Miracles and Real Angels

I once had the incredible privilege of working very closely with a woman who had an absolute and unshakable belief in miracles and real angels. In fact, she used to carry around several $100 bills in her purse all the time, purely for the purpose of giving them away. The real angels were always involved. Here's how.

You see, there were two categories of people that this woman LOVED to support. I can't emphasize the LOVE part enough. She and I were both members of a Christian church called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our nickname is The Mormons.

The two categories of people she loved to supported were Mormon missionaries and any members of the U.S. military. When she and I would drive along, we were always in her car, but at her request, I was always the driver.

Whenever we would see missionaries or military people on the side of the road, the routine would start. I would stop the car and she would hop out and approach them. I think that's why she always asked me to drive. There wasn't always a place to park.

Nobody minded being approached by her. She was in her later fifties at the time, and more like a female version of Santa Claus than anything else (minus the beard and hat of course). Her favorite color was red and she was often wearing something that color. She had sparkling eyes, a huge smile, and one of those bellies that shook when she laughed like a bowl full of jelly. She was like everyone's friendly grandma. She loved everyone and everyone loved her right back. That whole process took about 3 nanoseconds to establish.

I never knew how many thousand dollars she might have been carrying at any one time, but I knew it must have been a few because no one ever missed out on getting their $100 bill. I watched this procedure many times and it always warmed my heart. I wonder how much my face looked grateful and bewildered just to associate with this amazing woman who taught me so very much.

Here's where the angels came in. Whenever we would be at a business meeting or function, she would often leave her purse on a chair or floor somewhere. She would get involved with visiting with everyone one at a time in her inimitable loving way. Big smile. Sparkling Eyes. A heart the size of China.

I would often notice the purse sitting all alone with sometimes dozens or even hundreds of people in the room. I feared for the loss of her cash, which I figured must have been considerable. I was concerned so I decided to talk with her next time we were alone.

When I spoke up about it, she would just smile and say, "The angels take care of my purse. I never worry about it." And she clearly never worried about it. I mentioned all that cash and it didn't change a thing. She told me she asked God for angels to take care of her and her stuff and then she acted in total faith that her request would be granted.

People we associated with knew she had a lot of money and carried a lot of cash, but not once, not ever did her purse get moved or disturbed or misplaced or robbed. I wasn't a big believer in angels at that time, and I honestly thought she was a little eccentric, loco even, and very lucky never to have been robbed.

We spent a lot of time in the car and we were able to have long and deep conversations. I asked her about angels and she was always glad to tell me. Many people have ideas of angels with halos and wings. That's not exactly how Grandma Santa saw it. Let's sidebar for a minute and we'll come back to this conversation.

We Mormons believe that each and every person is a spirit son or daughter of Heavenly Father and Mother. The thought of a Heavenly Mother always surprises or shocks some people, but when they think about the idea, it seems to be plausible and maybe even logical. We believe Heavenly Father sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to do some very important things for all of us. How did Father have a Son without a Mother being involved?

Each of us are spirit children of Heavenly Parents. We lived and were raised by them in a premortal life. In order to learn more, we then have the privilege of being born to earthly parents where our spirits are joined with a mortal body. We live our lives here as part of an eternal school and training ground. Each of us has a different and individualized type of education, but for all of us, our main task is to become like our Heavenly Parents and return to them.

We believe a veil was placed over our minds when we came to earth so we would learn to live by faith rather than knowledge. This veil is a God-given forgetfulness that blocks people's memories of the premortal existence. For some people, that veil is very thin and communication with the other side comes more easily to them.

We believe that after each of us dies on earth, our spirits which are eternal and can not die, are then separated once again from our mortal body which returns to the earthly elements from which it was organized.

God told Adam and Eve, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Genesis 3:19)

After this life and in our spirit state, we continue to learn and become like our Heavenly Parents, hopefully. However, just like on earth, no one is forced and each of us can choose to live and believe as we please.

Each of us will one day be reunited with our physical body. We call it resurrection and it was made possible because of Jesus Christ who was the first person ever to go through that process. The Bible talks about others who were resurrected after Christ was (Matthew 27:52-53). The Book of Mormon bears the same witness of "...many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them." (3 Nephi 23:7-13).

