There are Signs Everywhere...Are Your Eyes Open?

So, I may start to sound crazy with this one. I am not. Well, maybe I am a little crazy lol! As a Mommy of three toddlers, I have to be a little crazy ha ha! Anyway, back to the signs. There really are signs everywhere. In the least expected places. A stranger, while driving, reading, watching tv, the sky...you get my point. If we are willing to see and hear, we can understand what we are meant to do as individuals more clearly. Here's a perfect example of my own willingness to listen...


It was summertime of 2010. Our Second Faithful Boy was just diagnosed with allergies to cats. We were saddened to learn we had to find a new home for my first baby, Ashley, a gray and beige house cat who was with me through some of my darkest times before meeting Mr. Faithful. She was 11 years old and only knew me as her Mommy. I knew we had to find someone willing to help her get adjusted to a new home. We knew she needed to be in a house free of small children, preferably an elderly single woman. She came to me from an abusive home at six months old. But that first six months made her the most skiddish cat you'd ever meet. I made sure to be so selective in whom we'd choose to adopt her. I was getting things together to donate to a women's shelter for later on that week. I was preoccupied in my mind and searching for a certain book when all of a sudden I heard a voice clear as day in my head. It said, "Call Cary and ask her about taking Ashley." I know I heard something extraordinary. I know it was either an angel sent by God, or God himself! It was so evident, I stopped dead in my tracks and called her. Cary was the woman I was having to come pick up my donations. When I called, I asked her first if any of the women in the shelter would adopt...seeing as they are in a rough place, have most likely been abused and would need companionship. Cary proceeded to let me know she would be interested in adopting. She was in school to become a veterinarian and also was a foster house for animals! Wow, I was so happy I listened!! She came and as I held Ashley, who was scared to death at first, we chatted about our pasts. She had a similar story to mine. We seemed like we were the same in different universes! It was my "Bizarro World Self" ha ha! I finally handed Ashley to Cary. As she took her, Ashley cuddled into her arms the same as she did mine...and she would have never done that to anyone but me. I knew at that point Cary was the right one to take Ashley from us. It was a very sad time. I cried, My Faithful Boys were sad also. We kept in touch to make sure Ashley did ok. She was a rock star. Time went on and months later I learned that Ashley was given to Cary's Grandmother...a single elderly woman! How amazing that everything turned out wonderfully for my cat because I listened to that voice!! 


Now, sometimes the signs are not that loud. I was fortunate to have heard an actual voice that time! My husband was driven by signs that led us to the home we live in now. We are both open to hear and see. Sometimes it's more difficult. Like homeschool. Yikes, I'm still nervous for this one! If you'd have asked me last year, I'd have said never in a million years would I homeschool!! Now, we've followed what we feel is the Holy Spirit guiding us in that direction. Sometimes when we follow where the Holy Spirit takes us, to others we look or sound crazy. But we weren't meant for this world, right?! 


I have been feeling like I'm seeing another sign. When I look at the Illinois sky, I am not sure what just yet, but I am feeling called again. I've repeated this to Mr. Faithful and now I say it to you, the sky looks fake somehow to me. It looks as if we are living under a painted sky. And not in the poetic sense, but a real, freshly painted sky! It always looks beautiful to me, but always looks fake. I don't know how else to explain this! But, it does say in the Bible,

Signs of Christ’s Return       1Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”       3As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”       4And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. 5“For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. 6“You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8“But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.       9“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10“At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11“Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12“Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13“But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.  (Matthew 24:1-14) And furthermore;      29“But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30“And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. 31“And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.  Scary stuff if you ask me. And now, I've been seeing the sky in a different way lately. I don't know if it's related to God and the beginning of the end. You see all these new movies depicting the end of the world. Documentaries that take apart each word of the Bible to try to decipher it. Mayan prophecies; Nastradomus. No one knows when the end will come. But I know no matter when it happens, I will be ready and make sure my children are too. Are you faithfully prepared? I took this picture in summer of 2010 in Iowa at a beautiful place called The Grottos. I did not notice the clouds until I looked at the photo. To me, I see just to the right of cross, Jesus holding a cross! Do you see it? Look for the signs. They are everywhere. Xoxo.