A Battle Won

So, it was the summer of 1977. I was in my first home in Florida .
I had been praying and asking the LORD to speak to me as how I could serve HIM.  I was the Mother of two young boys which was a full time job and yet I wanted to do more, If I could.

I had been helping a young mother and her 3 children rehabilitate their lives and finally there was relief after a year, so I felt I was ready for what was next to come.

While speaking that day with Hilary, (the woman I was helping with her children) she shared, she had a sister that was pregnant from a one night stand a few months earlier with a co-worker, and was heading off to an abortion clinic the next day to terminate the baby. Hilary knew I didn't believe in abortions. 

When I heard of this I asked her to please let me speak to her sister before she went for the abortion! She said her sister was the sort of girl who was very head strong and she didn't think she would welcome me or my thoughts. I said OK, but just let me try, Please!

She called her sister, Jennifer, and said she had someone who had been helping her and her kids for the last year, and wondered if she would allow her friend "Teri" to talk to her. Jennifer said,

"no way, I don't need anybody or their pressures on me now at this time"!

She told Hilary she wanted to end the pregnancy and get on with her life. She said this was just a momentary set back, embarrassing and unwanted, it was just unfortunate and she was going to ask the "one night stand guy at work, Brian", to help with the money for the abortion. 

Hilary asked her to "just come and pick me up at Teri's" the next day so she could go with her to get the abortion. Hilary was still staying in my home at that time with her 3 children, so she gave Jennifer my address and said she would see her in the morning.
I was babysitting Hilary's girls for her as they went to the clinic together.

The next day when Jennifer arrived to pick up Hilary, Hilary waited for Jennifer to come to the door. I had asked her to do this so I could meet Jennifer and possibly speak with her.
I was committed to helping her change her mind about the abortion!

The plan worked, and Jennifer made her way to the front door.

I asked her in and told her Hilary was getting ready.

As I spoke to Jennifer alone, I felt the LORD say to me audibly and very clearly, "help her change her mind". With that I knew now what I needed to do. I spoke to Jennifer and told her that I was willing to pay for all hospital and doctor bills for the birth of this baby and also allow her to move into my home so I could help her save money to begin her new life once the baby was born, no strings attached, she could move on with her life, and keep all her money! I also told her I would fully support her, food, clothes and all as well as find a home for her baby if she did not want it.

Jennifer thanked me and said she didn't think so. I could see her tears, but she was determined to abort. She said she didn't want to be a mother! She had spoken to "Brian" and he was going to give her the money for the abortion. He agreed he didn't want anyone to know about the baby at work and he was willing to help her "deal with it".  He was meeting them at the clinic later to pay for the surgery.

With that, Jennifer and Hilary walked out the door and headed to the clinic.

I fell on my face before the LORD as soon as I closed the front door, and cried out to GOD! I said "LORD, hear me now! I did all I could for that child, everything humanly possible to save it, but I ask again to change her mind, just miraculously change her mind"! It was no small prayer"! I was shocked that as I cried out I felt this was a baby boy I was fighting for! Being the Mother of two young boys I could not bear the thought of murdering a baby boy!

I knew Jennifer was desperate, I understood her pain, but still I wanted to change her thinking. I was not judging her, I only wanted to save the life of this child!
 

That night, Jennifer and Hilary ended up back at my home. Jennifer had not had the abortion! She said my offer caused her to rethink the whole thing! She said someone at the clinic showed her what abortion looked like in a pamphlet, and it scared her!  So, she moved into my back bedroom in my small home and we were on! She had some Insurance from work we found she could utilize for a pregnancy. This was a huge blessing for me! I thought I was going to have to put a second mortgage on my home!  She remained with me for three months. Brian, "the one night stand" from work, began changing his mind about Jennifer the longer she was pregnant with his child and they actually started dating! That was a shock! Jennifer and I began praying together every day. He asked her to move into his apartment with him, and she gladly accepted this!

WOW, now she was 6 months pregnant, and there was talk of marriage! I was so blessed I could only shout "Thank GOD" over and over again. This was the MIRACLE I had hoped for!

The rest of the story is so beautiful, three months later Jennifer and Brian welcomed a new baby BOY, they named Bradley, into their lives. I still cry when I think of what might have happened to him!

I am so grateful, I went out on a limb for Bradley and GOD showed me PRAYER works!

There is so many more miraculous things that happened in this story but this is all I will share here.

Truth is stranger than fiction, and believe me,

Prayer does really work! 



The Picture

So, It was 2009, it was a beautiful day in June that my Mother took her last breath on this planet after much suffering.

You can never be ready for that moment really. It's very strange on many levels. Wonderful for the deceased as they move on and leave the pain of this life behind, and horrible for those left behind. I didn't cry for months, it was so odd for me.

I was actually that happy for her.
 

My Mother and I were very close and had been through many changes together. Very hard changes in this life many will never know.

Everybody deals with death in their own way. There is no right or wrong. I was a bit shocked at how I was feeling through the changes I was going through. I always thought it would be different.
 

So, as the day approached that the family would all gather in her hometown of Franklin NC, to lay her to rest, there were many preparations to be done. The sale of her home, the Funeral home,  the local church where her service would be held, and then the graveside service in the graveyard.

It's crazy the amount of energy you have to muster to do these things at a time like that.

