The Earthly Picture of Christ
God calls us to be like Him. To hold on to His image, to live like Him,, to be Faithful, good Stewarts, and Servants. But can we all honestly say we are everyday living this way? I surely can’t. Every day I need prayer of guidance to remember that only God in His infinite power can make us more like HIM and can grow us more like his Image. Only in Eternity can we be perfected in every way; perfect bodies, perfect minds, perfect souls, etc.
I’m so sure I wrote about Warren many times; I wish back in the 80s and 90s we had digital cameras so I can still find good pictures of him. It’s been a rough month for me, not just because of the pain and the recovery but I feel as if I’m back into that mourning stage again; I feel helpless and silly to cry for something that happened about 16 yrs ago. I suddenly cry and remember the love he showed to me as a child, his unselfish nature, his love to just take off work whatever his boss said just to come to my side and calm me down as a scared child in a hospital; and a man who would rock me to sleep as a child and as a child, no one, except Daddy or Mom (believe it or not) would be allowed to pick me up from the nursery at our old church nursery. I was his “Baby Doll Princes” ; nicknamed: Baby Doll. Warren loved people; he loved to serve, he loved to be with others, and no matter what it took, he was ALWAYS there for me whenever I had surgery or was hurt. He knew how to comfort me; He knew how to rock me and soothe me. Even his children loved me; one of his child, Kirk, would always give my sister and I Christmas gifts (ok….this is a tangent, but bare with me). Warren took time away from himself to give to others; I remember his letting me go to the sound booth with him during church (I was probably about 3 or 4) and remember waking up in the car of my parents. I remember Warren taking me to the park to feed to ducks; I remember, Warren coming to our house to fix things around our house. He was my parent’s “repair man” (as a matter of speaking, but was a true friend); … He chased away the dogs in my neighborhood (I was terrified of dogs as a young child). He was fought over by my sister and I. He and his wife were our treasure. His wife was my VA grandma too. Warren was my VA grandma, my best friend, my HERO.. He did everything to make everyone happy; so self-less; so God-like….so much of him I miss. Especially his calming words as he sang to me “Jesus Loves Me” (ok, guys, I’m balling now and sorry if I’m making you ball in tears as well). I have so many current best friends, but NO ONE can be as a best friend as Warren was to me, except for Christ. I miss him so much these past few weeks…..and it hurts all…. It really HURTS.
I do believe in guardian angels. I believe that God has placed protection around us. At times (and not sure how I feel about it), I believe that Warren is a “guardian angel” for me. This past surgery was interesting. My anesthesiologist (Dr. Corban) told me to calm down because my blood pressure was too high to put medicate me to put me to sleep. Dr. Corban said “think of a place you want to relax and be in and it will be an all paid free vacation”. I laughed and said “I want Hawaii because I was there in September and LOVED it. So, I proceeded to do that and still in 5 min, BP was till high, and Dr. Corban kept encouraging me to relax and gave me relax meds first before the anesthesia. Anyhow, suddenly I saw the very picture of Warren (as I remember him before he died in ’94) staring in front of me. I “felt” his arms around me and his hands squeezing just as he had as a child when I was put to “sleep” in the pediatric pre op room. I felt his love and I felt his calming words he always told me before surgery as a child “I love you , my Baby Doll Princes and so does God”. Last thing I remember is awaking in the recovery room.
I shared this store with one of my dear friends Bill and Josie Sale who came to W’bro at Starbucks just to see me to see how I was doing (note: I am allowed to drive only to short distances). Bill thought it was a beautiful story; Josie told me that this story shows her and should show me that Warren was a picture of Christ. She said she really believed that God was giving me a picture of Warren in my brain to help relax me and remind me of Warren’s love—which could be also a picture and reminder of God’s love for me.
