Youth

Sometimes it is good to be a kid again. Leaving the world of adulthood behind, I recently spent three days with three young people at the happiest place on the planet--Disney World.

I have been to Disney many times, and in fact am one of those grownups who has always loved anything Disney. I believe it goes back to my childhood when I heard about the opening of Disneyland and then would watch the "Wonderful World of Color" on TV and eagerly look forward to seeing what land we would visit....vicariously, that is....each Sunday night.

I remember with happiness the first time I went to Disney World. My three children were five, seven and nine, but I was the biggest kid of all. The magic was everywhere...for them and for me and for Mr. Jorie too. I have been to Disney many times since then, both in California and Florida, and I am filled with anticipation of the fun to be had each time a trip is planned.

I could explain the photos above or you can just let your imagination run wild. My daughter along with two of her friends, very likable young men, pushed me around all day (in a wheelchair that is) and called me, "Crazy Linda." They had all been (or are currently) employed by Disney and know the parks well. It was amazing to be a part of their world for those three fun-filled (no, I mean joy-filled) days!

Queue lines and handicapped access, twizzlers and hamburgers, water rides and thrill rides, characters and real-live characters, smiles and laughter...and then the four of us crashing at our hotel room at the end of a busy day brought pure and simple happiness into my life. The exhaustive and delightful joy of our time together was anticipated but not expected to be so soul-satisfying to this mature soul...who felt like a kid again for three days in August in the happiest place on earth.

Thanks for the memories...Mickey, Kelsey, Sully and Kelly...I love each of you!!!

Glory

Oh the moment!

Oh the moment when you know in your heart
that God has sent a message just for you.

Recently, I was blessed in such a way.

I know that I should not question God, but there are times, actually many times, when I do just that.

I was driving home from a visit to the medical center at the University of Chicago...a place I visit quite often. The hour-long drive often gives me time for solitude and reflection. Questions about treatments and diagnoses, therapy and recommendations often lead me into my quiet times.

On this particular day I asked, "God, I need to know that you are real and that you care about me....could you please give me a sign?" I know, I know, I should not have to ask that question even once, let alone at repeated intervals throughout life, but I did ask...in faith, I asked.

Well, when you are driving down the Dan Ryan expressway during the evening rush hour, where does one look for a sign from God? Other than the billboards and the other cars whizzing around me, I decided to look up...up into the heavens. I saw a blue sky filled with billowing white clouds, not unlike those pictured above. In the sky, as I glanced for a sign, I saw two cylindrical clouds standing out in front of the others and I thought to myself, that does not really look like anything. You know, usually you can pick out something like a rabbit or dog
flying across the sky, but all I could focus on were the two oblong shapes in front of the other clouds.

I continued driving, almost scolding myself for being foolish enough to ask God for this special favor and then thinking that He would take time out of his busy day to give me a sign of His presence.

I have come to realize that just when we think God is not able or does not care about our longing for Him, something amazing can happen. On that day, God spoke directly to me, and this is how He did it...

...I was listening to Christian music. In fact a CD my daughter had made for me many years ago had recently been found in my cabinet and I had been playing it for a few days. Thus I had recently heard the songs over and over. Probably one of the most familiar songs, and definitely the oldest melody on the CD was, "It is well with my Soul." Those verses were heard by me since I was a child. Why then, on this day, when I needed to hear from God, did I finally hear the complete lyrics of the last verse?

My conversation with God went something like this:

And Lord haste the day when my faith shall be sight. I had always heard that phrase Lord...in fact it has been one of my favorite thoughts, knowing that some day my faith would be fulfilled. I wouldn't be burdened by doubt or fear ever again.

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll. Oh, my goodness, I had never, ever heard that line in the song. The clouds...oh yes, those magnificent white clouds I just saw. A scroll, you said a scroll--oh my, that is what I saw in the clouds...a scroll opening. Oh my Lord, you have answered my prayer. You cared about me so much today that you wanted me to know that you are there, that you love me and that you care about me every minute of the day. You wanted to comfort me today and reassure me that you are who you say you are. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

For me the remainder of the ride home was glorious! I sang along with the tunes on the CD praising God for his special blessing to me that day.

There may be skeptics out there who will never believe that God speaks at all...or especially that he speaks to individuals just driving down the expressway. I believe that God speaks to us in so many ways each and every day that we only need to open our eyes to see and our ears to listen, and yes, I believe He can speak to me personally just as he did on the day described here.

I was ready to hear from God that day.
I was a seeker.
My heart was open.
I was blessed and reassured and felt loved with a heavenly love.

Even on the busy, dirty, congested, littered Dan Ryan, I found God's glory!
Amazingly He can show His love anywhere.

Keep seeking.
You won't be disappointed.