All my siblings had flown in and were there which made it comforting for all of us! We were all so relieved my Mother was no longer suffering. It was truly a blessing.
 

The Church service was to be held at her regularly attended Catholic Church in town, This was such a wonderful gesture for so many of her church friends to come together to serve her one last time with a wonderful dinner.  I was so happy to see so many gather to say goodbye to her, it was very well attended.

The church was packed by the time the service began, which was a wonderful comfort to me. Knowing she was loved by so many in the city. She never retired, she always did volunteer work for hospice even though she herself were dying for so many years. Not to many had any idea of it! She was never one to complain.  
 

As we entered the church her picture was at the front on a grand little table along with her prayer book and her Urn.

We all filed in and sat silently awaiting for the priest to begin the service.

I so wanted this to be over as it was hard to sit there for me for some unknown reason.

The whole family was all seated in the front row at the church. There were many of us, and I was just to the right of the little table and could see it very clearly.
 

I felt my Mom close by and wondered if she truly was there, or if it were just "the moment" and me wanting to feel her there?

This priest we were waiting for as we all sat quietly was a Chinese priest who only knew my Mother briefly.

He finally came out a bit late and was on a platform just above my Mothers little table with her picture and Urn on it, which was even  on the floor to where we were all sitting.

As he began speaking, his accent was so hard to understand the whole family were trying to hide our laughing under our breath as he was mispronouncing her name so badly. We could only understand every other word or so he spoke.

I mean it wasn't even close the pronunciation of her name! Can you imagine! A time like this and the priest gets the name wrong because of his accent? Oh boy, I thought. How unfortunate this is. If my Mom were here she would probably correct him! She was a strong, loving woman, but very firm! Things were to be done right!
 

All of a sudden after thinking that thought, her picture that was standing on the little table, threw itself into the isle right up near our feet! We all gasped as this happened. One sister cried out loud! It so shocked her. I thought to myself, 'Mom, you are here"!
There was NO WAY that this could have happened except that it was truly a paranormal act!

I thought to myself this is you Mom, saying correct the priest already!

So I did. I said to the priest, excuse me sir, "you are mispronouncing our dear mothers name"!
He said well, she didn't have to make such a scene, and then he laughed! My brother picked up the picture and set it back on the table. It had not broken, which I took for her not being mad, but being firm to correct the priest!

So, with that the priest corrected himself somewhat and continued the sermon. It was beautiful, short and sweet.
 

It was such a comfort to me to have my Moms picture fly off the table as it did. You see, that was just like her and she could see us all laughing. She would never have allowed any of us to be laughing at church at such as time as this. It just was disrespectful!

Yes, this actually brought me comfort. It's one of the reasons it took me so long to cry at her loss.
I was wondering how long I would feel her presence. It was on and off for awhile following the burial. It did finally dwindle some within the year, but to this day I still feel her strongly. I speak with her in my dreams. But I am well aware she is dead and gone and at peace. I believe the Lord allows this type of happening once in awhile.

And as usual I will say, Truth is always so much 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 Key

So, here we go again. It's April, 2016. It's only been a few days since our last key experience. And the key thief is at it again. You can't make this stuff up. It's simply ridiculous how keys in this home simply disappear!

When we purchased the home in March of 2016, (last month) we were handed a ring of at least ten keys at the closing. I laughed and shared with my fiancé, these people have a real "key issue" here!

I thought nothing about it after that. They were such an awesome couple. I figured they just wanted a lot of keys?

Well, this week has been my second visit to the key maker thus far!

I can hardly believe that with all the keys given to us I have had to make 3 more house keys already! If you haven't read the

"Key Thief"  in my blog, you should, as that was last weeks post!

 

So, yesterday I asked my son if he would please go to the mailbox to get the mail? I'm still busy painting and unpacking this new home. It's only less than a block away to get the mail from the box. He said he was glad to get the mail for me and off he went.

About four minutes later he came back with the mail and the mail key, which is on it's own key holder and he plopped the mail and key down and said politely with a smile, here's your mail Mom.

Off he went to his room and I grabbed the key chain and put it back on my purse key holder.

That was the last time I saw the mail key!

 

I didn't realize then but the next day when I went to get the mail the key was gone! Just disappeared! It was not on my Key fob.

We have turned the house upside down for hours looking for the key! It's not here! Where can it be? How is it missing from my purse when we are the only ones here all day?

I called my fiancé at work immediately and asked him if he had taken my key to get the mail and didn't tell me about it? He said, "no", I have my mail key here with me on my chain!

I explained we are again missing a key! This is getting old I thought! I'm out $15.00 dollars from the last three keys I had made and now I'm getting mad. (I know I didn't have to spend that much on keys but I had to have the fancy ones!)

So, off I go again to the key kiosk to get another key made! Funny thing is I went to the same one I went to before but this time they didn't have the size key for my mail box I needed. I was so bummed out by that. This means I'm on the hunt for the right size key now. I'm so frustrated by this key caper I'm ready to cry.

As we were leaving the store my fiancé noticed a little box by the front door of the store. It was an automated keymaker box! Shocked to see that there, as I had never noticed it before, I looked into the keys offered and there it was! My size key! We had one made to my amazement in under two minutes and off we went towards home. I couldn't wait to get to the mail box to try it out!

It worked!

