Bridge Over Troubled Waters
(or… I Can See Clearly Now)
Another offering of testimony penned by I. Weightforette
Although all prayers are not answered as we wish them to be, all prayers are answered as they need to be. I’m living breathing proof of that…
Somewhere In Time was written crazy fast because Father wanted the message it provides to be spread fast. During the writing of that piece, it was revealed to me how He has positioned my every step throughout my life to insure that I would wind up where I am now.
1. I now believe that my earthly father’s purpose in life was to do his part in bringing me into this life. He was a wonderful, gentle, kind and loving man, with the greatest sense of humor of anyone I have ever known. He was, however, a very strict conservative. Had he lived longer, my relationship with my husband would never have come to be. There was no way his daughter was going to “hook up” with a “bell bottom sporting, motorcycle riding, long hair!” So the first seemingly major “bad” event in my life, my dad’s passing, proved to be the first step in my eventual relationship with God. At the time I was clueless that “Dad-Bo”, as I called him had received the ultimate blessing of his life, being taken home. I prayed like crazy for his life to be spared, so when he passed, I came to the conclusion that there is no God. I need to note here that the number 3 will prove to be very prominent in this recounting. The spiritual meaning of 3 is completeness.
2. Three years later, Father introduced me to the man that would bring joy into the rest of my earthly days. I know that He delivered, to me, the man that I would need to help get through all the troubles that would befall me in life because, despite divorcing four years into our marriage, we are still together after 38 years. For those of you that haven’t heard the message of “Somewhere In Time”, we remarried in 2007. Our son was deputized as a Commissioner of Civil Marriages and performed the ceremony.
3. After my father’s passing, my mother remarried. Several years later, she relocated and insisted that our and I do the same. Naturally, we became patients of the same dentist whom she had established care with.
4. As a smoker, I’ve incurred severe periodontal disease. Our dentist wanted me to see a specialist. He recommended one, but there was a language barrier that I couldn’t get past. When I returned to our regular dentist for a six month cleaning, it seemed he no longer wanted to continue as my dentist as I was unwilling to put forth the extra effort, so I became a “dental vagrant” for many years.
5. Two of my upper teeth became so loose that I sought out another dentist. He determined that all my upper teeth had to go.
6. It just so happened that, on the same day that I had my extractions done and received my denture, another man, who was also a patient of the same dentist, was having the exact same procedure done on that very same day. I got his teeth and he mine! I was told that my denture would be very tight due to the swelling caused by the extractions and not to take it out because I might not be able to get it back in. It was so loose that I had my husband call to confirm that I needed to leave it in since I was afraid I would choke on it somehow in my sleep. When I returned to my dentist for a follow-up, I complained to the dental assistant that my denture was too loose and made me look like “The Grinch”! She said “really, another patient had the same procedure done on the same day and his is so snug!” I popped forward in the chair and asked “did he get my teeth”? That poor girl looked like a deer in headlights and offered a very tentative “no…” Several months later, we passed at a strip mall and acknowledged one another. It was obviously a very uncomfortable encounter for her. We named my denture “Bob’s Teeth” and it will someday be mounted under a glass dome labelled as such, or maybe “The Price I Paid For Having My Hearing Restored” which is the subject of Somewhere In Time”.
7. I lived with that denture for 18 months. It got to the point that no amount of denture adhesive could keep it from flopping around. Please note here that a dentist would have had me back in for 3 cleanings by this time. (I’m not making this up!) I returned to this dentist to get a relign. My husband spoke up and told him “she thinks she got someone else’s teeth”. Apparently, he had forgotten the incident that had occurred because he said “that’s not possible, the bite would be off”. He looked in my mouth, sat back in his chair and said “what I can do for you is make you a new denture at my cost. We’re all just here to help each other”. For years after, I thought “what an ass! Really!?! Help each other?” Little did I know at the time that he had indeed helped me by seeing to it that I received “Bob’s Teeth”.
Had these events not taken place, I wouldn’t have met the angel Boyd, the event leading to my hearing being restored. In 2013, not wanting to continue care with a dentist whose practice seemed so questionable, I returned to my original dentist. Thankfully, he agreed to see me. I had a serious infection which required an extraction. Due to the dental work being done, my schedule for lunchtime plans changed enabling me to meet Boyd, have my hearing restored and become the scribe for the story Somewhere In Time.
The title for that piece comes from the fact that as I sat down to do the majority of the writing of it, I received a text from my daughter-in law. The ringtone that I have set for her is the theme song from the movie by the same name. It played over and over in my head as I wrote for 5 hours straight. Being a computer user, as so many of us are, I experience a great deal of pain when grasping things, such as a pen. For the duration of the entire 5 hour span, I experienced no pain whatsoever.
When I began doing serious Bible study, I was going gray at an alarming rate. At 9 years into my studies, the graying process stopped. I find it fascinating that since 3x3=9 it happened at that time. The deeper I get into God’s word, the darker my hair gets. A few months before all of this writing began, my now beautiful brown hair began falling out, again, at an alarming rate. Once I met Boyd and was directed to share my miraculous story with others, my hair stopped falling out.
