The angel knew me by my boots...

“Millions of angels are at God’s command.”  - Billy Graham

 

So there I was, all dressed and ready for church.  Dressed up all cutsie like, in my vintage yet whimsical sundress, kinda Taylor Swiftish if ya will. And what went perfectly with my little dress on this particular Sunday morning? That’s right…you guessed it. The perfect pair of cowgirl boots. All bronzy brown and leathery. I couldn’t have made them any cuter had I have made them myself.

 

Now, so far this doesn’t really seem odd, I know. But wait. I’m not done yet. So we get to worship. Everything is hunky dory normal. Pull up, park, walk, enter. Now mind you, we never enter the sanctuary from the left. NEVER. We tend to like to enter from the right. Now, that may or may not have ‘something’ to do with the fact that that is where the coffee is served. I mean, I’m just sayin’. But on this day? What’s that? I see you guessed it! Yep – we entered on the left. Still seemed pretty normal. At least at the time. Little did I know what was getting ready to go down.

 

As we’re walking in, my husband sees someone he knows, so of course, we ignore him. Nah, just kidding.  We walk over to say hello, as we offer the good ol’ fashioned handshake. Other than that, I hadn’t noticed much of anything else, except that worship is getting ready to begin. I don’t notice any on-lookers, no angel’s wings, no nothin’ but an awesome praise & worship song to usher in the service. We hurry and pick up our communion as we sift through the crowds to find our place. Ya know, the bum resting place, otherwise known as a pew. Wow. Worship was amazing this day.

 

Now, here is where I suppose I should rewind just one day. Previously, on that Saturday, I finally broke down and went to see a homeopathic practitioner. I deal with extreme fibromyalgia, which is accompanied by a lot of headaches and fatigue. I’d been learning about herbs, and how God’s natural ‘medicine’ could heal. But, ya know, I was still a little skeptical, wanting to make sure I wasn’t getting into something that was all ‘guru-ish’ and whatnot. And, even though I felt a strong peace about it, I still wouldn’t have minded getting a word from God to confirm.

 

Fast-forward back to bum resting in the pew. Now, growing up, going forward seemed to be a regular event in church. But, not so much as the years have gone by. Mostly because the church is so much larger, and well, I don’t always feel you need to move forward to encounter the presence of God. If anything, I’m more likely these days to just go ahead and grab a visit from my bum rester. It’s just easier that-a-way. So, the Pastor is speaking, and things seem normal still yet. EXCEPT…my husband gets a word from God (that he of course doesn’t tell me about, because we’re in the middle of church! And of course I would NEVER talk in church). This is what He hears, as well as I can remember to quote it…”You both need to come forward today, and I am going to give the Pastor a word about Heather specifically to confirm it for you.”

 

Okay, so now Tim is all, what? Really? WOW. Whoa. I’m sure he’s thinking he wishes he wasn’t such a reserved guy at that point. I mean, if that were me, I’d have already told him in like, 3 different ways, AND written him a note about it. All that, whilst chewing my gum. Anyways, I digress. So he doesn’t say a word…not even a peep. The service is coming to a close and the Pastor begins to pray. The prayer seems pretty normal to me. He’s speaking God’s wisdom over the crowd. Giving people the opportunity to come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord. Still, nothing too unusual...until.

 

Until he stops speaking, and gets really quiet. (Quoting as I can remember) “I am getting a word from the Lord. I’m hearing in my spirit that there is somebody in here suffering from great physical pain, maybe back pain, headaches, allergies even.” WHAT?! Now remember back when I said God had given my hubby a word that the Pastor would say something ‘specific’ to my needs, to confirm we were to go forward? So I open my eyes and look at my husband, and he’s already misty eyed. Keep in mind, at this point I STILL didn’t know about his word from God.

 

So, of course, we begin to walk forward. As we progress down the aisle, there is at least a hundred or more others doing the same.  Sometimes you expect to wait a little bit for someone to pray over you. So, we decided to just go ahead and pray together, by ourselves. And that’s when it happened. There she was. She walks up to us and says, “would you like for me to pray with you?” To which we replied “Absolutely, thank you.”

 

As we bowed our heads, my ankles began to quiver and my legs began to shake. This wasn’t any prayer she prayed over us, she was specifically praying for me. Every single need and thought, that I had going on in my heart during that time, she began to pray about.  Within just a few seconds, tears began to pour out like rain. Not drizzle. Down pour. As I began to sob, she too began weeping. The more we wept, the more detailed the prayer became. At that point, I was sobbing so hard I could barely catch my breath. There was no ‘hiding’ this kind of weeping. We were all a mess, including my husband.

 

So, as the prayer finally began to come to an end, we were all just standing there with our arms outstretched around each other. I still couldn’t stop crying, nor could they. As she looked up so humbly at me, she started to speak these words…and remember, she doesn’t know me at all. “I believe that the Lord sent me over here. I believe that He knows exactly what we need, when we need it. And I believe, that He sent me specifically because I have experienced those same kind of traumatic events, also. Although we have different circumstances, I share your grief over the things of the past.” Me – still weeping. Husband – shaking at the ankles because remember back early on? About the word from God he received about God calling us forward for my healing?” The woman – as sincere, as sweet, and as humble as I could ever imagine an angel being. We literally felt the kindness, and the warming love she was pouring out on me. Although we had never met, somehow, this woman knew me. SHE knew ME.

 

And then…she proceeded to look down, below the hem of my sundress. She looked back up at me and said, “When you walked in the church building today, I noticed you. You walked in from the left (remember, we never do) and as and your husband began to walk towards your friend, I was standing right there, and I saw you.” “Really?” I asked. “Yes. And as I watched you, the first thing I thought was what a beautiful girl you were, and how much I loved your dress. But then I looked down, and your boots caught my eye. They’re adorable, and I just thought how perfectly you seemed put together.”
“Wow!” I said. “That’s so weird, because I purposefully looked around and didn’t see anybody even that nearby, and certainly nobody I thought was looking at me.”

 

Then she gives me the clincher. “It was at the time between looking at your boots, and realizing how well you seemed put together that I heard God’s voice in my ear. He said to me, “Remember her. Start praying for her now.” So what do we have? An entrance to the left that never happens, but happened. A woman I never saw, who had me memorized and was told to begin praying.  A word from God directly to my husband that told him He wanted us to move forward for prayer, and He would confirm it from the Pastor.  A word from the Pastor confirming the word from God to my husband. The word from the Pastor also confirming about my decision to begin a homeopathic remedy in the area of physical health. And an angelic woman with more love in one finger than some carry in their entire body. A woman I did not know, but who God used to see through me, for me. To bring healing.

 

She shares with me, that it was at the precise moment that she glimpsed “my boots” walking down that aisle, did she realize why she noticed me so much. Why God told her to remember me, and to begin praying for me. So as she rushed down the aisle after us, do you think it’s any coincidence that nobody had been available to pray with us yet? I think not. God met me there on that day. I took out a piece of paper and wrote down her name and her phone number, as well as gave her mine. She was blessed by that.

 

I have since tried to locate her on Facebook, yet even with a ‘not so common’ last name. I’ve sent her a text, to no avail. Admittedly, I haven’t called her. I thought written word might be a better way to ease into conversation. Now…am I saying she was an angel? No. Am I saying she was just a woman? No. Am I saying she could have been either? Yes. But the real moral of the story is this. To me, on that day, she was both. 

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.  – Hebrews 13:2