On the Morning of March 31st 1987, around 3:00 am, as I slept alone in my apartment, I was aroused by three very gentle tugs of my bed covers, by the foot area of the bed. I had my bed covers up around my neck, which is always how I sleep. I did not awaken, but was aware of SOMETHING. I guess I fell back to sleep, but the same three gentle tugs came again. I again was aroused, but again did not open my eyes. The third time the tugging happened, I was aroused enough to turn around to my right, and open my eyes.

What I saw was a most BEAUTIFUL man standing, now away from my bed, by the side of my bedroom wall. A white light surrounded him from head to foot. All I could see of his skin, were his hands and face, which was a dark bronze type color, but not real dark. He was not looking at or facing me now but was facing my living room door, which was open. As I stared at him I took in his garment. He was wearing the most beautiful white long robe .He had a sash around his waist of the same color, but about 6 inches high. The white robe was a color white that I remember as so beautiful that I had never seen such a beautiful cloth before. He had a white turban wrapped around his head, which covered all hair. Like I said, all I could see was his face and hands. He stood very straight and his arms were straight down by his side. What a BEAUTIFUL FACE he had. He had to have been almost 8 feet tall. I say that because my ceilings in that apartment were at least that high, and he almost reached the ceiling.

He said " DO NOT BE AFRAID, IT IS THE VOICE OF GOD, READ ISAIAH, MAN OF THE PATIENT REALM. " At this point, I do not know how he got from the wall to the side of my bed, but somehow he was right there. He reached out his mighty arms as he bent over coming down, as if he were going to pick me up. Which is exactly what he did. All of a sudden I was cradled in his arms, but I now felt as if I was just a little baby, cradled in the arms of her mother, wrapped in a warm blanket. Then I heard a noise that sounded like a whizzing sound, and we were moving in that sound. Then, we were standing on a very rich and beautiful earth, which somehow I could seem to feel with what seemed now to be BARE FEET. We were in some sort of what seemed like a market place of some kind. There were others walking around like him, in the same white robes... some were alone and some were walking in twos. We were facing a booth, which resembled a booth at a carnival.

Inside the booth were three rows high of the largest vessels, hand crafted, in type... He then said to me, standing on my right side, "choose something". I said, " I don't have any money". He then answered, "YOU DON'T NEED MONEY HERE, EVERYTHING IS FREE". At this point I remember hearing that same whizzing sound and remember that we again seemed to be moving at a great speed. Now we are again standing by the same side of my bed. He very slowly begins to lean over, with me in his arms, again feeling like a child cradled in a warm blanket, he begins to lean over and carefully and very gently places me back into my body. I could now feel my body in the bed, and he was gone. I thought about it for a while, because it all happened so fast.

Realizing that SOMETHING happened, I got up out of bed and turned on a nightlight to write down "Isaiah, man of the patient realm". For the next few days I read the book of Isaiah. I found out that God is REAL, and that he heard all my cries for help and proof that he was indeed there.

By Kathy Noel DeCaria   KATHY-48@worldnet.att.net

"Jesus, Angels and Saints"

August 1995, is a day neither my son Troy will never forget, nor I for that matter. Troy was seven years old at the time, when the Lord revealed himself to him.

It was a hot afternoon and I was barbecuing on the grill. My older son T.J. had jumped in the pool for a swim. Troy had his Walkman clipped to his shorts and was listening to Christian music most of the day. He asked if he could go swimming with his brother, and I said, "Sure, but let me say a prayer for you before you get in the pool." I prayed, "Father, I thank you for Troy. He loves you so much! Lord, I ask that you will bless him and let him know Father, that your word is true, not just a Bible Story, but that you are real! Father, you promised that if we ask anything in Jesus name that you will do it. I thank you Lord for your promises, and I ask you in the name of Jesus, to show him how REAL you are, Amen."

Shortly, there after, Troy jumped in the pool and I went back to barbecuing. I wasn’t quite prepared for what happened next, but how can anyone prepare for the Glory of God! Within minutes, Troy came running out of the pool, screaming, "Mom! Mom! Did you see them?"

I asked, "See who?"

He replied, "The angels!"

I said, "No, but sit down and tell me about them."

He continued, "Well, before I saw them, I heard singing. It was different, but sounded beautiful! They came down from heaven and were standing all around the pool."

I asked, "What were they doing and how many were there?"

He told me he wasn’t sure how many, but more than twenty and they were "switching places".

I asked, "What do you mean, switching places?"

He said, "They were passing through each other and changing places." He explained that it was as if they were dancing or playing a game and they were smiling.

I asked, "Did they have wings?"

He said, "Yeah! Huge ones!"

I asked, "What else did you see?"

He explained that there were other people wearing white gowns, men and women, but they didn’t have wings. I presume these were other saints. He told me they all had "sunshine" around them and above their heads and that he saw his grandpa (my husband’s father who passed away when my husband was about 3 years old), which he recognized from a picture.