I have my key again.

Where the original brass key went, I have no idea.

How it got out of my purse is a mystery to me!

I rebuked the energy that steals key's and were moving on with our lives. It's so strange this issue we have had. I'm praying I don't have to deal with the key thief again!

It's those little things that make you mad at the drop of a hat. I guess the LORD is teaching me to handle these capers a bit better!

I'd still like to know how they disappear though? That will be a lesson for another day I'm sure!

A Young Perspective

I lived in St. Petersburg Florida as a young girl going to school.  

I was attending Azalea Elementary at the time I experienced this very strange happening.

 

I remember many odd things happening to me at a very young age. Most were extremely bizarre as I look back at them now. At the time, I didn't know what bizarre meant. I also didn't know that it was happening to me and not everyone else! I thought everyone had these "incidences" happening to them. So I believed it was normal. It was certainly normal to me! I found it strange that no one ever mentioned anything to me about them  having odd experiences however. I always waited for someone to say something first. I thought, sooner or later someone will share something with me, then I will share what happened to me. That day wouldn't come for many years.

 

So, I was in the 5th grade and walking home from school one day, I lived farther than most of the other children from school so I was alone, as usual, for about nine or so blocks on my trek home everyday. 

While heading home alone on this day,

I heard a mans voice call my name?

I clearly heard it, right in my left ear, "Teri". It seemed as if he were right behind me, and extremely close. His voice seemed real friendly, definitely a mans voice, and he seemed older, like maybe he was someone who knew me,

so I wasn't alarmed at all.

I stopped walking, and looked around. I didn't see anybody behind me. I fully expected to see a man standing there, someone I knew because the voice seemed friendly, but there was no one in sight.

I wondered why I had heard my name called? It didn't make any sense. I walked toward home many times after school alone and never heard anyone call my name before. "Nobody around here even knows me", I thought to myself. Oh well, I thought, It didn't seem to alarm me at all. There was no friendly man anywhere so I just kept on walking,

I didn't get much further down the sidewalk and I hear the voice call to me again. Same voice, "Teri" clearly in my left ear! But again I saw no one! And again, I wasn't really startled, I don't know why I wasn't afraid. It somehow seemed like a friendly voice.

When I stopped again this time, I was next to a big green bush I passed everyday walking home. I remember this so clearly and completely, as I always stopped here to smell the leaves on this particular bush.  (I would crack the leaves in half and smell the wonderful fresh fragrance of the plant. I just loved the fresh, clean scent. I would always grab a few to crack and smell as I walked home. I don't know why I did this, I just always did).

As I stood there smelling the leave I had just cracked open, I kept looking around. Where was that mans voice coming from? I looked in the yard beyond the green bush, no one was there. I looked across the street, no one was there either. No one behind me, but the voice sounded as if it were in my ear. So close. Just then a car drove by and I remember thinking, everything is OK, there is no one here, so I kept walking again. This time though I remember thinking "where is this voice coming from"?

Then I heard the voice again, It clearly said, "Teri" a third time!  It then continued, "are you going to be a good girl or a bad girl"? Well that was a silly question I thought to myself and

I said right out loud as I continued walking down the sidewalk, "Oh, I'm going to be a good girl", (very matter of fact, I said this as if it were an actual well known fact)! and I kept on walking towards home. I didn't even stop to answer. I just kept on walking.

I have literally wondered about this incident all my life!

WHY would a voice I could not see poise this question to me on my walk home from school in broad daylight?

While I was just a child?

I had answered as if I were talking to the "Man or Person" asking me this question, but I was very sure there was no one there. I know I never saw anyone! I had simply heard a voice.

I never told my Mom about this, and I'm not sure why.

It was just another strange incident in my life that never really made any sense to me. I often kept these odd happenings to myself. I will never understand why I didn't confide in my Mom. That has never made any sense to me. It's as if these odd things would happen and I would simply ignore them.

They became so common place.

  

 Maybe you have had this sort of odd thing happen to you?

I guess I could say I've always known I would be "Good".

It was in my heart to be good from an early age, I don't understand why I knew this, but I did. I remember other strange affirmations of this, and on this day in my life I spoke that into the universe very matter of fact! 

Life is clearly not as it appears to be. Seems we have choices to make in this life that we are aware of at a very young age. There are many things that happen to us along our path from birth to death that we may never truly understand. This was one of them for me.

The Bridge

The New Bridge

The Old Bridge

 

On May 9, 1980, tragedy struck Tampa Bay when a 600-ft cargo ship struck the Sunshine Skyway Bridge  causing a segment of the bridge to collapse.   Seven cars and a Greyhound bus fell over the edge and 35 people died. 

So, it was the winter of 1980, The bridge tragedy had everyone in St. Petersburg Florida so afraid of crossing bridges we all were ready to forget ever going over one again.

I had a boyfriend named Lawrence at that time and he was working construction on the repair of the bridge.

Lawrence was dating me and another young lady in town and was really having a hard time deciding between the two of us.

I wasn't as serious about him as he was about me, but we were young and I felt I had plenty of time to figure out which direction my future would go. I just wasn't in any big hurry.

I always felt the other young lady was pressing him to make a decision quickly.

 

One night Lawrence and I were out on a date having dinner and afterwards we were just riding around wasting time.  He had the most beautiful GTO with an amazing sound system and all the coolest gadgets on this car. We loved listening to the music of the day and driving around with no particular place to go.

