A few weeks ago we traveled down to Georgia to the Kingdom Dominion Church for a Valentine couples conference. Many couples attend, some married for a long time. The crowd obviously had a very good time hearing the messages. There was laughter, clapping, shouting and a general good-hearted reception. On the way home I told Mike, “You know I am not tired at all. The whole trip was so refreshing. They were some of the finest folks I have ever met. And you haven’t had so much energy in a long time. You preached with the fortitude of a thirty-year-old instead of man of seventy. It was almost like we had a hug from heaven.” We laughed and talked about how much fun it had been. Even old folks like fun.
A few days after we got home I was in the office when my young assistant, Megan, asked about the trip and so I told her this story. When I said we felt it was a hug from heaven she pointed to a large bag sitting in my mail box. The return address was hand-written in large letters, "A Hug From Heaven."
As I held the bag in my hands I felt one of those moments where you have a certain sense of God. To the best of my memory I have never used the term or even had the notion of a hug from heaven, yet here it was, said and written.
I excitedly told Mike about it later knowing God had brought it to my attention for some reason. We agreed that it sounded like a heavenly mandate to write a book, Hugs From Heaven. This is where you come in! Many of you have had some tender moments in your life where you just know that God stepped in. Some of you have had some really scary times when it was clear that God pulled you through. Most of us have had occasions when we needed HIM and there He was, maybe in a verse, a flower and word said from a stranger or whatever. We NEED to hear you tell YOUR HUG from Heaven.
Email the story of your hug from heaven to: [email protected]
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3 John 4
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I love sharing my hug from heaven for 2 reasons. First, it reminds me of God's faithfulness. Second it encourages other people who are struggling, lets them know He is always near.
My hug from heaven came about 8 yrs. ago. I was pregnant with our 4th child and had really bad insomnia. After not sleeping for several nights or sleeping very poorly reading became nearly impossible .Everything on the page was a blur. When my husband was home he would often read Scripture to me. On the week of my hug from heaven he was working away from home. After having put our 3 children to bed I dropped into bed exhausted. I tried to read but couldn't. Everything was a blur. The only thing I could pray that night was a plea "Lord I'm tired please give me something just give me something."I must have fallen asleep soon after because the next thing I knew it was morning but having slept all night was not the miracle. I dreamed Scripture all night! To this day I don't remember what passage it was. I just remember waking up and the moment I woke up I realized I still had Scripture running through my mind. God is good all the time. This hug carried me through the next several yrs. of sleeplessness and brought me so much closer to my Lord.
My mom died when i was 12. Dad tried for a short time to hold things together. I went from no mom to several. Primarily my aunt, but when I started working the jobs were with families..one restraunt, later on a dairy farm while I attended college. One roommates mom , and several roommates in college. Every where I went there was someone there looking after me. The Lord hugged me daily, through his people. Now married with three children...hes still hugging me. Unfortunately dads struggles overtook him 4 years ago. God is good all the time...all the time God is good. I love what the Lord does through your ministry....keep following. Erin
I recieved a hug from heaven when I was five years old. My parents tought us that God was almighty and that he had control over every little thing. Every little piece of dust was in His hands. It was an amazing concept!
One evening, my parents called me to get out of the bath tub. I was on my way when the soap bar fell in the water and drops splashed into my eye. It burnt! I remember thinking that God had allowed that drop to splash into my eye and concluded that is was His fault that I was in such pain. I screached "I HATE GOD!" and started to cry.
My sister heard what I had said and she went to tell my parents. I knew it was wrong. I knew it was very wrong and deserved a great punishment. I got out of the bath and wrapped myself in the bath towel. I walked out of the en suite bathroom into my parents room and mentally prepared myself for a well-deserved hiding.
My dad entered the room. I was tearful, but wouldn't dare try to make excuses. My dad was so big and tall and as he came closer, I softly said that I was sorry. He didn't punish me. He didn't give me what I deserved. He made a gesture that I should come to the bed and kneel next to him. There we prayed and asked God for His forgiveness.
My heavenly hug was a lesson of grace.
My dad died a year after that. I have heard so many stories of people who have had very bad fathers who never showed them any love. I'm so thankful to have had a dad who loved me... and taught me how much God also loves me!
It's 22years later. I'm two months pregnant with our first child and I pray that I will be able to give our child heavenly hugs like he gave me.
I have been receiving your newsletter for over twelve years now. I have to say that I haven't been able to follow all of the advice you have given but it has been a great help to me. There have been several times I wanted to write to you, just to have someone to come to for counseling but haven't. So there are a lot of things I might be writing about today. Sometimes I haven't been able to follow your advice because it just didn't seem to fit my situation. I am a very literal person and I think that sometimes I probably am not getting the main point of what you are saying or the article I read is just not getting to the point I need to understand at that moment. So there were many years I could not use much of your advice. I could see the godly character in your lives. I loved reading all your articles but somehow they would make me frustrated and discouraged because I couldn't seem to make it happen in my family. I have been married now for sixteen years. God has taken me through things one step at a time like, "OK, Lisa, we have to work on this area first, then this area." It was like I was a puzzle that only God could work out. I have only bought books from you once and never sent money for your newsletter. I felt bad that I had nothing to give and yet you still sent the newsletters. Thank you very much for that. I am still marred, thank God. It has been rough. Things are not great but they are so much better than they used to. Last night I went on your website and read the article called Abusive Husband. Wow, that really encouraged me. There are a lot of women out there whos husbands don't treat them well and yet God has worked it out. It takes time. That was important for me to hear. Also you said that a Christian who leaves her husband because she thinks God can't fix him is not living a Christian life and what you said about there being no promise of protection over the children's life if you leave. There were so many things you said that helped me and encouraged me to stick with it not only physically but also in my heart. Thank you.
Also, your article asking if I have ever had a heavenly hug from God. I actually have had a real one. It was when I was single. My twenties was a rough time for me. I had a non Christian boyfriend who I went out with for two and a half years. I grew up Baptist but just didn't understand the part about fornication. Didn't have a lot of teaching from my parents. With the culture the way it was I guessed it meant more about running around and being unfaithful. Anyways, I didn't not have a good understanding on a lot of principles and I paid dearly for it. He ran around on me all the time and I did not know it but everyone else knew because he was Vietnamese. I grew up in St. Paul, MN which is a big place and there are a lot of Vietnamese. He and I also worked at the same large company that was filled mostly with southeast Asians. It was so Asian, you could come to work with only rice or fruit for lunch. Walk into the lunch room filled with black hair, pick a table, and set whatever you had in the center to share. You had a feast no matter what. So when I realized what was going on it was doubly hard. Everyone at work knew. I broke up with him and decided to come back to God. The first biggest step was when I would sit down for lunch and pray over my food. Here I was in this huge room with people who knew all about my life and they were watching. That was a big statement. People all over town that I didn't know knew about my life and I would meet them everywhere because I was also totally involved with the Vietnamese society. I spent the rest of my twenties, eight years, extremely sick. I could eat only a few things and was very underweight. My lowest weight was eighty six pounds when I literally came within hours of dying because of an infection in my colon. I started working for a Christian book store in their warehouse. That was a great place for me cause I could check out anything on the shelf and read it. One day while I was working and I was having such a hard time I said something like this to the Lord, "God, I really need to feel your love. Please help me. " I went on into another room to pack my order for shipping and right in the middle of that I literally felt His arms wrap around me. It was wonderful and so needed at that time.
That is all for now. I will end quickly cause I already said so much. I finally got the chance to share a few things with you. God bless you and your day.