The Bells on Christmas Day

“Ding, dong! Ding, dong!”

It was our first night in Germany and I was preparing to go to bed. It was quiet in the four story house where Bobby, Maria and the kids lived and it was approaching midnight. I was tired and jet-lagged. The cuckoo clock suddenly came alive with its song “Edelweiss.” This is similar to our clock and sits in the foyer up on the wall. It had just banged out 12 staccato hammer hits to announce it was midnight. I knew it was late and hurried into the bathroom to brush my teeth. In the quietness that followed, I heard a soft echo: twelve more dongs as if bells were ringing from somewhere outside the window.

I remember Bobby showing me the church that sat high up as if watching over Otterbach. “That must be where the bells are coming from,” I thought. From that point on, I listened for them at night when it was quiet. Besides ringing on the hour, they also rang on every quarter hour, too.

Two weeks later, we went for a walk on Christmas Eve. It was an unusually warm and sunny day. (No white Christmas here, this year, although it had flurried a few time since Bob and I arrived.) We walked about three miles all the way down a long trail that started at the “Rathouse” or town hall building. Little Bobby and Alexis went with us on their bikes weaving in and out and all around on the sidewalk. Alexis had trouble because she just learned how to ride and fell many times. I had to help her sometimes by walking with her as she held up her bike. We hiked past a flowing brook, streets, houses and hills all empty of anything but grass, the trees barren and the ponds stripped of all life except for the occasional sparrow. People came up to us occasionally jogging or walking too and we exchanged greetings with them.

On the way back, it was about a quarter to four and suddenly the church bells started ringing loudly. It went on constantly for about 10 minutes. Out of the houses of Otterbach, people started to stroll to church dressed in their best clothes. We waved at them and they waved back. They must’ve going to Christmas Eve services. On Christmas Day, the bells tolled loudly too several times to announce more services.

It reminded me of a long ago time when the church was the center of a community and all were expected to gather there and worship.

We made it back home safely knowing that God is in control no matter what the circumstances can be and He will take care of us no matter what. Now I think of His provision every time I hear them ring.

It also reminded me of this song: (Thank you, Phil Sarlo!)

Christmas Bells
 
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men." Then pealed the bells more loud and deep;
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep!
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, goodwill to men!"
 
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Church bells of St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Beal City (Moun...

A Cross and A Cantata

Our flight to Germany was uneventful and we arrived safely. We had the pleasure of viewing a beautiful sunset as my son, Bobby III and Alexis greeted us at the airport. We drove through the German countryside and enjoyed the last few rays of the day. By the time we got to Otterbach, it was dark and we were greeted by the rest of the family. After a few days of feeling sleepy and adjusting to the jet lag, we were busy looking for jobs on the internet, getting an international driver’s license and playing with the kids.

Much to my delight, a gentle snow greeted us that Tuesday morning after we arrived that coated everything in white.

We visited the little mission church of Rhineland Baptist on a Wednesday night. It was a few towns over so we had to take the autobahn to get to it.

 On the way there, Bobby said: “Mom, look out the window and look up.” I stared at the outline of the hills.

“What?” I asked.

“That’s Hilter’s tower where he spoke to the German people. “

“Where is it?” I asked scanning the hills once more.

“It’s there were the lighted cross is. They put a cross there during Christmas.” I saw that and it immediately the thought hit me that Hitler and his evil regime is long gone, but Christ still reigns and will rule over the world some day.

Finally, we arrived. The church looks like a warehouse with a large parking lot behind a chain link fence. Entering the building, we went into a good-sized auditorium. The ceilings were high and you could hear the rumble of trains every few minutes running next to the property. In spite of that, I greatly enjoyed the preaching of Brother “Woody” as he spoke on the Rapture to the congregation.

The weather warmed up the rest of the week and it rained a lot and washed the snow away. It has yet to snow any more.

I practice the cantata which will be performed on December 23^rd on my computer every day. I have to make up for lost time; Bobby gave it to me a few days before we came and I have to learn it by memory in two weeks.   

Will I be able to get the cantata memorized in time? I hope so. There are only four altos and four of each other section so its important that I learn my part.

