Always There; Always Caring

Post 288

I honestly didn’t think I’d be writing again so soon, but more godwinks happened today and I feel compelled to share.

First, I believe it was a few days ago, that a Christian blogger I follow on substack who doesn’t follow me, posted a note saying something to the effect of “I don’t know who needs to hear this, but it is not Biblical to say that God is sending signs of your deceased loved ones, even signs of hope.” He then said, “1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 reminds us not to grieve like those without hope, because we believe that Jesus died and rose again.” It’s been on my mind, of course, because of the dozens it seems now, of godwinks that happen to me. In my last post, I stated I didn’t want to be making these strange occurrences into something unbiblical. And for the record, I believe anybody who reads “I Can’t Imagine” can attest to the fact that I do not grieve without hope. I grieve with nothing but hope, but that does not take away the broken heart. I hope Mr. Christian blogger never has to experience it himself.

I did not respond to his note, but like I said, I’ve continued to think about the stuff that happens that I’ve written about for the last eighteen months, and I just don’t think he’s correct. I have no clue what his life has been or is like, but I can tell you from experience, and from talking to other people who have grieved deeply, that I believe differently.

The God I believe in created every single thing that exists, and each thing has a purpose. I am content knowing I know nearly nothing. The Bible endlessly describes God’s love for His Creation. God created certain people to sing hymns and songs declaring His love, other people to tell the world all about Him, and still others with talents that have made our world one of ease, entertainment, and mostly peaceful. The more people who listen to Him - the internal promptings of His still small voice- to go do, or see, or watch, or listen to a direction He is leading them down, the better the world becomes. Those who choose to listen to the Enemy who God also created - opposite but not equal - bring Creation more into chaos. The loving God I worship knows my thoughts and actions. Since He is the author of every realm, even the ones we do not exist in, He can allow anything to happen to show love and bring about His desired outcomes.

Yesterday, one of the consistent readers here, Noelle, who used to go by Jennifer Incognito, is the one I met in North Carolina last month before hubby’s race. We had such a wonderful visit in the hotel lobby for a couple of hours, sharing our stories and becoming friends who have “met.” She has her own blog she calls Ramblings in Faith where she posts a lot of scripture and ties them to other devotions she reads, as well as her own life. She is one who stood by her bodily freedom, and the freedom our U.S. Constitution gives us, to deny taking the covid jabs and lost her job as an attorney because of it. She is slogging through the judicial process as I write. She contacted me by substack messaging to let me know she’d thought about me while listening to a particular podcast and said I may want to listen to it.

I began listening to the podcast, via YouTube, right before I went to sleep. Six minutes in I was getting so drowsy that I had to stop and hit the hay. This morning I awoke at 530 am and knew I’d get the dog out for her walk quickly before it got too hot. We parked at the Transformer and began, but instead of starting back on YT, I used her Spotify link and forwarded about 6 minutes in. Just two or three days ago I’d taken the same walk and was blessed to see a GBH, and as I passed that spot today there was not one, which really doesn’t affect me in any negative way.

About twenty yards later there was something on the sidewalk. Maybe because I have not ever seen one here, maybe because I was just being stupid, what went through my head was that this thing was a giant scorpion. KK and I walked around it, but after another fifteen yards, I returned to take a picture so I could ask Google what it was later. (A crawfish!) All this time I am listening to the podcast. No, these are not the godwinks! Another twenty yards and I see my first deer of the season (in this area) out in the distance. It just stopped and stared at me while I took a picture. I don’t think of the deer as a sign from Mo, but I love deer in the distance. Who doesn’t?

With these delays, I neared the end of the podcast as I approached the only intersection of my walk. Part of the podcast had been about the story of the prophet Elisha in the Old Testament who had raised a young boy from the dead. The podcaster, Father Mike Schmitz, ‘Episode 173 of The Bible in a Year’ was ending with the questions suffering/grieving people ask “Why would you give me this person to love, only to take her away?” He talked about knowing how the story ends, saying all of those people we miss are ‘not for nothing.’ He says all those who Jesus and other prophets resurrected reveal to us that “death is not the end, and yet death does break our hearts. We pray to learn how the suffering will ultimately be brought to good at the ‘end of the story.’

At the intersection, ready to pull out onto the main road was a black car that looked exactly like Morgan’s car, which I just finally said good-bye to this past Sunday. It was actually much more painful than I thought it would be. (The good news is it is staying in the area and I just might see it once in a while.) I couldn’t see the exact make of the car in the intersection because there was a guardrail in the way, but the words of Father Mike about death not being the end yet breaking our hearts was exactly at that point. It could have been any other car at that moment or no car at all, but God was once again, once again, once again, telling me He is right here with me, in my thoughts, in my daily actions, in my friends and family. I feel blessed as usual, and I hope the godwinks continue for the rest of my life. They feel truly amazing.

And now for today’s pictures!