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Have you ever seen an Angel?
By seriously _ dave
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Rated "PG" by the Author.
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Have I ever seen one? hmmm. I have, I think. ummmm, I think.
Rides on waves..."My angel experience"
by: David W. Smith
Hey, here's an interesting topic that many have spoken about, multitudes of books have been written, many have pondered their existence. Angels.
Have you ever seen one? hmmm. I have, I think. ummmm, I think.
Hey......I want to tell you my Angel story.
I was in the Philippines. I was on my first "float", my first "operations in the field" We cruised on the USS Denver, it was an American troop carrier. It took us a few days at sea to reach the Philippines from Okinawa, Japan.
Late one night on this ship I was sitting in my berth, board to death, the guys were all playing cards, wrestling around, or just meandering for the most part. I glanced out a portal and saw the stars, that made me want to do the unthinkable, I snuck up to the front deck, the bow of the ship. (no one was suppose to be up on deck after taps. Taps is the official military time for bed.) It was a beautiful no cloud night. I saw the universe that night. I actually saw the Milky-Way, it was so awesome.
If I had gotten pictures of what I had seen, I'd be a rich man today. God is so awesome! I just sat there for a few hours and just stared in awe, it was really cool, I went straight up to the farthest part of the bow of the ship I leaned over the point (the very very front) and looked into the water there were about 10 or 12 dolphins racing along side. I was so awed at what My God had created. It was a surreal experience for me. Have you ever had one of those?
of course you have, "rides on waves"
Any way, We arrived in the Philippines. In the port known as Subic bay. The city was Olongapo and we were given 4 days of R&R (rest and relaxation) :-) All the guys were about to spend the next 4 days in "Sin city." Everyone was looking forward to it, some of the older guys were telling stories about their previous escapades, One guy even had a girlfriend if that's you would want to call her; that he had seen from previous years,he swore up and down that he would marry her one day, but we all knew that that was only a front all he really wanted to do was to get into her pants. We had all just gotten paid and everyone was more then excited. Me too, But I was so full of the Holy Spirit, and I was so excited for the Lord, that that crap didn't faze me a bit. (and I'm not gay) I decided that I was going to stay strong though the temptation and the peer pressure was severe. the guys were edging me onward, pushing me towards the cliff. they were even calling me gay. I wasn't going to do what they were sheepishly herding themselves to do. It would have been so easy for me to sneak off and do the "thing" but God was so prevalent in my heart at that point in time, mostly because of the epiphany that I had experienced on the bow of the ship just a day and a night before.
The Philippines is a very poor country, much like Mexico. As I walked across the bridge away from the navy base (clean and open) the river separated the base from the city. The water was very nasty, filled with trash and feces, the people used the river for everything: From washing themselves to drinking water. They even use it as a toilet and a dumping ground for all of their garbage. most of the people in that city had no running water or toilets in their homes, or should I say, their tin shacks.
I was astonished as I gazed across to the bank to the other side, the houses were constructed of tin, cardboard, plywood, plastic sheeting, or whatever materials that the people could find I guess. it was a sight to behold for sure. there was no rhyme nor reason as for the way that the huts were built.
The city was fairly well structured though, with lots of people. As soon as I crossed the bridge and entered the gates of the city, I was suddenly enthralled by hoards of people. One could barley walk with out people bouncing off of them and the instant that they spotted that I was an American off the ship, they flocked to me like bees to honey. mostly kidds and I say kidds for a reason. they were like pestering little goats. They would follow me everywhere and beg for pesos. "Gimme peso"...."Gimme Peso" was the mantra....a million times, over and over. At first I gave out nearly half of my check (just got paid remember) I felt like I was a missionary, I felt like I was doing the honorable thing, and the more that I gave out, the more enthralling they became. It was overwhelming for me. I had to break free and return to the base just to catch my breath. and count what I had left.
Well after the third day, I had about a hundred dollars left, I gave it all out. Those kids made me so angry. then on the fourth day.....I was determined to buy some shirts and things. And I did. I had about 10 dollars left after I ate. I was standing on a wooden porch of the shakey's pizza store front, Philippine style. I'm not really sure what it was that I ate that day but it wasn't sausage I can assure you that much. :-)
As I stood there waiting, I felt someone grab at the back of my shirt and tug. before I even turned to look In my mind I saw a small child, In that instant I already knew what I was going to say, "NO!" I turned around and I looked down, there was this old woman with no legs, her legs had been completely cut off, she didn't even have stubs down there, she walked with her hands. Holding on to my shirt with one hand and the other she held out in the begging position. She asked me for "one" peso. "sir could I have one peso please" Her hands were very worn and old, she must have been in her eighties or older. Oh....I'm so ashamed to say this, but I pulled away from her, all 4 days I had been handing out pesos, and fen-ding off people begging (mostly Kids) I told her infatically No!, and I quickly turned and walked around the corner.
Well....No sooner had I turned the corner when A powerful presence of God smacked me in the face, no not litterly but I almost wish he had. these are the words that He spoke to my heart..."David that woman had no legs and you only care about your last 10 dollars?" ding!.....so I turned around
I swear it could have been no more then two or three seconds of time that had passed, but when I went back around the corner, she was gone. she had vanished, It was very strange because the street that was full of people only moments ago had become completely empty. I looked everywhere and I couldn't find her, I spent the next 10 minutes frantically looking all over and asking people if they had seen the old woman with no legs. no...nope sorry Mr. what old woman sir...
I walked back to the ship with my head hung down low in shame that I had failed gods test.
All that night that scripture haunted me....Hebrews 13: 1-3 That old woman had no legs, where the heck could she have possibly gone?
All the way back to Okinawa....on the ship, I contemplated that......and I still contemplate it today....
I tear up when I think about it and I just wonder why...
why does he reach down to our people who are so filled with pride?
so full of ourselves that we can not see the tide.
we build our mansions along the shore.
oblivious of the tsunami that will one day pour.
covering our eyes we will only then see the shame
of our puny, pitiful lives in Jesus name.
when everything that we have is turned back to dust
when our cars and our ships have all turned to rust
maybe then our eyes will be open and we shall see
How precious to God was humanity.
seriously_dave
davidsmith03.comcast.net
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| Reviewed by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado |
5/17/2009 |
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Great write, Dave; yes, I have seen angels.
(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Tx., Karen Lynn. :D |
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| Reviewed by Daniel Keith |
5/16/2009 |
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| Thank you Dave for reading my story about angels, and also thank you for sharing your story with me. I often wonder how God helps us sometimes and we don't even recognize his handiwork. Thank you again for your support. May God Bless, Daniel |
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| Reviewed by Cynthia Buhain-Baello |
5/13/2009 |
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You got this right, most come in the unrecognizable appearances. Don't feel guilty about it though, they come again.
One thing about this, you should never give to those "kids" who beg, even if you are a Christian, they are part of a syndicate of beggars, and the government has passed a law discouraging this practice. Thanks for writing about my country and Olongapo, and yes we are a poor country because of corruption, greed, and the hypocrisy of the Catholic leaders of our government.
Cynthia
Cynthia |
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