Watch Out for Miracles

By Janet Tombow

This collection of remarkable true stories offers hope and encouragement. Watch out for the miracles in their lives to touch your heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carpenter's Son Publishing
• Release date: Oct 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9780984977123

Book preview

AUTHOR

1

HOW DO MIRACLES HAPPEN?

When I think of miracles, I don’t think of picking up a rare 7-10 split or managing to bowl the perfect 300 game–although both are wonderful rewards for great skill in that sport.

I’m also not referring to golf’s thrilling hole-in-one, which likewise requires talent, especially managing to get the ball off the tee on the first stroke–which reveals my skill level in that sport!

Driving 75 mph in a 50 mph zone, and not getting caught, can be an exhilarating feeling–but that’s mere luck and not being too smart. It’s nowhere close to a miracle.

From my perspective, miracles are those unexplainable events that happen when least expected. They certainly don’t happen in ways our finite minds can imagine. Sometimes they’re ushered in with great drama, other times in quiet or masqueraded ways. You’ll often find miracles in the every day things we take for granted.

Some miracles may help or strengthen us. Others occasionally resolve our issues. You may see miracles coming, or even pray for their urgency. Most times, looking back, you see they were there.

Miracles should be a constant reminder that someone greater than us is at work in the world, and God could have miracles underway in your individual circumstances.

See what you think of the miracles about to be shared. Consider if you’ve ever seen or experienced a similar one–or two–or maybe you’ve been fortunate enough to be blessed by an abundance of them.

Watch out for these miracles–and hopefully the ones coming your way!

2

MIRACLE OR COINCIDENCE?

Some people seem to find it easier to attribute unexpected, favorable events to coincidence.

An old Rabbinical quote, on the other hand, suggests, Coincidence is not a Kosher word; it removes the hand of God.

Often, what others call coincidences I see as miracles, and believe credit should be given when due. Two examples follow for consideration.

When I was a little girl, we traveled as a family to Yellowstone National Park. My father was out of the car taking tourist photographs of some bears on the road ahead.

I recall standing near the car watching him, when a cute bear cub came ambling out of the woods towards me. While calling father to see the cub, the baby bear got close enough to gently nip the knee of my pants. As father turned his camera to take a picture of the cub’s interaction with me, he spotted mama bear running at a determined clip toward her cub.

Father urgently yelled, Get back in the car! His warning came just in the nick of time as the mother bear protectively reached her cub. A few seconds delay and the results could have been disastrous.

Was it just coincidence that father noticed mama bear just in time? Was I just lucky? Or was it God’s Divine intervention that got me into the car in time?

One thing for sure: no more tourist photos outside the car for me!

My classmates’ eighth grade graduation party was held at a friend’s house–a backyard barbeque with an afternoon swim in her pool.

Many were gathered around the pool, some sitting on lounge chairs, others standing and chatting. Some paid attention to the various activities in process, as good chaperones should. All were laughing and enjoying the party.

Suddenly, someone thought it would be funny to push me into the deep end of the pool as I walked by. It was a friendly gesture, not intended to be deliberately mean.

I left the ground, totally surprised, screaming as I splashed into the pool. What a very frightening moment, since I didn’t know how to swim! Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure how many others there realized that fact.

While sinking to the bottom of the pool, I recall thinking, This is an interesting way to die. Who would have thought my life would end at a nice party like this?

As a drowning person would, I must have been thrashing around. When I didn’t surface as expected, someone from the lounge chair area suddenly reacted; he jumped into the pool to rescue me. I don’t recall his name, but I was profoundly grateful.

The person who pushed me probably never tried that again.

Was it just coincidence that someone noticed I needed rescuing? Or was it God’s hand reaching down to be sure my rescuer arrived in time?

I still don’t know how to swim, by the way. That miracle has still not taken place!

3

SUSAN

He hath made every thing beautiful in its time … Ecclesiastes 3:11a

Everything in God’s time–not ours!

How did she know? Susan asked herself.

