Mine doesn't have wings ...

I wanted to tell you about something that happened to me several years ago when my mother passed away. I had just flown back to LA from Colorado for my mother's funeral and Jon and the girls met me at LAX to drive me home. I was walking with Jon and the girls in the airport and a tall black man taps me on the shoulder and says "I have a message from God for you ... don't forget to look up, this is only temporary".

So Jon looks at me right after this and says "are you OK?" I say "did you hear what that man just said to me?" Jon says "what guy?" I say the one we just passed, I describe him and we turn around and he's gone. Now, I guess you could say, Oh, that's interesting ... or you could say that's amazing. Considering my state of mind at the time and the thoughts in my head at that very moment, I say it was more than amazing.

Next meeting:
A year later I take the girls on a field trip that's about a 2 hour drive from our home. It's a blazing hot day. We arrive at the Renaissance event and realize we have to walk a long way to get to the event. Then once inside we walk for about 45 min just to get to the center of all the activities. So here I am with a 6, 5 and 2 year old and Emily my oldest starts feeling ill. She has a fever and chills and I'm out in the middle of a dirt field, miles from civilization with a really sick kid. The crowds are thick, and so I pick up Emily who was too weak and out of it to walk. I put her on my back. I grab the hands of the 2 little ones and tell them to stay close and not let go. Emily is getting worse by the second and my cell phone won't work out here in the middle of nowhere. I don't see anyone who can help, so I figure I've just got to get back to the entrance and find some help.

I'm struggling to carry Emily, and it's so hot, I'm starting to get really worried. I say a prayer in my head for help as I walk and I bump into "him". He says, "Give them to me, I'll help you get there". Yes, of course it's my tall black man again. He grabs Emily and tells her to hold on to his back and he lifts the other two girls, one on each arm. He turns his head over his shoulder and says "Follow Me".

Now let me press "pause" for a second. If you know me well, which some of you do. It's not like me to hand over my kids to anyone. Also, looking back, I remember him wearing safari clothing. Who wears safari clothing at a Renaissance Faire???

End pause:

So I follow him through what seemed like endless secret long pathways between tents. I follow, and I don't ask questions ... again, that's not like me.

We end up at a medical station of sorts. He puts the girls down with a woman who identifies herself as a nurse to the girls. He says to me, "go get your car, they'll be safe here" Again, I listen and do what he says, I don't ask questions.

When I return with my car I find that the girls are still there. He of course is gone. I ask the nurse what his name is so that I can thank him somehow, maybe send a card or tell a supervisor how helpful and kind he was. She says she has no idea who he is.

I think I know who he is. I think I know who sent him.

So today I had some very difficult things happen. And some very interesting experiences. And then some amazing things happened. I'm still processing all that transpired. Sometimes it's beyond believable how God works and like the events that happened today ... well, it's so amazing and hard to grasp.

But that's an entry for another day.