Angels in Action

Hello precious princess warriors! It's been far too long. Once again, my life has taken on a life of its own, and I've been beyond busy. Not good -- at all. It's time to slow down, reevaluate my schedule, confirming that what I'm doing is in line what God wants me doing. Although, this time of year, every year, tends to take off at a very rapid pace due to my son's extensive baseball schedule. His games add three evenings of "baseball watching" to my already over-stuffed schedule. But I can't tear myself away from his games. Win or lose, they're always worth watching. And, yes, I like baseball.

Be assured, my Armor of God series will start soon. I promise. Tonight, however, I wanted to tell you about what I believe just might have been an angelic encounter. Really.

First, consider this fascinating scripture -- Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing, some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Heb. 13:2

I've always been awed by the possibility of an angel in my midst. Knowing that God cares enough about us to send supernatural helpers from heaven is more than a little exciting, and definitely thought provoking.

Anyway ... here's just a little background explaining why this encounter was so perfectly timed.

My daughter has been in the middle of a very uncomfortable situation with a friendship turned sour. The mother of the other girl has exhibited some frightening and erratic behavior, now focused on yet another mother who chose to stand for truth rather than being manipulated by an evil, cruel agenda. Of course, the ones suffering the most from the situation are the girls. They want to be friends and work things out, but, unfortunately, this one particular mom is not open to that possibility. Needless to say, it has been difficult for everyone involved. My daughter's dear friend, who is celebrating her birthday today, was extremely upset by some very hurtful comments this other mom made to her mother. She was tearful, confused, and unhappy. I don't blame her. The situation has been hard for me to deal with in a godly manner. Believe me, I'm praying -- a lot. More details aren't important, what's important is that God cares about our children. He cares about us.

I took my daughter and the birthday girl to a movie this evening. They were thrilled to go; yet a thin layer of grief, for changing friendships, seemed to cover the joy, diminishing its glow. As we took our seats, I noticed that my daughter's friend was carrying a large, rolled up, movie poster. It was one of those super fancy ones. You know, the actual movie poster, with glittered lettering to boot. Photographs covered both the front and back side making it an obvious collector's item.

This little girl was beaming. She said, "Some guy came up to me when we were walking in and said happy birthday, and then handed the poster to me." My daughter confirmed this brief encounter. We hurried to thank the kind man. He had vanished -- completely.

We hadn't told anyone at the theater about her birthday. No one but my family and hers knew where we would be (they didn't do it; I checked). No one else there had a poster. The whole thing was just plain strange.

Suddenly, a light (finally) came on and I blurted out what I believe still to be true. "Girls, do you know that God just sent an angel to bless you. You've had a really hard day. You're mom is standing against unkind behavior and feeling attacked. God cares. He knows you're suffering. He knows it's your birthday and that you would love this poster. So, I think He sent an angel to deliver it to you." The moistness in my eyes must have been contagious because they looked teary, too. I quickly called her mom and shared the experience. She, too, cried, believing the gift to be a very tangible gesture of His love for her hurting girl. Wow! Wow! Praise God!

For a just-turned eleven year old this was the perfect gift. God's love touches each one of us in a very unique way that is perfect for our needs. He knows. He cares. He loves.

So, have you ever suspected angelic intervention? If so, please, share your story. I'd love to hear it and share it with my readers. And remember, that there are angels among us. We should be careful to treat each person with dignity and love. God bless you.

Happy Birthday to me (and you, too)

It's the BIG DAY. You know. That time once a year when we are reminded of our birth day or as we refer to it now ... birthday.

If we're lucky, we can look back on the past year and rejoice over the exciting things that have happened in our lives. However, for some of us, a birthday can serve as a reminder of all those things we haven't accomplished, that career we never captured, dreams seemingly lost forever.

