Sweet Sounds From Heaven

My goal is for God to become more real to me daily. The Bible says draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8). He longs for this probably more than I know. Once when in my prayer chair fellowshipping with My Heavenly Father the feeling of closeness was so real and natural, I asked Him to hold that thought, I’d be right back. It was funny when I realized what I had said. I was excusing myself to go to the bathroom as if He were sitting in the other chair. I’m sure He gets a lot of laughs out of our relationship. He loves me in spite of me, and I am so grateful.

Upon receiving this new faith, I told God I did not want to be an ordinary Christian. I wanted to really make my life count for Him. He told me He wanted my men, my mouth and my money. Immediately I thought it was a new candy, M&M&M. I understood the men. I knew what the Bible said about sex outside of marriage. He told me I could not cuss and preach at the same time. Later I found in James 3:10 & 11 where it says “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing, my brethren, these things ought not so to be. Does a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?” Again, I got it.  I said, ” but God, I don’t understand this money thing, I don’t have any.” He said , “I know I want to get some to you.” I started tithing immediately. Even when it didn’t look like I could, I would.

I really connected God with Love and He is Love. But remember, I’m just a baby Christian and don’t know anything except my whole world has just changed…and for the better I might add. So since it’s already settled with God that I don’t want to be just ordinary, He lead me to study Love. First of all, I found out that Love never fails; that made me happy. So, I set out to learn how to walk in Love early on. He lead me to read 1 Cor. 13: 4-8 and 1^st, 2^nd, and 3rd John. I did this every night for 2 years. I finally started to get this revelation that God is Love and Love lives inside of me and what Love looks like.

Perfect Love casts out fear and Love never fails. So how do I do it, I’m wondering. The Book of Galatians taught me that Love is one of the Fruits of the Spirit. Fruit grows and this Love thing is going to be a process. Only time will tell if this Love fruit is edible or should I say evident. The only way to get good at something is to practice it over and over. Oh brother, Now look what I’ve done. I’ve given God permission to test me in this area until I get it right. Many, many learning opportunities were in my path from that day until now.

One day at work, my coworker had evidently experienced a bad week-end and came in all mad at the world. She was ranting and raving about everything. The coworker was throwing my name around and insults that were not appreciated. I’ve been meditating on Love all week-end. I did not know this was a test I was about to take and fail. Finally, I had about all this flesh could handle and marched right down to her office and said, “listen here coworker, if you continue to falsely accuse me, and continue to insult me, you are going to be sorry.” And turned on my heals and walked back toward my office.

On the walk back and still fuming, God said, “now are you happy?”  I said “No.”  He said, “and you never will be as long as you take matters into your own hands.”  I said, “But God, she is missing a golden opportunity to walk in Love.”  God said, “she does not have my Love Sandra, YOU do.”  I broke. He was teaching me wonderful truths.

I excused myself and went to the bathroom and cried and repented. I bound the enemy that was causing her to act that way in the first place. The Bible says in Ephesians 6:12 we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. So I knew my battle was not with my coworker. I returned and asked my coworker to forgive me for my attitude and actions and she did. That repentance by me and praying for her turned the tide. She was like a different person the rest of the day. When we do things Gods way, things just work out, don’t they.

Over the years I have learned to be more sensitive to the real problem and it’s not the people, it’s the enemy of God that hates us because we are made in Gods image. God was just teaching me. He is still teaching me and will be until He takes me home.

Do I always get it right? Oh Please, I wish. I’m just like everyone else. But I have committed to get better and better until I hardly know myself. I have committed to walk in Love to the best of my ability. It’s a growth process. As we learn to trust Him more and believe in the Love he has toward us, we will be able to Love others with that supernatural Love that we only get from HIM.

Romans 5:5 tells us that the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. We just have to believe that and let that Love work in us. It gives a whole new dimension to the song we’ve sung since childhood, Jesus Loves me this I know. It’s the knowing that takes time. So just jump on the band wagon and learn with the rest of us. It’s a wonderful journey and the view is great. Sometimes the road gets rocky but He will show us things we will only get to see IN HIS LOVE.