I also hope it snows soon so it will be a white Christmas. Those weather forecasts were wrong about the fluffy, white stuff. It’s rained every day and it isn’t cold enough for snow.

And the name of the cantata is: “Maranatha! The Lord is come.” It’s about the first coming of Jesus and the second coming too. I can’t wait for Him to return. I’ve been waiting a long time but I still look forward to it any day.

In a moment of time, He’s coming,

King of Kings and the Lord of Lords,

Leading Heaven’s throng

In a joyful song,

Maranatha! The Lord is come.

Satan’s forces will be defeated,

Evermore we shall live with Him,

Free from sin and strife with eternal life,

Maranatha! The Lord is Come.

If He doesn’t come back, I wish all of you a Wonderful and Blessed Christmas!

Airport Terminal

Our flight was delayed two and one half hours so we’re sitting at the airport terminal with a bunch of Germans. One guy is really enjoying his music, actual CD’s, with his headset on and one girl is curled up on a chair and sleeping. Married couples sit chatting and one lady is looking at her computer tablet in spite of a large baby sleeping on her chest.

I said goodbye to everyone here in Florida over the past few weeks. It was an emotional experience. Now we wait a flight into the night to an unknown land.

I look over to a guy with a huge tattoo on his arm who looks exhausted and stares off into space. What lies ahead for us? Will we be disappointed? Only time alone can tell. I look at the huge Christmas tree that stands in the middle of the terminal and sweat it out in my hot clothes. How cold will it be there? Will we find jobs? Will we enjoy my grandchildren? They are all excited by our coming.

Little Robert proclaimed he wanted to do something special with “Papa”. What that is, he didn’t say. He just winked his eye and mysteriously replied: “Just wait.”

So I’m leaving the state of Florida. A place where I’ve lived for 46 years to go away – 5000 miles away…

The guy is still listening to his music; the girl got up from her nap and walks restlessly away. The couples look bored and Bob reads his Muscle car magazine. The guy with the tattoo fell asleep. The lady with the baby stares in to space…

So I try to have a attitude of faith; the only attitude that pleases God and look forward to whatever He has for me in the future as I start this new beginning.

A new beginning in a far away place: now I know how Abraham felt as God called him out of his comfort zone to a new land; the promised land of Canaan.

The baby woke up and she’s looking at me. Now, she looks away.

One more hour and we’re on board… Lord, help me to see your hand in everything. Help me to have an attitude of faith and belief in You. Help me, too to have the fruit of the Spirit. And believe all things.

In Jesus Name, Love, Laura

And the guy listening to music just smiled and waved to me. And I waved back.

Mom’s Tuesday Buffet

“Mom, the oven is cold!”

I had just walked in the door of her house and checked what was going on in her kitchen.

She didn’t hear me.

“Oh, I put all that stuff in the oven an hour ago and it should be warm now.”

I repeated the words louder. “Mom, the oven is cold and I’m going to turn it on!”

“It must be broken!”

“No, mom, it’s not turned on!” I yelled

I pushed the start button and it fired up. Meanwhile, three dogs run in from the front door and hover around my legs. Pablo, Bella and Bruno sniff around the oven looking for food and signaling my sister Lisa had arrived.

 

It was Tuesday night at mom’s house where the family gathers every week for a good meal and some fellowship. Maria’s daughter, Leslie, had brought us a plate of leftover turkey and gravy and we supplemented that with all the other fixings to make it like another Thanksgiving. I contributed the famous bread stuffing from my mom-in-law’s recipe.

 

I give Lisa a hug and we talk about many things. She looks like me except she has dark brown hair and mine is blonde.

 

“So are you ready for Germany, sis?”

“Yes,”I replied, “but it’s going to be cold.”

It’s been so warm here lately, in the 70’s and 80’s and I knew it was going to be a big adjustment.

She laughed and looked at me like I was crazy. “You are going to miss the warmth! You just wait! I remember when I lived in Washington, DC. It was so cold and this is even colder! I’ll never live where it was cold ever again!”

She made it sound like some sort of disease. I thought of the weather report I had read for the next two weeks of “snow and more snow” in Germany. Not too inviting.

