Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of Passage? His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man! Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.







Let's be more aware of all the choices, situations, twists and turns that brought us to this place right here and now. They May Be Miracles.



Monday, May 10, 2010

Whispers and Gongs

Do you believe in Angels?  What do you believe about Angels?  Feel free to leave a comment about what you believe...could be what you think the Bible says about them...could be what you were always taught or what your faith tradition was...maybe a personal experience?  I wrote one other time about possible Angel intervention.  If you want to read that post click here.


Well, I was thinking the other day about the night my husband and I first met.  I think about that night every now and again.  I was attending Walsh University.  I had been a part of the drama program there, sometimes in a play and sometimes doing things behind the scenes.  I was not going to take part in the play "West Side Story," but I really can't remember why at this point.  That play was a big undertaking for a small university, so they put out the word that they needed people to come in from outside the university to help fill the cast.  I went to see the play the evening I met my husband.  He was a student at Kent State University and was invited to come be a part of the play by some students he knew at Walsh.


I was still friends with all the Walsh students involved with the play and my best friend at the time would be going to the cast parties because her (now husband) boyfriend was in the play.  She wanted to set me up with another "outsider" or non-Walsh student that she had met at a previous cast party and asked me to go to the cast party that night that I went to see the play.  


When I walked in the door at the home where that party was taking place Dan was sitting there in the front room.  I noticed right away that he sat up and perked up when I walked in.  I was use to this reaction (I may have been pretty for a few years of my life).  My friend's boyfriend went to look for the guy she was going to introduce to me.  My friend and I sat in a chair across from Dan and began talking with him.  Needless to say we remained there talking for the remainder of the party.  The other guy never showed up.


There was a dance that night at Walsh too!  So after the party we left and I invited Dan to come to the dance with me.  We danced and he planted his first kiss on me that night on the dance floor!  Well, we ended up leaving the dance and walking and talking for most of the evening.  We had so many things in common.  Also, both of us had decided just that week to give up the notion of a significant other for a while and just concentrate on school and life in general.


When he needed to finally go home (he was living at home and commuting to school) he was giving me a hug goodbye and just as he was hugging me I heard a real live whisper in my ear.  When I say a "real live" whisper I mean it would be like someone standing right there next to you and whispering something in your ear.  Well, there was no one else there besides Dan and I, but there was a real life whisper.  The whisper said, "This is him.  You're going to marry him."


Did you ever ask your mom once you were interested in dating how you would know which person was the "right one"?  I remember asking my mom.  Her answer was a very good one.  She always said that the right one would be someone who was loyal, willing to stand by you even through illness...even through tough times.  Many people say they will in their marriage vows, but she had known too many people who "took off" when they found out their spouse had cancer, or when they couldn't stop arguing about money...or other various reasons.  She knew my dad was loyal.  She said I would know when I met someone with that quality. 


I could not have known that in one night of meeting him...not completely anyway.  So I'm telling you that the voice was not a thought in my head.  The voice was very real and very much either an Angel or a relative who was watching over me.  It was a sweet voice and it was female.  I'm ever so grateful to the voice because she knew long before I did that he was an amazing, loving, loyal, fabulous person and husband - and a spectacular dad to our children.  In my youth I could not have known.  I was so boy crazy for such a long time that I created a whirlwind of a life.  I am thankful for the voice which caused me to pause and take notice.  The voice let me know that he was "a keeper" - not just for a time, but forever.


Here's to voices.  I hope I don't hear them often because that would just be crazy...but I hope for you and for me that they will whisper to us in the most significant of times.  And if we're never lucky enough to hear another whisper, I pray that we sit up and listen when something really hits our hearts...God gives lots of different people the right words at just the right time...and gives us the ability to know when it applies to us. 


God bless you today and I hope you're hearing all you were meant to hear today.

10 comments:

Robin said...

That is lovly..about the whisper......and it was true..!...Mmmm angels to me... are guides and small still voices we here...maybe like your whisper...but they can be many things to many people..i just know that for me they are guiding sources...

Anonymous said...