All of a sudden Lawrence said to me, let's go up on the Collapsed side of the Sunshine Skyway bridge and see what it looks like from the top at night where it collapsed. I immediately said, "No way"! I'm not into going up on that bridge at all! He said , Awe come on now Teri, don't be afraid of going on the part that is still secure. I said, how can anyone be sure there is a secure part at all at this point on that bridge?  I said again, No, I don't really want to go there.

Lawrence was driving on U.S. #19 already and started heading south out towards the bridge. I was very nervous and I asked him to please not go up to the bridge. He wasn't listening to me. He had a weird look on his face and said "don't be afraid".

I knew this wasn't going to be a safe trip. I was so nervous. I asked him to just take me home and he laughed and said I was acting like a big chicken.

I agreed whole heartedly.

I kept asking him to please turn around as we began the assent up the bridge. He wasn't hearing any of that.
It was at that very moment I was sure this was NOT the man I would spend the rest of my life with.
 

When we got to the area that was as far as we could go in the car, he parked his beautiful Blue GTO and said let's walk out to the edge from here.

I immediately said I didn't want to get to close to the end of the bridge! I kept thinking to myself, why is he doing this? This is crazy! It's so dark out tonight and truly I didn't want to be there!

Again he teased me and said come on, lets dangle our feet over the edge.

I was so afraid at this point I turned to walk back towards the car. Lawrence grabbed my arm and said come on with me over here near the edge, I just want to look down. I was 5' 6" and he was 6' 5" this wasn't a good situation. He was tall and strong. I felt very vulnerable.

He explained to me he had been up there earlier working and it was really beautiful. I didn't buy a word of it.

 

Sheer panic was setting into me and I wanted to run back to the car.

I didn't want him to see how afraid I actually was. I didn't want him making fun of me again.

Lawrence told me to calm down. He pulled a flask of some kind of alcohol out of his jacket pocket and started drinking. He offered me some and I thought to myself, maybe I should take a sip to calm myself down here? But again I was just so afraid. I wanted to just ease my way away from the edge of this bridge. I was sure we were not allowed to be here.

As we sat near the edge of the bridge Lawrence said, do you want to jump? I looked at him and said, "are you serious"?

NO, I don't want to jump. He said, come on Teri, go ahead and jump, let's both jump. Do you want me to push you? It was right at this moment I heard the voice that has often spoken to me in my life, It said clearly, "Lure him back to the car, NOW".

I changed the subject and said I wanted to go to the car to fool around, I started laughing and told him, Come on let's go to the car. I started to stand up and I began acting flirty and aggressive to lure him to the car.

He took the bait!

The next thing I knew we were back in the car. He finished drinking his whiskey and we sat on the top of that bridge for a good hour listening to Jimi Hendrix and flirting like crazy.

I finally got Lawrence to agree to leave and we headed towards home.

I came to understand later that Lawrence was so mixed up about dating me and this other young lady that he would rather have killed us both then made up his mind.

That was the last time I ever went out with Lawrence.

Once safe at home, I counted myself blessed beyond measure.

I didn't end up being pushed off that bridge that night .

I'm grateful for the VOICE that came to me and gave me a plan and encouragement and strength to lure this crazed young man off the raggedy cliff of the Sunshine Skyway.

To this day I cannot cross the new bridge without looking over at where the Billy Dean Bridge used to be and shutter a bit.

My life came so close to the end.

I could have been another bridge casualty!

Devine intervention kept me from a fatal ending that night.

I am truly blessed and I thank GOD!



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!



Miracles still happen!

 

So, as far as I can see there are good days and then there are bad days. They just happen. No rhyme or reason. You just wake up one day and everything starts to escalate. This last week has had one of those "days" that has come upon me. It started on Monday and it took Tuesday and Wednesday along for the ride,

 

But then there are the miracles that bring remembrance of who holds each day in HIS hands.

 

So, Monday ended up being a very trying day. I spent the most of the morning rejoicing about something I thought was lost to me forever which I had found while searching through old boxes.

It was a Monday morning of true elation!

 

Then the phone rang, and drama entered my life.

My youngest son called. That changed everything!

No transportation and a huge issue he was facing.

I prayed about  the presented dilemma, and weighed what I should or shouldn't do in regards to the situation  which was unfolding.

I love my son!

I made my choices and off I went. Into drama land. Someone else's poor choices had presented the people needing help. O.K. it's not the end of the world, and after all I can help. So off I go, 178 miles up north to help  this someone yet again. Through grueling traffic, did I mention the grueling traffic?

That would have been fine except for the fact that after I was about 58 miles up the road the phone rings again.

It was a friend informing me that my older son had been mauled badly by a pit bull. I now faced a conundrum of sorts. I was on my way up north to help one son and now I'm torn to go down South for the other one. What does a Mother do? I felt pulled in both directions.

My oldest son was hospitalized and treated but was in very bad shape. The wounds were extremely deep and the healing process would be slow and painful. Other issues began to present themselves as well. He was transferred to yet another hospital.

He would now lose his job and become homeless from lack of finances being taken care of. I began praying, looking to GOD for answers. I needed direction now!

I love this boy and he is in such trouble.

