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.

Babies and Children Are The Answer To World Peace

There is no doubt in my mind that babies and children are the answer...the key...to world peace.  Dan and I only have three children, but each time we had a newborn and would go into public somewhere it was like bringing the sunshine itself into the atmosphere around us.  Often times it would seem as though a rock-star had walked into the room, store, down the sidewalk, in the park...wherever we would go the new baby would attract attention from complete strangers.  I can't tell you how many times a person would tell me that it brightened their day just to look at my baby.  And there are countless times that a friend or family member would take the baby from my arms so they could hold it and get their "baby fix".  My mom to this day loves the sound of a crying newborn...(in moderation).  The cooing, and babbling sounds they make and, yes, even their cries (if you're not the one up all night with them) can bring such warm and peaceful and joyful feelings to the soul. 

They get a little bigger and then they start to walk and discover things, and figure out how to do new things all the time.  As a parent you watch with joy over each new discovery and how proud they are of themselves.  My children will get a look on their face which says, "did everyone just see what I did?"  as they look around with a big grin checking to see if anyone saw them.  And still, as toddlers and new talkers, complete strangers love to approach them and ask them questions and get them to smile.  It brings so much peace and joy to people to be able to spend a small minute with a little child.

Many times I've posted stories on facebook about the funny things my children do and say.  I post those things because they make me laugh and I can't wait to retell it hoping that it makes someone else laugh.  I love getting feedback from people knowing that it caused them to grin, roll their eyes, and especially to recall a time when their own children did something similar.  I see posts from other people on facebook where they are looking for that glimmer of the child they once had as theirs grow older. 

I worked with teenagers for many years before having my own children.  Each year a graduating class would come through and the parents would say to me, "It was like the blink of an eye...they were babies just yesterday."  It was said to me so many times that I felt like I had what I called "the curse of reality about babies and children" - when my children were born I knew I had to take in every minute as though I would wake up tomorrow and they would be grown up already.  Knowing this I try not to take their childhood for granted. 

Ever had a dream to be a rock star?  I have my own rock band right here at home!  We have play drums and guitars and tamborines and triangles and pots and pans and tupperware and very loud voices which sing into pretend microphones or spoons...we're living that dream.  Ever dream of being a movie star?  We have all the dress-up clothes an actor could dream of and imaginations to go with them!  Ever wish you could go out dancing again like you used to do in high school and college?  We dance here every night almost with the music as loud as we want...and we get to pick the music we like the best!  It can be Laurie Berkner one night, Great Big Sea another night, Miley Cyrus...Mika...80's...90's...party favorites...whatever we want!  Kids are GREAT dancers and singers!  They don't care how good or bad they are...or how good or bad you are...it's just about having fun!

There are so many innocent things that children say and do that make grown-ups smile and laugh.  I've told of the time I went in for lunch duty at school and had the children lined up to go outside for recess when I looked over and watched one little girl act like she was walking with a cane all bent over and holding her back.  She looked up at me and said, "Look Mrs. May!  I'm 30!!"  The other day I went in for lunch duty again and stayed for indoor recess.  One little girl was writing on the chalk board.  She asked me how to spell the word "be" - she said, "you know 'be' like 'be a good friend'."  I told her how to spell "be" and meanwhile was helping another child with another game.  She then asked me how to spell "friend."  I told her.  When I finally looked up to see her work on the board I read these words, "Be A God Friend."  Obviously she had spelled "good" wrong - I could have corrected her, but it caused me to pause and reflect on the meaning of her sentence.  To a child both are probably one in the same.

So with all of this being said, it seems obvious to me that babies and children are the key to world peace.  It seems to me that if allied countries would work harder at being "God Friends" instead of "Good Friends" that it might be a  step in the right direction.  We adults could take a lesson in having more fun...not worrying so much about how good or bad we are at something.  If stopping for a moment to look at a baby can bring so much peace to a person's heart, why can't stopping for a moment to have a pleasant conversation with another adult...looking someone else in the eye and seeing the child hiding in there?  Let's work at being "God Friends" - remembering that we're all connected no matter how long we've been on earth.