I love this post Dustine! I wish I'd got to it sooner because it is so reassuring (and so interesting to hear the story of how you met Dan!) :-)
Angels play a very significant role in my life and I even have a very small collection of angel figurines going because I am so inspired by them. I love that you heard a voice! For me, I have encountered them in the form of a warm invisible presence. Not something I can hear or see, but truly feel sitting/standing beside me. Three encounters stand out and all with close loved ones . . . when the kids were born, Dave's mom and dad came out to NJ to see them at 6 weeks old. It was a big trip for them in their golden years and declining health but they were determined! Dave's dad actually passed away in his sleep at our home that week! About a month after he'd passed, I stood in the nursery watching them sleep (a pasttime I simply loved at that stage!) and the room got very warm and my heart was simply filled with love. I couldn't see him, but I just "felt" him standing next to me gazing down at them and it was the most comforting feeling I've ever, EVER had! Another time, I sat alone on the shore of Lake Michigan one early morning outside of Chicago. We were there for one of several consultations when my mom suffered from cancer. My grandmother (her mom) had just died of the same disease 4 months before. We were trying to determine the best course of treatment (or termination of) and I felt lost, bewildered, and overwhelmed. I started to cry and just said outloud, "I don't know what to do!" Again, I felt a reassuring presence sitting right next to me, holding me. She assured me without words but with her presence that it would all be okay, that we would know what to do. I smiled, knowing my grandmother was there with us and went into the consultation with a clear head and a peaceful heart. I've felt my mom's spirit with me over the last 7 years on various occasions, but the first was right after she died. She loved the song "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang and would immediately request it at every wedding reception! :-) I stood in the Hallmark shop to buy thank you cards for my dad to send just days after she died and was frozen still for a moment as I thought about the impending funeral. The next thing I knew, "Celebration" started to play out loud over the intercom! I delivered the eulogy at her funeral and started to feel my knees buckle under me and my voice quiver into the first paragraph. I thought "This was a terrible idea!" Then I paused and said to her silently, "You have to get me through this because I can't do it on my own." I took a deep breath, stood up straight, and delivered the rest of it without a moment's hesitation.
Sorry to leave such a long comment, but just wanted to share some inspiring experiences on such a lovely topic!
(P.S. And YOU, "boy-crazy"??? Noooo! ;-) LOL! I still tell people about my friend who drug me to bible study in high school with the promise that there'd be cute boys there! LOL!)

Leslie {Goodbye, house. Hello, home!} said...

I know that an angel saved me and my girls once from a collision with a semi-truck! Like, MOVED our car out of the way!
I don't know if an angel has ever talked to me, but I know that the Holy Spirit has and does- so it may be either one? :)

What lovely testimonies from you and "anonymous"!
Doesn't God love us to send helpers to us?

DUSTINE said...

SmArtee,
Wonderfully said...I agree...they are many things to many people. I'm grateful ... so very grateful for angels in every way.

DUSTINE said...

Anonymous ("K"),
THANK YOU, THANK YOU so much for sharing your stories...wow...I'm so amazed ... such love, such goodness that you have been surrounded with! God has blessed us with an inexplicable love within our souls which can and do follow us even after death. Wow.

DUSTINE said...

Leslie,
Amazing...an Angel litterally MOVED your car...yes, I know I have heard that they have inexplicable strength -- many inexplicable qualities. Again, I am at a loss for words. What a life-changing experience. So glad you shared it here. Awesome.

LibbyLibbyLibbyLibbyLibby said...

I heard a whisper in my ear, live and real and I even looked to see if someone was next to me but I was alone... well, except for the angel who whispered the same thing to me almost as to you...as a man I'd never even met before or seen walked by work door, I heard "Thats the man you are going to marry"... I suddenly looked up just as he was walking by, didn't even see his face... I went up front to inquire about him...took me about 3 more months to even talk to him and once we made eye contact.... sparks... 3 months later we were married and are going on our 23rd year of marriage in July. :-)
Still strong, still happy, still in love!

DUSTINE said...

Libby,
What a phenominal experience! So totally amazing that you trusted that voice and went to inquire about him! I love that you heard a similar message...it just seems like the common link between all the experiences shared here is that the angels really are guiding sources...they are really trying to keep us on the path that we're meant for. Awesome. Thanks! God bless...Dustine

VKT said...

Dustine,

This week I was driving to a children's book sale. I looked down at the directions another teacher had written as I drove. When I looked up again, I was headed right for the back of a truck at full speed. I prayed "Lord, please help me not hit that car". I put on the brakes and it looked like I was definitely going to hit it....when my care came to a stop no less than an inch away. I was so thankful since my husband lost his job over a year ago. That was one thing we did not need. I believe in angels because God tells us in the Bible that they exist. Who whispered in your ear or how I looked up and stopped in time is something I can't explain. Blessings sweet lady

You are a beautiful lady, inside and OUT...and your husband is very handsome!!

DUSTINE said...

Wow VKT!!! Thank God almighty that you missed that car!! I do think the angels really help us out and I bet they helped your car stop in time!! As always, thank you so much for your kind words...You are a phenominal woman!
God bless...Dustine