 

So after going 178 miles in one direction to the North and back again, I drove another 38 miles to the South to see how I could help the other son.

In the interim I am unable to find the other son as he has been released from the hospital and I don't know where he is. He doesn't have his phone on him. It was now getting late.

After getting someone to assist me in finding him I now have to head back home. Another 38 miles north. There are things I have to do at home and take care of. I won't see my hospitalized son today.

 

I head back home another 38 miles to go. GOD help me, I pray!

 

Tuesday's sun rises and the phone calls start again. the son in the North, 178 miles away in one direction has a situation that arises and is caustic and needs help again immediately!

Again I pray about this, and take off again to help him.

 (I'm sure now that this was a mistake.)

And then the call comes again unexpectedly the son in the South is back in the hospital with complications from his attack, so my day takes a repeat of the previous. I'll be heading back South after I go 178 miles North and back again! The joy's of motherhood!

 

I'm now begging GOD for help to get through this conundrum. What we Mothers do for our children often defies reason. And sometimes, even common sense.

But, men see what men do, GOD see's why!

I think HE shares these reasons with Mothers as a rule.

Can we ever be too kind to our children? Maybe.

 

So, I deliver one son 356 round trip miles later to his point of interest and I head out to see the other son.

 

In the interim I put my reading glasses in my glass case, which had a pair in it already and toss it in my purse. After driving half a day again I spend the day with my son who was just released from the hospital again and console him as he begins his healing process.

I reluctantly head home after a few hours making that dreaded 38 mile trip again.

But, chin up, here I go. Everything seems to be falling back in place. Peace is at the end of the tunnel now I think! Perhaps I can make some arrangements to help this child out and make his life a bit easier as he heals. Off I go again.

 

Wednesday rolls around and I find out from yet another source that I have to make the dreaded 38 mile run back down South for yet another reason. I put my glasses on to set my Garmin to assist me in a quicker way there, there isn't one, great! I throw my glasses back into the case and I'm off! I gather my thoughts and tell myself, I can do this! No problem. I can do all things in peace and love through HIM who strengthens me! So off I go into yet another dilemma. Someone else's drama again. But I console myself and say I will visit my son again and see how he is doing with his healing process.

My whole day is again a day of going here and going there. And the gas prices are $4.00 per gallon....Ugh!

 

And again finally it's getting late and my day is ready to wrap up in the South. I head back on the road to make my 38 mile trek back home again. GOD please help me! The driving in the bumper to bumper traffic is so stressful.

 

As usual the cars are bumper to bumper and the projected one hour ride turns into two grueling hours. No getting around it. Ugh.

 

Finally two hours later I'm home and exhausted from the activities of the past three days. I pull into the driveway, I tell myself I'm not driving anywhere for a month, check my mail and come into the house. I throw my purse on the floor and make myself something to eat. I need to read the directions on the package for the dinner I'm starting and I go to get my glasses. They are not in my purse.  I head back out to the car and search high and low, no glasses.

I go back into the house. Check my purse again. No glasses! I go back out to the car and check under every seat, It is now, at this moment, the stress of three days, miles and miles of driving and other peoples drama and issues hit me.

After all this I just start crying. I have lost my glasses. This was my breaking point. Not just one pair, but both pairs I owned, which I foolishly put in one large black case holder.

 

I could not take it. Somehow this put me over the edge. I sat and cried and cried for well over an hour. everything seemed so bleak . I felt as if I were spiraling down a slippery slope. And I was angry that after all I did to help others, in the interim I hurt myself. I lost my glasses. I can't read without them. I was so frustrated. The tears just kept coming. I just couldn't stop crying!

 

I went in to lay down in bed and try to remember where I had left or lost my glasses. I laid there crying and wracking my brain, how could this have happened. I was sick to my stomach. I prayed to the LORD, PLEASE help me, Please! I cried through the begging, Please HELP me remember, so I can locate them! I decided I couldn't keep crying all night, I went to get up and get a drink of water. As I passed the front window in the living room, I happened to glance outside toward the mailbox. I stopped in my tracks as I noticed something in the compartment under the mailbox. I wondered if it was that big black frog I shooed away from the front door last week. It was  so odd just sitting there. He was huge, and he was black. Was that him in the mailbox?  I headed out the front door toward the mailbox to get a closer look at him. How did he get up that high? It wasn't a frog at all, IT WAS MY GLASSES CASE! Sitting in the mailbox compartment! How did they get there?

How is that possible? I started crying again, but tears of joy. My neighbor was outside and was starring at me. I didn't care. I was so grateful, I was so happy, I ran back into the house crying joyfully!

After all this, all the worry, all the stress, all the drama, all the miles, all the gas money, bumper to bumper traffic,  my glasses showed up after being lost! Thank GOD they did! HOW? I don't have that answer!

GOD treats us better than we could ever expect. I am reminded that as much as I love my sons and would do anything for them, HE loves me more, and remembers me when I call upon HIM!

My week had started with the elation of finding something lost, and ended the exact same way.

Coincidence I ask myself?

Probably not!

<3

 

The Intersection of Dimensions

So, the weather in Florida has been at unprecedented rain fall levels for the past three weeks. July and August of 2015 have set new records throughout the State. It was reported that the steady rainfall hasn't been this serious in over 70 years. With that being said, I have been watching the retaining wall disappear over the last three weeks and the Lake in our back yard rise higher and higher towards the house. 