Do you have a grandma? This is not a trick question, but let me help you with it. If you have a belly button, you do. Neither is it the chicken or the egg dilemma, grandmas came first. There’s just something about grandmas. They are grandmas because they are so grand. Little Red Riding Hood had it right from the start. Going to grandma’s house was always met with such anticipation.

My grandma and I were roommates for about 25 years. Either I lived with her or she lived with me. We were very close. I could tell her anything and she would not act surprised, she would give me wisdom on the situation every time. That’s why older people are so valuable. They truly do have the tee shirt on wisdom and It was my good fortune to be around this older, wiser woman a lot.

Grandma always told me to do unto others as I would have them do unto me. As much as that was understood, it was taken to heart and applied in my life.  One day while cadillacing through the Bible, in the Book of James it read, “If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well.” I gasped and put my hands over my mouth and said, “Dear Lord! God’s quoting my grandma.”  But then my brain returned. That had been taught to me all my life. It did not dawn on me that grandma got it from the Bible. Probably the reason it stuck, that powerful WORD OF GOD.

We all know you can’t get born again again, and my heart was given to Jesus at about 12 years old. My memory is very clear on the event and I was as serious as all get out too. We don’t always understand eveything.  I lost my zeal.  It seemed that I leaked, because when God got my attention 21 years later, He sowed me up and filled me up again with His Love. Grandma was the first person notified. She was so thrilled. She never gave up on me, everyone else certainly had. Thank You Jesus for grandma’s prayers.

Whenever pondering whether to purchase something or give something away, and debating because of the money involved, grandma always helped me. She’d say something like “Sandra, you’ll never miss it in a million years.” I’d think about that and it’s true. Really helped me put a lot of stuff in it’s proper perspective. Helped me really get it. Life is short and death is long. We only have one shot at this thing called life, and I was trying to get it right.

We were raised Baptist. We were Baptist born, Baptist breed, Baptist living and Baptist dead. When God got my attention in 1978, He connected me with a small non-denominational church. Jesus came alive to me in those stories in the Bible like He never had before. I just believed more and expected more. It was exciting. I went to Virginia and brought grandma home with me just about every Fall and took her back home every Spring. This was the first time with grandma since my new found faith. She really sensed a big difference in me. She was right. I couldn’t explain or even understand, but things were so different. So much better.

One Thursday night grandma wanted to go with me to church. Tickled me. She said she wanted prayer for healing. We trucked off to church. At the end of the service, an alter call was made for anything needed. Grandma stepped up for prayer for healing. Richard anointed grandma with oil and prayed for her. She received her healing, and received the infilling of the Holy Spirit and received her prayer language. What a night that was. When we started home, we started laughing and could not stop. Grandma was kind of heavy and we rocked that little VW Bug all the way home. We just could not stop laughing. Every time we would look at each other, we would laugh uncontrollably. God is so Good.

The last time I took grandma home was 1988. She had several strokes and was thereafter unable to come to Florida to spend winters with me. Her health was declining, but I was praying. She was in the hospital and family kept calling me to come if I wanted to see her alive. It would go in one ear and out the other.  Finally, Teresa called and said, “Sandy, honey I know you are praying and believing God to heal grandma, but if you want to see her alive, you probably should come on up.” I could hardly stand it, but I decided to catch a flight.

Linda picked me up at the airport in Tri-Cities around 6:00pm. We traveled to Abingdon where grandma was hospitalized. All the family were there and had been there for days. They told me to go on in and spend time with grandma, they had all been spending time with her already.

Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. I was almost too late. All I could do was rub grandma’s arm and cry and tell her how much she meant to me. She had machines and tubes everywhere and struggled to breathe. A nurse came in to turn her, and still clinging to hope, I asked him, if she was getting any better. He looked at me like I was a moron, the final straw.

I composed myself and went out and retrieved my Bible and returned to grandma’s bedside. This time I went around on the other side of the bed since she was facing in that direction. I said, “grandma, you want me to read to you from the Bible?” I opened my Bible to St. John 14 and started reading in the first verse. Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me. In My Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and grandma breathed her final breath and went home.

It was hard, but not on her. She was free. I just had to cling to “O death where is thy sting. O grave, where is thy victory?” I Cor 15:55, and I did. Grandma waited for me to come before she went home.

If I could sum up my life with grandma, it would be laughter and wonderful fellowship. If she ever taught me one thing over another, it would be to Love God and Forgive People. And there are also many other things which grandma taught me, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Needless to say, she was way up there on my hero list.

