Open our Eyes, Lord …

God is with us … every day and all around us. He speaks to us everywhere! The Lord of All Creation reveals powerful messages to us through the tiniest of creatures, brief happenings, in flowers and sparrows on the wing. Whispers of hope in nature’s beauty are always there. Let’s lift up our eyes, listen, open our hearts… and feel His Grace.

Sometimes, an answer to prayer or a message comes as gently as a whisper, but other times as thunder and lightening in the storms of life. If we look for God as we move through the moments of our days … we will find Him waiting there. One of my favorite old hymns reminds me of this truth. The music is beautiful, but the words are what stays in my heart.

Open My Eyes,That I May See
Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now, I wait for thee,
Ready my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Something that happened in my life many years ago has stayed in my heart, reminding me always to be aware of God’s presence. I find Him in the blessings of friendships, in lessons learned from life’s experiences, and sometimes in a small happening – like the one in the following true story…
It happened late in the evening in the fall of 2007. My mother was living with us, during the sunset years of her life. With her that night were two of her loved ones, a friend and care-giver named Emma and me. At that time of her life, she didn’t communicate very much at all, but she was peaceful, content and knew that she was loved. She sometimes seemed to be “seeing” and talking to spirits or angels. Though we could not see them we could feel their presence, and we knew that they were very real to her. We believe that she was surrounded by angels.

Mother had been saying things to make us feel the presence of my daddy, who had passed away eight years before. She would seem to be talking to him. We knew that he was there with her. I wondered if he was there to take her hand at the end of her life and lead her to Heaven. It was a spiritual experience for all of us who were there.

Now to that special September evening … Mother was in her bedroom in her hospital bed that she slept in during those days, and we were sitting on the twin bed next to hers. I saw a tiny creature crawling on the twin-bed pillow. I thought it was a spider, and wanted to catch it so that it wouldn’t harm Mother during the night. Emma got closer and said, “No, don’t hurt it! It’s a little Lady Bug.” We had both heard tales that they bring good luck and messages! She placed her hand next to the little creature, and it crawled on her hand, stayed there a while – as if looking at us. It crawled around her hand and fingers for a while, and then … when it had our full attention, it lifted its wings and flew to the wall behind Mother’s bed, landed there, and then began crawling up the wall. It crawled up to a picture frame, then on the glass protecting the framed picture, where it rested. The framed picture was of my daddy! And, do you know where this little creature rested for the rest of the night? She placed herself right next to my daddy’s face! The message to us was so clear. Daddy WAS there with Mother. The next morning, our little friend was gone. We looked everywhere, but could not find her. We don’t know how she got in, and made it all the way to a back bedroom. We don’t know how she got out, or where she went. But we believe that she “just appeared” … and that she left the same way that she entered that room, after she delivered the important message that gave us such joy and peace. Thank you, God, for touching our souls with this special blessing. Thank you for sending angels to be with Mother throughout her precious life, but especially during this time of her “journey.”

From the book of Matthew 28:20, Jesus said to his disciples,“… Behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

Offered by Gladys Runnels