Keeping Your Faith Through SoCrates's Journey

By Hope Isabella Lenkersdorf Smith

Many of us believe in miracles, signs, and divine intervention. We are often both knowingly and unknowingly manifesting. Sometimes we get premonitions from our dreams which allows us to have deep connections with the universe.

It's comforting for me to know that when I ask God for something in prayer along with a sign to assure me that my prayer will indeed be granted, God always sends me my sign.

I also know that in my own life, all of the events that have happened and those still yet to come are being divinely orchestrated to lovingly guide me to where I am supposed to be and when I'm supposed to be there.

If you look back at some of the events that have occurred in your life and connect them via "dots" from when the events started, you will see how each event allowed for the next event and how that event in turn allowed for the following event and so on. If you follow along in this manner, you will see why each dot was significantly important for the conclusion of the situation or event to take place as God and the universe intended. These concluding dots now allow for a new series of dots to begin so as God and the universe can once again lead you to the next conclusion. I call this concept "connecting the dots."

Let me be clear about something: I believe that there are no coincidences in life, and everything happens to us for a reason. Although we all have free will to make the choices that we make every day, the destination we reach has already been lovingly predetermined by God.

Whenever we do anything for the glory of God and which praises him, we will always achieve success, doors will be opened, and we will be blessed with everything good that God, our Father, wants and intends for us to have.

God, our Father, wants all of his children to be happy, healthy, and enjoy an abundant life. These are the reasons that he made us in his image.

We are all God's children, and he is our Father.

Signs are all around us. They are not mere random occurrences that one could relate to any particular event. We only have to open our eyes, mind, heart, and soul to see that this is, in fact, the case. If we open ourselves in this way, it's easy to believe that these signs are real and meant for us. They are there to guide us along on our journey throughout our lives.

It is sincerely my deepest desire that as you read the true to life stories of the many miracles granted to SoCrates and our family that you will be filled with hope and joy and be blessed with countless miracles just as we were.

You only need to have faith in God and trust in him as I have learned to do.

Ask and it shall be granted.

Hope Isabella Lenkersdorf Smith

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638744818

Book preview

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Keeping Your Faith Through SoCrates's Journey

Hope Isabella Lenkersdorf Smith

ISBN 978-1-63874-480-1 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88616-005-5 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-63874-481-8 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Hope Isabella Lenkersdorf Smith

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Divine Intervention

1

Movie Magic

2

SoCrates Comes into Our Lives

3

Rita and Lily

4

Denis's Story

5

SoCrates's Miracle

6

Princess and Pancakes

7

You Have a Friend in Jesus

8

The $10 Tree That Saved Christmas

9

Isabella's Purpose

10

Sheila and Archie: Young Once Again

11

Rita Goes Home

12

Daisy Got Out Once Again

13

Lost and Found

14

SoCrates Cruises with Grandma

15

Zeus Loves Pizza

16

SoCrates's True Purpose

Signs

1

Our Story

2

My Shaman

3

The Roosters

4

Archie Is Missing

5

Not Meant to Be

6

Crossing Over to The Rainbow Bridge

SoCrates Is Going Home

7

Faithfully

8

Still SoCrates

9

Three Best Friends

10

Bill, Ted, and SoCrates's Excellent Adventure

11

Together Again

12

Angel in the Morning

13

Sixteen Best Friends

14

Mother's Day and My Reading from Mari

15

Sending Forget Me Nots

16

Babies in the Clouds

17

Isabella's Twelve Cents

18

SoCrates's Overnight Guest

19

With Love, SoCrates

20

Kisses from Heaven

21

Archie Comes Home

22

A Jewelry Box and Hot Dogs

23

Money, Money, Money

24

A Guiding Paw from SoCrates

25

SoCrates's Rock

26

SoCrates's Scent

27

SoCrates's Picture and the Blue Blanket

28

Dr. SoCrates

29

Isabella's Bells

30

A Not So Lucky Day

31

Still Together at Christmas

32

A Not So Pleasant Reminder

33

First Anniversary at the Bridge

34

A Lasting Scent

35

SoCrates Is in the House

36

Second Mother's Day with My Son in Heaven

37

Twenty-one Twenty Dollar Bills

38

Mom, You Finally Found Ladybug

39

Over My Rainbow

40

More Lost Jewelry

41

I Now Claim My Personal Success

42

SoCrates Keeps Me in Stitches

43

Mary and Nelly

44

Three In A Row For SoCrates And Our Family

45

SoCrates Is Electrifying

46

The Andy's

47

Keeping My Faith Through SoCrates's Messages from Heaven

Dreams

An Introduction into My Dreams

1

The Bering Sea

2

Mike's Empty House

3

Escaping the Storms

4

People in My Dream's Divorce

5

Not Smiling Yet

Manifesting

1

My Blue Wall

2

Glen

3

My Little Desk

4

Mom and Dad to the Rescue

5

Hot Pink Capris

6

Mom and Johnny Mathis

Being Connected

1

Max

2

Zoe

3

Oliver

4

Almost Home

5

Sheila and Coffee

6

Something about Tuesdays?