Seems such a shame we must grow up. Our childhood days are memories we will have forever. God placed us in the loving care of parents or sometimes grandparents, but nevertheless, someone always cared for us. Once Karen and I were reflecting on our past and she said, “Sandy, do you think God placed you in the wrong family?” I said, “no, because God doesn’t make any mistakes.” Even if our childhood isn’t what we would have chosen, God chose it and He always knows what He is doing.

Karen was sharing a time when she and Kerry were small. We spent some summers with grandpa and grandma Hensley in Whitetop. Since our mother died when we were young, we may have been living there. At any rate, it is some of our most precious memories.

She and Kerry would get up every day and make bologna sandwiches and head for Pond Mountain on foot. They traveled the road. On one occasion they met up with a big bull. A steep incline on one side and a deep drop off on the other. They were scared silly.

Suddenly a farmer came by with his big red tractor. He correctly evaluated the situation and saved the day. Just in the nick of time too, as the bull was charging in their direction. Don’t tell me we don’t have angels watching over us. They continued this daily all summer long. Playing in the creek, picking berries, and other fruit, and drinking from fresh springs. Being rescued from bulls and maybe even bears. If life could be so simple always. That explains why they are still so full of bologna today.

When I was in the first grade, we attended school in a one room school house. The grades ranged from first through the seventh. I had several girl friends, but I had to sit with a boy. Yuk! And worse, we had to share a book. I thought I might just die. It didn’t get any worse than this. My girlfriends got to sit with each other. Not me, I just knew life was against me early on.

One day, Betty Sue didn’t come to school. At lunch, I went down the hill to check on her. She was sick. I decided I would be sick too. We played all afternoon. We turned the bed into a trampoline. What fun we had. No one home, just us two sick ones. We were smart enough to watch the clock. I knew I needed to leave at 3:00 and go home. When the time came to leave, I simply went up the hill a little and down toward my home as if I had been at school all the time. Only trouble is, my teacher was there inquiring why Sandra Kay didn’t come back to school after lunch. Boy Oh Boy! Mama really loved me because she did not spare the rod that time. I never skipped school again. You know even though something may hurt, like spankings, that does not make it bad.

Another life long lesson was learned when I would follow Ambrose home. We were both given a penny. I lost mine so I stole another one. Before I went home I piled dirt on it and went straight to mama and said, “look what I found in the dirt.” Well, somehow that did not compute with her. The truth came out and I was whipped all the way back to Ambrose’s house to return the penny. They did not like me lying or stealing. Thank You Jesus for discipline. Proverbs 23:13 is still true today.

Preacher Lewis lived up on another hill. His wife took five of us girls in the community, all about the same age and we had Vacation Bible School. We met in an old warehouse across from Carter’s Store. I remember we had a stick and string and made a fishing pole. We cut fish out of colored paper and on the fish we wrote Matt. 4:19. No doubt, our lesson all week was “follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” We enjoyed VBS all week; we especially liked being together, we were all buddies.

You know, we might not think things like that amount to a hill of beans, but The Word of God is very powerful, Heb. 4:12. When I got right with God in 1978, one morning just as I was waking up, I remembered that week, those fishing poles and the scripture we wrote on the fish. I cried like a baby. God knew the time was coming when Mrs. Lewis’s VBS would impact my life. She is in heaven today, but one day I’ll get to thank her. Jesus, If you can make me a fisher of men, do it.

I was always a tomboy growing up. Running and playing was my middle name. I could fight with the best of ‘um. Gender didn’t mean a thing to me. Riding the bus was an adventure, and some kids would make fun of this new little girl because she was heavier. They would not let her sit next to them. When I took note of that, I beat the snot right out of all of ‘um. This little girl was given priority seating with me in the front row. That little girl, as it turned out was Carla Sue. a friend who sticks closer than a sister. Funny huh, God saw that coming too.

Karen, Kerry and I have precious memories of our childhood in Whitetop. Uncle Doyle often bought ice cream for me at the school store. I really liked that because he was very popular and I wasn’t even his girlfriend. He pulled us around on a rug to polish the hardwood floors, and pulled me to school on a sleigh when the snowdrifts were over my head. Karen and Kerry enjoyed rides on his shoulder. I enjoyed watching the older girls, Paige, Gladys, Freda, and others getting dressed for dates. They always looked so pretty when they came downstairs. All that fixin’ fascinated me.