I believe Jesus Christ is our savior and redeemer from our mistakes, from our breaking of the laws of the universe (which are the laws of God). Breaking these laws can be either wilfully (sin) or in ignorance, but either way, laws have consequences (think gravity). One of Christ's roles in coming to earth was to teach us universal law so we can become like our Heavenly Parents.

Christ's other role was to physically take upon Him our sins and mistakes to meet the demands of justice. We live in a universe of law and there are consequences to all laws. Christ made it possible so that Heavenly Father is both a God of justice while still granting mercy. If you want to understand it better, please take the time to read this article or better yet, this chapter of scriptures. 

Some people like videos better so if that's you, then take 7 minutes to watch this one. Christ died and was resurrected to show us the way and make it possible for us to do that too.

So there are premortal spirits (prior to being born on earth) and there are postmortal spirits (after living on earth but prior to being resurrected) and there are resurrected persons. Each of these categories of people can communicate with us on earth, as God directs,  We call them angels, They're just people who will or have lived on this earth. Personally, I believe our angels are members of our families and close friends.

One of the better discussions of angels I have ever heard, you can also read here.

So back to my conversations with Grandma Santa. She believed her angels would take care of her and her things because she had asked her Heavenly Father for that gift and He had granted it. She believed in miracles. I watched miracles happen in her life and the life of her family.

She lived her life in total faith. She never got robbed, although chances were plenty and her cash was known to several others. I began working with her seriously thinking she was a kook who practiced risky behavior and that she was just lucky. By the time I finished working with her for a little over two years, I began to understand. 

She was not a kook at all, but a believer in miracles and Heavenly Father's gifts, among which were real angels. You see, our business dealings ended because she passed from this life back to her own spirit state where she now acts as an angel for her family and friends. She awaits her own resurrection to continue to enjoy life with her family and friends.

Before she died, she pointed me to a series of scriptures about miracles that she called her "favorite." I had read it several times before, but until she pointed it out and I had witnessed how she used it in her life with incredible results, it never had caught my attention quite like it does now.

"7 And again I speak unto you who deny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues, and the interpretation of tongues;

8 Behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; if so, he does not understand them.

9 For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?

10 And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles.

11 But behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are."

*****

"15 And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do no miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.

16 Behold, are not the things that God hath wrought marvelous in our eyes? Yea, and who can comprehend the marvelous works of God?

17 Who shall say that it was not a miracle that by his word the heaven and the earth should be; and by the power of his word man was created of the dust of the earth; and by the power of his word have miracles been wrought?

18 And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.

19 And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles."

Read the whole chapter at Mormon 9

And here comes the part she loved so much and, thankfully, pointed out to me. You see, when I met this woman, my life was in a really rough place and I couldn't see my way out from under my life's burden. She taught me, slowly, how to believe.

Not just believe in the goodness of the universe, as some people believe (see the Law of Attraction as it's popularly called), but to believe in God, our Father, and HIS laws that govern this universe. Our Father sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to help us understand universal law... God's law. Here's the rest of that scripture, with an incredible promise for those who understand.

"20 And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust.

21 Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth."

Mormon 9

You see, that promise is to everyone. You. Me. Your family. EVERYONE. We just have to understand the laws upon which these miracles are predicated. Our Father, God, IS a God of miracles and he delights to give them to us. That's what Grandma Santa taught me. I think Heavenly Father has a twinkle in His eye and a great big grin on His face when us children finally get that.

And the miracles begin to flow and life gets better.

I wrote this today because I am in the middle of another miracle happening. Over the past few years I have been so blessed with miracle after miracle after miracle. Good and wonderful things have happened in my life that I couldn't even imagine back when I was under my life's burden and couldn't find my way out.

It was my burdens that led me to this understanding, and these ongoing wonderful results. I am grateful beyond words to my Heavenly Father for the difficulties in my life that led me back to Him and His Son, Jesus Christ, and how the laws of life really work. 

I thank God every day for the crap in my life, and I'm recommending you do the same. I have developed such an understanding that even during the crappy parts of life, when I'm not enjoying it at all, I'm still grateful because I know there's a great lesson in there.

I know that by following the laws of the universe as revealed in scripture, by living prophets and apostles today, and through personal revelation I constantly seek, that my life has become better in every possible way. 

If you don't know where to start, I'd suggest you start here and continue reading until you come to the words "The End." Somewhere in there you'll begin to understand miracles and real angels in your life.