Believe by Lavera Wade

Believe:  to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so. Dictionary.com

As I am writing this it is snowing, and Christmas is just days away, the wonder of the season fills the air.  We have been celebrating the promise’ of advent for many weeks, the celebration of the miracle of Christ’s birth is near.  Nothing shows Gods amazing Love and Power like this miracle.

John 2 1-10 tells of the miracle when Jesus changed the water to wine.  The book of  John continues to tell of  many miracles Jesus performed while with us here on earth.    As Christians we believe in the miracles recorded in the bible, we believe in God’s Love and power.

Miracles continue to happen all around us.   William Cory Stanley wrote:  Many  of us are looking for a burning bush, or waiting for our ship to come in, and we fail to see God’s little miracles .  It is the seemingly insignificant moments that remind us of his presence.  We must take the time to notice the little road signs leading us in the right direction. 

I moved to San Diego in the spring of 1984,  and needed to find work right away. I signed up for a housekeeping service to bring in cash while hunting for a full time position.  One of my first customers was Mary Cavanagh.  Mary and husband Ed had no family in the San Diego area.  Mary had just had surgery for late stage colon cancer.  As soon as I arrived Mary mostly bedridden, began asking questions about where I was from.  When I told her I had just moved here from Skagit County, Washington Mary became very excited as that was where she grew up. Mary’s mother was a logging camp cook and Mary had grown up in the Cascade Mountains as her mother followed the logging camps for work. Mary was an only child.  Ed, Mary’s husband was a career Army Airforce Officer and they had been stationed in Georgia and then Hawaii after WW 11. They had moved to San Diego when Ed retired, and did not seem to have many close friends.  Mary talked continually about where she grew up, she was thrilled that I had been to all the places she talked about, and soon treated me as a friend.     

After a few months Mary began to share with me about her life, she continued to share how she had become an alcoholic and had kept her drinking a secret from her husband Ed.   At the time I was five years sober from my own problems with alcohol, and my story was very similar to Mary’s.  I shared with Mary about my own recovery and most important to Mary my certainty that God Loved us both even though we had had trouble with alcohol.  Mary passed away peacefully less than six months after we met. Her husband Ed and I were the only ones at her graveside service.  After Mary passed I come over to help Ed and he told me to take anything of Mary’s I might want.  Her jewelry included two small diamond rings and a jade ring.  I told Ed they were valuable, but he insisted I take them.  I had the diamonds mounted into earrings and wore them every day for many  years as a reminder of where my life could go if I drank again.  I do not wear them every day any more, but when I do I  always think of Mary and the gift God gave her and I,  when he sent me to share his love with her.                  

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”  Albert Einstien

 I have read that a coincidence is a miracle God does not take credit for.  I believe I was sent to bring Mary peace.  There have been many seemingly insignificant moments in my life that remind me of God’s presence.  I am sure your life has likewise been filled with coincidence’s that spoke loudly of the Holy Spirit working in your life. 

I have every confidence in the truth, the existence and the reality of God’s Love and Grace, some might say I do not have absolute proof that God is real, I Believe I do.