“Well, I’ll be okay, I guess.” I replied sheepishly.

 

She laughed again and shook her head in disgust.

 

I thought about it and felt ashamed but that’s normal. I always feel guilty around her. Was it the Lord’s will for us? We have given up our home, our jobs, our possessions and lastly, the wonderful Florida weather.

 

But then I thought of my son, my daughter-in-law, our four grandchildren and most importantly the little mission church that awaited us.

 

My thoughts were interrupted as dinner was announced as ready. Lisa and I set the table and Bob, Tommy, mom and Maria gather around for the prayer of thanks. Lisa gets on Mom’s case for not wearing her hearing aide; we discover that the specks of white in our water glasses are pieces of frozen butter that somehow were buried into the ice tray and we stuff ourselves on the heavy comfort food fare.

 

But it’s all good. God’s will be done. No matter what my sister says, we will make it. The Lord will see us through. In five more days we leave; in less than a week we will be there.

 

 A brand new life. Then I remembered the words to that old Christmas song:

 

“And may all your Christmases be white…”

A Life Worth Giving

I noticed the kid was dressed in a Junior ROTC uniform and I remembered they had that every Wednesday. I was subbing in World History that day and he sat there beaming at his desk.

“Hello, Miss!” He exclaimed smiling a little too broadly.

“Hello, Chris. That’s your name, right?

“Right!”

“So what branch of the military do you want to be in?” I asked.

“The Army, Miss. But not just the regular Army: the Special Ops. I want to be a trained assassin.”

“A trained assassin?” I asked. “What’s involved with that?”

“Oh, Miss, listen! I want to be the one that goes right into the heat of battle and kills lots of bad guys.”

“You want to risk your life that way?” I was surprised at the goals of this 15 year old boy.

“Yes, Miss. Of course I do.”

“You don’t want a safer job behind the lines somewhere?”

“No, Miss. That’s why I’m signing up as soon as I’m outta high school. I want to blow up people.”

“Really??” I asked.

“Really. I want to get into a group of bad terrorists secretly and yell out: “Okay, you bad guys! In the name of the United States of America, you are done! And then I push a button and blow us all away.”

“You’d blow yourself away too?”

“Yes, Miss! Of course I would. It would be so cool.” He smile got even broader.

“That’s patriotic of you.” I said. I couldn’t help but be challenged by his youthful expression of exuberance. I could see he really loved his country.

I wondered then if I could do that too for Christ. Would I give Him my all and then go and prove it? Give up everything for Him even my physical existence?

We then studied our lessons about the Reformers and the Reformation and how they, too, gave it their all and some gave their very lives for the cause of Christ.

Jesus said that’s what was required of His disciples. This kid shamed me that day into thinking about it and he was right. What else was there to live for? Why would any of us want to live behind enemy lines instead of confronting the enemy? Why would any of us hold back from giving Our King our all?

I still read this Bible verse even now and my backbone straightens. I remember that we are but dust and everything we own is but dust. Do we want to continue living like cowards and sissies or do we want to do valiant deeds for the Kingdom; a Kingdom that would never end?

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Matt 10:39

Lord, thank you for this reminder and rebuke. Please give me the grace to live –and be ready to die- for You every day!

The Whippersnapper

(This is an excerpt from my book about two knights who are lost in the wilderness and meet a strange creature. It shows how the world thinks. Worldly people just believe in themselves. They don't need God. Or at least, that's what they always say. I've written in parable form the mechanics of what worldly people actually think when they reject God. This is sort of like Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.)


“He said his name was Mr. Whippersnapper or just Whippersnapper for short.

 

“It said it merely wanted to ask us some questions.

 

 “The monster’s smile seemed to grow as it starred at both of us and his whole body seemed to glow even brighter.

 

“The first question was something about who do we admire the most: the one person, living or dead that we looked up to as our hero.

 

"Then it said, ‘What about your saint?’

 

“We both agreed that St. Patrick Nubar, the warrior musician who is the hero of every Octamanian knight, was someone we looked up to. However, I mentioned he was dead now.

 

 “Then he said something real strange. He asked us about what we thought about the Good Shepherd.

