Tell Them I'm Ok: Miracles - Dreams & Visions

CONCLUSIONS

CHAPTER 1

First Things

Many people have told us that we should write a book, specifically speaking of the miracles, visions, dreams and messages God has given us personally and through our friends and family following our youngest daughter Christy’s tragic auto accident and death at the age of 20.

As we organized our thoughts and considered where we might begin I realized we had to start long before Christy’s passing. Not that anything could compare with the impact that has had on Tina and I but our Lord has clearly been at work, doing miracles in our lives for many years. In (PSA 105:5), we are told to remember the marvels, blessed events and miracles God has done in our lives; to share them with one another, with our children, family and friends because it provides strength and encouragement. Remembering what He has done in the past reinforces our hope for what He is about to do for us now and in the future.

We can look back now and see how God was guiding, directing and molding us. First toward repentance and acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then growing faith into that man and woman that He wants us to be. Not that we will achieve anything close to perfection while here, we are works in progress and will be until we draw our last breath.

We can now see that God’s miracles began early in our lives but before going further we want to be emphatically clear, the following dreams, visions, messages, miracles and Godly inspired events provided to us personally, and for us through those that God has brought to us, are assembled herein for you, to encourage you as you make your way through this life which is nothing less than a march through enemy territory. To help you take heart and to give you strength, as God’s word says in (JOS 1:05) No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Remember He loved us while we were yet sinners. He wants everyone to know that and to turn to Him. Life is a battle but God is in ultimate control. Even when it looks like He isn’t, just trust Him and know that He is God, the great miracle worker. Many times in a battle the troops cannot understand why they are given certain orders, but they follow them because they know their commanders have a plan that they can’t see. A plan to win the battle and the war, a plan for victory.

We look around and we see all the casualties. But remember, this is all from sin and we are in a war. But praise God, in this war the enemy can only hurt our bodies, he cannot touch our eternal souls. Trusting our God and His good and perfect plan is the key, the plan we often do not understand, but remembering that we are but foot soldiers, knowing that our God is leading us toward victory, we win this war in the end. In (EPH 6:12-13) For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

We are thoroughly convinced that God has inspired all the things described herein and it is our hope and prayer that these gifts from God will serve to strengthen you in your time of need, to encourage you, to build your faith, and to change your life as these events have changed our lives.

But it is also important to acknowledge that not all spiritual things are of, or from God. Their truly is an enemy that wants to deceive and destroy all that God is doing, all that is good, indeed even us, if that were possible, which it is not, as long as we have given our lives to the Lord Jesus and are followers of the Lord. But this enemy is called the accuser of the breathern and the great deceiver, as we read in (REV 12:9-10) NLT This great dragon, the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one that is deceiving the whole world – For the accusers of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth – the one that accuses them before our God day and night. and he too will bring counterfeit messages, visions and things that appear to be miraculous as well as we read in (2 THS 2:9) NLT This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction.

So all miracles, visions, and spiritual dreams must stand up to the test of scripture and if any contradict, or do not conform to what we read in God’s word, then we know those messages are not from God. We have used this test carefully and as you read what we have received, and share, you can be sure all these things do align with God’s word, and nothing herein is contrary to what is taught in His word.

Clearly this is not about us nor the others that are mentioned. We are sinners that have found salvation through Jesus, and this book is about the miracles our loving Heavenly Father, and His Son Jesus Christ have provided. As you read please ask God to help you understand what He has for you in these miracles and messages. We firmly believe even more than we have seen will be revealed as we read in (JHN 16:12-15) Oh, there is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now, when the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not be presenting his own ideas: He will be telling you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by revealing to you whatever He receives from me. All that the Father has is mine: this is what I mean when I say that the Spirit will reveal to you whatever He receives from me. - Jesus NLT, and as we read in (JOE 2:28) NIV I will pour out my Sprit on all people, your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. (ACT 2:17) NIV In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Sprit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. We believe and say with conviction that these things are from God, not naturally occurring, not experiences that we would consider normal, without the miraculous working of God.

As you read you too will see that many of these occurrences are incredible. Nothing less than God’s hand in action can explain what we have seen with our own eyes and what has occurred. No doubt there will be skeptics that will claim nothing more than coincidence but we’ll leave that to you. We only ask that you pray as you read, ask God to reveal through His Holy Spirit what He has for you, as we already know what God has done for us through these miraculous events. They have changed our lives and the lives of many others that have been touched by His work, some in our deepest and darkest of days.