Childhood is just part of growing up and one day I’m going to consider doing just that; not any time soon though, probably. Jesus said to come to Him as a little child, and I’m thankful we can do just that. It’s great when we have good childhood memories. But what really counts is not how we start out, but how we end up. Ending up is a given, growing up is an option. Just make sure you end up going up.

I remember reading the Bible with these new eyes. I’d read until I could not contain another story. I held my Bible close to my chest and said, “Lord Jesus, does anything like that ever happen today?” and went to sleep.

It truly was like reading after superman. Feeding thousands with just five loaves and two fishes, turning water into wine, opening blind eyes, deaf ears, raising the dead, miraculous healings all the time, disappearing out of the middle of a crowd, walking through walls. and one of my favorites, putting an ear back in place after it had been cut off by His own disciple. Sweet and Gentle Jesus! Jesus always did the right thing even when the right thing was not being done to Him. He always pleased His Father.

I always marveled at the way Jesus would show up and walk along with common folks and they didn’t even know who He was until He had left. There was always a stirring in their hearts though. You know, He still shows up and walks along side common folks today.

I dreamed that a man came to Richard requesting that he cast out a devil. Richard said he would. There were only three other people present, my two neighbors and me. We gathered around this gentleman and Richard used his oil, touched the man’s forehead with his finger and commanded the devil to come out of the man in the Name of Jesus, and he did. We were all rejoicing that the man was free.

This thing came out of the man’s back; it looked like a snowflake. It was beautiful and just kind of floated through the air. No one else was paying any attention to it, they were all praising God for deliverance. I was engrossed in the snowflake.

The snowflake started methodically and effortlessly moving in my direction. Now, I like snowflakes, but this particular one was demonic, and I knew it. I did not want this snowflake to enter into me, I had my own issues. It moved slowly so I just hit it with my little blue Bible every time it got near me. Kind of like playing ping pong in slow motion.

My friends were paying me NO attention. It was like there was a glass between me and them. I’m thinking, where are my friends when I need them. I was definitely on my own. You know, I’m not real smart, but it dawned on me, this snowflake uses NO energy. Even though all I did was hit it with my Bible, sooner or later I would be too exhausted to continue to hit it and it would prevail over me. I would lose my game at ping pong. I was beginning to sweat. Actually, I was a little angry that my friends were out to lunch.

I hit that snowflake like I hated it and said, ” In the Name of Jesus!” That snowflake melted and fell to the ground. I could not believe my eyes. What a revelation. The name of Jesus. I immediately woke up.

The name of Jesus is more powerful than a locomotive, faster than a speeding bullet. We don’t even have to find a telephone booth and change clothes. We just need a changed heart, and that’s His specialty. It’s HIS NAME, not ours, Hallelujah for that!!

Would someone please define “workplace?” A place where we work, right? Well, sort of. But a workplace is a place not only where we work, it is a learning environment for life. It makes up a big portion of our lives.

Blooper #1

I’m about 8 months pregnant and big as a barn. A lady came in to see one of my bosses. I let him know she was there and he said he’d see her momentarily. This lady looked about 7 months pregnant, kind of like she had swallowed a basketball.

Being the friendly type, I figured we had something in common. So I told her Mr. Boss would be right with her and added, “so, when are you due?” She sat down and said “I’m not pregnant.” I sat down and said, “Me neither.” We both laughed until I thought I might deliver. What I learned from this experience is don’t go to work while you’re pregnant. Nothing works right, especially, your brain! You know, we might as well laugh at ourselves, everyone else is.

Blooper #2

Sometimes workplaces can get pretty stressful. I often released stress in prayer. Boy Oh Boy! Sometimes we have to hit the prayer closet more than others. This particular day was twisting my head around until it looked like I was walking backwards. I hit my prayer closet, the JOHN. This was back when we had doors. I started praying immediately, hard and fast. I probably stayed in there 5 minutes and took care of business in the spirit and left.

