Faith and How God Answers…

I want to tell you about real Faith and how sometimes, if we listen closely enough, we do get our answers…
My Father passed away last year. He had been sick and I had tried so hard to “prepare” myself for the inevitable, but it truly is impossible to do that. You cannot even imagine what it feels like to loss someone you love until it has happened to you.

It was a feeling like no other you could ever have. It was a realization that there really was an ending to my life with my Father in it. There would be no more talks, no more phone calls, no more anything. It was done. The book was written. I hurt so much and I wish I could say that with all the time that has passed it has become easier, but it has not.

You never truly understand all the ways a person means to you until they are gone. At the time of his passing, what really meant most to me was honestly knowing that he had “made it” to Heaven. He was a good man, but did not spend his life in Church and did not talk openly about God (or at least not to me).

Yet, when he got sick, I know that the subject of God became a staple in his conversations with friends and family that were believers. It was my Grandmother who reminded me right after he passed how she knew he made it. My grandmother is a huge believer. I have never met anyone so committed to the Good Word more than she is. So when she said that to me, I did not doubt what she was telling me, but I needed to truly know it for myself.

The night after my Father had passed, I picked up the book “My Dream of Heaven” written by Rebecca Ruter Springer. I cannot say enough good things about this book. It was the perfect book for me during a time I needed it most. The descriptions of Heaven itself are so amazingly beautiful. It was like a looking glass had opened. I would read it each night until I could barely keep my eyes open.

The funeral for my Father was scheduled pretty quickly after he passed. Planning a funeral is never an experience anyone looks forward to or ever wants to repeat.

When I was a child, I remember my Father telling me that when he passed away, he wanted the song Swing Low played at his funeral. That very statement lingered with me all those years, most likely because it was not a statement a child would ever want to think about.

Thus, since I have always loved singing, I decided to go record the song so that it could be played at his funeral. Prior to leaving to meet at the church to record the song, I went back to the hotel room for a few minutes to get ready. It was then that I noticed the alarm clock had fallen behind the nightstand in the room. Now, I am a pretty compulsive person when it comes to things out of order, so normally I would have picked it up, but for some reason I just thought to myself, “oh well, I should just leave it.”

Then I headed off to record the song. When I arrived, I met with a good friend of my Father’s who was helping me with the recording and singing as well. I told him that I wanted to have a few songs played that my Father truly enjoyed and he told me my Father’s favorite song was Foreigner’s Urgent. I told him that I had never heard the song, but that I trusted him. So we recorded the songs and I returned back to the hotel room for the night. I stayed up a little while reading my book and settled in for the night.

As each night prior, I prayed and told the Lord that I needed to know so desperately that my Father had made it to Heaven. Yet tonight was different from the nights before. I felt ready to listen. I told the Lord that I trusted him and was finally ready to hear and I would be listening.

It was then that a little voice in the back of my head told me that the room needed to be darker, which was strange, but I got up and pulled the curtains until I could get the room as dark as possible. I then laid back down. I do not believe even a minute went by before the alarm clock went off (right at midnight) and was on full blast.

My husband jumped up, but being the room was so dark, he could not see the alarm clock that had fallen behind the nightstand. I quickly got up and that same little voice in my head told me to listen. I turned the volume down and listened while the instrumental solo played. It was not a song I had ever heard, but I waited for the words to start. And what do you think they finally said?…You Say Its Urgent……It was playing the very song that was my Father’s Favorite.

I cannot tell you what it felt like to have this happen, but I had no doubt whatsoever that this was my message from God himself. He knew that I needed that more than anything right then and he blessed me with the knowledge that I so needed to know. I realize many of you reading this can simply think, oh, it was just a coincidence, etc, etc.

Yet, I have faith and it has never let me down. I have written about this to let you know that prayers are answered and He does hear your pain. We just have to be open to listening. Our days are so busy and hectic, which makes it no wonder that we miss the “little things” going on all around us.

My advice….listen and believe….