The Connection With Horses

So it was, 1968, I was invited to my friend Wendy's home to spend a day hanging out on her farm and staying for dinner.

I had never been to her farm before so I was very excited! We were planning to ride horses and spend time talking about boyfriends and what was going on in our lives. Just an easy, relaxing day.

Wendy was a sweet, tall, beautiful girl who was very shy and didn't have a lot of friends. When I met her I was instantly impressed with her genuine kindness, She and I felt as if we had known each other our whole lives. Like best friends.

I drove over to Wendy's. I had only been driving for a week or two.
I had a little corvair which was so much fun. I pulled up to this big beautiful house in the country in Pinellas Park Florida.
I was over whelmed at how beautiful this home was. I had never known anyone who lived in such a nice home.
I was very impressed. This was all so amazing to me.
 

We made our way to the barn to saddle up the horses and found we would be riding with Wendy's older sister and some of her sisters friends as well.

I sure didn't mind, because I was just happy to be there and I hadn't ridden horses in such a long time.  I was really just simply elated to be there and have been offered this fun opportunity.

Since we were the younger and later to come alongside Wendy's sister and her friends, we got the horses that the older girls didn't want to ride.  I ended up with a horse called "Christmas".

This was the largest horse of them all. I had never seen such a big boy! Very tall in stature. Very spirited. Just beautiful! He was a bit intimidating. Wendy said he is usually pretty good though and as  long as I knew how to ride, he should be OK.

I felt very unsure about Christmas. And had asked to switch with someone else. They all laughed and said, no way!

So I was the lucky one!

I could feel in my gut that this may not go well for some reason. I kept thinking, maybe I shouldn't ride today at all? This was a really big horse and I am not feeling good about him. There is a strange aura around all this. I thought to myself, I don't want to be a bummer here, so maybe I'll just  ignore my intuition for once and ride this monstrous horse and that will be the end of it.

 

So, to get up on him I had to stand on the fence he was near to be able to reach his saddle. So, I got up on him and before anyone had left the area, and before I even got my feet in the stirrups completely , Christmas took off like a bat out of hell! I didn't have control of his reigns, I dropped them! I heard Wendy's sister screaming at me "get a hold of those reigns Teri". She was screaming a few other things as well at Wendy , but the sound of Christmas taking off and my heart pounding out of my chest in that instant, blocked some of the chatter from my ears! This horse was running as fast as he could! He was on his own. What do I do now, I thought? So I wrapped his hair from his mane around my hands very tightly  just to hold on, and off we flew. I was bouncing around on this ole boy like a bobber in the water! I knew I had to get in sync quick!  I kept trying to get my feet firm in the stirrups and as he was picking up speed on a full run I was hanging on for my life. I finally with all my bouncing got my foot in one stirrup securely and then was able to get into the other one, WHAT a RELIEF! 

I was now in control, or at least I thought I was!

Christmas ran towards the barn and went right to the lowest part of the roof that hung low to try to push me off his back! I laid on him so low ducking from the barn overhead  I was almost hanging off the side of him! This horse was possessed! He wanted me off of him...NOW! He tried to brush me off of him by inching his body up against the side of the barn as we ran in full gallop alongside it! He was determined it was either me or him! He then after failing to knock me off or slam me off, picked up into a full run, I truly only had his mane to hold onto. I remember thinking to myself, tell him to stop! So I tried talking to him. I said in a commanding voice, Christmas whoa! I repeated this several times. He didn't even slow down for a second. I kept trying to grab for his reign. I could not let go of his mane long enough to reach it, as we were going so fast and I was bouncing like crazy. He was running now through trees on the property and I thought to myself, he's going to try to knock me off again by a low tree limb!

This horse has a mind of his own, and he's not stupid!!