Divine Intervention, Signs, Dreams, Manifesting

Daddy

All Together at The Rainbow Bridge

About the Author

Acknowledgments

I thank you, blessed Father Solanus Casey, for your constant intersessions to Jesus on behalf of our golden son, SoCrates, for his many blessings. I thank you for the miraculous healings and for your eternal protection and devotion.

I thank you, Archangel Michael, my warrior, for forever standing by my side in my many life's battles for myself and with my family and for always bringing me to victory.

I thank you, Mother Mary, our mother, for your undying protection with my family and for always asking your son Jesus to heal and protect my son, SoCrates.

Thank you, Jesus, our Lord and Savior who died on the cross for the world's salvation and for always laying your healing hands on my son and my family.

I thank you, God, our Father, for your endless love, protection, patience, and blessings that you have allowed Jesus, your son, to bestow on my family. I thank you for your blessings through the intersessions of Mary, queen of the heavens and the world; Archangel Michael, your loyal and devoted warrior of your sacred will; and Father Solanus Casey, your devoted and blessed servant, that you have gifted to the world.

I'm forever devoted and grateful.

******

With special thanks to the following people:

Dr. Kimberly Enderle, there is no appropriate way to express my wholehearted thanks and gratitude for what you have done for my son and our family. Your dedication and devotion to my boy SoCrates exceeded anything I could have expected or hoped for.

Dr. Kim, you gave us more precious time with our son when everything in this world told us it was time to let him go and return to heaven. God and the heavens must have also been on your side to allow that time to happen.

Dr. Kimberly (Cupcake), the day our family first met you, Jodi Luff, your surgical assistant, and Jessica Novak, your hospital's office manager, little did we know at that time the blessings that we were being given.

Dr. Kimberly Goodrich Enderle, you are a true blessing to our family and the world.

Jessica Novak, Jodi Luff, I want to thank you both for putting up with my constant phone calls, questions, and requests regarding our boy SoCrates. And to you, Jessica, I want to say a special thank you for all that you have done to help us be able to figure out the financing and allowing us to make payments for SoCrates's numerous medical procedures when we needed to.

Dr. Bonnie Tucker, I thank you for the love, gentleness, and compassion you have always shown our boy SoCrates and our family. Oh, how I know how much SoCrates loves you. Dr. Tucker, you always allowed SoCrates to roam freely about the hospital and even allowed him to bunk with you in your office when he had to spend those many nights in the hospital. Who else but you sent me text messages and pictures of him on those nights easing our minds and showing us that SoCrates was having a grand ole time with you. The dragon toy that you sent him as a gift, which we named Tucker, sits beside his remains with his other most cherished possessions.

Dr. Tucker, the world is a better place because of you.

*****

Sandra Pelley, my shaman, I thank you. You have confirmed to me that I needed to write down my life's events to show me how they were divinely orchestrated so that they could lead me to what my soul's purpose was and to where I was meant to be.

Sandra, thank you for sharing your divine gifts with us and the world.

www.thesandini.wixsite.com/Sandra-pelley

Mari Cartagenova, my animal communicator and medium, I thank you. Mari, you have confirmed my belief that there is indeed an afterlife where our loved ones have gone. They are watching over and protecting us until the day that we are reunited together again forever. You have proven to me that our loved ones never really leave our side. I am sure that SoCrates and Isabella will be forever talking your ears off.

Mari, you are a blessing to us, the heavens, and this world.

www.mediummari.com

*****

To my husband, John, thank you for the countless hours of work you put in turning the stories that SoCrates has given to me and helping me make them into this book. Thank you for believing that I could and would write this book.

Love you.

SoCrates Kan Smith

Sweet Child O Mine

Lily Walsh Smith

Oh, Lily, your so fine.

You're so fine you blow our mind.

Isabella Rose Smith,

Carry On, My Wayward Daughter.

*****

To Dr. Michael E. Calderone, Mikey.

Michael, there will never be anything that I could say to you or do for you that would properly convey my heartfelt gratitude for what you have done for me and what you have given to me.

I know that you have painstakingly gone above and beyond to ensure that you gave me the very best in dental care expertise so that I can now have a smile that any Hollywood star would be envious of.

*****

Thank you, Winoska, Ariana, Briana, Cadence, Dakota, Ella, and earth angels Molly and Rose for your positive vibes and being in my cheering section during my process.

Your dad is as cool now as he was in high school (www.Calderoninstitute.com).

Divine Intervention

In life, sometimes, horrific events lead us toward opportunities that can and do change our lives.

