Q is for...Quite A Story

I've got a story for you. 


It's about a couple and the night they almost lost their baby girl.


One cold winter night, this couple slept in their bed while their baby girl slept in her crib close by. Sometime during the night, the woman noticed her grandmother standing in front of their bed.

Her grandmother had died the year before.

The woman didn't think it weird that her dead grandmother stood in front of her. She was just excited to see her. The woman and her grandmother were so close and she missed her so much. Unfortunately, the grandmother died before she even got a chance to meet the baby girl. The woman excitedly told her grandmother about her new life.


"GaGa! You've got to see her! She's so beautiful."


All GaGa said was, "Check the baby."


"Yes, but GaGa, I'm so excited. You should see her! She..."


"Check the baby."


This went on for a few minutes before GaGa started to fade away. The woman cried, "No GaGa! Don't go! I miss you so much! And the baby...you've got to see her!"


"Check the baby."


Finally, GaGa was gone. The man heard the woman call out for GaGa, but he didn't see GaGa. He shook the woman awake and asked what was wrong. The woman described what happened and her excitement at seeing GaGa again. Finally, she told him all GaGa said was, "Check the baby."


The both decided to see what GaGa was talking about. When they checked the crib, what they saw made their hearts stop. Their baby girl was blue in the face...not breathing. Scared and alarmed, they rushed her to the hospital where the doctors worked to bring the child back to life. 


They succeeded. The couple breathed a sigh of relief. 


GaGa saved their baby girl.


The ghost of a dead woman saving a great granddaughter she never met. Sounds fictitious, doesn't it? Like a supernatural, out-of-this-world kind of story?


It's not.


It's a true story. It's my story. I was that baby girl. My mom was the woman, and my dad was the man. I've never met GaGa. She died seven months before I was born, a victim of a robbery gone bad. But almost a year after her death, she came back, if only for a few minutes, to save her great granddaughter. The doctors told my parents that, had they come even a minute later, I would've been gone...a victim of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), also known as "Crib Death." 


One of the current popular trends in YA is angels. Lots of fiction with angels as main characters. Are angels real? What about ghosts?


I believe they're real. First of all, they're in the Bible and I believe the Bible to be truth, God's Word. The Bible tells of both heavenly angels (like Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael) and fallen angels (Satan and his demons). Yes, I believe there's a spiritual realm that we can't see, with angels - both heavenly and fallen - roaming the earth, in the midst of a spiritual war...a battle for our souls. 


But I also believe angels are real because one saved my life. I believe God sent GaGa's angel to my mom to save my life. He knew that my mom wouldn't be weirded out by seeing GaGa. He knew my mom would've listened to GaGa. God tells us in the Bible (Psalm 91:11) that He sends His angels to guard His children.


Because God sent GaGa's angel, I am alive today.
 

T is for A Transcendental Story

Transcendental: being beyond ordinary or common experience, thought, or belief; supernatural.

When I was a few months old, my great-grandmother saved my life. I know what you're thinking, "There's nothing supernatural about that. That's normal." Well, what made it abnormal is the fact that my great-grandmother died before I was born.

My great grandmother, GaGa, was a victim of a robbery gone wrong...shot and killed while enjoying a night out. I don't even think she got the chance to find out that my mom was pregnant with me. Seven months later, I made my quiet appearance into this world (remember, I was stillborn). I guess it was kinda bittersweet for my mom. I mean, her daughter was born, but her grandmother, who she was extremely close to, was not around to see the baby.

One night, five months later, my parents were sleeping in their bed while I slept in my crib next to them. Mama tells me that GaGa appeared to her...not in the flesh, but as real as if she were. Mama was so excited, wanting GaGa to meet he new baby girl. She wanted to tell GaGa all about the baby and her new life, but GaGa told her to, "Check the baby." Mama kept begging her to wait and spend time with her, but all GaGa said was, "Check the baby." She started fading away, much to Mama's dismay. Mama begged her not to go, begged her to look at her baby, begged her to stay, but GaGa said, "Check the baby," then she was gone.

Daddy, who didn't see GaGa but heard Mama talking to her, had to shake her awake. After telling him what happened, they decided to do what GaGa had been telling them to do the whole time: check the baby. When they looked in my crib, they saw that I was blue in the face...not breathing. They rushed me to the hospital, where the doctor told them they'd made it just in time. Had they waited any longer, I would've died; I would've been a victim of SIDS, or crib death.

Some people question the existence of angels, spirits (good and bad), ghosts, whatever. I don't. As a Christian, I know the supernatural exists cos they existed in the Bible. During Jesus's time here on earth, He encountered demonic spirits (fallen angels) who possessed non believers. God even used angels to tell of the good news of Jesus's birth as well as His resurrection. I believe that there are angels, both heavenly and fallen, roaming the earth; so many things happening in the spiritual realm that we can't see. And I think it's more...powerful, awesome, and maybe even horrifying, than any book or Hollywood movie can ever be.

In my "R" post, I mentioned collecting angels. This is why. God used one to save my life. I've never met GaGa, but I can feel her spirit with me...almost like she's my guardian angel. I'm told that I'm like her in certain ways, especially when it comes to baking. Mama tells me that GaGa loved to bake. So do I. When I'm in the kitchen, creating some sugary concoction of sweetness, I feel at home. If I'm stressing, and reading/writing doesn't take the stress away, I can always count on baking to relax me. That's when I feel GaGa's spirit the most - when I'm baking. I wish I'd known her in life here, but I will know her in Heaven. If I could use my imagination for a moment, I think after I've worshipped God for being God, praised Jesus for His sacrifice, and marveled at the beauty that is Heaven, I can imagine GaGa being my next stop. I probably won't remember why she's special - for when we get to Heaven, our earthly life will fade away - but I'd like to think I'd be inexplicably drawn to her.

I believe God sends His angels to guard His children, not only cos He said He does (Psalm 91:11), but also because He sent one in the form of my great-grandmother to save me. He knew Mama wouldn't trip about seeing GaGa nor would she be scared. I don't personally know what happened that night, but I do know that I wouldn't be here if not for God. So if you ask me if I believe in the existence of angels, ghosts, spirits, my answer is a resounding YES!