I was so afraid he was going to injure me somehow. So I started to pull back on his mane hard! Telling him to slow down. I inched my hands up his mane a bit and wrapped my hands tightly into his mane and pulled back again, screaming as he ran Whoa!!! It was then that I prayed, GOD please help me!! I kept trying to speak to this horse with mental telepathy, could he hear me? He wasn't listening to my commands to slow down. With that prayer, the horse came to an almost dead stop. He slowed just enough before stopping so I could get a good grasp of more hair! Then we were stopped. Just like that. The others riders were all behind me, catching up to me one by one. Wendy's sister got to me first and was furious with Christmas. She asked me to get down off him, but he was so big, getting down was going to be an issue for me. So she jumped off her horse and grabbed his reigns and walked us back to the barn area. It was a long way back.  Everyone was amazed I was still on the horse! I had travelled  really far with him running at full speed. I was surprised at just how far. The other horses were left in the dust! This Christmas was some kind of a horse. When I finally got off of him with the help from the fence, I walked up to the front of him and said to him, WHY?

I could feel his anger. He had a very mischievous spirit. I felt he was taunted by it. But what could I do?

I walked away from him feeling like it was all so incomplete.

This lesson in my life taught me that not just humans suffer with spirits, but so do animals. I will never forget the fear I felt as Christmas ran towards the barn roof over hang trying to knock me off of him. This wasn't simply a horse gone running, he was being agitated by a spirit who was dead set against me and was going to do me harm. I am so grateful to GOD for HIS amazing protection and for giving me the insight to hang on and what to do to stay on that horse! I know the meaning of "Christmas", in more ways than one now!

Truth is always so much stranger than fiction!

 

The Attack

So, it was June, 2012 and my husband and I went to visit my sister and her husband in Orlando, Florida while they were here on vacation. We had driven over to where they were staying in Orlando at a beautiful Golf Resort Hotel on a wonderful Golf Course.

We left St. Petersburg early to head their way as I wanted to go shopping and have lunch and maybe get a round of golf in with  my sister if we had time. It was a beautiful sunny, hot day in Florida and the trip to my sister seemed to take forever.

We finally arrived and I was so happy to see my sister and her husband. They were standing on the balcony of their beautiful Condo waving us in!

We sat and talked for an hour or so as we caught up on all the latest family plans and such. As we sat talking I noticed my sister was holding her head very still and hardly moving it at all as she spoke, and turned from side to side. I asked her what was going on with her neck? I wondered if she had slept wrong and had a sore neck or something? She said "no, that hadn't happened, but just as of late she said, she had been experiencing a severe bout of vertigo and it had been so severe the last few days she could hardly walk"! She explained she was on a special medication for it to help calm the situation. It had just started happening on and off a few months earlier.

Having never had vertigo in my life, I couldn't really relate to what she was experiencing.  I could see it was uncomfortable for her, as she was moving slow but steady and I wondered if there was anything I could do for her? She said it had to run it's course and perhaps would get a bit better soon.

We then all got ready to go out for lunch at a very famous Seafood Restaurant where we had made reservations earlier. We were all starving and so happy to be together, and so out the door we went and down the escalator to the car.

 

 As I walked out of the escalator, I stood there for a moment, all of a sudden, as if I were hit by a force I never saw coming, the whole earth seemed to be spinning really quickly all around me! I had only taken two steps away from the elevator and I could no longer stand on my own? My head was swimming! I grabbed onto my husbands arm and then began to fall to the ground. What was happening to me I wondered? This is so strange!  I felt so embarrassed! I tried blinking my eyes to make it stop! It was so frightening. I felt a bit sick at my stomach. I could not make the spinning stop! I tried to relate this to my husband but I don't think I was making any sense, I just kept saying over and over, I'm spinning terribly, I'm spinning and I can't make it stop! If I closed my eyes it felt as I was going to throw up! It was like being on a roller coaster! I tried to get up off the ground. I could not on my own, my husband lifted me up and was holding on to me. I was like a rag doll! I kept my eyes open but could not walk. It was as if my feet could not articulate the next move because I was unable to focus at all!  I kept trying to go to the right towards a bench I could see near where I was standing, but my legs could not steady me to go in that direction! Everything was moving. I headed in one direction and quickly found myself unable to get there. My husband helped me over to the bench by almost carrying me, he sat me down on the bench near a fountain.  I could not sit without feeling sick.  I kept feeling as if I were going to fall again! Everything was spinning so fast! What was happening to me? Why can't I focus! Why was this happening all of a sudden? This was a deliberate serious attack!

