Dear Reader:

I had planned on doing a completely different post today but God had other plans. Yesterday started out with a mysterious phone call and then more  incidences that continued unveiling another path for the blog… as the day went on. It became obvious that there were other stories that needed to be told…. other voices that needed to be heard.

It is the responsibility of each of us…to use our voices to tell the stories of others so that we can better understand the central core of humanity that flows through all of us…as different as we might appear. We all share the story of life.

About 9:00 the phone rang yesterday morning. It didn’t have a name by the number so I thought it was either another CVS recording about a prescription that was ready…or something similar. So I picked it up…but didn’t say anything at first…half-expecting a recording to pop on.

After a few seconds…I heard a voice…soft and far-off sounding. I didn’t recognize it initially and thought that it was probably a wrong number. I said “Hello”  and “May I help you?” A woman’s voice (that I immediately recognized) said quietly: “Do you remember me…do you know my name?”

“Patricia!” I exclaimed in delight…”It has been a couple of years since I have heard from you last.”….”How are you doing?”

She caught me up-to-date on some incidentals in her life…but then stopped and said that this was not why she was calling. “Oh…I said (now curious) “Why then?”

“Because God asked me to.” Before I could respond she told me about a rather strange happening that occurred Tuesday morning while she was eating breakfast. She heard a voice speaking to her…and the voice said: “God says there is a Word in You.”

Patricia said she never blinked…but went and got her Living Bible and sat back down. She opened the Bible and began skimming the pages and when they settled…she began to read:

The Call of Jeremiah
4 -Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, 5-“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6-Then I said, “Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.”…

But instead of youth Patricia said she was thinking….”because I am of age”….but she knew, like Jeremiah, God was telling her she had a message to pass along.

But to whom? Later that evening she was cleaning out her pocketbook and found my telephone number she has had for over five years. She sensed that I was the person who was supposed to receive this “Word.”

She told me that as a messenger she was not privy to the meaning but simply was doing what she was told and she felt sure that when the time was right…I, too, would understand the underlying message. With a quick good-bye Patricia was gone….leaving me wondering about the mysterious workings of our Creator.

* A Quick Catch-Up….I met Patricia five years ago on a Saturday morning walk through the neighborhood. She had been the primary caregiver for an elderly lady whose health deterioration was forcing her into a more permanent care facility.

I had never seen Patricia before….but she was so friendly as I walked by the house that morning (waving at me) while the move was going on in full force. Patricia got into her car and by the time I got to the stop sign at the end of the road she pulled up beside me.

“How are you?” she asked. Her smile was contagious and I smiled back…responding with my perfunctory “Fine, thank you.” I was about to turn onto the road leading back to my house when she said, “Really?”

“Excuse me” I replied…somewhat puzzled.

“Something is going on with you isn’t it…something  that you are worried about?”….I found myself telling her about my recent diagnosis of breast cancer and how the chemo treatments didn’t seem to be getting rid of it.

“I had breast cancer too and beat it…you will too.” I smiled and once again was about to walk off when she said…”Give me your hands and let’s pray….couldn’t hurt, right?”

I found myself leaning in the open window and holding hands with this “stranger” – finding the most wonderful sense of peace as she prayed for my good health. She asked for my telephone number which I gave her and every few months she would call to check on me.

I actually had almost forgotten about Patricia until the phone call yesterday….reminding me that God is using this individual to continue to guide me. Where and for what…I still have to figure out…but I know Patricia seems to have been assigned to me as a messenger from God.

I had no more hung up from Patricia than my brother Ben called. He had just finished a recorded interview about the plight of veterans today and his participation in the Vietnam War for a local television show. Apparently it had gone well….other people were now interested in his story.

I told Ben that I really believed his life was spared in Vietnam for a reason and that reason was to be the voice of veterans everywhere…he had experienced five near-death episodes in Vietnam and had been fighting for VA benefits for six years…he was tired…but his voice and writing was/is powerful.

Like me…he, too, had found a supporter, an angel in Rev. John Riddle (better known as Randy.) Randy is working with Ben, and alongside him, to bring more awareness to the plight for veterans…encouraging Ben to use his voice and writing talents to tell his story. Thank you so much for this support, Randy, that you are giving my brother!

I asked Ben if he had thought of a title for a potential book on his experiences on both fronts (foreign and home)… he immediately emailed me back “Angels on the Battlefields.” He said he had always hesitated to say much about some of the unexplained experiences he witnessed (afraid people would think him crazy) but he had gotten to the place where these phenomena needed to be told.

He came home with one conviction…that he and each man fighting in every conflict from minor skirmishes to major battles, did not fight alone…the angels were there beside them….some healing, some hovering over the dying to help them with their last journey…and some, like what my brother experienced…bringing messages of warning, hope and survival.

With Memorial Day ending this beautiful month….(and memories of a sad Mother’s Day when mother got the telegram that Ben was missing in action)…I asked Ben if he would or could re-tell one spiritual experience and he agreed to do so.

In June of 1968, two platoons of Golf Company walked right into a well designed ambush. We were working in the mountainous highlands of northern Vietnam. The trap was tripped when a small unit of enemy ground forces engaged the lead elements of our troops.

This effectively stopped our line momentarily which was what the NVA (North Vietnam Army) wanted. Immediately they launched a storm of heavy mortar fire on our position. The fight quickly picked up in intensity.

I found myself alone at the rim of a bomb crater which offered some protection while allowing me a clear field of fire. The mortar rounds were coming in like rain when suddenly I heard a voice–crystal clear with great authority telling me leave where I was –immediately !! The tenor of the voice did not invite any discussion or questioning.

I immediately moved about 30 yards away. 15 seconds later a heavy mortar round landed exactly where I had been lying. As chaotic as the fighting was… I nevertheless knew that somehow God had intervened, by means of an angel’s voice, to remove me from instant death.

I guess some people don’t believe in angels—I am not one of those people. Battlefields, since the first war ever fought, have been littered with angels–they are everywhere doing God’s bidding.

The other night I gathered some pictures of daddy and Ben for him to give the television station before his interview. Seeing the pictures magnified on the computer screen….brought home, once again, how young they both were…actually both turned 21 while fighting in WWII and Vietnam.

So until tomorrow…Thank you Father for the “angels” you send us during trying times in our lives to support, guide, and protect us along our life’s path.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Gin-g stopped by yesterday afternoon and suggested we go somewhere for dessert…we ended up at Oscars getting the same dessert… the “birthday” vanilla ice cream and chocolate fudge stripe drippings over the delicious crepe.

The waiter took one look at our matching black and white tops and our black and white striped ice cream and broke out laughing….He said it was the first time he had seen coordinated desserts and tops. We told him it was the new “Zebra” look!

* Exciting news…the family has a new blogger…Kaitlyn is starting her blog on yoga and life! Do check it out!

https://swicegoodyoga.wordpress.com/