Back in my office a couple of minutes when there was a knock on my open door. Mike said, “Hey Sandy, can I talk with you a minute?” as he entered and closed the door. I put down my pen and gave him my undivided attention. “Sure, what’s on your mind?” I said.

“A few minutes ago when you were in the bathroom, what was that language you were talking?” He was straight as an arrow too. He really wanted to know. I did not realize everything I said was being carried through the vent system to the video/publications department in back. “Well Mike, ah, I really don’t know what language it was. Ah, see Mike, I was talking to God. It’s my heavenly prayer language and God understands it even when we don’t.” I kind of expected him to bolt out and say something like SURE! He didn’t.

He said, “that’s what Steven said you were doing.” I said, “Who’s Steven?” “Steven is the tall, blonde guy now working with us in the publications department. His dad pastors a Pentecostal church, and he said, “she’s praying in tongues.” I had never heard of such a thing, so I needed to hear it from you.” I guess I was more convincing than Steven, because he left satisfied, wide-eyed, but satisfied.

They all viewed me in a little different light from that time on. They all respected me before, just thought I was weird because I didn‘t engage in a lot of stuff when I sure did have the opportunities. But you know what? Mike knew when he left my office that God is real and we can talk to Him. That made my day. We can talk to Him in our known language. Help! is one of my biggest communications with Almighty God.

Blooper #3

When I worked as a secretary, we also took care of the crews out in the field with a two way radio. We would get line locations, order concrete, etc. One day Ernie called me on the radio to get utility locations on his job. I was having difficulty understanding exactly were he was. Lots of construction in that area and no exact address complicated things. Finally he said, “you know Miss Sandy, down here where them hairless Christians live.” I got it. He was working in front of the new Hare Krishna House. Priceless moments on the job.

Blooper #4

Once while working in the real estate department, our boss was attempting to replace a secretary. Two girls inside our department were applying for the job. She decided she would let each girl work the desk for a week to see how they faired. The secretary’s desk was directly in front of my cubicle, no doors or ceilings. The first girl vying for the job was Renee.

I called my home as I was having some work done at the time. My brother-in-law was reconstructing my entire house. Ralph said he was doing fine but out of cigarettes. I told him I would call Rene, a smoker who lived in our area and ask him if he could sell him a pack. I got Rene on the phone. “Hey, Rene, how are you doing?” from the desk outside my cubicle, I heard “Hey, I’m doing fine.” Now, I’m trying to talk to Rene on the phone and Renee at the secretary’s desk is answering me. When I ask Rene on the phone if he would do me a favor, Renee at the desk said “I will if I can.” It was like I had an echo in my head. When I asked Rene if he could sell Ralph a pack of cigarettes, Renee at the desk finally quit interrupting my telephone conversation. When I got off the phone, it was total hysteria. This incident traveled like wild fire and the joke was on me. Everyone had a healthier heart that day.

The next week it was Sue’s turn. I’m on the phone again. This time long distance to a very old woman who was nearly deaf. I’m talking pretty loud. I nearly shouted, “Hey Miss Suzie, how are you doing?” From the secretary’s desk came back loud and clear. “I’m fine, how are you?” I told Miss Suzie to hold the phone a minute, I’d be right back. I got up and stepped outside my cubicle and just looked at Sue. When our eyes met, she knew right away what was happening. Volcanic laughter erupted. We all remembered last week. We could hardly stop laughing, but I had to; I was trying to squeeze an easement out of Miss Suzie.

You know the Bible says a merry heart does good like a medicine, Proverbs 17:22 That was one time I thought I might just overdose.

We make decisions every day. What to do with our time, where we go, what we eat, what we wear, who we spend time with. This may seem like just life, but reality is, our decisions determine our life. As one minister put it, “where the mind goes, the man follows.”

Have you ever really thought about that? You know God places before us daily, life and death, blessing and cursing and gives us the answer key… Choose life (Deut 30:19). But, IT IS OUR CHOICE. God will not make us choose life. He gives us a free will. A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.. Prov. 16:9. I am not trying to add to our human dilemma, but Prov. 16:25 says there is a way that seems right to a man and appears straight, but at the end of it are the ways of death.

