Angel Kisses and Extra Special Antenna's

Let's face it, we have ALL had days where we felt like slamming an adult bully's face into a brick wall, or backing over the neighborhood bully's skateboard. It's whether or not we do it, though, that tells our children/teens what kind of people we are, and shows them what kind of people to be. Yesterday afternoon I had a moment of pure, unadulterated, righteous anger in defense of my children and nearly failed in my example. This morning as I was reflecting on that situation and how at my weakest moment yesterday I was able to show God's grace and forgiveness, I remembered one very similar situation from over 7 years ago that I though was worth sharing.

 

 

Our youngest has a high functioning ASD and also has a severe anxiety disorder so he often makes twitchy movements and jerks when he is agitated, spins in circles or spins his head when he can't move his body full circle, stares at the ceiling, and begins to move his lips to the counting in his head. While this is often disconcerting to those around him, I typically tune everything and everyone out and focus on helping him calm down. When he was younger, it was extremely difficult to do this and often took hours, and even days.

 

When he was a little over 2, we were doing our weekly shopping trip and another little boy, about 5 or 6, began to point and stare at the birthmark on our son's left cheek. The boy went from staring to jumping up and down like a monkey and pretending to throw stuff at my son. He then exclaimed in laughter to his parent that my son moved like a monkey at the zoo and asked if that was that poop on his face. Our son was so upset by this that he began to slam himself around in the seat of the cart wiggling it back and forth. After about 15 minutes, I ended up having to pick him up and cradle him completely into me under a blanket just to get him to stop slamming around, though he was still twitching and craning his head. It was then that I realized the little boy was staring, open mouthed at us in silence, refusing to budge as his parent tried to walk him away.

 

Naturally at first, I was furious. Then I noticed that the poor parent looked completely ashamed and embarrassed. As they continued to try and hustle their little guy away, I asked if I could answer the questions about our son. I then told the little boy the same story that we have told our son and his siblings since he was born about his birthmark, and since he was diagnosed at 8 months old about the anxiety and ASD:

 

 

When God puts the miracle of each baby into their mommy's tummy, the babies pass a row of Angels on their way from Heaven to earth the moment before they are conceived. Each Angel gives each baby a special gift - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. At the very end of the line of angels, Jesus is waiting to hug each baby and St. Peter is waiting to kiss each one. (My sister and I got pregnant within a week of each other, and my niece has the same shaped birthmark as our son but on her forehead and much smaller.) So as the babies were filing past, my son got a bit anxious to be in my tummy so he pushed his cousin into St. Peter, causing the kiss to get her forehead and not her cheek as she passed. As soon as our son finished his hug with Jesus, he ran by St. Peter with his face turned up and cheek pointed toward St. Peter, who just managed to smack one on our son's lower cheek as he whizzed by. St. Peter had to work so hard to give him that kiss that it ended up leaving a mark, a special reminder of how much God loves us.

Our son is also a special reminder of how much God loves us because God gave him something extra to let him hear and feel everything a little more than most people. It's like how the antennae on the tv picks up extra stuff that the tv doesn't by itself; well, our son has an Extra Special Antenna. He is very smart, and understands a lot of things about numbers and shapes and colors even though he is very little that many other people do not understand even when they're older. Sometimes when he is upset about something and we pray over him, he will suddenly stop and smile, grunting as though he can feel Jesus hugging him. He always helps our family to remember just how special God makes ALL of us, and how much He loves each and every one of us, before we are even born!

 

 

When I finished, the little boy was fascinated and asked if he could touch the Kiss. As I was telling the story our son had heard so many times already, he calmed down and was then just staring at the other boy inquisitively. I let the little guy touch our son's cheek, and he let out a giggle of pure joy. When I looked up, the parent had tears in their eyes and thanked me. Then the two of them walked away, hand in hand, with the little guy rubbing his own cheek over and over.

 

 

 

Every day that I spend with our son is like a precious gift. They are not without challenges, yet the rewards are so much bigger because our God is so much bigger!!! Today, when people stare, our son looks straight at them and asks, "What's the big deal? Haven't you seen an Angel Kiss before?"

The Other Oldie that still applies :)

GOD . . .

Faith . . .

Prayer . . .

Belief . . .

Hope . . .

These are the words my family has lived by for the last 4 years. More now than ever it seems.

For most people, all of these words are indicitive of one hope - better things to come. Good things to happen. But more importantly, together they combine to form the single only idea that matters. That HE is in control, that HE is in charge, that without HIS guidance we will fail. Because just when life falls into place, just when you think you have it all figured out, just when you start to forget WHO and what has gotten you where you are, HE throws that monkey wrench into the works. To remind you that you can't do it all yourself. That your willpower is not what makes things tick. That your brilliance will never figure out any situation. So he trips you. And you fall down. And when you look up, if you have any ounce of common sense, you will look up far enough to see HIS face. And then you will remember what you should have remembered all along. That the only idea that matters.

GOD . . .

Faith . . .

Prayer . . .

Belief . . .

Hope . . .

From before I was Catholic but it still applies :)

THE WATER INTO WINE
John 2:1-11 (King James Version)
1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.