Knowing that there are alligators living in the Lake has made me a bit uncomfortable, since there is no secure wall dividing the Lake from my back yard.  The deck I usually enjoy my morning coffee on disappeared over two weeks ago. It succumbed to the rising water. The table and swing on the deck are still slightly visible as the water has come up so high.

So, early this morning as I made my way to the back dining room window to check on the water levels of the lake I was surprised to see the gator on the grass in the back yard. It was so early the sun had just barely come up. The gator could hardly be seen between the shadows on the Lake from the early morning sunrise bouncing off the water.

But none the less, there he was.

Basking on the lawn which was at least four feet underwater.

I ran to get my camera as I saw him there just feet from the edge of the water.  I yelled for Kevin to come see the gator and to get a picture as well. We have been watching this gator grow up over the past few years as he has surfaced every now and then. He is still pretty small but he's twice the size of what he was just a year ago.

Kevin took his pictures through the back window, he was focusing his shot between the window and the early morning condensation that had covered the glass, but I crept outside to get a closer look and hopefully a close up picture. As I quietly opened the back sliding doors leading into the lanai, I whispered to Kevin as he stood at the window to be real quite so as not to disturb the gator.

I walked out towards the gator very slowly and clicked away several times. The flash was on on my camera and it lit up the back yard. The gator seemed to sit there and allow me to take his photo.

I was only out in the yard for a minute or two when the gator swung his tail abruptly on the water and made an immense splash and submerged from sight.

I screamed out loud, Wow! It took me by surprise as I watched this amazing creature swim away in a splash of  his intense power.

I was so excited! I got the picture!

As I turned to come back in the house from the darkness I saw Kevin in his dark blue robe walking away from the window and  into the living room. But, when I turned to look into the house through the other set of sliding glass doors I was shocked to see Kevin sitting on the couch watching T.V. and on his computer!
How was this possible? He's in two places at once!

It was frightening! Here I was so excited about the gator and now so instantly confused in the same moment as to what I was seeing.
How was this even possible? Dimensions were crossing here!

I was so excited about getting this amazing picture from the lake and NOW I was thrust into a paranormal moment. It was a feeling quite like none I have ever had before.
The perfect storm of emotional feelings, One very intense and high and the other confusing and frightening!

How was it possible to clearly see Kevin walking towards the living room through one set of sliding glass doors while he was already in the living room seated on the couch with his laptop on his lap and watching the T.V. which was clearly visible through the second set of sliding glass doors?

How does this happen?

I was speechless. I was in the moment of two very different emotional happenings. Two different worlds if you will.
I continued on into the house and approached the Kevin I saw sitting on the couch, I looked at him oddly to see if in fact it was him, I relayed what I was going through to him as he sat there, looking at me, and I asked him how this was possible?

He replied to me, "I have no idea". He didn't seem to believe me at that moment. That upset me deeply.

He suggested it was me possibly seeing my own shadow in the reflection of the glass, that I mistook for him, but it clearly was not a reflection of me I assured him, I clearly saw Kevin in his robe walking. Moving forward, I was standing still!

I saw Kevin walking away from the window in his dark blue robe  and I noticed his hair and his stride, it was clearly him!  Or a ghost of him? I was wearing a white robe, so if I would have seen my reflection it would have been stationary, because I wasn't moving, as I had just turned around, and it would have been a white reflection, or a lighter reflection on the glass door.

 

When I came into the house through the lanai sliding doors I beheld Kevin on the couch. I wondered for a moment, who is the real Kevin here? It made me tingle with an odd feeling. Where did his apparition go? It simply disappeared as I focused on the reflection of Kevin actually sitting on the couch!

I asked myself several times, how can this happen?
It's as if I was seeing him in some sort of altered time.

How is that possible?

It was like the perfect storm of paranormal and excitement meeting together and exploding into another dimension.

While I sit here writing this I am still overwhelmed by this incident.

I'm always grateful for how my life unfolds on a daily basis but I will say that with every new day I seem to experience something more bizarre than the day before.

This life we live is full of uncertainties and strange happenings.

Thank GOD I don't walk this journey alone!

So, please enjoy the picture I took this morning of the gator on the lake. It is the actual picture I took just before the paranormal intersected with my morning.

I thank GOD for HIS continued protection over me in this strange world we live in.
Never forget, Truth is stranger than Fiction!

  



Night of the Feathers

 

So, it was the winter of 2014, I was living on the Lake in New Port Richey, FL, and had been enjoying a monthly magazine edition I always read from front to back when it comes in.

I had sat down somewhere around 4:00 p.m. and started reading when I had gotten the magazine in the mail and now it was late in the evening and very cold outside.

  I could hear the wind blowing through the trees and howling at the windows.  I laid my magazine down and started getting ready for bed.

I was intrigued by an article in the magazine I had read that spoke of paranormal happenings,

 such as "how you know" when a loved one who has passed is near.

 

I read this article with a raised eyebrow as I thought, I wonder if any of this has ever actually "Really" ever been proven?

One way the article mentioned you know when someone is near, is that you'll see pennies often lying around. I thought to myself, "well gee" I see pennies all the time and I pick them up too, so what could that mean?

