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Angel Visit |
I used to wonder what
it would be like to hear little foot steps in my home. What would it be
like to have their little arms about me? I wondered what it would feel
like to get their kisses and hear them say, "mama, I'm hungry".
My heart ached as I watched other mothers with their little ones.  The
tears would come unexpectedly when I watched a baby dedication at church
or just watched another parent cuddling their baby. For thirteen
years of marriage I wanted and prayed for a child. I began to pray
more about it when I reached the age of 30. Oh my heart
longed till I thought it would break. Of course I was very busy with
medical school duties yet prayed often for God to entrust me with
children. Some mothers made comments that God saw I would
not be a fit mother. That was reason for not allowing me to raise any
children. The pain was very difficult to deal with. I spent a lot of time
working in the nursery at the hospital. It was fun for me. |
  I read the story in the Bible of how Hannah wanted a
baby. Her husband married another woman so he could have children. This
woman Pininah kept taunting poor Hannah that she just was not good enough.
Whenever the family went to the sanctuary church, Hannah would pray for a child. It just
did not seem like God would ever answer her prayer. One day she was
praying with so much heart felt emotion that the priest Eli thought she
was drunk. He saw her lips moving but heard nothing. He scolded her. She
was shocked that God's high priest did not recognize that she was heart
broken. She patiently told him she was just praying. He promised her that
God would answer the prayer. Her faith was so strong that she went home
with peace in her heart that the answer was on its way. |
| As I studied the stories of Hannah, Sarah the wife of Abraham, and Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist, I began to see that with the waiting came an unusual determination to raise the child for God. The result was a leader that had unusual abilities and dedication to God. I began to make God promises that any child He would give me would be given back to HIM. I would teach every possible concept from the Bible and be faithful to do my best in raising this child. |
| At church I began helping in the little children's divisions to learn how to teach them Bible truths. I figured I needed to practice so I would be ready if and when God answered my prayer. I started in 1980. |
 Finally God granted my
prayer in 1985. Every day I read Bible
stories and sang and rocked in the rocking chair before he was born. I did
it in the baby room and tried to imagine what he would look like. I hoped
he would be blonde and blue eyed. It just did not seem fair to ask God for
what color to make him. |
  When he was born, I was nearing final exams in third
year of med school. His little face was so perfect. I just held his little
hands and stared in unbelief at his tiny feet. Here was my prayed for boy.
God helped me survive and complete my studies. Every
day I faithfully read 7 Bible stories and showed him pictures. He went to
church from the very first week after he was born. I made up Bible songs
and stories onto video tape and played them all day while I was working
about the home or studying. I paid his baby sitter extra to make sure he had
books read to him daily. |
 Lloyd
had a birthmark that concerned everyone. It looked enough like a blister
that it was decided he needed special procedures to see if he had an
infection at birth. They took fluid from his spine. (This is known
as a spinal tap.) He showed no signs of infection or
weakness. Yet when the first report of the spinal tap came back with a
gram negative rod, he was put in intensive care and isolated as though he
had meningitis. I cried while they struggled to get that spinal tap. His
cries of pain wrenched my mother heart. I wanted to hold him to comfort
him. I wanted to take him home. How I sobbed and prayed for my little one.
I went home and sang the same songs onto a tape that I had sung to him
before he was born. I took in a little tape player and the tape. The nurse said she had never seen anything quiet a
baby like that did! He had been so restless. He even scooted about in the
isolet. I was amazed to see him lift his head during those first three
days of life. The nurses said they had not seen a newborn do that. This
picture proves it. His strength
was unusual. It was fun to watch our very strong son. My vegan vegetarian
diet had worried doctors that my child would be sick. Instead he was extra
strong. He could even lift his head a bit on his third day after
birth. He just could not be sick. He was kept there till the final
report came back. Water had splashed onto the specimen in the lab and the
gram negative rod was nothing to worry about. We were so thankful he was
fine. It was good to take him home where he could be held, rocked, and
sang to. We were two delighted parents. |
  My
dad came out the 2,000 miles from Oregon to help with baby Lloyd his first
six weeks. Daddy said he had never helped with his own children. This was
a new experience for him. Mama was working and could only be with us a
short time. Daddy was such a blessing. I thank God for providing. This
comfort to my heart, helped me focus on finishing up final exams of third
year medical school. |
  Every
day was packed with surprises, kisses hugs, and giggles. We watched him
turn over and then learn to walk. We rushed home from the hospital every
day to see what new things he was doing. Faithfully I read Bible stories
daily and taught Him to pray. I played the video I made of pictures
illustrating whole chapters of the Bible. He would make the animal sounds
to the "nature walk" of Psalms 104. He would crawl to another
room and seem not to be attentive to the Bible verses going continuously
all day, yet I could hear him making sounds like mine on the tape. It was
amazing to me the influence this had on him. I had picture cards for
Psalms 23, Psalms 91, and Psalms 139 as well as the ten commandments and I
Corinthians 13. |
 We
could hardly wait to show all the family the new edition. The whole family
rejoiced with us. |
  When
he was 4 months old he was dedicated to God in the church on his daddy's
birthday, December 21 of 1985. Daddy was proud of his Scottish heritage so insisted
he be dressed in a Scottish outfit. We tried our best to give him all the
love and Bible stories we could provide. We fed him the very best food to
help his developing brain be strong. God promises that He is able to
keep that which we have committed to HIM. Yet God will not force children
and teenagers to love HIM. I pray constantly for this dear boy in his
teens. |
 When
his little brother Ian arrived, it was fun watching them interact. They
loved this soft bear. They would crawl in and hold so still. |
 Then
at Thanksgiving time when he was three years old, both brothers came down with chicken pox. They were miserable.
