MEET ME IN THE STAIRWELL

       You say you will never forget where you were when
       you heard the news On September 11, 2001.
       Neither will I.

        I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room
        with a man who called his wife to say 'Good-Bye.' I
        held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the
        peace to say, 'Honey, I am not going to make it, but it
        is Ok, I am ready to go.'

        I was with his wife when he called as she fed
        breakfast to their children. I held her up as she
        tried to understand his words and as she realized
        he wasn't coming home that night.

        I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a
        woman cried out to Me for help. 'I have been
        knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!' I said.
        'Of course I will show you the way home - only
        believe in Me now.'

        I was at the base of the building with the Priest
        ministering to the injured and devastated souls.
        I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He
        heard my voice and answered.

        I was on all four of those planes, in every seat,
        with every prayer. I was with the crew as they
        were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the
        believers there, comforting and assuring them that their
        faith has saved them.

        I was in Texas, Virginia, California, Michigan,  Afghanistan.
        I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news.
        Did you sense Me?

        I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew
        every name - though not all knew Me. Some met Me
        for the first time on the 86th floor.

        Some sought Me with their last breath.
        Some couldn't hear Me calling to them through the
        smoke and flames; 'Come to Me... this way... take
        my hand. Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me.
        But, I was there.

        I did not place you in the Tower that day. You
        may not know why, but I do. However, if you were
        there in that explosive moment in time, would you have
        reached for Me?
       
        Sept. 11, 2001, was not the end of the journey
        for you. But someday your journey will end. And I
        will be there for you as well. Seek Me now while I may
        be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are
        'ready to go.'

        I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.


Author Unknown

Always With You

We have a tendency to think we are all alone in this world. When things go wrong in our lives we become more convinced that it’s true. I had a recent experience that gave me a different feeling. 

It was one of those nights when we decided to get takeout pizza for dinner, something that happens more often these days now that the children are all young adults and some have moved out on their own. 

So after I called in the order, I decided to make a few quick stops on the way to pick it up. My first stop was to the local CVS drugstore where I had planned to run in, grab a couple of things, then on to the next stop. I was in there longer than I expected as I had trouble finding what I had come for. Finally I made my decision and headed to the self checkout to ring up my stuff. I completed my mission and as I was walking out I dug into my pockets for my keys, but as I got to the car I realized the ones I found were not the right ones. They were to our other car which I had decided not to take, but took my personal car, the Chevy Impala, because I like the stereo better. 

I’m starting to panic a little, go back inside thinking maybe they are on the floor beside the checkout I had used, walking back through the parking lot toward the store I look around on the ground, don’t see anything, get inside, look all around the checkout, nothing! Now I’m in full blown panic mode, dig through my purse and find nothing! Did someone find them and turn them in? Did I lock them in the car? I have a bad habit of locking the door from the inside instead of using the key from the outside. 

My mind was racing, I thought about asking the cashier if someone had turned them in, but decided to go look outside one more time. As I started back out through the first sliding glass door I noticed something on the floor right at the very bottom of the second glass door which looked familiar and reaching down began thanking God! Thanked Him on my way to my second stop where I picked up some milk and on the ride to finally get the pizza! All night and into the next day I kept thanking Him!

We always pray and hope for answers to the big things in life, like how to deal with death, illness, etc., but I’m so thankful for the little things He does! I’m forever thankful for His Grace and Mercy! Always by our side, always willing to help, all we have to do is be willing to trust in Him and let Him do His will!

A Near Death Experience

Some pretty weird things happen in life, like when your dog is barking in the wee hours of the morning. You get out of bed, let the dog out and after awhile you call him in, but he doesn't come. You look around for him and then you notice he's walking around something on the ground. It looks as though he's picking it up and shaking it, just like he does to his stuffed toys, so you go out to get him and you see a small furry creature lying on the ground. You're not sure, but in the dark of night it looks dead, its fur is all mangled and it’s body twisted, so you put the dog away. You come back, put it in a plastic bag, then stick it in the garbage can and go back to bed. 

You wake up the next day still feeling unsure as to whether it's really dead, so you take a peek in the garbage can as you’re walking to your car on your way to church. Lifting the lid you see movement in the bag, its little head is turning, its little eyes looking around! So you carefully take the bag out of the garbage, it goes limp again and dump the little furry body in the bushes by the tree in your front yard! When you come home after church, the body is gone! Then you realize you've just had your first “hands on” experience with Possum playing possum! Very wild!

It was probably very thankful to its creator that it received a second chance at life by playing dead! Unfortunately it doesn’t always end the same way the second time as was the case with this youngster, some dogs play a little too rough!

We as humans tend to play dead also, we say we have died to our old self and have become a new Creation in Christ, but it never really shows in our behavior. We go to Church every Sunday, then come home and go back to our old ways, use foul language, watch adult programming, treat others in a demeaning manor etc., not Christ like at all! Doing away with the old self is a day to day battle, the evil one is always there taunting us, but if we truly have Christ in our heart we can make headway!