So, what’s the solution, you might ask. It’s the same for all of us. Pray, seek God’s will for our life, keep our hearts uncluttered and our minds uncontaminated. Be responsible, correctable, honest and humble before Almighty God. If we lose our way, HE is BIG enough to save the day. If we do our part, He Certainly Will Do His. Have a great day!

Love, Sandra Kay

All of us have a heritage. We inherit our family’s DNA and medical history. We can attribute our looks, personality and certain abilities to our generations before us. Even our outlook on life has been greatly influenced by what our families taught us. They taught it and we caught it.

My family played musical instruments and sang as far back as I can remember. We sang all the time, with or without the radio. All my aunts and uncles played something. The first few years of my life I was raised by my grandparents, so I was around aunts and uncles and music a lot. Up in the Appalachian mountains, back in the late 40’s and early 50’s, there was not a lot left to do but music. This was before television.

My oldest uncle played the fiddle and ended up in Hollywood working with Universal Studios. The rest of us just ended up picking and grinning. I remember seeing pictures of Uncle Harold in his studio. Somehow, it reminded me of the chicken house way out back of our big farm house. So, I decided I’d make me a studio. I must have been no more than five years old.

That chicken house was small and had a big window and the acoustics were really good. I figured it must have been ever bit as good as Uncle Harold’s studio. I would go there and sing and sing and sing. Nobody cared one way or the other, so I was free. Even as a child I had a strong voice;  your could hear me for a country mile.   I’d belt out everything from Jesus Loves Me to Silver Threads and Golden Needles. I just remember growing up singing.

I was introduced to chorus later in high school, what a treat. Other people who could sing, I mean really sing. What fun just singing through life. I learned to pick a guitar a little later on, and now I’m thinking, it don’t get no better than this. Me and all my hippie friends playing in the park.

Jesus got a hold of me and now my friends changed. I didn’t have to leave them, they left me like a bird leaving a roof. I had a whole different group of friends, called believers. Glory to God! He never gave up on me when I didn’t even give Him the time of day. You know, I marvel when I think about the fact that God knows the beginning from the end.

One Sunday morning as I was leaving the church after service, my pastor grabbed my hand in a hand shake grip and said, “Sandy, a little bird told me you sing. When are you going to sing for us, how about next Sunday.” I could not believe OK came out of my mouth before my mind even got into gear. On the way home I’m thinking, I can’t believe I said OK. I can’t sing in front of people; chickens yes, but not people.

I have always endeavored to be true to my word, so I started to search for the right song to sing. I decided on Behold God by Harvest. It is a great song, but pretty fast and very wordy. I kept spitting on everything since I have a lot of saliva in my mouth. I practiced and practiced and kept spitting and spitting. Finally I prayed, “Lord Jesus, please dry out my mouth when I get up to sing. Amen.” I kept practicing all week.

Sunday came and pastor called me to the platform and introduced me. “Sandy is going to minister to us in music, give her a big welcome.” I got up, my knees knocking. Somehow I ended up on the platform. Pastor hugged me and handed me the microphone.

I was scared silly. This is not the chicken house, this is the Lord’s house. I took the mic, my head still bowed. Finally, I raised my head and nodded for the person working in the sound booth to start the music. My eyes were now shut, I sure did not want to see all those people. I waited for the introduction and opened my mouth to sing.

Suddenly, it was like a heavenly wet vac suctioned out my mouth. I could not believe it. I had forgotten about my little prayer on Thursday during practice time. Obviously, God had not. My confidence level soared and I sang that song like I was a star at the Grand Ol’ Opry.

That was the first time I had ever sung in church in front of people. I still sing and God blesses me every time. He delights in hearing and answering our prayers just like He says in Proverbs 15:8, and He blesses the labor of our hands and our mouths too, Ps. 128:2.

Somehow, I think He delights in really messing with me. Lets me know without question that He Is God.

I love animals and they have always been a big part of my life. As far back as I can remember I have had dogs or cats and sometimes both. They give us so much love. People who have never loved an animal don’t know what they are missing. That unconditional love, we don’t always get from people, unfortunately.

The latest animals who lived with me were two big dogs, Dusty Rose and Karl. Dusty Rose came from the animal shelter and Karl just came.

Taking a trip to the beach with some friends and Pat was doggie sitting with Dusty Rose. Upon arriving home there was this big collie outside my fence. After speaking with Pat, she informed me that the Collie had been there ever since I left, 3 days. Oh no!

