What's Your Story?

When I was 5 yrs old, something wonderful happened. This is a true story. I was 5 yrs old and I still remember it clear as day. I have prayed for God to keep this memory fresh in my brain, and he has, but how could I forget.

My dad was in the Navy at the time and we were stationed in Bath, Maine. We lived in military housing. I have the address from my sisters Birth Certificate.
I am mulatto. My mother is white and my father black. The father that was in the Navy is my white, well loved, step-dad and the father of my younger brother and sister with my mom. My mother left my real father when I was a baby because of abuse.

I remember that I was picked on and teased all the time because of the color of my skin.This is the time when I first noticed that I was different and basically, not white.This seemed the worst thing in the world to be. The kids in my neighborhood liked to beat me up. Going to the playground was nearly impossible as I always ended up in tears and running home to mom. In the military housing, the duplexes formed a kind of circle around the playground. The playground had a small wooded area of very tall pinetrees around it and behind it .

The main part of the trees were between my backyard and the playground on the other side. The playground had a large slide that I would often get pushed off of. A merri-go- round. A large swingset that I often got pushed off of. And my very favorite thing of all was the rocky horse. It was a horse on one of those large, coiled, metal springs. There was also a duck, but, I loved the horse. This was also something that I was usually pushed off of by the big kids.

I remember the day that I am about to tell you about very clearly and it established my faith as a Christian.

One day all the big kids that always picked on me had to go to school. It was Fall up in Maine and when it is Fall in Maine it gets cold quickly.

I went outside that morning with my coat on. I smiled as I relized that no big kids were around to pick on me. I could not wait to go to the park. I asked my mom if I could get the neighbor girl to go with me to the play ground. My mother said yes, I knocked on my neighbors door and asked if J could go to the park with me. (I think that was her name.) Her mother asked where all the big kids were? I told her that they all had to go to school. I was very happy about this. She smiled and said, yes, J could go to the playground with me. We both had our coats on and ran on the on the side walk around the woods to the playground. We both smiled and said "Yay! No big Kids!"

We both loved the rocky horse. I was going to let J have the rocky horse, but Yay! she let me have it and instead took the ducky. I remember feeling such JOY! I finally got to ride that rocky horse to my hearts content. We got on our rockies and started to rock back and forth with all of our might. I looked up and noticed how white and fluffy the clouds looked against the trees. They were moving in the wind and the tops of the trees swayed. We both smiled and began to sing a song.

"Oh how I love Jesus, oh how I love Jesus, ohhhh howw I loveeee Jesus! That was the only part of the song we both knew, so we just kept on singing and singing those words over and over.
I sang and as I sang, I started to feel very bright inside of me. I know that sounds strange but that is the only way I can describe it. The light felt good and made me feel happy, I sang louder, my friend and I both sang and rocked on the rockies.
Then it happened, the sky got very, very bright. Not bright like the yellow from the sun but white, beautiful light.

I stopped singing and looked up into the sky and there was the giant face of a man, very much 3D, he had a white beard. He was so bright that he hurt my eyes.
I remembered that my mother always told me not to stare at light bulbs or the sun or really bright things. I looked up in the sky to my left because the giant face was so bright and there to the left was the huge head, shoulders and arms of Jesus Christ in the clouds. The clouds were brilliantly white and super fluffy . Very beautiful, even the best artist cannot capture the beauty I witnessed that day.
I knew it was Jesus, there was no need to consider whom it was, I just knew it was him, no doubts at all. And he had a great, big smile for us. He was smiling at us. It seemed like they had been listening to us for a little while before we noticed them.

I remember getting a huge grin on my face. Like when that pure jaw dropping moment of recognition enters your mind and you realize that you are seeing someone that you know and LOVE very much, someone you KNOW well and you KNOW that they love you. Like "SURPRISE! I AM HERE!"

I felt such happiness and reassurance that he would always be with me all of my life as long as I asked him to be with me.

My friend and I just stared at Jesus up in the sky, it was all such a wonderful thing to see; how could we look away even for a second. We sat motionless on our rockies staring for a few moments mouth's hanging open in a awed grin of the moment.

When he smiled bigger, he also got brighter. I smiled back at him. He was so nice. I knew that he would always be there for me even if I could not see him all the time.

Then he put his finger to his lips and said Shhhhhhhhh,, the tops of the trees blew slightly in the wind when he did this. Then he smiled again and stretched out his arms to grab a hold of the white, fluffy clouds. He smiled again at us and then pulled the clouds over his face, then they were gone.

My friend and I sat there on our rockies with smiles on our faces. I looked over to my friend and asked, "Did you see that?" "Yes," J said very happily, I am going to go and tell my mom!"
"Me too!" I said and we both got off of our rocky's and ran back home. I think we went through the trees instead of the sidewalk, there were trails and the woods not thick, it was a park. We both ran and told our mothers. They are both Christian woman and believed us. My mother listened patiently to me as I told her my story over and over with tears streaming down my face. I was worried she would not believe me. But she did believe me. She said that things like this have happened to people in our family many times. So that is how I know that Jesus is real. I have no doubt.

I asked my mother why Jesus put his finger to his lips and made the Shhhhhh sound? She said that it meant for me to only tell special people about what happened.

After that I remember always singing a song to Jesus every night as I lay in bed looking out my window waiting to fall asleep. I would ask God questions and just talk to him like he was right there in the room with me. I always knew he was listening even if he did not talk back to me in ways that I could always understand. I was sure 100% that even if I could not see him or hear him, he was there. I still know that to this very day. I still talk to him everyday, I find great joy having Him in my life. Many times have I called upon the name of the Lord during my life and he always saves me.

I hope to never forget that wonderful day. Next is verse from the bible that troubled my heart for many years. But now I understand it.



A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” – John 20:26-29
Of all of the disciples, Thomas was the most skeptical. Throughout the gospel accounts Thomas made cynical remarks and was the pessimist of the group. He would not believe that Christ had risen unless he could touch the wounds of the cross. But instead of rebuking Thomas, Jesus appeared to him with the evidence that Thomas needed. God’s humility brought Thomas to a place of surrender. God will meet the skeptics if they are willing to look at the evidence that He gives them. Jesus can turn doubt into belief.


Dave Whitehead, Senior Pastor, GraceNYC.org