 

“The mention of that name brought frowns to both of us.

 

“I spoke up now first and answered honestly. I said that we’ve been taught some about him but we had never actually met him.

 

“Smuff added that he didn’t know if the Good Shepherd really existed, although some people have said they had met him. He thought it was a bunch of tall tales and make-believe stories.

 

“Then, Smuff went on to talk more about St Patrick. He said something like:  ‘We know he ‘ears us! See this?’ He pulled a thin gold chain out of his shirt that had a small medal dangling on it. It was a charm and he told the Wippersnapper it was a small likeness of St Patrick which the Witch had given to him.

 

“The Whippersnapper seemed pleased with this answer. Then it said it had two more questions for us and they were very important ones. One was: why we prayed to anyone or had faith in anybody. Why couldn’t we have faith in ourselves? Did we really need a saint or god to inspire us? Couldn’t we do great things without Delon (or God)?

 

“It was more than two questions, so we thought about them for a few minutes.

 

“’Belief in yourself? What’s that?’ I asked him back.

 

“He went on to say that we didn’t have to have faith in anybody but ourselves; not even St. Patrick or Delon or the Good Shepherd.  Before he let us go, he wanted a promise from us to do a favor for him. He wanted to always be our friend. He said he wanted both of us to help Lord Loving write something about the twenty laws of funkyjunk. I think he said ‘twenty’…and I had no clue what funkyjunk was.

 

“So, we both nodded our heads. I was tired, wet and cold and suddenly got the urge to go home and sleep in my own bed.

 

“He was really happy that we would go along with him.  And, he wanted us to tell everyone the same message – to believe in themselves. ‘It’s foolish to believe any other way.’ is the exact quote. The creature was noddin’ and its smile was real broad but deep down inside, but I still didn’t trust it.”

 

from the book The Land of Efacia by Laura Bentz

 

Pedro and Sophia

I mentioned to the class that I was moving to Germany soon.

One of the students perked up and spoke.

“Miss, I’m moving to Cocoa Beach this weekend. This is my last day.” Scarlet looked at me and smiled softly. She was a student in a class where I was substituting and had been for about two months.

“Really?” I said. “Why are you moving there?”

“I’m going to live with my cousin. I’m getting out of foster care.”

“Well, I’m moving to Germany for my grandchildren.” It was the end of class so I showed her a picture of them in a book of snapshots my son had made of their summer vacation with us. “Here they are right here.”

“Can I look at your whole book?” She asked.

“Of course,” I replied.

She flipped the pages and looked at all the pictures until she froze on one page and her eyes opened wide with shock.

“Sophia Maria.” She said. “Who is this?”

“That’s my grandchild that was a miscarriage.” I replied.

A tear trickled down her face. “That’s the name I picked out for my baby.”

“Your baby?”  Now it was my turn to be shocked. “You’re having a baby?”

“Yes.” She lifted up her list with the name circled.

“Don’t worry!” I said. “I’m sure yours will be born and it will be just fine.”

 I gave her a pat on the arm. But I couldn’t help but feel a sinking feeling inside. “I will be praying for you.” I whispered as my eyes moistened, too.

She tried to smile and whispered “thanks”.

Next period, I showed them the book again and this time Griselda was looking at the miscarried baby with much interest.

“How far along, Miss, was this one?” She said pointing to the picture.

“5 ½ months.” I replied noting her swelling belly and assuming she was pregnant too.

“Mine was the same age.”

“Did you have a miscarriage too?”

“Yes, Miss. His name was going to be Pedro. I had him at age 16. I guess I was too young. Now, its 2 years later and I’m older. I’m hoping everything will be okay this time. I’m due in January.”

“And it’s the same father?”

“Yes.” She smiled a sad smile.

“What about school?”

“I’ll be done with school by then. I graduate the end of December.”

I looked at her and wished I could hug her. Maybe I could give her a shower gift. Maybe tell her the good news of Jesus and how much he loved her. Somehow, I wanted to reach out and tell her everything would be okay for her, too.

“I’m praying for you.” I just said.

She smiled again and whispered, “Thanks.”

