A friend had blogged about how she was struggling trying to decide on a religion or even if she believed in a supreme being. I kind of went into my beliefs - a long comment on her blog and have been thinking about it ever since....so for the 2 maybe 3 people that still read my blog I thought I would share with you some of the reasons why I believe the following:
God loves me and takes care of me.
example: Many years ago when Randy was in college and I was a home maker with 3 fairly young children. Our parents were very helpful during this time of NO INCOME....they let us live in their rent house, rent free, they paid our utility bills, bought diapers, groceries etc. Randy worked truck wrecks when he could and would get paid, he helped with a paper route when he could for income.....he did everything he could to help out. I babysit for some income and we tried to impact our parents as little as possible. Randy worked a truck wreck and got to bring home some frozen fried chicken (hmmmm maybe that is where my dislike for fried chicken comes from - because I used to love it) We had this chicken for at least every other meal for weeks (It was a BIG TRUCK!) Randy made the comment when he brought it home how God had provided for us....I agreed, but then after a few weeks of the same stuff (wow my throat is closing just thinking about the chicken) I was becoming very much like the Isralites in the desert complaining about the manna God provided. I put the last box of chicken in the oven for supper one night, it was a few days before WIC sent us new coupons for Milk, Eggs, Cheese etc......and I literally had nothing to feed my children for Breakfast. I had mentioned calling my parents for help and Randy said no I've prayed about it and God will provide. So I put the food in the oven, had made the mashed potatoes (powdered from a box.....can you say yummy - yeah neither can I) and opened up green beans (Praise God for my parents garden because we had fresh canned veggies....too bad my children wouldn't eat them- LOL). I turned to Randy and yelled OKAY so where is God - what am I suppose to feed the kids tomorrow? He said, If it comes to that he would go to his mom's in the morning and borrow some money or food.........I said why not go now. He stated he would after supper and the kids were in bed. (looking back now and knowing him to be the man he is - I can only imagine how it killed him to have to ask either of our parents for anything.... and believe me he had a wife that reminded him every chance she got that her parents were putting a roof over our heads etc.....) Anyway we were eating supper and the front doorbell rang (I stress the front doorbell because anyone the knew us well would come to the back and ring that doorbell) So I figured since it was the front door it was one of the kids in the neightborhood coming to see if Nyki could play. Randy gets up and goes to the front door......he speaks and then closes the door. He doesn't come back to the table, so I call out "Who was it" He says "Come here it is my God" I get up and go to the living room and see the Chairman of the Deacons at our church come in with bags of groceries - it took him and Randy 2 trips each to get them all in the house. George shares that he was dropping them off at a trailor (in the trailor park at the end of our neighborhood) and when he pulled up the trailor was gone and the family that the church had gathered the groceries for were no where to be found. So he prayed asking God where to take the groceries and God told him our house. We thanked him - I cried (Randy probably did too but I do not rememberr) and George left so we started putting away the groceries and in the first sack I opened their were 3 boxes of cereal - Sugar Puffs (Nyki's favorite), Kix (Brittney's favorite) and Fruit Loops (Shawn's favorite).......now tell me that isn't the hand of God. He knew we would never ask for help - he knew we would die of embarrassment before taking a hand out from our church family and yet he provided a way for us to save face and each of the children to get their favorite (two of which we couldn't even get on WIC).
When we were moving from Florida to Texas a friend of mine (Hey Marilyn) reminded me during the time I was so doubtful that everything would work out that "God Still Rings Doorbells"!
When we do not make a choice to believe then we have made a choice to reject Him and face eternal life in Hell.
example: Over the course of my life I have been in the room 3 different times when someone has taken their last breath. (No this is not a reflection on me.....it is safe to be in the room with me). 1st ONE: My brother-in-law who just before Randy and I were married surrendered his life to Jesus and became a christian - His final moments were his troubled breathing and then silence...that was it. He went from a painful look on his face to one of peace. His wife said he's with Jesus now. 2nd ONE: My uncle who no one knows if he ever made a decision.....most people that knew him says NO. I was in the room with my dad and 2 (possibly 3 - but I know 2 other) uncles when he took his last breath - it was dark, it was scary and he fought and fought hard..... one uncle stated he went in pain, another said quietly to his wife when we were back in the waiting room (he fought against Satan) I heard him and just looked at him he hugged me and said he had seen it before. My dad was weeping so it was later before we spoke of it and he said he didn't have the peace that he had when others had passed that he would see them again in Heaven. I was an adult, mother of 3 at the time and some nights I still have nightmares from his last moments on earth. 3rd ONE: was when my father in law passed....We were with him before his final heart attack, Randy's mom had called us stating that he wasn't good and wanted us to go see him, so my parents kept the kids and we went to the VA hospital to see him. He was alert and knew us - asked if Randy's neice by marriage had made it in from NY with her kids, visited with us. As we were leaving I leaned over to kiss him goodbye and he held my arm for a minute looked into my eyes and told me to take care of his babies. Remind them often of how much he loved them and that he would see them again. I told Randy when I joined him in the hall what he said and that he had just said goodbye. Randy I think wanted to believe that it was a message strictly because he had been in the hospital for over a month and that he wanted to remind the kids that he was thinking of them. We go get the kids from my parents house and take them home bathe them for church the next day and put them to bed. Randy's mom calls shortly there after and the hospital had called the family in. Randy and I only had one car so he couldn't go meet his mom while I took the kids to my sisters and then joined them. He didn't want me to just stay at home, which is what had always happened before. As we were gathering up the kids after I had called my sister to see if we could drop them off there, his mom called again and his nephew was there so she was just heading to the hospital with him. So we took the kids to my Sister's house and headed to the hospital. We got there and they had moved Dad into the CCU unit, but we were told we could come and go all we wanted (which is not normal) we found Mom and Robert and then we went back to see Dad, he wasn't alert any longer. We went back a few times over the next couple of hours and just shortly past midnight, we went back with Randy's mom for her to tell him it was okay to go. He said I love you (the only words he'd spoken since talking to me as I was leaving earlier) and he relaxed (that's the best way I can describe it....he wasn't fighting prior but his body just seemed to relax completely and he had a smile on his face) we walked Mom back to the waiting room and then Randy and I went back in, a nurse met us and stated that they needed a few minutes if we could just wait outside so we went back to the waiting room with his mom, nephew, sister and brother-in-law. The doctor came to the room just seconds after we got back in the waiting room to tell us he was gone.
Now some people might say it is just a fluke that all three died so differently - that it is just individual circumstances but I disagree - I think that in the last moments everyone knows their final destination and that is what makes the difference!
I would also like to share a story I've been told time and time again by my mother who was 9 or so when her grandfather passed. That was when you didn't take people to the hospital (well few people took them to the hospital) Grandpa Stuckey (GPS) had been ill for awhile and so my Mamaw asked my mom to sit in the room with him while she prepared lunch. Mom was playing with her doll on the floor when GPS spoke for the first time in weeks. He said "look there's ......" he began to call out names of his wife, son, and grandson that had all passed before him and then he said very plainly "And there's Jesus". You will never be able to convince my mother (or me for that matter) that Jesus isn't standing there with opened arms to welcome us home when we die.
4 years ago