Wrecked my car on the way back from the beach just outside of St. Augustine and had to have help to get home. Now this collie is looking longingly in my direction. I’m thinking, Oh great, I lost a car and found a dog. What a swap. I really did not want another dog, Dusty Rose was just plenty.

Pastor Danny was consulted to pray. I needed favor with my insurance company since the wreck was my fault and this big dog needs a good home. Pastor Danny prayed for both and favor was extended. My car came back better than before. And as he prayed for a good home for the collie, I’m thinking no, no, no. Well, you guessed it, I kept him.

Since Dusty Rose and Karl were big dogs, I kind of felt sorry for them because they never had any bones. You know, like real dogs. So I went to the grocery store and bought bones, neck bones. Boiled them and served them. Little did I realize these dogs were swallowing the neck bones whole. When I realized what had happened, it was much too late. The dog’s digestive systems were locked up. I was horrified! They would shun the bowl of food, literally ran away from it as if it were poison. They were not having bowel movements.  My heart was sick.

Of course, my vet was consulted, which literally put the nail in the coffin for my dogs. They informed me that dog’s digestive systems cannot breakdown bones, and there was nothing they could do. Operations of this type were not performed. They were much too risky and expensive, sorry.

I prayed and cried and laid hands on my dogs for 3 days. No change. The vet had given me no hope. I’m thinking, my dogs dying was not an option, especially since it was my fault.

Again Pastor Danny was consulted and informed about the situation. It was obvious I had been crying. Pastor Danny prayed: “God, you hear the request. These dogs mean a lot to Sandra. Father God, I ask that you take your finger and turn it into a laser beam and crush and annihilate any obstructions in her dog’s digestive system, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

I agreed with the prayer and said “Amen.” After hanging up the phone, I’m thinking, don’t know where Pastor Danny was reading in the Bible this morning, but it sure was powerful. Both dogs got relief. One that afternoon, the other the following morning. I was so happy and very grateful. Thank you Jesus, that you care about everything that concerns us. Just like Psalms 57:2 says: “I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performs all things for me.”

Laser beam! I wish I’d thought of that.

It was in the middle of summer, probably around July, 2000. I was in my prayer chair, my favorite place. Truly the highlight of my day is in the mornings when I get to pray and fellowship with my Master. Jesus has been so very good to me and certainly does stick closer than a brother. Praying for my family in Florida, Georgia, Virginia and friends, some of whom are closer than family summarizes my morning prayer time.

This particular morning after praying with my understanding, my Heavenly Father lead me to pray in the spirit. Immediately, there was something inside me like I had never felt before. This thing was huge.  I didn’t quite know what to do with it, so praying was the only thing to do. Staying with it was not the problem, getting a glimpse of what it was about was the issue. I must have prayed in the spirit for over an hour. All I knew was this thing was in me and I had to pray it through. I don’t know how well I prayed it through but after finding some relief, I called a friend of mine and told her about it. She is also an intercessor. She said “Sandy, just stick with it, God is doing something and often we don’t need to understand, just cooperate.” I told her I would.

The next morning, yesterday morning was almost forgotten. Just praying my usual stuff; family, friends, government, church, pastors, future. etc. When I felt finished, I asked God to alert me to things that needed attention in the realm of the spirit. My goodness!, here it came again. That same urgency to pray. So again here we go with the flow, with not a clue where the flow was going. Seemed to me in the spirit I was going all the way around the world. I’m sure you understand that physically I was sitting in my prayer chair in my living room. That’s when it hit me. This is more than God preventing an automobile accident. That was the only thing my brain could wrap around. My family often traveled this time of year and it seemed something was being prevented from happening.

It’s difficult to explain spiritual things because we are so aware of the natural part of us that we see. However, in the spirit, it seemed like I was 9 months pregnant and about to give birth. Truly ready to deliver. But deliver what?, I’m thinking. Again, my friend Ginger was consulted. She urged me not to worry, just stick with it. She assured me “God knows what He’s doing.” I said,” I sure hope so.” We laughed. That laughter did me good like a medicine. Things can get pretty tense with a traveling companion like God.