Children having children will only bring heartbreak. But I can pray for them and hope for the comfort of God.

You can too; we all can too.

 

I wonder who else is pregnant…

Lions

On the eve of Election Day: A poem I wrote about 20 years ago. No matter how dark it looks, remember God is still on his throne and prayer changes things!

How do I shut the mouths of lions?

How do my thoughts stay under control?

Why must I face demons and devils,

And trust God to see me through?

Christ’s love is what counts,

But it’s hard to love an ugly soul;

It’s hard to love a black hole.

When they suck me up like a Hoover;

And I’m tired inside.

I feel wiped out

And drained to the pulp.

And I go to God for help.

‘Cause if I don’t I’ll just whelp

And get the blues.

So fill up my tank, Lord,

On heaven’s bright shore.

I'll put on my dented armor

To fight the enemy once more.

Help me get all these temptations

Out of the way;

And I'll trust in You

As I do every day.

Then, when I go down into the valley

Please restore my soul,

To face another battle,

You're still in control.

For I remember one secret

We all need to learn,

Everything eternal is lasting.

The rest will just burn.

Even the Lions.

Protection Angel-Style

He had a big machine gun in his hand and he was shooting it at some unknown foe.

He was outside my window doing it as I watched him with fear and fascination. Next thing I knew, he was before me and I was asking him about it. He was wearing belted jeans and a plaid shirt and had white hair. He smiled at me.

“Thank you for killing that man! It was awfully nice of you to defend us like you did.”

“You’re welcome!” he said, “but can I ask you a question?”

“Yes, sure.” I replied.

“How much of the Bible do you know?”

“Quite a lot of it.” I said.

“What percentage would you say?”

“About 70 to 80 percent.” I replied. “I’ve read it through many times and have memorized many passages.

“Good.” He said and nodded at my answer. "Keep it up."

“Why do you ask?”

“You’re gonna need that knowledge in the future. “

Before I could say another thing, I heard my husband screaming:

“Laura, wake up! Wake up, it’s time for supper!”

I woke up and sat up and realized it was only a dream during my daily afternoon nap. I thought about it as I hurried downstairs and realized that that man must’ve been an angel protecting us. It was very comforting to think of it that way. But the part about the Bible disturbed me a little. Would the future even more difficult than it is now? Will they take away our Bibles?

I hope not, but you never know. We Christians have been greatly spoiled in America with our prosperity. It is not the case in the rest of the world where many Christians are suffering from persecution.

I shared this dream with my husband and son. Then, I was wondering what I would write in my blog this week. This seemed to be what the Lord had given me to write about. This is true, by the way. I did not make any of this up.

“Study to shew thyself approved, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 1 Timothy 2:15

Let’s keep studying and memorizing God’s Word and its wonderful promises.  Let’s walk in the light of his Word, too. The day of Christ is soon approaching!

Life Under Full Sail

I remember when there were pine trees there as far as you could see.  I also remember when there was no road and just a dirt path through the woods.

Now it’s a movie-studio-university where people graduate to work on major motion pictures. And my son, Tom, wants to go there to become a movie director. He just got discharged from the Army and his dream has always been to write movie scripts. So he looked on-line to find a good film school and he checked out Full Sail. We had heard of it because my sister had worked there years ago.

We then decided to schedule a tour on a quiet Sunday in October. It was a behind-the-scenes kind of tour.

Full Sail used to be a small place on University Blvd which turns into Scarlet road just across from Semoran Blvd. Semoran is the major north south artery of this part of Orlando and University runs east towards the University of Central Florida.  But it has grown now. When we got off the Central Florida Expressway, we started looking for it.

“That’s where I used to live when I was little!” I told my son. “Banchory road is right there.” I pointed to it and then I turned my head and couldn’t believe my eyes. Full Sail was right across the street! It had taken over the whole corner and what used to be a shopping center. It has 17,000 full time students now.

“All films are based on storytelling.” Our tour guide said as he walked us through the various buildings that contained the Full Sail studios. Sometimes, I thought to myself, it starts with a screenplay or even a book.

