the engine off, the car simply sputtered several times and shut off itself!

I was out of GAS!

You ask me If I believe in GOD? My answer, Oh YES!

I believe in GOD and I also believe in Miracles!

This is one of them!

 

Joshua's Healing

 

It was 1975. I had just had my son Joshua. He was so fragile. I was told by the staff at the hospital that he had a membrane issue in his lungs and he needed to be in an incubator immediately. I was confused? He was named by GOD, literally, and now he was ill? I was really confused about the health issue he was experiencing. I trusted the doctors in the hospital. I agreed to let him stay in the incubator. I asked many times if I could hold him. The doctors said "Oh no, he has to be kept alone" in the incubator to heal.

I watched him lay there, all hooked up to monitors and lines going in him and lights burning his little tender skin. He lay naked in the incubator. It was really hard to watch. I continued to trust the doctors. On the 5th day I sat and watched him. He looked more and more frail and unhealthy. I asked to hold him, the doctors said  "Oh no" he is to sick. Then I was sent home from the hospital, My Insurance was not going to pay for my extended stay. Only Joshua's. I went home without my little bundle of joy! I asked if perhaps I could hold him before I left, The doctors said "NO". It was a very hard thing to do to leave him in this huge institution alone and in a small acrylic hot box. I went down to the car and looked back at this huge building. Sirens were blowing, lights flashing as the emergency entrance lit up with another sadness for another family. I drove away in tears.

I was home for two day's. I had visited the hospital every day as they would allow me. I came crying and left crying.

 

On the eight day I got a call from the hospital, saying Joshua was dying. He was not expected to make through the night. I panicked.

I ran to the hospital and said to the doctors, "Let me hold my baby"! they said ", no,once again". He was to ill. I said to them, well, If he's going to die anyway, what difference does it make if I hold him? The doctors were pretty adamant about me not having contact with him. I was very upset! The doctors left. I pleaded with serious tears to the charge nurse to let me hold him. I would say nothing to the doctors.

 PLEASE, He is mine! Let me hold my son or I will demand his release now!

She had tears in her own eye's. She wrapped him in a tiny blanket and handed this small frail baby to me. She said to me, "Just for a bit" O.K., I said YES! Then I held him while my tears just flowed. I held and kissed the little tender cheeks of my son. I told him how much I loved him. I asked him to hold on and be strong. I told him he was named by GOD and he should look for GOD'S help to recover. I held him up to the sky and said "LORD, if it is your will to take him home, I accept your will for us, BUT, if it is not your will, please, heal this child you gave to me! I kissed him and sang to him. I whispered how I loved him over and over in his ear.  The nurse came back in the room. She said I should put him back in the incubator. I did not want to let him go. But I reluctantly kept promise to her.

 

The next morning I was getting ready to go to the hospital. I had hardly slept. My heart was so heavy. I had HOPE however that GOD would hear my prayer. I knelt at the side of my bed and prayed with my husband that Joshua would recover.

Just as we were praying the phone rang. It was the hospital, It was the main doctor in charge. He said,

 "this is hard to say to you, I want you to know something happened here last night with your son".

His signs all took a turn for the better and through the night he has gotten better and better. Today he is like another boy, he is showing significant improvement. If this continues throughout the day, you may be able to take him home this afternoon.  He is showing all sings of a healthy newborn.

I was smiling from ear to ear. I knew GOD had heard that prayer and healed Joshua. Holding him made all the difference. I went straight away to the hospital. There were several doctors in the room with the incubator. Each one looking puzzled. But positive.

The main doctor came to me and said, I see no reason why you can't take him home now.

With that I unpacked his little white and blue knitted outfit I gotten him, gave it to the nurse. She dressed him and moved him to a little rolling acrylic bed, just like all the other babies in the ward had.

 

That evening, Joshua came home with me from the hospital.

I looked back again at that huge institution, I saw the emergency room lights as I did once before. I wondered why this odd circle of life and peril continued in the world. 

I saw the nurse that let me hold my son. We briefly made eye contact. She looked away, but had a smile on her face as she nodded and walked on.

I kissed my boy and got in the car. We drove home singing to Joshua and kissing him all over his tiny face.  

The LORD gives and takes away.

Today HE gave.

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!