About a month ago I threw caution to the wind and began the installment, Glory Stories, to share how God works in my life. I started my stories with the one most current and toughing at my heart, my fathers battle with cancer. God has continued to be with us on this journey (a rough one it is) and at the moment things are stable. So I have decided to share my first encounter with God and take the stories from there.

Ever since I was born my family has raised me in the church, a “Cradle Catholic” if you will. Every evening at bedtime my father would tuck me in, tell me that my freckles were angle kisses and then he would make the sign of the cross on my forehead. This would be followed by the prayer Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, oh how I loved that prayer. It was at this time we would also recited any new prayers I was learning like the Our Father, which leads me to my Glory Story.

About a month or so after I learned the Our Father, I would say I was about five, my mom took me to the dentist. We walked into a stark white room with a  futuristic outer space chair sitting in the center and sharp shiny silver tools sitting on a silver table next to it. My first notion was to run in fear, but when that was not an option as my mother grabbed my hand as I started to make a run for the door, I began to cry. The nurse finally got me calmed down and the first cleaning, I can remember, took place. After my visit the dentist tried to make friends with me by allowing me to pick out a dumdum lollipop from the drawer along with a toothbrush. The lollipop must have ben job security!

The horrific visit was finally over and I skipped my way to the car, joyful that we were finally leaving. As we were driving home I slowly opened my cherry flavored dumdum lollipop. The vibrant red hue shined in the sun and the flavor made my mouth water with delight. However, I always hated the white stick that the candy sat on top of. I braced the round top of the lollipop against my teeth and with all my might pulled the stick out. It worked… I was free to just enjoy the savory cherry tang!

Then it happened…

The round little piece of cheery goodness slid halfway down my throat and stopped. I couldn’t breathe! I looked over to my mom and tried to get her attention but now words would come out. I could not talk or scream and we were driving through rush hour traffic in the heart of Chicago. By far one of the most difficult times to get your parents attention. Life around me was moving so fast and becoming blurry. There was only one thing I knew to do, PRAY.  With all of my heart I began to recite the Our Father in my head. When I got about half way through the prayer the cherry lollipop that was deeply lodged in my throat came flying out and hit the front car window. My mother finally looked over to me and said, “why did you just spit that out at the window”.

With shaky hands and a grateful heart I exclaimed, “I was choking!”.  Of course, now I had her full attention. I began to explain everything and that praying to God saved my life. Little did I know at the time, that this would be just the start to many encounters with God.

Many more to come, thanks for reading!
Michelle