But after four hours of information, touring the campus and viewing videos I couldn’t help sensing the futility of chasing our dreams without the pursuit of God. How sad that seemed and how empty; how unfulfilling and deceiving.  Yes after looking at all of it, seeing the cameras, the lights and the music, I couldn’t help but realize that modern man has led himself far down the road to destruction.  He now worships himself over anything else. Our technology seems to be pulling us away from God instead f towards Him. Is it good or evil? Perhaps it’s a neutral phenomenon that can be used in a good or evil way. Without God it is void of any moral or spiritual hope.

 Christ alone can fully give you a full life and a full cup of joy. Everything else will end in bitter disappointment. And my son is headed into this tempest. He starts classes next month. I pray he turns to God and I hope he finds the truth which is only in Jesus Christ and his Word. No amount of movies can substitute for that…

Jesus said:

“These things I have spoken unto you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11)

Lord, may my son’s joy be full. And mine, too.

That Sinking Feeling, Part 2: Holes

“We found a void,” our contractor told us, “and filled it.”

“Really?” I asked. “Where was it?”

“Right here in the front yard.” She pointed in that general direction.

“That’s where we thought the sinkhole was!” I exclaimed, “It makes sense!”

I remember the first day they started their work. There were holes; lots of them. Big ones, little ones; some double and that looked like deep pockmarks checkering the ground; a pattern of a straight line with a hole every two to three feet all around the house. Some little ones, too.  Some bigger ones that scarred the front walk and the patio. Holes filled with murky, brown water.

The week had finally arrived; the week of sinkhole repair. The day started with smelly men arriving in their smelly trucks to fix the alleged culprit under our home. My house felt like it was under siege in an all-out war. Men were trampling my plants and women were sitting on my lawn planning an all-out attack.

I feel like I’m being uprooted every day as my home around me disintegrates; we’re packing up to leave and go away. The cuckoo clock is ticking. Time is running out. We have only months left. We leaving paradise lost to return to the Old World; we’re leaving the land of perpetual summer for one of long winters.

The hot tropical rain pours down on the sweaty men. They keep on working. We hear the continuous bang of hammers. My plants are dying; my life is disrupted. Truck after truck pours cement through pipes into the ground and rattle my house.

Meanwhile, the boxes pile up and I’m practicing for a Christmas cantata I will never sing on a hot summer day in late September. Hoping to leave soon; going to the old world from the new. Hoping to be with four precious grandchildren; hoping to find them over the wide ocean 6000 miles away. It’s a new beginning and we’re stepping out in faith.

 I’m afraid of the cold and desolate place where we will be but God will carry us through as always.

Still making more repairs, but soon we’ll be ready…

Lord, thank you for filling all our voids…

Fate, Fire and a Teenage Girl: Part 4: Believers and Nonbelievers

This meeting wasn’t quite as dramatic as the last one, but it was good never-the-less. Win was there again and so was Steve. Lee was there also but he was strangely quiet and not at all in charge any more since Win came. By now, I knew almost everyone’s name. We sang and talked a lot particularly about the end of the world.  One girl, at only age 15, was a former drug addict. Her brother was a big dealer. I begged Win to pray over her, but I don’t know if he did.

At the next meeting, Bobby spoke in tongues and saw visions for two people in the room. Both of them, he concluded, were being tempted by the devil. Out of one of them he cast devils. The other one refused to allow him to do it. Later, we learned he was going to buy some weed that night. The other one was going to study to become a priest. His name was Richard. After Bobby shouted for a few more minutes in tongues, this priest guy gets up and starts talking about his supposed experiences with the Holy Spirit. Then, Bobby came over to him and said God was hurt just then by a spirit of pride. The priest answered and told him to quit shouting. “Jesus was a gentle person and never shouted,” he said, being annoyed by Bobby’s behavior. All this time Steve had been sitting quietly over to one side. So he got up to leave. Win spotted him and asked him if he could pray over him. Steve agreed to it.

 “Now, everybody, watch his eyes!” Win yelled. He asked Steve to close his eyes as he prayed over him. When he opened them sure enough they had changed! They were softer. Quietly, Steve said good-bye to Win who was smiling so hard his teeth looked like they were going to split open. He was probably thinking: “Yes! Steve has been defeated!” And so he had. Maybe he was more of a believer now.