I could not focus on anything!

As my sister and her husband watched me, she said to me frantically, "Teri, I believe you're suffering an attack of Vertigo"! "I said how can that be"? I don't even know what Vertigo is and I've never had it before in my life? What the heck was going on here? We were just talking about her problem, why did I have it now? I sat quietly on the bench in the terrace in the hot sun while my husband steadied me for at least 15 minutes. It was so hot and uncomfortable. I was blinking a lot trying to make the spinning stop. Holding my head and trying to focus! I said very matter of fact right then, I bind this attack in the name of JESUS! I rebuked the spinning and the sickness in my stomach as well. It was actually subsiding a bit as I finished my prayer!  My husband gave me a water from the car to drink and I tried to get up slowly and take a few steps. I was hoping I could actually move in the direction I wanted to go! My head was still spinning but not like at first. I was still feeling like I was going to fall! It seemed to be getting better though. It was now 20 minutes or so into the ordeal. We all headed towards our car very slowly, to get out of the heat, My husband started the car and turned on the air-conditioning, so it was a little less hot and uncomfortable for us all. Why did this happen?

I was settling down a bit but, the spinning was not gone completely a half hour later. We all wondered what to do next? Should we call this a day and head back home? Should we go get something to eat? Could I even make it into the Restaurant? I felt I was getting better, much better, but I was still frail from the attack.

It was my call, so I said lets head towards the restaurant, everyone is so hungry, I will be willing to sit in the car if I had to, and I suggested someone could bring me a sandwich to the car. We were all so hungry. Off we went!

By the time we got to the Restaurant I was back to normal. It was only about a 10 minute drive. I could not understand how this had happened, and especially just after my sister shared what she was going through! That was not a coincidence. It was a deliberate attack on me. I have never had anything like this before that day or after! I am always on guard for this sort of attack now and pray protection over me in the name of JESUS.

I hope sharing this experience will help you along your spiritual journey somehow.

Feel free to ask questions if you want to. I am here to be a help to you so you can understand why you go through trials and attacks too! I know why this happened to me now.

I have some very unhappy enemies here.

I am focused on overcoming any and all attacks, In JESUS name!. 

Awakend By Fate

So, it was 1959. I lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My Mom had packed us 4 kids into the car for a quick trip to Florida. We all thought that was wonderful! We were traveling at night and in the hot summer months of the year. Our car did not have air conditioning back in those days. It was uncomfortable, but the windows were open and we were heading to Florida!

My parents were getting a divorce and my Mom decided to visit her parents in Miami so she could work a few things out for the future.

I didn't really understand what the divorce thing was all about. I was just too young.

We had travelled all evening and it was time for Mom to take a rest from all the driving. It was still dark as I heard the tires pull onto a crunchy, rocky road. I remember being the only one awake, I looked around the car seats, I didn't want to get up yet, so I kept my eyes closed, the engine of the car was still running.  I was still very tired and it had cooled down a lot through the night I thought. So I stayed snuggled together with my sleeping siblings. We were in an older car, with a big back seat. All my siblings were sound asleep. Unaware of what was transpiring.

After being parked for a while, I heard my Mom start crying. It was soft but desperate. I was so small I could not see over the big front seat to where she was in the drivers seat. She sat looking straight ahead. I could see her profile from where I was in the back.

I tried to get up but thought maybe I should stay quite. It wasn't often I heard my Mom crying. It was a bit weird for me. I sat up a bit and peeked out the window but did not speak a word. The window was open and I could see a huge empty unpaved area that we were parked on. It was all white, like sand or shells or something I thought. I had no idea where we were. It wasn't a home or a restaurant.

 I looked over at my mother, still not speaking and looking straight ahead. She hadn't noticed through her crying that I was awake and looking about. Her hands were firmly on the wheel as she cried softly. As the night darkness was leaving somewhat and the morning was now arriving I could almost see clearer out the window, but it was still dark.

It appeared we were on a huge piece of property that was over looking a cliff.  A huge deep cliff!

The car still running, I heard my Mom start to roll the car slowly closer towards the edge of the cliff. Then all of a sudden she stopped, as if she was reconsidering something! She did this a few times. I sat wondering what was happening here?

