PREFACE TO MY BOOK:

One of the phrases my grandmother always used through out my life, was “God does things in mysterious ways” remember that Cynthia.   One day, it will all make sense, but as you go through life, do the best you can in every situation, and always hold onto your faith.

I read something else along those lines while in a gift shop.  A sign sitting on a shelf read” “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about the plans you made for you life. “    Well, I have to tell you; God must still be laughing out loud, what a funny guy.   Studies in 2009 say life expectancy for a woman are an approximately 80 years old, so at that rate half of my life is over, and my plan still hasn’t kicked in.  We can plan and map out of future as much as we want, but the truth of the matter is, it really isn’t up to us.  God has the true plan for our lives, and in my opinion he must still be laughing, because my plan hasn’t kicked in yet. 

In 1995 I had an experience that would change my life, but I had no idea, the domino effect it would have on me and the lives that I interact with.   It was all part of God’s plan,  I had no idea that  I would  have such a understanding of the unknown, a feeling, a knowing,  and as years went by  I began to  actually see, what I had felt and known.

It was Easter Sunday , and  in four days, and I would have my first encounter with the Spirit world; it literally scared the day lights out of me.  It was a nice sunny day, for an Easter Sunday, and I had dinner cooking .  There would be 6 of us for dinner, and about an hour before dinner was ready, my boyfriend Peter left to go pick up his 85 year old mother.  I continued getting dinner ready and chatting with the other guests, as I looked at the clock, getting impatient, and also realizing something must be wrong, he wasn’t coming back.  The phone rang, it was Peter, he said as he and his mother were getting ready to leave her house, as she got to the back hall,  his mother just collapsed.  He immediately dialed 911, the rescue was on the way.   He suggested I go ahead with dinner and feed our guests, there was nothing anyone could do, he was staying with her, and would keep us posted .  She was getting checked out, the hospital was taking precautions in the ER, as she was an elder at 85 years old.

When he returned, he explained the doctors felt it was a really bad bruising, no broken bones, but she would be staying in the hospital so they could keep an eye on her.  She was in the hospital for a few days.  On Wednesday, Peter called me at work, and said he just got a call from the hospital, could l leave work and meet him at the hospital; his mother had taken a turn for the worse. When I got to the hospital room, as I walked in I could see Peter talking, and I could hear his mother answering him.  He and I exchanged a subtle  glance, relieved to see her so chatty, but still a bit unnerved because of the urgent call from the hospital  saying she had taken a turn for the worst.  She was definitely feeling back like her old self, she started asking what the heck was going on, and why were we both out of work so early in the afternoon.  We sat with her for a while, and then said good night and left.  As soon as we were out of earshot I asked Peter, what was the call about?   He talked to the doctor, and was assured they had been alarmed, with her declining condition, but just before Peter got there she just really bounced back.

The rest of the night was uneventful, and the next morning at 6AM, Peter called the nurse on duty in his mother’s hospital wing to see how she was through the night.  The nurse said she was doing fine, and then went into her room to check on her personally.  When she came back, she reiterated, yes she is doing fine, and the figures on her monitors were fine also.  After he hung up, he said to me “the nurse said all is well, so we might as well go to work, I will call you if I get a call and anything changes.

The day began, we went out separate ways.   At around 10 AM, Peter called me, he said the hospital called, she took a turn for the worst again, and can you come and meet me at the hospital.   When I got there, Peter was in her room, sitting next to her bed, just quietly sitting there.  As I started to come into the room, he motioned to me; he was coming into the hallway.   I walked back out into the hallway, and he gave me more details about what happened.  When he got to the hospital and had a chance to speak to the nurse on duty, she shared what had transpired that morning with his mother.

As usual, in the morning the hospital serves breakfast, as they did that morning.  When Peter’s mother had her breakfast delivered that morning, she was asked, “Is there anything else I can get for you”?  She looked over her tray, put the sugar in her tea, stirred it, put her spoon down, and replied “yes, as a matter of fact there is “.  Will you call my son; I am getting ready to leave.  A bit confused, the aid went out and returned with the nurse on duty.  When the nurse asked if anything was wrong, his mother again repeated, “can you please call my son, I need him here, I am getting ready to leave”.  With that, both the nurse and the aid, left the room, and Peter was called.

When he arrived at the hospital, his mother had already gone into what they refer to as an unresponsive state, but he sat by her side and whispered in her ear, she responded to him by movement.  It was a very long day.  Peter’s daughter joined us, and the three of us kept a vigil, by her side through out the rest of the day.  Just before 11pm, Peter suggested that his daughter, as well as myself, leave, it could be a very long night, there was nothing we could do, it was up to God now.   I was home by 11:10, I was so keyed up, yet exhausted, but I just couldn’t sit still, I felt so helpless, Peter was an only child, I knew this was going to be just heart wrenching for him.

I grabbed a  magazine, and while I sat at his kitchen counter, I never read anything; I just thumbed through the pages. I was alone in the house, no other people, no pets, just silence, but it was deafening.  To my right, was the end of the kitchen counter,   then a three foot open space, as the refrigerator faced me, and a clock above the refrigerator?