Loosing someone is painful and it hurts and all this reminders doesn’t seem to help but remembering his Love and God’s love and ever protection helps a lot; it helps spiritual pain, not necessarily emotional or other pain. Along with the death of Warren, 16 yrs ago and his love for me; I’ve also had remembrance of good dear man Cal Searson…..who died about 4-5 yrs ago; he too was a picture of God’s love. Though for 12 yrs we lost contact, when we finally got reconnected I again felt his ever present love and encouragement to me; his prayers for me as I faced surgery even as an adult, his hugs, his reminders to me that God is every present and his reminders that God loves Me and so does He. His wife, Lil, died 2 yrs ago and she too was anther one who showed more love to anyone than I can see; she and her husband was another picture of God’s love and how we are to be more and more like him.
I will ALWAYS and FOREVER miss Warren (his wife is still alive, but not well); I will never forget Warren’s loving touch and care. I will NEVER EVER for Cal’s cry for me to repent and become a child of God as a very young child; ;and I will never forget the day I shared my testimony and tears flowed through his eyes. I will never forget my idea of TRUE CHRIST LIKE characters on earth.
One who I will also never forget and will always love is John and Jeanine Misantone…..some of you know them as Angie’s parents. I remember John and Jeanine always caring for me as a child. Jeanine had HAND MADE me a bear which I still have (and I refuse to give it to my niece even though she wants it….maybe when she is older). I remember John always praying for me and making sure that I was always in the Word, even as a non-Christian. I remember hearing quiver in his voice as he prayed for me on Wednesday night prayer meetings before my surgeries. I remember his and his wife’s promises to visit me when I was sick in the hospital and his constant reminder of my need for salvation when I was very young. I remember Jeanine taking time to bring meals to my family when I was sick and recovering. I remember her helping me in school; I remember so much about my friends and my friend’s family that I will NEVER EVER forget. God puts people in your lives for many reasons; I’m grateful that we again got reconnected after several years; and to this day, both of them show as much love to me as they had when I was a child.
These were my feelings tonight; yes I’m still crying; but sometimes writing them out helps me out so much to sort my feelings and I wanted to share that I know that since I was a child I had SO MANY people who cared and loved me.
God is everlasting and will never go away, cease to exist or never ignore or forget me; though some earthly friends will; but I have been blessed with friends who has always prayed and never forgotten me and always cared.
I’m so sure I wrote about Warren many times; I wish back in the 80s and 90s we had digital cameras so I can still find good pictures of him. It’s been a rough month for me, not just because of the pain and the recovery but I feel as if I’m back into that mourning stage again; I feel helpless and silly to cry for something that happened about 16 yrs ago. I suddenly cry and remember the love he showed to me as a child, his unselfish nature, his love to just take off work whatever his boss said just to come to my side and calm me down as a scared child in a hospital; and a man who would rock me to sleep as a child and as a child, no one, except Daddy or Mom (believe it or not) would be allowed to pick me up from the nursery at our old church nursery. I was his “Baby Doll Princes” ; nicknamed: Baby Doll. Warren loved people; he loved to serve, he loved to be with others, and no matter what it took, he was ALWAYS there for me whenever I had surgery or was hurt. He knew how to comfort me; He knew how to rock me and soothe me. Even his children loved me; one of his child, Kirk, would always give my sister and I Christmas gifts (ok….this is a tangent, but bare with me). Warren took time away from himself to give to others; I remember his letting me go to the sound booth with him during church (I was probably about 3 or 4) and remember waking up in the car of my parents. I remember Warren taking me to the park to feed to ducks; I remember, Warren coming to our house to fix things around our house. He was my parent’s “repair man” (as a matter of speaking, but was a true friend); … He chased away the dogs in my neighborhood (I was terrified of dogs as a young child). He was fought over by my sister and I. He and his wife were our treasure. His wife was my VA grandma too. Warren was my VA grandma, my best friend, my HERO.. He did everything to make everyone happy; so self-less; so God-like….so much of him I miss. Especially his calming words as he sang to me “Jesus Loves Me” (ok, guys, I’m balling now and sorry if I’m making you ball in tears as well). I have so many current best friends, but NO ONE can be as a best friend as Warren was to me, except for Christ. I miss him so much these past few weeks…..and it hurts all…. It really HURTS.