Simply celebrating our special day in the midst of trials and tribulations isn't always fun. Thankfully, though, no matter that the occasion, if we're daughters of the King we can celebrate and rejoice no matter what our circumstances. (I'll get to that in a moment)

For me, today has been, honesty here, not so lovely. My sixteen year old son chose today of all days to dump a load of sour emotions on me. What he said hurt, a lot. I cried. Actually, I sobbed. For me I'm already tender on my birthday because I'm adopted. This is the time of year when I wonder about my birth parents, and possible siblings.

Finances have been tight for us, like so many other families, so I instituted a no gift rule for me. No big out to dinner event or fanfare this year. Surprisingly, and kind of embarrassingly, I found myself a bit down about my lack of gifts. Hey, I just wanted the Mandisa Christmas CD! I guess it was a lose lose situation; because had they got a present for me, I probably would have chastised them. ANYWAY, I was feeling pretty blue by the time I got to church. I was feeling bad about my past mistakes and wishing I'd accomplished more in my forty-four years on this planet.

Then, God spoke like He so often does through our pastor and tonight's message. Can you believe they even talked about letting go of past mistakes and allowing God to do what He does so well: use them for His Kingdom glory? Humph. Over the course of the evening, I was reminded how when we are adopted into God's Kingdom we are reborn. That's right! A whole new "birthday" for us. Once we're His, we remain His, forever.

I started to mentally tally up all the many ways God has blessed me. He have given me more gifts in my lifetime than I deserve. He has delivered me from my past and allowed me to minister to hurting people, especially, other women. He has turned my ashes into rejoicing over His gift of salvation. He has elevated me from a pauper to a Princess Warrior. So, I had a hard day, actually, a hard couple of weeks, oh well. I have an eternity to look forward to in His presence.

Another thing that happened tonight was I made sure to keep all masks off. (You might want to review past entries about removing false faces) That's right. I was real about my less than perfect day. When people asked how I was, I was honest. No, I didn't vomit (sorry for the graphic word use, but it really gives a good visual) my emotions all over the place, I simply said that I'd had better days and that I was a little raw emotionally. The support and love I received was priceless. Talk about a gift! God gives us precious men and women of God to help lift our spirits when we are down. But we have to reach out, remove our masks, and push our pride aside.

A Princess Warrior for Christ can admit when things are less than perfect and she can ask for help. She can also rejoice in her King no matter how she feels. After all, we have received the best gift of all -- forgiveness for our sins -- past, present, and future. As well as, an eternity in the royalist of royal kingdoms ever.

Our hope must rest not on the temporary gifts and good feelings of this earth, but on our God and His incredible plans for us. So, sisters, let us rejoice and be glad for God is good all the time.

I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE FOLLOWING BIRTHDAY STORY:

A man told a story about the time his son’s sixth birthday was approaching. He had mentioned he wouldn’t mind a party, and as his son usually was very specific about the kind of presents he liked the dad asked him what he could get him. Bill expected a well-planned reply, such as "I’d like a baseball glove; you can find it at Toys ‘R ‘Us, aisle 6, below the batting helmets, or a Parcheesi board; the games are in alphabetical order in aisle 1; it’s between the Pac Man and Pay Day."

But his son’s request was a bit different. He said, "Dad, I’d like a ball to play with for my birthday." Bill said "Great, what kind of ball?" "Oh, I want don’t know, either a football or a soccer ball." "Well, which would you want more?" He said, "Wellll," and thought about it. Then he said. "If you have some time to play ball with me this year, I’d really like a football so we could throw it back and forth in the back yard. But if you’re gonna be real busy this year, maybe you just better get me a soccer ball, because I can play soccer with the rest of the kids in the neighborhood." The dad thought about this and said, "Let me surprise you. How does that sound?" And the little boy smiled and said, "Oh that would be great Dad. I really love you."

Then Bill went in and shared this little encounter with his wife and together they agreed, their son was not so much interested in the gift. He was interested in the giver. (Autoillustrator.com, "WORSHIP")