Win then interrupted Richard and said Jesus did shout when he wanted to and quoted examples from Scripture. Next, there was a long discussion on pride and who had it in the room. Richard accused Bobby of “extreme showmanship” and questioned all of our motives for going to these meetings. The priest got some of us upset and some of the girls were even crying. He was trying to confuse us it appears. Finally, he left and we all relaxed.

Since it was August 2^nd, I asked the group to pray me on the anniversary of my Father’s death. I guess that’s why I cried so much that night. I still missed him. Also, I secretly prayed for Aunt Dorothy to be healed and for my Grandma who was again in the hospital for an infection. She had fallen and broken her jaw. Finally, the meeting was over. Luu then walked in during this episode and I asked her if we could go home because Mom was worrying about us. She said it was fine with her. I looked at the clock as we were leaving and it was almost 12 o’clock! We arrived home safely and now a few days later I’m wondering about the whole thing. So until next Monday at the same time and place, we will go again. Who knows how the Lord would move then?

Fate, Fire and a Teenage Girl:Part 3-The Breath of God

I visited the Gardeners again the next day and we sat around and discussed the Bible and how Christ was coming back soon and how we would all be going up in the Rapture. Aileen said there would be another meeting tomorrow night at a different house and you guessed it, Win would be there. I decided to observe him more carefully, since the Gardeners fully believed that he was a modern day apostle.

So Monday night came and this time Luu drove me to a Spanish-style house that looked a little haunted. The sky was dark and thunder was rumbling in the distance. I thought to myself: “Oh boy, this night’s going to be a strange one!” And it was! The first bit of news was that Lee who was the big doubting Thomas of our previous meeting wasn’t going to be here tonight because his car broke down a few days ago. "Mmmm," I thought. "That's interesting."

The meeting didn’t start until 8:30. Steve was there but where was Win?? Most of the same people from last time came but there was an older man there this time with a tape recorder.

We soon started singing and in the middle of: “…they’ll know we are Christians by our love…” I turned around and there he was! This time he came with a fellow girl disciple. He recognized me by a nod and I said “Hi.” We sang a few more songs after that. Then we shared, but I didn’t get time to say anything.

 Next, Win started a half hour discussion of the power of Christ. One girl asked him a question. “I knew of a boy who was filled with the Spirit but he fell out and went back to grass, acid and drugs. What can I do for him?” He replied: “All those who accept Christ and fall out, Christ will bring back. I, around a year ago, was prayed over, but I continued taking drugs and partying. But God got back at me. I worked in construction and I would carry these huge beams on my shoulders. One day I was carrying one when I felt the presence of Jesus behind me and he told me ‘Now you know how it feels to carry a cross.’ On February 28, 1971, I came back to the Lord.”

“Yeah,” she said, “My friends think I’m straight, but when they offer me temptations like drugs, and I admit I don’t want them, I feel silly.”

“Well, you shouldn’t! I’m as straight now as you can get. Everyone in this room should be straight. Christ said “Straight and narrow is the way of the Lord.”

He also said “Evil is growing by leaps and bounds. Why I could go into a small store in downtown Tampa and buy a package of human fingernails or bones or the blood of animals. Yes, the middle ground is fast disappearing. There used to be some people who could go to church, guarantee they were saved and forget about God. Well, that in between state is falling apart fast. Either you’re for Christ or you're against Him.”

He spoke a little more and told us some more stories about the power of God. Then the man with the tape recorder was introduced as a priest from Biafra who told us about what he had gone through.

Next, Winn prayed over everyone there. Then Bobby who was a guy wearing steel-rimmed glasses, got up from a sitting position. Win got in front of him and held out his hands and they pressed their palms together. Win demonstrated the breath of God. He blew on him. As soon as he did, the other guy fell peacefully backwards and two other boys caught him and laid him down. Everyone laughed quietly, although why it was so funny, I cannot put into words. In fact after this happened we were all in a much happier and united mood than we were at the previous meeting except for Steve who was very quiet and did not talk as much as he had the last time…(to be continued....)