I asked, "What was your grandpa doing?"

He said, "He was crying, because he was sad that he never got to see Dad grow up, and that he didn’t get the chance to know us."

I asked, "Did you hear him say that?"

He replied, "Kind of, he said it in his mind and I could hear him." As he started to go back to the pool, he turned and casually said, "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, I saw the Lord."

I said with great excitement, "What? Get back here, where was he?" He said, "Over by the diving board."

I replied, "He was standing on the diving board?"

He said, "No, Mom, he was floating on the water over by the diving board."

Boy, did I feel silly! Christ walked on water and I just limited him to standing on a diving board! I decided to test my son with the next question, since I never explained the brightness or Glory of the Lord to him. I asked, "Did you see his face?"

He casually said, "Mom, you know nobody can see the Lord’s face, he’s too bright!" At that point, I was about to faint with joy unspeakable and full of glory! He said that he could see the nail marks on Jesus’ wrists and feet from where he was hung on the cross. He explained that Jesus’ feet were bright as if they were gold in color and on fire.

I asked, "What happened next?"

He said, "Jesus quickly raised his arms to heaven and shouted, "Now!"

They floated back up to heaven and they were singing as when they first appeared. Truly, the Glory of God is revealed in the Son when a revelation is given, not only in power, but is revealed in the word of God. God wants to bless us by revealing His glory as He answers our prayers. He promises to reveal himself in great power to all who love him with all their heart. He said he would show us great and mighty things if we would ask him.

"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." Matthew 25:31

"And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters." Revelation 1:15

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." II Chronicles 16:9

"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3 

By Diana L. Gardner, Tucson Arizona gardnerd@lg355.dm.af.mil

"Angels Among Us"

I have had a number of experiences in my lifetime that I have attributed to "divine intervention." I believe there is (has been) angelic intervention in virtually everyone's life, but not everyone is "tuned in" to these experiences or the incident is simply chalked up to "coincidence."

My father had five brothers and no sisters. I adored (and still do!) my uncles. As a kid I used to love it when they'd come to the house and visit. My father's oldest brother, Uncle Charlie, was my favorite. He was such a handsome man and a sharp dresser and very, very witty. He always teased us kids in a playful way and I thought the world of him.

As we grew up and after my father died, we rarely saw my uncles any more. Families tend to do that, unfortunately, when the "ties that bind" becomes broken. One day I ran into Uncle Charlie at the mall. He was sitting on a bench waiting for his wife and he was dozing off. I went over to him and gave him a nudge and said, "Hey! Wake up!" I was giving him the teasing sort of greeting that he would have given me. He looked up at me and there was confusion in his eyes even though he smiled a little grin. He said, "Do I know you?" I was taken aback. It had been a couple of years since I'd seen him last, but he certainly should have known me! I stammered and stuttered and told him who I was and then I could see the recognition come to him and I think he was as embarrassed as I was. We chatted for a bit, but when I walked away I walked away very, very hurt. I cried because my favorite uncle had to be told who I was.

Tearfully, I went home and told my mother my experience. She was angry and made several comments about how our uncles had just abandoned us since their brother died, etc. But the next time I saw my Uncle Charlie was another year or so later at a funeral. When I saw him, I knew why he hadn't recognized me that time at the mall. There was an obvious void and dullness in Uncle Charlie's previously sharp brown eyes and I could see that he had failed tremendously--even in one year. He was in the early stages of Alzheimer's. I went over to him at this funeral and gave him a kiss.

He looked at me and said, "Wendy." I smiled and said, "Yup--that's me!" And he grabbed my hand and said, "I'm sorry I didn't know who you were that day at the mall." He must have known how it hurt me. And I just hugged him and brushed it all off saying something about how we're all getting older and everybody's changing, etc. I said, "Not to worry!" But then, as he was leaving, he came over to me again and said, "I promise the next time I see you, I'll know you." I never forgot those words because they were the last words he ever said to me.

He went into a nursing home fairly soon after that and I never went to see him. I feared watching such a vital, lively person become demented. I felt very guilty after he died that I never went to see him, but I wanted his last words to me to be true. I knew if I went to visit him at the nursing home, he wouldn't know me.

At his funeral I was standing and talking to another one of my uncles and I felt a quick tug from behind on the strap of my pocketbook that was draped over my left shoulder. It was absolutely not my imagination because I remember thinking someone behind me wanted to get my attention but I waited for my uncle to complete his sentence before I turned around. When I turned around there was no one there. And there was nobody close enough to me to have walked away within the few seconds after the tug on my shoulder. I believe it was Uncle Charlie letting me know that he was there, he was okay, and he knew who I was.

By Wendy Slader wslader@acad.bryant.edu