The Prophecy and The Call
In December, we found ourselves at church, preparing for worship. After several months of church hunting, we had settled on one that we had initially been hesitant to visit. We knew the pastor and his wife, along with a few families, but we hadn’t been attending for long. It felt different from the churches we were used to. What we weren’t prepared for were the The Prophecy and The Call.
People Watching
Before the service began, the pastor called up a man to give a “word” to some members of the congregation. We had learned that this practice was somewhat common, but it was still unusual for our family. We sat, watching this man pace in front of the congregation.
I’m naturally a people-watcher, and one thing that caught my attention was that the man never opened his eyes as he paced and spoke. He kept touching the inside of his hands, and it was clear that he felt uncomfortable but was determined to be obedient. He shared that he had received a word from the Lord and wanted to make sure it wasn’t just his own thoughts. Through sleepless nights, he confirmed it was from God, and he knew he had to obey.
The Word
The man said that he had a word for someone in the congregation. As he continued pacing, I felt a strange shift in the atmosphere. When he stopped directly in front of Big Daddy, I felt like the air was sucked out of the room. He asked Big Daddy to stand up, and I looked to the altar. Our pastor smiled at me and gave a reassuring nod, signaling that everything was okay.
The Man
The man, whom we had never met before, told Big Daddy to hold onto his hand. Big Daddy is not a small man—his hands are enormous, so when he stood, he commanded attention. The man then said, “Hold on. Hold on tight to the rope and do not let go. Trust and hold on tight.” I felt a wave of energy flow through me, and tears streamed down my face. I don’t often cry, but in that moment, I knew we were about to embark on something challenging.
The Beginning of 2017
As the year started, life seemed to spiral. My father had quadruple bypass surgery. Then, my niece was sentenced to prison, and my nephew was close behind her. My daughter went to military school due to behavioral issues, and we faced a devastating family situation involving another baby. Add onto that, my oldest daughter called off her engagement, lost her job, and we were fighting insurance companies over my son’s surgery. On top of all that, my Lady got sick. The weight of it all felt unbearable, but the reminder to “hold on” stayed with us.
Even More Challenges
Big Daddy and I worked hard to navigate a difficult family situation. We did everything we could, but ultimately, it was out of our hands. I confided in a friend, and she told me to “hold onto hope.” She also shared that the Hebrew meaning of “hope” is “rope,” so we should hold onto the rope. I paused, texted her back, and asked who had told her that. She said it was a word from the Lord for me. I asked if she knew the man from church who had said the same thing, and she didn’t. That was the second time we had heard the message to “hold on.”
The Call
Then, on Tuesday morning, June 6, 2017, my sister called me. She rarely calls on a Tuesday, so I knew something was up. When I asked if everything was okay, she told me she had received an odd text from a former neighbor—a woman she used to walk with. This woman said that the Lord had placed my name on her heart and that she was praying for me. I had never met this woman, nor had I ever spoken to her, and I found it unsettling. My sister urged me to take it as a blessing, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen. It was about 4:30 pm, that afternoon, that we knew something was wrong.
Daddy’s Love
After my child became sick, I spent almost two weeks in the hospital with him. I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and emotionally drained. The doctors had told me a thousand things, none of which were good. One day, my sister—H’s “Mamaw”—came to give me a break. She handed me a gift from my father—a flat pillow, my grandmother’s quilt, and a message from my dad. That gift, along with the constant reminders to “hold on,” has stayed with me. It reminds me that both my heavenly Father and my earthly father love me and that everything will be okay.
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