She started again....

My eyes widened as she did this as I thought to myself, we are rolling pretty fast here, doesn't she see the cliff there in front of her? She still did not acknowledge me being awake.

I was now fully sitting up in the back seat. 

Her hands were firmly gripping the steering wheel as she continued to cry her muffled crying. She stopped the car again! She seemed to be arguing with herself. Shaking her head. Again we started rolling closer to the edge of the cliff. We were pretty close at this point, I could see the depth of the cliff now from the other side of the deep hole, it was getting a bit brighter outside. It seemed as if this was taking a very long time.

I was now wide awake, and fearful!

All of a sudden I spoke, and to this day I can't completely explain what I said to her. I said in a very wimpy pleading voice  "Mommy, stop the car, don't do this, PLEASE Mommy, don't do this to us"!

I absolutely shocked her! She did not know I was awake and watching her. She slammed on the brakes and turned towards me. She said to me, "do what"? "What am I doing"?

Then she broke into heavy crying. Now the light was getting brighter outside. It seemed to me we were on some work sight she had pulled into to rest up. My older sister woke up a bit moving around in her seat in the front, completely unaware of what was going on.

My Mom turned the car wheel away from the cliff immediately and drove quickly away from the edge. She spoke not a word.

As I look back now I'm sure it was because if my older sister would have seen where we were at that cliffs edge she would have been screaming at the top of her lungs in fear!

That morning once back on the road  again with my sister back to sleep, my Mom said to me,

"we won't ever talk about this to anyone".

 

I said, "O.K. Mom".

I stayed awake the rest of the trip to Hialeah, Florida to her parents home and so did my Mom. I remember being afraid to fall asleep actually since she was so upset. What I thought was odd though, was that the next morning she pulled into a Graveyard under the shade trees for us all to get out of the car, stretch our legs and have a bite to eat from the picnic basket she had in the trunk, and I'm sure to also rest her weary eyes.

 

I will never forget this experience. My siblings all thought this was weird how we stopped at the graveyard. We still talk about it from time to time when we all gather.

We laugh about that crazy time Mom stopped at a graveyard to rest and have lunch. 

 I now think she pulled into that grave yard because she was very grateful we all were alive and she had been thwarted in her plan to end all of our lives because of the pain she was suffering going through that divorce.

 

I have never spoken of this to anyone since it happened in 1959. I don't know why. For many years I forgot about it. I tried to bring it up to my Mother one time in the 80's while we were both alone chatting in her home in North Carolina. She said she had no idea what I was talking about? So I left it at that. I guess she was never going to admit that this had happened. I'm sure the pain was way to deep in her soul. I can't imagine how she must have felt! After all, she was at least 6 months pregnant at the time with my little sister. 

I often would think of this day and be so grateful I was awakened that night!

Sometimes even as children we are led to intervene in the course of the future for our lives and others. I am grateful our lives did not end that way, that night! We were all protected by the only one who has our last breath in HIS hands! At HIS timing.

Not anyone else's.

Thank GOD!

 

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!



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!

 

 

Paranormal Intervention and Protection.

 

It was 1969 and I was living with my Mother and her boyfriend. I had come home from school after a very hot, long day in a High School with no air conditioning. It was around 94 degrees in the shade. I was thinking I would cool down out in the back yard in the pool and at least get a good Florida tan if I had to sweat to death for the rest of the day.

 

So, like all kids coming home from school I did my chores, a few dishes and a load of laundry, then I took my history book outside with me to read as I sat in the chaise lounge. After about an hour or so of enjoying the Florida afternoon I came in the house to get a drink of Iced tea.

 

I remember walking into the house to see that my Mom's boyfriend was home early from work. I never liked being around him. He always made me uncomfortable. I could never put my finger on why I didn't like being around him, but this I know, no matter how hard I tried to accept him for my mothers sake I could not loose the creepy feeling I always had in his presence. Today he would confirm my reasons for feeling this way.

 

I had said hello to him when I saw him in the kitchen, and then made my way down the hall to my room. He was in my way and acted as if he wasn't going to let me pass him at first. I thought that odd but just went around him. He was always acting strange, I thought.