Well, you guessed it. Next day, same time, same station. Here it came. I almost expected it by now. So here we go again. All the way around the world praying in the spirit. After getting some relief, I asked God, “what is this?” He said one word to me…”September.” September didn’t mean anything to me, but I knew I heard that word in my inner man, that spiritual part of us that we do not see with these natural eys.

Next day… you’re good, you’re with me aren’t you. Yep! There it was, that same urgency to pray, so what else could one do. I knew God was doing something big, just didn’t have a clue what. Again, after finding some relief, I asked God “what is this big thing I have a hold of, or should I say has a hold of me?” God was getting a little friendlier… guess you could say we were bonding… just kidding. Humor helps in times like these. This time He gave me two words. See, I told you He was getting friendlier, “World wide.” I just about croaked right then. “World wide,” I cried out to God, wide-eyed as a scared cat. He said nothing.

So here I am with “September and World Wide.” My friend, Ginger had given me some real good advice. Pray, don’t try to figure everything out. The only thing I knew was that it was HUGE, the biggest thing I’d ever had a hold of before. Her advice was heeded and I stayed with the program as long as it was playing. This went on for about a week.

So now I’m waiting for September. I just knew it would hit the news. Maybe two ships almost collided. Somewhere, somehow something was prevented and God let me be part of it. Well, September came and went and nothing was brought to my attention that almost happened. For now we see through a glass darkly. We only know in part but one day face to face all things will be revealed. We will know Him as He now knows us. Since God knows and I don’t, I figured it was probably on the other side of the world and they didn’t have TV. He still ain’t talking. Nevertheless, my spirit knew something had been prevented.

It was a almost a year later in February, 2001 when we had to place our grandmother in a nursing home. I haven’t jumped the tracks… this was just the way God worked. She was demented and could no longer live alone. I visited her often and enjoyed her just about every time. The times of less enjoyment were times when she was sick. I had spent Monday, September 10 , 2001 with her. She was quite ill.

It was Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Out of bed at 6:30 and didn’t even have coffee on my mind. No TV, somehow a serious urgency to pray was upon me. Since grandma Laura was heavy on my heart, naturally, I thought this urgency to pray was for her. I locked in and was praying in the spirit for probably around 3 hours. Completely absorbed in what I was doing with no desire to do anything else. Several of us girls had been attending a bible study at Ginger’s home weekly at 10:00. When I realized it was 9:30 I jumped into action, especially since I wanted to vote on the way to bible study. Even with my best efforts, I was going to be late.

Acquainted with all the people who worked at my polling station. Pat greeted me and inquired about the news. “What news?” I explained about the extra, quality time in prayer that morning, since grandma Laura had been real sick. I reminded her about the bible study at Ginger’s, and that I just stopped by to vote. “Why?”, I asked.  She said, “a plane flew into one of the twin towers in New York City. It’s been all over the news, and they think it might be terrorist.”  It was one of those scratch your head and roll your eyes moments, and I said, “terrorist! how silly, this is America.” She said, “I know Sandy, but that’s what they think, so pray at bible study.” I assured her we would pray. Praying all the way to Ginger’s. All the while, I’m wondering, What’s a twin tower?

Arriving at bible study late, it was around 10:20. Everyone was huddled around the TV. My lateness didn’t matter. There was no bible study that day. They caught me up on the news as we sat there in disbelief. Nothing was making any sense to us. We were glued to the tube. I remember thinking, Dear Lord, we’re at war.

Never connected anything that day with my intense praying and birthing pains in prayer the year before. It was around November when I was watching Christian TV and heard what a brother said about 911. “The terrorist will try to strike again and their plans will be foiled because of the prayers and praise of the saints.” He went on to say, “actually, 911 would have been much worse, had people not prayed.” It hit me like a ton of bricks. Now, September and World Wide made perfect sense.

No doubt hundreds of thousands of people, perhaps millions of people were prompted to stop what they were doing and pray leading up to 911. God knows the beginning from the end. Especially when we don’t understand what He is doing, we must trust Him. He’ll use anyone who will cooperate with him to do good in the world and prevent evil. You know, hanging out with God is real exciting. We don’t need alcohol or drugs. He is the Most High. Talk about taking a trip and not even leaving the house. Yeah, we can do that to. Thank you Jesus for getting my attention and trusting me to cooperate with the process.