Lloyd ran a fever up to 105 degrees F and refused to drink any liquids. We
tried everything. I took him at the advice of my pediatrician in to the
emergency when nothing was bringing the fever down. The young inexperienced
doc said I was just a worried mom. Lloyd's daddy was with his own
family two thousand miles away. The cold snow had blown cold air on him
through his blankets during the walk through the icy parking lot into the
hospital. His core temp was hotter than the thermometer placed in his arm
pit recorded. I was frantic for help. The doctor would not listen to me.
He did not know I was a intern in med school. I was not treated very nice.
I knew damage could happen to Lloyd's brain if the temperature stayed up.
Back home, I watched his temp go back to 105 degrees. |
 Anxiously
I paced the floor when I was not bathing his fevered body. He did not
respond with a smile or any recognition of me. How I prayed and prayed. I
could not sleep for my doctor heart knew of many cases of complicated
chicken pox. I kept telling God, He had given me this boy not to be permanently
damaged but to be trained as a worker for God. I folded clean laundry and
kept my hands busy while my heart was so anxious. |
  Then
I heard the sound of his voice. I ran to where he had been lying on top
his favorite huge teddy bear sleeping bag. Lloyd was sitting up and
looking up. There was a smile on his face. He was saying, "Angel,
Angel". I looked where he was looking and did not see anything. I put
my hand on his forehead and it was cool. I felt where he had been lying
and it was wet with sweat. His fever was gone and Lloyd was healed. He was
his bouncy self and hungry. He had not eaten for days. What fun it was to
feed him. I am so thankful God heard my prayer. It would have been great
to see the angel too. |
 How
thrilled I was at God's answer to my prayer. My son seemed to have no long
lasting effects from the terribly high fever. He got into just as much
mischief and did very well in school. |
 Psalm34:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD [is] good: blessed [is] the man [that] trusteth in him. |
 Psalm
91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 91:12 They shall bear thee up in [their] hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. |
 When
surrounded by an army after one man, God's man Elisha, there was a
confidence in the angel presence. Elisha's servant was in a panic but
Elisha had full realization of the powerful side he had chosen to be on.
He knew God was in control. 2 Kings 6 6:16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that [be] with us [are] more than they that [be] with them. 6:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain [was] full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. God never arrives late. God's army was in place long before the Syrians arrived. They had to be allowed in by God's army for a reason. Elisha seemed to realize this when he calmly asked God to blind the whole army and then he led them into his capital and fed them, asked God to open their eyes and sent them home. No cruelty or revenge was used but kindness to win their hearts to God. |
 John
Wesley was rescued from a burning home as a child. Angry people had set
their home on fire and he was trapped in a burning upstairs room.
Courageous neighbors stood on each others shoulders till one could reach
and pull him to safety. He became a mighty preacher for God. He had an
angel guard.
Again and again did John Wesley escape death by a miracle of God's mercy. When the rage of the mob was excited against him, and there seemed no way of escape, an angel in human form came to his side, the mob fell back, and the servant of Christ passed in safety from the place of danger. {GC88 258.1} Great Controversy by Ellen White |
 The
same powerful angels who told the wise men to go home another way after
seeing baby Jesus, can help people today.
They can take you by the hand and lead you to places of safety. Angels told Joseph after the wise men left to take baby Jesus and flee to Egypt for awhile. The rich gifts from the wise men helped them get what they needed. |
| The experience of Philip, directed by an angel from heaven to go to the place where he met one seeking for truth; of Cornelius, visited by an angel with a message from God; of Peter, in prison and condemned to death, led by an angel forth to safety--all show the closeness of the connection between heaven and earth. {AA 152.3} To the worker for God the record of these angel visits should bring strength and courage. Today, as verily as in the days of the apostles, heavenly messengers are passing through the length and breadth of the land, seeking to comfort the sorrowing, to protect the impenitent, to win the hearts of men to Christ. We cannot see them personally; nevertheless they are with us, guiding, directing, protecting. {AA 152.4} Acts of the Apostles p. 152 |
| We need to understand better than we do the mission of the angels. It would be well to remember that every true child of God has the co-operation of heavenly beings. Invisible armies of light and power attend the meek and lowly ones who believe and claim the promises of God. Cherubim and seraphim, and angels that excel in strength, stand at God's right hand, "all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." Hebrews 1:14. {AA 154.2} |