I do believe in guardian angels. I believe that God has placed protection around us. At times (and not sure how I feel about it), I believe that Warren is a “guardian angel” for me. This past surgery was interesting. My anesthesiologist (Dr. Corban) told me to calm down because my blood pressure was too high to put medicate me to put me to sleep. Dr. Corban said “think of a place you want to relax and be in and it will be an all paid free vacation”. I laughed and said “I want Hawaii because I was there in September and LOVED it. So, I proceeded to do that and still in 5 min, BP was till high, and Dr. Corban kept encouraging me to relax and gave me relax meds first before the anesthesia. Anyhow, suddenly I saw the very picture of Warren (as I remember him before he died in ’94) staring in front of me. I “felt” his arms around me and his hands squeezing just as he had as a child when I was put to “sleep” in the pediatric pre op room. I felt his love and I felt his calming words he always told me before surgery as a child “I love you , my Baby Doll Princes and so does God”. Last thing I remember is awaking in the recovery room.
I shared this store with one of my dear friends Bill and Josie Sale who came to W’bro at Starbucks just to see me to see how I was doing (note: I am allowed to drive only to short distances). Bill thought it was a beautiful story; Josie told me that this story shows her and should show me that Warren was a picture of Christ. She said she really believed that God was giving me a picture of Warren in my brain to help relax me and remind me of Warren’s love—which could be also a picture and reminder of God’s love for me.
Loosing someone is painful and it hurts and all this reminders doesn’t seem to help but remembering his Love and God’s love and ever protection helps a lot; it helps spiritual pain, not necessarily emotional or other pain. Along with the death of Warren, 16 yrs ago and his love for me; I’ve also had remembrance of good dear man Cal Searson…..who died about 4-5 yrs ago; he too was a picture of God’s love. Though for 12 yrs we lost contact, when we finally got reconnected I again felt his ever present love and encouragement to me; his prayers for me as I faced surgery even as an adult, his hugs, his reminders to me that God is every present and his reminders that God loves Me and so does He. His wife, Lil, died 2 yrs ago and she too was anther one who showed more love to anyone than I can see; she and her husband was another picture of God’s love and how we are to be more and more like him.
I will ALWAYS and FOREVER miss Warren (his wife is still alive, but not well); I will never forget Warren’s loving touch and care. I will NEVER EVER for Cal’s cry for me to repent and become a child of God as a very young child; ;and I will never forget the day I shared my testimony and tears flowed through his eyes. I will never forget my idea of TRUE CHRIST LIKE characters on earth.
One who I will also never forget and will always love is John and Jeanine Misantone…..some of you know them as Angie’s parents. I remember John and Jeanine always caring for me as a child. Jeanine had HAND MADE me a bear which I still have (and I refuse to give it to my niece even though she wants it….maybe when she is older). I remember John always praying for me and making sure that I was always in the Word, even as a non-Christian. I remember hearing quiver in his voice as he prayed for me on Wednesday night prayer meetings before my surgeries. I remember his and his wife’s promises to visit me when I was sick in the hospital and his constant reminder of my need for salvation when I was very young. I remember Jeanine taking time to bring meals to my family when I was sick and recovering. I remember her helping me in school; I remember so much about my friends and my friend’s family that I will NEVER EVER forget. God puts people in your lives for many reasons; I’m grateful that we again got reconnected after several years; and to this day, both of them show as much love to me as they had when I was a child.
These were my feelings tonight; yes I’m still crying; but sometimes writing them out helps me out so much to sort my feelings and I wanted to share that I know that since I was a child I had SO MANY people who cared and loved me.
God is everlasting and will never go away, cease to exist or never ignore or forget me; though some earthly friends will; but I have been blessed with friends who has always prayed and never forgotten me and always cared.
Comments
What a blessing to have had these saints in your life. Many people do not have a story like that. As a child many people can't even remember being held or prayed for, even by their own parents. Sad when ones we loved so much are not here with us...but remember..you are not to grieve over the believers who have gone on before, as those who have no hope. And I didn't know Angie's parents were in your life as a child...if you told me, I must have forgotten. Wow, what a blessing they were to you as well. Thank's for sharing your story here....I can feel your raw emotion...yet also the beauty in the story. Hope you are feeling better soon, sweet Becky.