She had just exited the gas station convenience store and, other than the clerk, hadn’t spoken to anyone since pulling in to pump her gas on the way to work. After paying for the gas, Susan headed back to her red Jeep. The lady from the crummy-looking, white car at the pump across from Susan politely commented, Excuse me. This is going to sound really strange. But God is telling me you’re in trouble and I should pray for you.

For a moment, Susan paused to just look at the woman, thinking, This is very strange! Who is she to want to pray for me?

When Susan had started driving that morning, she knew she felt different, like something was going to happen that day. She was upset, but not that anyone outwardly would notice. She wasn’t crying, her eyes weren’t red, nor was she sniffling. Her face didn’t give away that inside Susan felt tormented. She hadn’t been sleeping well. Even her cat’s meowing was annoying her. Undoubtedly, the sleepless nights contributed to that sensitivity. Going through a very tough time in her life, she had only shared her hurt with a few close friends. That hurt certainly hadn’t been shared with the convenience store clerk, and especially not with this total stranger.

Yet, the stranger was not to be deterred as she went on to inquire, Can I pray for you right now?

Goose bumps overcame Susan. It was an indescribable feeling. She tingled all over.

God had chosen that instant to give Susan her moment to believe. What would she do with this offer? How would this moment end?

This wasn’t a one-time, all-of-a-sudden incident, however. God had a plan. Susan had spent years getting to this moment. God led this total stranger to make a possibly life-changing difference in Susan’s life. That offer didn’t occur, though, until Susan had gone through decades of abuse, homelessness, and heartbreaks in preparation for this particular, uniquely-designed God-moment.

Susan was raised to regularly attend Catholic church. Susan knew about God, she’d heard about Jesus; but never experienced a personal relationship with either of them. She completed her First Communion, was baptized, and went to Catechism classes during the normal times for these events in a young life. After reaching her teenage years, her parents asked if she wanted to continue attending Catholic church. She chose not to because the Latin services and the ritualistic worship didn’t touch her heart and soul as she needed. Besides, she recalls, The priests and nuns seemed scary, rather than approachable or even huggable as some other members of the ministry appeared to be.

After high school graduation, Susan chose to visit her brother in Virginia, to distance herself from a former high school sweetheart who decided he just wanted to be friends. Susan had cared for him too deeply to be able to just be friends, so decided the distance between Wisconsin and Virginia might be a wise choice. She was hoping for peace of mind and a fresh start to heal her broken heart.

A year after Susan’s arrival, her brother left Virginia for his own personal reasons. Frank lived next door to Susan’s brother, and Susan accepted Frank’s neighborly offer to stay with him until she could locate somewhere more permanently. Their friendship grew more serious, though, and Susan stayed on with Frank as more than friends.

Frank didn’t start their relationship by telling Susan he hit women, but she clearly remembers the shock of that first hit. She hadn’t entered the relationship thinking that first hit would ever come, but she eventually wondered when and how the abuse would ever end.

Susan decided she didn’t have the option to leave. They weren’t married, but she couldn’t afford to relocate anywhere else. Nor could she risk going home to Wisconsin because Frank had threatened her family.

Frank was a master at hitting Susan in ways that left bruises where people couldn’t see them. No bones were ever broken; but each hit took its toll. Each hit hurt; each hit made Susan more compliant and withdrawn; and each left her more dependent in the relationship.

On several occasions, Susan admittedly should have gone to the hospital, but that would have drawn more anger from Frank afterwards. The consequences would have been too great. One time a friend, who suspected the abuse was happening, called the police, asking them to investigate the possibility of Susan’s abusive home situation. After Susan denied there was a problem and the police left, Frank beat Susan for telling someone.

Susan felt she could never tell another soul for fear of even more severe beatings. Better to tolerate his crimes of physical abuse than endure even greater pain the next time. So his crimes were never reported.

Susan had come from a loving, hard-working family. Her parents, happily married for many years, never resorted to abuse as a way to resolve disagreements. Her brothers, as well, each enjoyed over 30 years of happily married lives, resolving conflicts in civilized manners. Susan’s tolerance of this abuse was not something she had learned growing up or from family experiences.