So per my agreement with my big sis about delving into GOD's word & using this as a means of accountablity cuz I'm HORRIBLE at things like this . . . Heres my humble take on this passage, what it means for me at least.
So for starters, JESUS THE SON OF GOD walked amongst men as a man expressing intense humility.
HE knew that the day would come when HE could not hide behind the shelter of obscurity anymore if HE was to fulfill GODs plan for HIM & us in complete & unobstructed acceptance of GOD's will.
When mom calls, you come running! So when Mary called HIM to a wedding because of a lack of WINE of all reasons HIS response, albeit seemingly sharp, was in complete accordance for what GOD wanted from HIM rather than in obedience to his mother - Total submissive compliance to GOD's instructions.
The fact that JESUS responded to the wants of strangers shows HIS depth of compassion. HE understood how ceremonial wine was to a wedding back then HE chose to serve them by providing for this want (despite its having nothing to do with GOD, faith, spiritualness, etc , also showing HIS astounding ability to relate to us on a very personal level in ALL things.
JESUS was so in tune with THE FATHER that right after HE chastises Mary for her request of a showy miracle, JESUS becomes aware the time has come to reveal just a sliver of GOD's glory in HIM. But only to the disciples. Remember, up to this point these men have been following HIM because of their intense faith in GOD that JESUS was the MESSIAH sent to redeem them. HIS words & compassionate actions thus far was the only thing they had to back this up so imagine their surprise when HE orders them to fill washing water pots with drinking water.
For those of you who dont know exactly what these 'washing pots' were, I will digress for a moment so as to give some insight. Living in a desert is filthy. Add to that no indoor plumbing so every 'toilet' is just a pit somewhere along the outskirts of town ~ usually fairly close to the garbage dump. Yeah, basically there were a couple acres of germ factory within every village or town back then. (Sort of gives a new meaning to the phrase 'from the trashy side of town' doesnt it, lol.) With no sinks or soap to wash this grime off & adding to that the filth of daily life most people on average had about 3x the amount of germs a modern hobo might be hosting. So whenever they were visiting someone's home or to a meal they would dunk their hands into these 'washing pots' so as to remove some of the visible dirt & grime. Hence the germs of the day would transfer into these pots along with whatever sand, mud & animal muck (literal muck by the way) was on them too. So now you have the cess pool from the outskirts of town in mini form right there in your home or restaurant or banquet hall. Yummy. Nobody in their right mind would drink out of these pots no matter how clean the water going into them was. And no water was really that pure to begin with in those days.
Once again the disciples display their OWN extreme faith in GOD by doing as JESUS says without the obvious argument. I'm sure at least one of them had to be wondering why HE would want to cause a plague of monumental proportions! I know my overly logical brain & big mouth probably would have earned me a MUCH sharper rebuke than HE gave Mary. Then to top it off JESUS orders them to draw a cup of this probably pretty funky brew for the governor of the feast. This guy was as high as you could go for royalty at this wedding, he was top dog. Definately rich, he would have been the man that just footed the bill for the wedding & reception. Think of him as the newly financially ruined Steve Martin character in 'Father of the Bride' & you can see just how daunting it must have been for them to take this potentially deadly germ cocktail to him.
But as this poor intensely faithful disciple is waiting to be potentially imprisoned for attempted murder, the governor SMILES! Grins like a banshee from ear to ear, turns to the bridegroom & proclaims him man of the hour! Much like now, when people were serving wine back then, the drunker the patrons got the poorer the quality of the wine. Why waste expensive product when you can get away with serving the junk right? Anyone whos been even buzzed will agree that your taste buds dull right along with your other senses. I can't even tell you how many times as a baseball stadium beer vendor I would pour the drunks apple juice or vernors or colored water trying to avoid a messy confrontation scene when I had to cut them off ~ and they were almost always too far gone to even notice! *Sidenote for anyone who's job occasionally or daily deals with this situation, vernors works REALLY well for this . . . its just bubbly enough with a bit of a kick that most drunk people dont even realize its not their draft beer unless some stupid friend of theirs points it out to them, lol.*
So not only does JESUS provide for a totally unnecessary want, but he sets this guy up for ultimate credit & respect by the top dog on what is already most certainly the greatest day of his life to date. I've always wondered if that little bit of extra undeserved credit helped that guy & his new bride to a better future. Wouldn't really be that surprising would it? After all, GOD works is mysterious chain effect ways like that quite often doesnt HE!
Of course the culmination event that, what John highlights in his account to display all of the above traits along with many other astounding qualities, is the miracle itself. But even more impressive than the miracle itself is the manner in which JESUS goes about it. HE refuses to make a show out of it, chosing instead to reveal it without a word or grand gesture to clue in the disciples. Then instead of taking the credit HE silences their awe & allows this unnamed new bridegroom just starting out his adult life to take the credit & all the benefits that potentially accompanied it!
What an AWESOME GOD we serve! HE provides for us in unseen ways, at times even with what many might see as ridiculous or frivolous wants! But you can't put a stipulation on it, restricting a request for GODs help is setting yourself up for an 'unanswered prayer'. Nobody can see the greater purpose until HE reveals it to them. True faith is not just saying that you believe GOD will provide . . . its doing HIS will when it make ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE AT ALL, & knowing that in the end your needs will be met in the way HE sees fit.
Faith is not asking for wine ~ its serving water just ran dipped out of the toilet to the boss believing that GOD has a reason for you to nearly poison the guy!