While writing the recounting of how my hearing came to be restored, I was directed at one point to read;
1 Timothy 4:12; Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. (I’m still struggling with the purity thing!)
Please note that while I enjoy the challenge of studying from the original King James Version of the Bible, working through all of the “thees” and “thous”, most do not, so all quotes from the Bible have been taken from a copy of the New King James Version.
On January 10th, 2014, I thought I was done for the day so I went to my Bible study log to note what I had been up to. I came across the list of verses that my proof reader “The Great Sarnoldo”, had shared with me at Christmas time. I was busy at the time with the writing of Father’s first directive and didn’t get through the entire list, but had been checking them off as I went. Next on the list were;
John 2:19 Jesus answered and said to them,” Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up”.
John 2:20 Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
John 2:21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
Once again, I’m overwhelmed at how God is directing me every day, every step of the way!
It was 3 days (again, not making this up!) after meeting the angel Boyd that my prayers to have my hearing restored were answered. Through years of sinning and bad choices, I had destroyed the temple of my body and in 3 days, He had raised it up.
In 2013, I experienced excruciating, daily headaches. This lasted 3½ months! I had multiple X-RAYs and MRIs. It was determined that I have arthritis and fused discs in my neck. I was prescribed 2 different prescriptions for pain meds. I’ve never been a fan of pharmaceuticals.
I’m even less of a fan now! It turns out that one of the medications I was on can cause what’s called a “rebound” headache, so the stuff I was taking for my headaches was giving me headaches. WOW! It also made me stupid. I was preparing for a Hula gig. It had been many months since I had done any Hula, so I was practicing. Dances that I had done for 30+ years completely eluded me. I panicked! My husband told me to take a break and get my showering done. So often, I forget that I have the option to pray. This time I remembered… While in the shower I prayed for calmness of heart. When I got out, I went back to practicing. It all came back to me like there had never been a problem. I told my husband that God and he make a good team!
In the following days, I realized that the drug I had been taking was making me stupid, so I switched to the other one. Bad idea… It caused severe dizziness and nausea. I also felt very anxious and wired. Every time I closed my eyes, I experienced hallucinations. Nothing we tried would let me go to sleep. The hallucinations were hideous, distorted, crazy images, sometimes demonic. Once again, I remembered my option to pray. The next time I closed my eyes, I was still hallucinating but now all I saw was a road leading to with mountains, pine trees and (I love this) bunnies. So God had not answered my prayer the way I wished it to be, but He answered it the way it needed to be. He had immediately given me the relief I needed and at the same time taught me a valuable lesson… be careful with what you put in the temple of your body!
It was 2004 when I reconnected with the Lord. Two events occurred which compelled me to pray. I found this strange at the time since, when my earthly father passed, I had decided I was an atheist, although I had softened, by this time, to agnostic status due to an event that occurred when our son was an infant. He had broken a glass baby bottle on the side of his crib. We only found half of the bottle. My husband called the Elders of his church. They came with their olive oil and asked for His blessings. To this day, it still remains a mystery. I’m so ashamed now that this one very major event didn’t “make me see the light” but again, He would use 3 events to get me turned around.
The second event was when my step-father drank and smoked his way in to the ICU. One of his nurses was trying to draw blood and couldn’t find a vein. Out of the blue (pun intended) I was moved to pray for her. She immediately found a vein!
The third event was later that year, while we were at the wedding reception of a friend’s daughter. As can often happen when alcohol flows, a Malay ensued. I prayed for it to end and immediately it stopped. When my prayers were answered immediately and exactly as I wished, I realized “Hey! There really is something to this God stuff!”
I listen to a Christian radio station in my car. So often, it seems that God is speaking specifically to me through the Pastors on the air. I know that many others listening are thinking the same thing but, none the less, I can’t describe the overwhelming joy I experience when it seems that God is talking directly to me in real time! So much so that I now have to wear waterproof mascara. Since reconnecting with our Lord and Father, I hear His word with greater understanding. I’m learning what I must rectify in my life to reap the rewards of His promises.
During the closing of Somewhere In Time, I was directed by our Father to include an interesting fact. In that story, there is reference to sixteen blessings that I experienced in one day. He lead me to look up the spiritual significance of the number sixteen. Once again, He delivered!!! This story will not end as stories typically do. Wait for it…
Sixteen (8x2) denotes resurrection, regeneration; a new beginning or commencement… AMEN
Footnote;
In March of 2014, long after the writing of this piece began, the nearsightedness in my right eye was completely corrected. Weeks later, I was on the phone with my Optometrist’s office to see about getting a new lens made for my glasses. While on the phone, I realized that the vision in my left eye was even better than the right! I find it very interesting that this occurred after story #3 was underway… It seems to get better every day. At this point, I literally have HD vision!
About the scribe…
She’s a sinner…
Having said that, there will be at least 7 stories total in this series. They will be further testimony detailing how God gives us every available outlet through which we can learn, understand and, whereby, profit from His word.