Another way to tell if your loved ones who have crossed over are near is that you'll smell their perfume or hear their favorite song. I again thought, well, I hear old songs all the time, does that mean people who have passed are always near me because of the songs I hear?

Another was that you'll see feathers. I laughed when I read that one as I said, Oh Please, feathers, really?

How silly is that? I hardly ever see feathers! Just once in a blue moon maybe. I never hear of anyone seeing feathers. I just laughed it off as a crazy magazine article, but this was just too much, feathers, "really"! 

 

It was getting late and I needed to get ready for bed. So I got up to brush my teeth and retire for the evening and I laid the magazine back down again. I laughed and said out loud in the bathroom as I started brushing my teeth, well, Mom, let's see if you can muster up a feather or two for me tonight.

I just laughed and headed in to bed. How ridiculous! My Mom had passed 7 years earlier, I wondered if she would show up and sprinkle a feather or two around for me!

Sometime after 3:00 in the morning my room mate came into the room and pulled my covers up for me as the heat had gone off and he was making sure I stayed warm throughout the night. It had really gotten cold this night and another cold front was on it's way.

 

 That night as I slept soundly I awoke for some reason, so I got up around 3:30 a.m. to use the rest room. The house was dark, cold and quite. I didn't want to wake anyone in the house so I kept the lights off.  I glanced at myself in the mirror in the bathroom, It was really dark but I thought I saw something white in my hair but I was so tired, I didn't want to turn the light on, so I was in and out of the bathroom in less than a minute. I wanted to go right back into my warm bed and go back to sleep.

 

The next morning  I awoke around 7:00 a.m. and as I opened my eyes I saw a sea of white! 

To my utter surprise I was covered in feathers. They were all over my bed, in my hair, all over the pillow and even on the floor everywhere!

I could not believe my eyes!

FEATHERS WERE EVERYWHERE!

Little white feathers.

I called out to my room mate and said come and see these feathers! I hadn't told him about the article I had read the night before. I hadn't mentioned my conversation with my Mother either.

What happened here?

This was extremely strange.

My room mate then said, last night as I pulled the comforter up over your shoulders I must have ripped the down open. I laughed and said, what are the odds that I had read that particular article about the feathers and then asked my Mom to muster a couple up for me? How strange was that coincidence? I am not really a believer in coincidences but this really had my attention.

I just laughed and shook my head. Had my Mom enrolled my room mate to help her cover me in feathers? What is one to believe?

I'll leave that up to you to decide. What are the odds on that very night out of a million that I would ask for a sign of feathers?

We live in a strange world with many odd happenings. This is just another one of mine.

 

 

 

The Late Night Visitor

 

 

So, It was 2001, My Mother and her husband had moved up north in 1996.

She called me one night and told me her husband had just passed away. She lived eleven hours North of me in the Hills of Franklin N.C.

I jumped in my car and got there in a record breaking 8 1/2 hours. I only stopped for gas. No eating or anything else. And O.K. I drove a little faster than the speed limit. It was late by the time I arrived.

When I got there she was so relived to have someone there with her after all she had been through the past few days. She had listed her husbands death in the local news paper. She said somehow it made everything so surreal.

 

 My Mother was simply exhausted and all she wanted to do was to sleep to put the pain and grief from the day behind her.

We talked for an hour or so and she couldn't stay awake any longer.

I decided I would also tuck myself in for the night, I was also extremely exhausted.

 

 

All of a sudden as I rose from the kitchen chair I had an awful premonition, just a dreadful feeling that something was very wrong.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was really bothering me.

My Mom never locked her doors living high on the mountain as she does but tonight I decided I would lock them all.

 I went to the front door and locked it, but somehow I didn't feel safer. So I went downstairs on the first floor of her two story home and locked that door as well, and check all the windows. I still had a weird feeling I just could not shake. I felt like trouble was all around us. But why?

It really had me very aware of it. I just couldn't put my finger on where it was coming from. I didn't mention it to my Mom as she had enough on her plate to deal with. She didn't need me scaring her with a weird feeling I was having. I decided locking the doors was the right thing to do. After all we were alone in the pitch dark of the heavily wooded mountain.

 

My Mother never locked her doors at home, ever! She had said once that she knows everyone on the mountain and there all good country people.

I felt weird locking everything up tight.

I stayed up and cleaned a bit in the kitchen and then headed off to bed myself around 1:00 a.m.  Mom had taken a sleeping pill she had gotten that day from her doctor, So I got back up and I checked in on her and then headed back to bed.

 

It was about 3:00 A.M. in the morning, and I dreamt I was hearing a constant doorbell. I thought gee that sounds so real for a dream. Why doesn't someone answer the darn thing? Then I heard it again, and then again. Now I was awake and I did hear the doorbell. I was really groggy, and the door bell was really ringing, over and over!

I went to the front door, turned on the outside light and was shocked as I and looked out and saw a man standing there. He was a young man probably in his late 20's in a white T-shirt and blue jeans. He yelled in to me and said there was an emergency and he had to use our phone right away. I told him to wait a minute. He pleaded for me to open the door, I said just a minute, I had to gather my thoughts, There was no way I was believing that story for some reason, just a gut feeling again. So I went to wake my Mom to see if she knew this young man. It was hard to wake her from the effects of the sleeping pill. It took a minute or two. That's a long time when someone is at the front door banging on it.