My husband John had many jobs over the course of his life, but he had two full careers in particular. His second career was to become an air traffic controller at the New York TRACON. The New York TRACON is the Federal Aviation Administration's facility in the New York tristate area that handles all of the traffic in and out of the airports in the greater New York area. These airports include JFK, Newark, LaGuardia and some fifty other airports among them.

On September 11, 2001, my husband John was the air traffic controller working the air space directly above the World Trade Center in New York City. Because of his involvement with these horrific events that took place that morning, John ended up as part of a special television interview with NBC journalist Tom Brokaw. These incidents, in turn, are part of what leads to the following events that I would say was divine intervention.

1

Movie Magic

July 27, 2005

John and I bought the very first home that we intended to live in. The house that we bought was my childhood home, which previously was owned by my parents. Three days after purchasing the house, John was wrongfully terminated from his job with the Federal Aviation Administration.

John's union, NATCA, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, was involved in contentious contract negotiations with upper management at the Federal Aviation Administration, and things were not going well at all. Unfortunately for us, John, along with eleven of his fellow controllers, were sacrificed for the offense of checking the wrong box on an FAA form. The box in question was for information regarding dates of doctors' visits that the federal government already had. There was no doubt that FAA management absolutely knew about the dates of the doctors' visits since the federal government had given the controllers the days off to attend the visits in question and had, in fact, even paid for those particular visits.

The firing of these twelve hardworking long-time employees was nothing more than a negotiating tactic designed to instill fear in the union and its members.

John was freshly out of work, and we had no idea as to how we were going to pay our bills; never mind this brand new $3,000 a month mortgage. It was summertime, so my parents who live in Florida were staying with us for the next few months like they often did each year. Thankfully, my parents have always been very good to John and I, so in order to help us and ensure that we remained financially solvent, they extended their stay with us in New York indefinitely.

I have always believed in the power of prayer and usually pray a few times each day for everything in my life. Needless to say, with all that was taking place, I was now praying double time. My prayers were now for a sign that John's union would be able to get all of the guys their jobs back and that we would be able to continue paying our bills and new mortgage.

One particular morning, I asked Jesus for something wonderful to happen to us. I had been praying every day that John would get his job back and that everything would be okay. I think it was about 4:00 p.m. when the phone rang; it was one of John's coworkers calling to invite us to go to see a concert at the Jones Beach Amphitheater. This was very special to us and me especially as we were invited to see the rock band Journey. Even though Steve Perry is no longer the lead singer for Journey, they have always been my all-time favorite band. What made the invitation even more special was that the person who had invited us was inviting us to see the concert from one of the luxury boxes. Seeing the band from the luxury box was quite a spectacular event in more ways than one. Being in the luxury suites, we were treated to premium parking, food, alcohol, and our own private bathroom. I'd like to say that, in some ways, the private bathroom alone at a concert made it a very special evening. Over the course of our marriage, John and I have done some pretty incredible things in our life, but luxury boxes at major concerts was definitely not the norm for us. Receiving this invitation was indeed wonderful, and I knew that everything was going to be okay for us. Jesus had just given me the sign that I had asked for.

Two months had now passed since John had been fired without any change in sight, but somehow, we seemed to be managing. Halloween was only one week away when another of John's coworkers called and invited us to a costume party. Being at the party was fun, but it was difficult being with John's coworkers and friends and pretending that we were okay. I was able to come up with an awesome costume for the party; I dressed as Cher—one of my favorite female singers.

Toward the end of the night, a group of John's coworkers were talking about a charity golf tournament to raise money for their fired coworkers. John was asked if he was also going. How were we going to say that he couldn't afford to go and still save face in front of all of his friends?

Some of these people were very close to John and I. Having no idea how to answer, John simply replied, No, not this year.

In a loud booming voice from across the room, someone said, Bullshit, you're playing with us, and that's it.

John's coworker and friend Billy D'Alo said, You're our brother, and all brothers stay and play together.

All of these people are a family, and the love, support, and loyalty that they have for each other go far above and beyond what most people would or could imagine. This was another sign that had been given to me on that night that all was going to be okay not just for us but also for the other eleven controllers as well.

John attended the golf tournament with his coworkers and, to our surprise, still more wonderful things kept coming into our lives. During the golf outing, John was approached by someone from the Federal Aviation Administration who was sympathetic to the plight of the fired controllers about a possible part in a film.

As it turns out, Paul Greengrass, the director who had made numerous blockbuster films, was now making a film about September 11. He wanted the film to be as authentic as possible; for this reason, he needed real air traffic controllers to play the part of the controllers. Because of this potential film, this union friendly person from management had been looking to contact John for some time about possibly playing a part. It was just good luck that John went to the golf outing.