All of a sudden I heard the unmistakable breathing of Peter’s mother.  She had lost a lung years earlier, and her breathing and talking was quite distinctive,  frequently her breathing was labored, and it was just unmistakable when you were in her company.  My heart sank, “O my God” I thought, this cannot be, I must be loosing my mind.  I couldn’t move a muscle, I froze with fear, my eyes shifted, and I looked to my right where the sound was coming from.  I didn’t see anyone, but I knew someone was there, someone was watching me, every hair on my body stood up, and I had Goosebumps all the way up my back.  I looked at the clock, it was 11:35PM, the breathing sound was still next to me, and I was scared to death to even twitch.  At 11:45, the phone rang; I jumped off the stool like a spring had just come through a couch, and reached for the phone.  My heart was beating so fast and so loud, I could have woken people up in the next county.

Peter was on the other end of the line, he just said, “My mother passed away”, I said, I am so sorry, do you want me to come to the hospital?  He replied, no, I need some more time here alone,  but  before we hung up, I had to ask him “ what time did she pass? “   He replied, 11:35pm, I had to know, I had to ask, I needed to be sure I wasn’t loosing my mind, I was scaring myself  . We hung up, I went back to my seat, and just sat still until he got there.

At the time, I was scared to death to believe, what I was experiencing, was in fact his mothers soul, her spirit, but it was.   My belief now, after years of study, and many, many  more experiences, was that she was deliberate in wanting to come by, one more time, have one more quick visit with me, as she had done so many times before.  But this time it was a very different visit for me, but it was also the beginning of so many gifts from God, this was my first glimpse of heaven.

Peter’s mother passed away in April of 1995, fourteen years have passed, and so much has happened.

I understand now, that lesson was my introduction, and as part of Gods plan for me was to help others to learn and understand what I had grown to know.  It is the reality of the spirit world, also known as Heaven, what I have learned through my own personal experiences I will share with you. There were times I would question myself,  pinch myself to be sure I wasn’t dreaming, but it was true, there is so much more to life that we cannot see, but it truly does exist,  this I know for a fact and now I will share it with you.    

STORY 2:  My Birthday  November  1996 This was my birthday, the first birthday since my fathers death .  Two and a half months had passed, but the pain shock of his unexpected passing, was still very raw.  I just wanted my birthday to pass by,  just another day, I certainly had no reason to celebrate. The plan was to have a quiet dinner out , my grandmother , boyfriend, and  my brother.  We were going to meet at a local  resturant,  and  have dinner.  It was very difficult for me, and in a long conversation with my brother, I told him there was only one thing I wanted for my birthday.  My father had a 16 x 20 framed print  that hung on his bedroom wall, and ever since I was a little girl, I was taken by that picture.  It was called  the  “Light of the World”,  which is a famous print, of Jesus as a young child,  that print was what I wanted for my birthday.  My brother told me, he would go to my  fathers house, get the print from the wall, and bring it with him.  After dinner, I could get it from his car and take it home with me. My boyfriend, picked up my grandmother on the way, I went to the restaurant from work, and my brother would meet us there.  My brother didn’t show, we waited and waited, he had said he had a meeting at work, but he hadn’t called or answered his cell phone.  Finally I reached him, he explained he was not going to make it for dinner,  his meeting was going to be running  very late.  He assured me that at some point over the next few days, we would get together and at that point he would give me the print. I was very disappointed, the only gift I wanted for my birthday was that picture of the  “Light of the World” , that hung on the wall in my fathers bedroom.   We had dinner, my boyfriend was going his way, I would be going in the opposite direction to bring my grandmother home.  After  we left  the restaurant, and on the way to my grandmothers house,  my   grandmother said,  Oh, Cynthia, by the way, I left some things in Peters truck for you.  I cut some  plant shoots for you to root,  so don’t forget them in his truck, they  will freeze if they stay in the truck over night. I dropped my grandmother off, got her settled inside her house, and headed back to my boyfriends house.  After I was  there about 20 minutes, and I said ” O Gog said she had given you some cuttings from her plants for me to root, are they still in the truck ?   He said, oh no, I brought that stuff in for you, and he pointed in the direction of a little pile of stuff at the end of the  kitchen counter.  I went over and started going through the things she had sent my way.  I put the plant cuttings in vases of water, and then went back to look through what else was there. There was a flat, brown paper bag, on the bottom of what she send.  I picked it up, puzzled, thinking  what can this possibly be ?  As I reached in and pulled out what was inside I was left speechless and a bit overwhelmed.  It was a 8 x 10 print of the Light of the World”.  O my God, my father  had to be behind this from above, what a unusual coincidence.  That was the only thing  I wanted for birthday, and the conversation that went back and forth about it was between my brother and myself, I never discussed it with my grandmother.  I reached for the phone and dialed her number, when she answered, I asked, Gog, why did you send me that picture, and where in the world did you get it.  My grandmother was a woman of deep faith, she was in church every Sunday, nothing  kept her from Sunday service .  She went on to explain to me, “ well Cynthia,  after church service on Sunday, we went to have coffee hour.  I was helping clean the room after most of the folks left, and when I went over to one of the trash receptacles, this picture was just sitting on the floor leaning on the bin.  I went around asking everyone, if it was theirs, or if anyone saw someone put it there.  Nobody saw anyone put it there,  and no one claimed to own it.  I could not leave it there, so I took it, and on the way home from church,  I  just decided I would give it to you.  I was totally speechless,  it was so obvious to me, my father had heard my prayers, and also my desire , that I wanted that print for my birthday. The Sunday my grandmother found that print at coffee hour after church service, was the Sunday prior to us getting together for my birthday.  It was very obvious to me at that point, only 2 ½ months after my fathers death, that he was still very much in my life, and also very instrumental in creating   Devine  experiences in my life, from heaven.   It is so much easier to receive, when you believe, in the power of the spirit .