Coming out of my room now, I headed towards the kitchen to get my ice tea. I had to pass him again. I dreaded being within one foot of this creep.  Although I had tried to be nice he always made me feel so uncomfortable. I got as far as the closet door in the living room and all of a sudden for no reason he lunged towards me and threw me up against the wall. He was very strong and I tried to fight him off of me. He tried to rip my top off as he held me by the neck against the closet door with one hand. I was so shocked and stunned by what he was doing I started to scream at the top of my lungs. He then tried to rip my pants off me. He hit my face with his free hand and told me to shut up!

All of a sudden the strangest thing happened! Right before my very eyes he turned white! Like he saw a ghost! He was just staring at me. He literally froze! His eyes were full of fear! He didn't move a muscle. He took his hand off my neck for a split second and I heard someone say to me "RUN". And I did! Right to the front door and out into the front yard.

I then ran to a neighbors house and called my Mom at work.

I told her what had just happened.

Both my Mother and I were sure that it was GOD himself who protected me from her boy friends abuse, GOD told me to run!

Out of a very horrible scenario the Almighty Protected me and made a way out for me to safety. I am eternally grateful!

Life has many lessons to teach us, we're all on a different course but headed to the same destination. It's comforting to know that we really are never alone.

And I take great peace in knowing

GOD is for me!

 

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!

 

My Cujo Moment

 

It was 1990, I was babysitting my 8 year old niece. She wanted to go to the store to get some bubble gum. I just couldn't resist taking her she was so sweet. So we decided to walk the 6 blocks instead of taking the car. We thought we could turn this into a great opportunity to enjoy the wonderful night air.

We set out towards the neighborhood store. We were walking and talking and laughing and just simply enjoying each others company.  My niece was the kindest, happiest little kid. She was always smiling. She loved to spend time with me and I so enjoyed every moment I had to get together with her.

 

We had just gone under the big bridge on 30th Avenue and were nearing our destination.

Out of what seemed to be nowhere a huge German Shepard dog came barreling around the corner. He ran right up to us and jumped up in my face barking and snarling his teeth at me. I was scared beyond belief. This angry huge dog was right at my feet and showing every tooth in his mouth to me. His growl was frightening. I tried to give him a command to sit and be quite and he lunged at my face. He went to bite my arm but I stood as still as a statue. My little niece started to cry and he lunged at her. I spoke without moving my mouth to her and I spoke very slowly. I told her "don't move a muscle, don't speak"! She immediately obeyed me. The Dog than turned back to me growling the whole time. I looked away from the dog as not to make eye contact.

He stayed right at my feet but would not allow either of us to move a muscle.

 

I started praying. I asked GOD to send someone to help us. I felt we needed a miracle. I kept praying! We'd been in the sites of this dog for over 25 minutes and not one person driving by us could tell we were in danger. I started to move my hand up to try to flag a passerby. The dog lunged again at me with every slight movement. My niece was crying and whimpering softly. The dog was growling at her with every whimpering. Showing his large teeth each time. The mosquitoes were now out and we were both being bitten everywhere. My niece was in pain from the bites. I tried to calm her. I had my hand half way up to flag cars now. I tried to wave at a passerby in a truck. He saw me. He pulled his pick up over and backed up. What are the chances he was a dog trainer with the police department? He gave the dog one command and the dog backed up and sat down! He then ran off in the direction he came from. The man in the truck asked us what happened. We both were so grateful. We told him everything. He said he was so sorry this happened. He thought the dog may have belonged to another officer who lived in the vicinity and he must have gotten loose from him.

 

GOD had once again answered prayer! We got our Miracle! We were elated. The police officer asked us if he could give us a ride to the store. He insisted actually because this had happened to us. I asked him first to show us his credentials. He did and verified he was in fact a police officer. So we took the ride to get my niece her bubble gum, and then he drove us back home again.

 

I will never forget this experience. It could have gone so much worse. I cringe when I think of what that dog could have done to us. I'm grateful somehow that dog never hurt either one of us. It was like he wanted to, but just didn't.

Perhaps there was a barrier between us and him.

The spiritual barrier....PRAYER!