John and most of the other eleven fired coworkers auditioned for parts in the movie with John and several of them being given roles. This was again another wonderful sign letting me know that everything was going to be alright for us.

It was now the first week in December, some four months after John had been wrongfully terminated from his job, and we were beginning to have some financial issues. Thankfully, at this time, John was on his way to Pinewood Shepperton Studios in London, England, for the filming of the movie United 93.

United 93 was a film being made by Universal Studios about the passengers aboard the hijacked jet on September 11, 2001, who fought back against the terrorists. United's flight 93 was the hijacked aircraft which was headed for the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Thankfully, the brave passengers were able to overpower the terrorists and, eventually, breach the cockpit forcing the aircraft into the ground in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. These brave men and women saved countless lives in the nation's capital while sacrificing their own on this day.

I had been praying for a sign that something wonderful would happen to us and we would be able to survive our financial ordeal. I was given my signs in ways that I would never have imagined.

As a short recap, this all starts where it ends with John working the skies over the World Trade Center that fateful morning of September 11, 2001. John had done a television interview with Tom Brokaw. We bought a house from my parents in 2005. John was wrongfully terminated from his job three days later. He was invited to a charity golf tournament where he was offered an audition for a part in a movie; because John had been fired, he had the time off to go to London to film United 93. Because John was in this movie, which thankfully paid him very well, all of our bills were paid on time, and we never missed a mortgage payment on our new home.

Jesus gave me the most wonderful signs that I could ever have asked for. Thank you, Jesus, for your divine intervention.

2

SoCrates Comes into Our Lives

February 20, 2006

In the summer of 2005, John and I were in the process of buying my childhood home from my parents. It was the home, except for a few short years, that I had lived in all of my life.

After we had bought the home and were settling in, John and I wanted to add an addition to our family. Previously, we had unsuccessfully tried for nearly two years to have a child. When it finally settled in that we weren't going to be able to have children of our own, we knew that we still wanted to fill our house with additional love and life. It was this want for additional love and life that helped us to decide to go and get a dog. We were both quite traumatized by our inability to have children, so for us, getting a dog felt as if it were, in many ways, the equivalent.

Unfortunately for us, getting the dog that would eventually become our beloved SoCrates was once again being put on hold. John was one of twelve air traffic controllers who the Federal Aviation Administration decided to unjustly terminate. This wrongful termination caused a significant financial burden that would prevent us from many of the plans that we had for our lives.

By January of 2006, John was back to work as an air traffic controller, and we had once again started to discuss what breed of dog that we wanted to add to our family. John and I eventually agreed that we both wanted a male golden retriever, thus began the search for our very first fur child.

On February 20, 2006, SoCrates Kan Smith came into our lives and changed both of us forever. Neither of us had any idea how much that little ball of fur would change us and our lives.

I believe that the delay in getting our fur child was because SoCrates was going to require a lifetime of medical care that many fur parents just would not have been able to provide. As an air traffic controller, John had a very good income which allowed for us to provide for any and all of SoCrates many medical needs. As the years went on, our fur child's medical needs proved to be quite substantial financially and all-consuming in so many ways. Because I was a stay-at-home housewife, I was able to tend to our little baby boy's extensive needs.

Jesus had to have known that SoCrates needed John and I to be his parents to care for him. We believe that this is the reason that he made us wait for him to be born and come into our lives as our son. I also believe that Jesus knew that I needed every experience that I had with SoCrates for me to be the person that Jesus had wanted and I needed to become. Becoming this person is what, in turn, allowed me to be able to write this book.

SoCrates was John and my Valentine's Day present to each other in 2006; sadly, today, as I write this story, it is also Valentines, but it is now 2019, which makes it SoCrates's first Valentine's Day at The Rainbow Bridge.

SoCrates, you are the best gift that Mommy and Daddy ever received, and you always will be. Happy Valentine's Day, boo.

3

Rita and Lily

2013

A few months after John, SoCrates, and I had moved to Florida, we took a well-deserved long vacation through Asia and Australia. Over the course of more than five weeks, we visited Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia.

One day, while we were in Hong Kong sightseeing and shopping, I came across a small porcelain statue of a dog that appeared to me to be a Japanese Chin. Oddly enough, it also felt female to me. Usually, a statue of this breed would not appeal to me or even catch my eye in any way. I am a golden retriever mom, and I always gravitate toward items that either resemble golden retrievers or other similar breeds like Labradors. Nevertheless, for some unknown reason, I couldn't take my eyes off of this little statue. It was as if there was something about it that was speaking to me and drawing me in. John said to me, If you want it, buy it, so I did. I felt that this little female statue was looking for a home and family that would love her. I know that to most people, this probably seems somewhat crazy, but for me, if I am drawn to someone or something, I accept the invitation and dive right in. I am always willing to follow my intuition and go wherever it takes me. Being on vacation for more than five weeks,