It also must be said that there is much we do not understand. Why God speaks so clearly, or responds so amazingly at times, but at other times of incredible desperation He seems so far away, so silent. Though I’m begging, pleading, and looking for something, anything, He is silent. We are still learning that it is during those times that we must, and are expected to go with what He has said and His promises. He loves us, (HEB 13:5) NLT "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you" He means good for us not evil. (JER 29:5) NLT "For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, they are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. It comes down to this, (ROM 1:17) ESV the righteous shall live by faith". And during those desperate times when God is silent, we must go with what we know, not what we feel or see. Never, never, never give up.

As mentioned I don’t fully understand, why does God speak at one time but not another, why does he speak to this person but not that person, or as you will read a little later in this book, why would He speak to someone, that by her own admission isn’t religious, when someone that is following Him closely doesn’t hear His voice or get the dream?

We just don’t know but what we did learn through Christy’s passing is: God does still speak to those that love Him, that follow Him and do their best to keep Him first in their lives, and to those who love him deep in their hearts, even if they aren’t doing everything right. He speaks to us through His Word, the bible, as we pray and read, through Holy Spirit inspired teachings by others, through visions, dreams and songs.

But we also believe we can miss these blessings. Often these things only come when we are looking and listening for them, we must keep our spiritual antennas up, and there are also things that will stand in the way, preventing or limiting God from providing these blessings, things such as anger, blame, excessive use of alcohol and drugs that numb or anesthetize us.

Some have asked, why did you wait so long? You should have shared your blessings with others sooner, but in truth we did share with many one on one. When asked, we have shared these events with organized groups and at church’s but putting the events down on paper proved to be painful and difficult for me. Indeed, God did help get us through and still is but reliving the events of Christy’s passing remains painful. Losing a loved one is always hard but the loss of your child feels as though your heart has been ripped from your chest, you can’t breathe, there is physical as well as emotional pain and we never felt so alone.

God is the only lasting source of hope in something so tragic, and if you let God He can, and does help that wound heal, but there will always be a scar and even after 16 years it is still sensitive, especially when bumped. The passing of your daughter or son isn’t something you get over and believe it or not we have actually had people say, have you gotten over it yet? I was stunned when someone asked that question the first time, and my response will always be: only by the grace of God have we gotten to the place that we have been able to move forward with our lives, He has used this to remind us that this is not our home, (HEB 13:14) For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. we must keep looking forward to our heavenly home.

All will die, we are just passing through, and as hard as it is, we shouldn’t hold on too tightly to the things of this earth, including our loved ones. Hold onto Jesus Christ and He will get us through it and back united with the ones we love. In (JHN 16:33) NLT Jesus said: In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. But without Him it can destroy marriages, families, and lives and we are living testimonies that it can be something God will walk with you to get through.

One of the best sources of help is God’s word and as we read we are instructed. A good example of this can be found in the theme of (PSA 77) NLT, "we are comforted through the hard times by remembering God’s help in the past". Recalling God’s miracles and previous works can give us courage to continue on. God’s promises are true and in fact as you look to Him your hope grows stronger, we are stronger for it and we learn to trust Him more.

CHAPTER 2

BEGINNINGS

I was born in Southern California, and as a young boy lived and went to School in Anaheim, not far from Disneyland shortly after it first opened. At that time Anaheim was primarily an agricultural community and our neighborhood was surrounded by orange groves. I have fond memories of hearing the Disneyland Train whistle blowing in the distance and in the cool California Summer evenings setting out on the front porch watching the nightly Disneyland Fireworks.

I was Baptized and raised Catholic and as all good Catholic’s I made my First Communion at six years of age and my Confirmation at the age of twelve. My parents went without in order to send me to Catholic school and I grew up knowing that they loved the Lord and I am grateful for the early understanding of our Lord and Salvation I learned as well as the good education I received. We went to church most weekends when I was little but as our financial needs increased Dad began working second jobs on the weekends and church attendance dropped off considerably. None the less we always prayed in my home and I knew God was important to my parents but as in all families we had our share of problems.

My Dad came down with a severe debilitating form of arthritis in his twenties called spondylitis, Over the years it caused his spine and neck to become fused in a permanently forward bent position, the poor guy was in constant pain but he never complained. Of course it limited what he could do physically but he always worked hard and even in that condition became the Plant Superintendent at the manufacturing company he worked for.

Mom had spine surgery during those early years as well along with several failed pregnancies, five or six as I recall, the last of which occurred when I was 11. She was quite far along that time, in her 5th month and it is to this day a vivid memory. Once she realized what was happening she began shaking and crying, Dad and I managed to get her to the car and off we sped to the hospital. Following several emotional hours of prayer and waiting we were told that Mom would be fine but the baby didn’t survive. It was a very sad drive back home and hard on us all.

I always wanted a brother and hated being an only child which in part I suspect was why my parents continued to get pregnant as well as why