Luke 22:43 “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.”

Do you believe in signs from Heaven?  I do. 

25 years ago, I was a young police wife and mother of a newborn.  We lived 1,000 miles from any family.  I was so stressed and worried about taking my baby to day care for the first time and going back to work.  I went to church, sat in the very back row, and let my worry flow silently to God’s ears.  An elderly man sat down next to my newborn son and me.  Joshua started to stir, and I began to dig into the diaper bag for his pacifier.  Joshua quieted down right away so I looked up from my pacifier scavenger hunt and saw the elderly man holding Joshua’s little hand and gently rubbing the back of it.  Now, normally I would have gone all “Momma Bear” on anyone who didn’t ask permission to touch my son.  Instead, a sense of peace swept over me, my grandfather did the exact same thing to my hand when I was young.  I looked at the elderly man and he smiled, a crooked smile just like grandpa, and said “He’s beautiful”.  When I went back the following Sunday, I sat in the same spot hoping to see the elderly man.  Every time we went to church, I looked for him but never saw him again.  Two and a half years later, our infant daughter was severely ill and in the hospital.  My husband sent me home for the night to read stories and spend snuggle time with our son.  I had to stop at the grocery store for a few things on my way home.  While standing in line to check out, another elderly man was in line in front of me.  He turned around smiled a crooked smile, again just like grandpa, patted my arm and said, “It’s going to be just fine”.  Our daughter came home healthy and happy two days later.  In July of 2004, my husband was injured, on-duty and in the hospital for several days.  On day two of his hospital stay, I was exhausted, frustrated, worried and trying to figure out care for the kids in the evenings while I was at the hospital.  I was trying to keep the tears at bay while walking through the sky way from HCMC to the parking garage.  An elderly man began walking beside me, matching me step for step, and touched my elbow and said “Oh, sweetie this too shall pass”.  And he smiled a crooked smile held my hand for just a second and he turned around and walked away.  It took my breath away.  My grandfather passed away when I was just 10 years old, but I truly believe that these elderly men were him telling me it will all work out.

When my Aunt passed away, I held her hand in her last moments.  During those graceful moments, I felt an electricity flow from her hand to mine.  It took me a back.  I didn’t understand what had happened. We went to the lake home that they loved to plan her funeral.  I went out on the dock to gather myself, when a dragon fly landed on my arm.  When it landed, I felt a flow of electricity from the dragonfly to my arm.  That’s when I understood.  She was telling me that she was alright and that every time I saw a dragon fly that would be a sign from her.  She loved dragon flies.  When one would fly by, she would say “EAT THOSE MOSQUITOS!!”, and we would all just laugh and shake our heads. 

A year later when my father passed away, we were at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery for his burial service.  We pulled into the driveway waiting for the director to guide us through the service.  My daughter noticed that there were 100’s of Monarch butterflies.  The butterflies were everywhere.  During the service, they were fluttering around and landing on people.  That entire summer, we saw butterflies all the time.  When I was having a difficult time with my grief, a butterfly would fly by.  In November that year, my husband and son went hunting, something my dad enjoyed, they were setting up their stands when a white butterfly fluttered by.  My son looked at his dad and said “Grandpa, just told us that we are going to get a deer!” and yes, Joshua got his first deer that year.  Just this past weekend we went camping with my son & daughter-in-law, a small monarch butterfly sat on our daughter-in-law’s chair for a long time.  When she came and sat down, the butterfly fluttered up and then landed on her arm and sat there for a long time.  My son looked over at me and said, “Grandpa approves!”

There have been others who have sent us signs from heaven; my mother-in-law sends us wrens every summer to nest in our bird house, my uncle sends us eagles, my husband’s grandmother sends us Robins all year long, and my grandma sends us bumblebees.  These are just the signs from heaven that we notice.  I am sure there are many more that we miss.

So, when you are having a tough time, especially in these uncertain times, look for the signs from heaven.  They are there to support and comfort you.