She finally came to I explained what was going on, and she said, just let him in Teri, If it's an emergency then give him the phone.

I said, "no Mother", I'm not opening the door to this young guy, something isn't right. She yelled at me and said what are you talking about, it's an emergency, give him the phone! She was still very groggy, again I said "no". You need to get up and tell me if this is someone you actually know! I didn't understand why I was being so demanding, but it was coming from my gut. I was very leery of this man at the door. I have no idea why? By now it had been 5 minutes that my Mother and I were disputing giving this man the phone. Finally my Mom , tired and upset with me for acting so demanding got up, walked past me to the phone, picked it up from it's base and went towards the front door with it.

I jumped in front of her and took the phone out of her hand and said "wait"!  Please look out there, do you know that man?  She looked at him through the glass window and said , "no", he doesn't look familiar. I said I thought you knew everybody?

Then, giving me a very disapproving look, she went to open the door. I said "wait Mom", she hesitated and again said, "Teri", in an extremely frustrated with me voice. 

 I ran and got the shot gun from the kitchen near the back door, I remembered she always had it there, and then I stood behind her as she opened the front door. I made sure he could see the butt of the gun. I thought to myself, "what the heck am I doing"?  My heart is pounding out of my chest, I'm functioning on pure adrenalin here, My Mother is so trusting and friendly, I'm acting like a cruel idiot, but I can't seem to stop myself! I just trust my gut after all these years!

She handed him the phone and then said to him what emergency do you have? He said something about his girl friend up the mountain. I pushed my Mom aside almost knocking her over and closed the door and dead bolt locked it. My Mom yelled at me, she said "what are you doing"? Let the man make his call for heavens sake!

He picked up the phone as we both watched, but didn't dial anybody. He played with the buttons, but never got through to anybody. Then I heard him say to us "never mind" in a rude voice.

I thought, how clever, he has our only way to call for help.

So I shut the porch light off and yelled. Leave the phone at the bottom of the door when your done with it. He put the phone down and walked away from the door.

I then ran down stairs and made sure all the windows were locked again. I shut off all the lights. I could hear the man walking all around the house on the rock pavement from the driveway.

Ten minutes went by. I didn't hear him any more.

Then all of a sudden I heard him near the garage. I thought, what the heck is this guy doing?  I could just barely make out his white T-shirt in the darkness from all the surrounding trees.

I ran to the front door, looked around, quietly opened the door and grabbed the phone. I knew we were in trouble now. He never used the phone. I felt it was just a scam to get the phone away from us.

What was going on here? 

My heart was still beating so fast, I ran from window to window trying to see what this guy was doing.  

 I asked my Mom if she had ever used the shot gun?

She started laughing and said, "what shot gun"?

I said the one I got from the kitchen!

She said that's not a shot gun, silly, that's a Beebe gun!

 I was to terrified to laugh. I thought to myself, well. O.K. I know that, and she knows that, but hopefully, he doesn't know that!

 

I picked up the phone and persuaded My Mom to go with me into the bedroom walk in closet so we could call the police.  It was so quite I could hear the man walking around but I wondered if he could hear us as well. YES! It's that quite in the mountains!

I told her If I could hear the  mans footsteps so clearly, maybe he could hear us talking too?

I didn't want him to know the police were being called. I hoped they would catch him walking around the house.

It took the police 2 minutes to answer their phone!

 Two terrifying minutes!

The police officer on the line told us it would take them up to forty five minutes just to get to us.

I gave them the man's description as best I could and our address.

Then I went back and waited, listening and watching where this man might be. I could still hear him walking around outside. His every step gave him away.

It seemed like forever, but I could see the lights from the police car coming up the mountain from Highway 441.

Then I heard the man take off back up the road leading up the mountain.

I ran out to the police car as they pulled up and pointed which way he went.

They assured us they would patrol the area! They said not to worry but make sure everything was locked up!

 

The dreadful feeling I had had all night finally began to leave me.

I knew we were safe.

We both talked for a moment, and decided to just go back to bed.

My heart was still pounding. But I was exhausted as it was almost four a.m. in the morning.

 

I closed my eyes and began drifting slowly towards sleep. I could feel the adrenalin leaving me as I succumbed to sleep once again.

 

The next morning, as we both awoke, I should say late morning, somewhere around 11:30 a.m. my Mom put the news on.

They were reporting about the next couple mountains over from my Mom's. A woman and her two daughters had been beaten, raped and robbed.

 

I looked at my Mom and said that is exactly why I had such dreadful feelings all night last night. The report was exactly as ours. A man had come to the door claiming an emergency. Called  a pay phone and his friends showed to rob the house and work their plan.

 

I was so relieved we had recovered our phone and called the police.

I don't think the man at my door the night before felt as if he had control, so he never called for his friends that were waiting for his signal.  He gave up on us. Thank GOD!

 

Why do I share this story. TRUST your gut. At all cost. These people were targeting victims who had just lost a male loved one. They knew we might be alone. They knew we might have taken something to sleep better because of our grief, which gave them an advantage.

I share this to alert and educate you.

It was horrifying to live through, but the Spirit quickened me to be aware, and thank GOD I listened.

Perhaps it was my Mothers husband who alerted me to the impending doom awaiting us that night?

I'm just grateful I acted as I did.