Her father and mother would have rescued Susan, as would her brothers, had they known.

She never told any of them though, being too ashamed, and then fearful for their lives as well as her own. Frank often said, Revenge is a dish best served cold, threatening Susan mentally just a tad further.

Frank had affairs, cheating on Susan with friends of theirs. It was more embarrassing for Susan every time she learned of indiscretion with yet another acquaintance or friend.

All she did was try to endure.

It was only a plate of spaghetti.

Frank had made spaghetti for dinner. His cooking for them was only reasonable since he didn’t work and Susan worked two jobs–as a waitress and bartender–to provide their support. When Susan arrived home to that spaghetti dinner and sat down to a plateful, she just commented, It needs some salt.

With that, Frank rose and grabbed the container of Morton Salt from the cupboard, not the saltshaker. He dumped the container of salt all over Susan’s plate, then ordered, Now, eat it!

Susan lost it and yelled No! This was one time she didn’t care about the physical consequences; she finally had enough.

It had been a simple request for salt. As usual, though, Frank raged out of control and things got out of hand. He flipped the spaghetti all over Susan, which led to a series of temper tantrums from both of them. In the end, the living room and dining areas were strewn with pieces of furniture, broken objects, and flung food.

When his energy and rage were expended, Frank angrily told Susan, Now clean it up!

Stubbornly, Susan waited a few days, but eventually acquiesced and did just as Frank had ordered. After all, she had been conditioned how to behave by his physical and mental abuse during their 14-year relationship.

Her fear increased when she would awake at night to find Frank sitting up in bed, just staring at her. She was beginning to fear for her life.

Susan was forced to stand naked in front of Frank, who then made fun of her. She suffered from low self-esteem and anorexia was the result. Frank made her feel that if she could take a shower with her clothes on, she would.

After each incident ended, Frank would apologize and promise never to do it again. Susan heard his promise time after time and kept hoping he would improve. She would forgive him, but the pattern kept repeating. With enough episodes of worsening abuse, Susan soon became brainwashed.

Neither drugs nor liquor contributed to Frank’s anger. It was jealousy and the desire to totally control Susan. Every time she would reach out in friendship to someone, Frank’s jealousy would escalate to physical and mental abuse.

One time Susan went to a Doobie Brothers concert with a girlfriend. Frank didn’t want her to go, but Susan went anyway. When she returned home, Frank proceeded to cut up the clothes she wore to the concert, knowing that Susan really liked them. Then, he threatened and hit her.

A restaurant where she worked hosted a Christmas party for the employees. Susan asked Frank to attend with her. He was nice to everyone, a perfect gentleman. Susan spoke with several waitresses and waiters. Some of them bantered and flirted with her. Frank beat her up when they returned home.

If you have never been exposed to abusive techniques, it is difficult to fathom how one human being could so totally control another. If the hitting hurts enough, and compliance stops the resulting pain, one complies even if preferring not to. If your aim is to avoid more mental abuse, giving into the abuser’s demands may stop the hurt, if only temporarily. You stop fighting back. Physical and mental abuses are ugly ways for one person to control another.

How had Susan gotten herself into this situation? How did she let someone mistreat her on a regular basis like Frank was doing, and not try to stop it? These are questions Susan would ask herself. Unfortunately, she would continue on this path, thinking she had no recourse for poor choices she had made along the way.

After 14 years of a fearful, painful existence, and no foreseeable way to escape, an unexpected rescuer entered the scene.

Susan had hiring responsibilities at her waitress job and hired John as a waiter at the café where she worked. During the next six months, the working relationship evolved into a friendship. Susan wanted to get away from Frank because the beatings were accelerating, yet had no clue that John was sensitive to the situation and would offer a viable, yet risky, solution.

She stayed out late one night after work talking with John. Due to the lateness of the hour, Susan admitted to John her fear that going home would mean facing another beating. John asked if she’d like to leave Virginia and go to Florida