A Healing Presence
Stories
Vision Stories
True Accounts Of Visions, Angels, And Healing Miracles
That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons.... (vv. 32-34a)
During the late winter of 1992, the house was its usual hectic scene while getting the family out the door for work and school. My daughter, Jolene, was leaving for school when she poked her head back into the kitchen to say that Dirty Snowball, one of the three-week-old kittens, was out of his basket in our garage and lying under my car.
Knowing that he was too young to be out on his own, I immediately went out to check on him. His little body was fairly stiff, but as I cradled and turned him over in the palms of my hands, I could see his tiny chin quivering. I wasn't sure if he was moving it, or if it was from the movement of my hands. I ran into the house with him and grabbed a hand towel to keep him warm. Sometime in this sequence of events, I managed to call our veterinarian and ask him a couple of questions. He told me to just give up and let the kitten die. I couldn't do that.
Grabbing the hairdryer, I turned it on low and let it warm his tiny little body while I prayed for guidance to know what to do. Suddenly, I felt something over my left shoulder and turned to look. I instinctively knew that it was Jesus, although I truthfully could not have described him, even a moment later. As I looked at him, I felt another presence over my right shoulder. I turned to look, and immediately recognized a woman from Emmanuel United Methodist Church, Richfield, Wisconsin, who had died several years before. Everyone took wild birds to Wilma "Grandma" Gerken when they were wounded. She would care for them and release them back into the wild. Immediately, I knew what I had to do. I began abbreviated CPR on Dirty Snowball. With two fingers, I massaged where I guessed his heart was located, and blew short puffs of breath into his mouth from an inch or two away. After just a short time, he was back to life. Since I had college classes that morning myself, I called my neighbor and asked if she would be willing to watch the kitten for the day, and she could hear him meowing over the phone.
I believe that Jesus and Grandma Gerken came to give me the help I needed and to show that even the tiniest of God's creatures are being watched over and loved. None of us is ever alone.
During the late winter of 1992, the house was its usual hectic scene while getting the family out the door for work and school. My daughter, Jolene, was leaving for school when she poked her head back into the kitchen to say that Dirty Snowball, one of the three-week-old kittens, was out of his basket in our garage and lying under my car.
Knowing that he was too young to be out on his own, I immediately went out to check on him. His little body was fairly stiff, but as I cradled and turned him over in the palms of my hands, I could see his tiny chin quivering. I wasn't sure if he was moving it, or if it was from the movement of my hands. I ran into the house with him and grabbed a hand towel to keep him warm. Sometime in this sequence of events, I managed to call our veterinarian and ask him a couple of questions. He told me to just give up and let the kitten die. I couldn't do that.
Grabbing the hairdryer, I turned it on low and let it warm his tiny little body while I prayed for guidance to know what to do. Suddenly, I felt something over my left shoulder and turned to look. I instinctively knew that it was Jesus, although I truthfully could not have described him, even a moment later. As I looked at him, I felt another presence over my right shoulder. I turned to look, and immediately recognized a woman from Emmanuel United Methodist Church, Richfield, Wisconsin, who had died several years before. Everyone took wild birds to Wilma "Grandma" Gerken when they were wounded. She would care for them and release them back into the wild. Immediately, I knew what I had to do. I began abbreviated CPR on Dirty Snowball. With two fingers, I massaged where I guessed his heart was located, and blew short puffs of breath into his mouth from an inch or two away. After just a short time, he was back to life. Since I had college classes that morning myself, I called my neighbor and asked if she would be willing to watch the kitten for the day, and she could hear him meowing over the phone.
I believe that Jesus and Grandma Gerken came to give me the help I needed and to show that even the tiniest of God's creatures are being watched over and loved. None of us is ever alone.
