Children of the Sanctuary
Page 27
Chapter 23
The Palm Of God's Hand
Mobilizing Darkness
Dar-Raven got the wild idea that the best people for his private army were prisoners. He made a deal with the State Attorney General’s office to select a number of inmates for private military service. If they helped, they’d get clemency or a shortened sentence. Those who had less than 20 years had their sentence reduced to time served. Those who had life sentences got it reduced to 20 years less time served. He didn’t have problems getting volunteers. He drew from every convicted murderer and rapist, going down the line with other offenses from drug peddlers to child molesters. He picked up an army of 15,000 using those from Nashville, Middle Tennessee, and the Chattanooga prisons. He hired FBI agents to command and organize them. It seems the FBI had no qualms about their ethics, having mostly worked for many generations of government. They were more sophisticated than the prisoners but just as bad, or as Dar-Raven said, "Just as good."
Alex wrote to the Dean of the University of the South, the Episcopal Theology School, and Sewanee’s Mayor. He spoke clearly what Dar-Raven’s operation involved. They were there to protect the children by setting up blockades coming and going from Monteagle in all directions. They were to set up unit at the top of the mountain covering any access from the east and west on I-64 across the interstate. They knew exactly where the children were, but it was strategically impossible to set up a camp too near them since the camp wasn't near any main roads. They didn’t want Sewanee to figure out what was really going on until it was too late.
Their private orders were quite different. There were to be no food and supply deliveries. It’d take Sewanee a couple of weeks to figure it out, but slowly they’d come to understand that they were being starved out. Anyone who left the mountain, couldn’t return. Which meant, if they sent anyone for food, they could never get it back. The soldiers picked open fields near the roadblocks to divert any trucks with food supplies. They knew exactly how many trucks could be parked in each field before moving on to other roadblock locations.
Angels And Pancakes
Tuesday the children slept late, including the chosen four. It was Freckles who came by to wake up Enya and Nash. "Hey, Mom, get up. We got to help get the kids fed?"
Enya rolled her eyes at Nash and kissed him hard on the mouth whispering, "Sometimes food isn’t everything and winked at him."
"You’re a scoundrel, Enya, but I love you for it." He laughed and yelled out at Freckles, "We’ll be there in a minute. Are there any angels left to help? I thought they all left?"
Freckles stood patiently outside the tent and yelled back, "Yes, Irish brought in 50 angels like herself. They’re working hard right now preparing pancakes, and we’re trying to get everyone taken care of. It looks like a rainbow parade."
Nash scrambled to his feet as he watched Enya dress and grimaced, "Later, babe, I got to see this. You okay?"
Enya’s lower lip trembled, "Yes, I missed you. I love you so much. Next time they make you a hero, I want to be there too." She kissed him one more time before they left the tent.
The camp was a flurry of activity with kids running around playing. Cole’s church had left hundreds of Frisbee's and a van full of baseball equipment. Kids were waiting in line to play, and others were enjoying the beautiful fall day. It was about 50 degrees in the shade, but in the sun about 60, little too warm for long sleeves, too cool for short sleeves, but no one noticed.
Down the middle of the long houses were all these multi-colored angels. They all were different, different looks, different hair and hairstyles, but lighting up the morning. It was quite a show. They were flipping pancakes like pros and continued to fill up paper plates with flapjacks and syrup. Kids sat on concrete blocks along long tables made of plywood set on top of double blocks. It was a like a shanty-town picnic, but it was working. The angels and teenagers worked together to get the kids fed, and they moved 300 every 15 minutes.
Irish looked up and smiled happily while she watched Nash and Enya walking hand in hand with Freckles. They looked like a complete family, and she wished God would assign her to someone like them, maybe next time. She saw so much love in their eyes for each other that it made her heart flutter. She remembered being in love like that herself, especially when she thought of Aaron. She remembered breaking all the rules, but it was worth it. She stayed with a number of ministers all their lives. Those were rich and wonderful times.
She sighed saying under her breath, "I remember."
Before Nash reached the angel kitchen, Keel came up to him with the other three. "Nash, can I speak to you?"
Nash bowed slightly in respect. Enya noticed, thinking it was a little strange. She’d never seen her husband bow to anyone in her life. "What’s going on?" she wondered.
Nash quickly replied, "Sure, Keel, what can I do for you?" Enya stood quietly listening with Freckles clinging to her side.
"We need to baptize the children—those who haven’t been—those who haven’t since they believed. Do you have any idea how we can do it?"
"First, I need to get you the baptismal rite language. No, I’m sorry Keel that isn’t necessary. Do it like Paul and Peter did it, and you’ll be fine. Yes, I do know one place it can be done." Enya picked up on Nash’s idea, but she also caught the implication of Keel baptizing.
She interrupted, "The underground lake, how wonderful, right Nash?"
Nash smiled knowingly, "Right! The underground lake, right over there." He pointed to the Boy Scout storage units.
Keel was puzzled, "I don’t see any lake."
"Of course, you don’t. It’s underground, Keel. There is a small entrance under the storage units."
Anne and Carey jumped excitedly, "It’s in the mountain. It’s in a cave, right? How cool," spoke Anne.
"Cool is a warm word to describe the water. It’s more like freezing. It’s about a quarter mile across with plenty of level shoreline once you get to the lake. I had an old rope ladder, but I don’t trust it now. Getting everyone down and back up will be the trick." They agreed to look at it later today; but now, Keel needed to get ready to discuss baptism with the kids.
Enya looked inquisitively at Nash, "Why don’t you or Cole do the baptism? You’re a lay minister, and he’s an ordained one? You could help Cole do it?"
Nash spoke in monotone, "Because Jesus told us that Keel must lead the children. We surrendered our authority to Keel last night in the arena. It was the Lord’s will. I gave Keel the Shepherd’s Staff, and Cole gave him his Trinity clothe."
"What staff? You make it sound like Jesus was really here in the arena," she stated while staring at him completely confused.
"He was," then started walking towards the kitchen.
"Whoa," said Enya, "not so fast, Tonto. Are you telling me that sometime last night, while I slept, mind you, that you, Jesus, and Keel were together face to face in the arena? You couldn’t wake me? You didn’t say anything about it this morning? Come on Nash, give me a break."
"Enya, you kinda’ got me sidetracked this morning, remember? What was I supposed to do, say, 'I saw Jesus face to face' while coming up for air? I got sidetracked. You ought to be flattered."
"Nash," she jerked her hand away from Freckles and started slapping him on the back of the head. "I’ll get you for this. You’d better tell me everything right now, or you’ll never have the coming-up-for-air problem again." She was serious but playfully teasing him at the same time.
Nash started from the beginning about the staff in the tree and the arena. After describing Jesus to Enya in great detail, she only said, "Blue jeans and a white-cotton shirt?"
"White-cotton shirt with a button-down collar, Enya," replied Nash, amused with himself.
Irish was watching them and laughed as she saw them sparring with each other. She missed that too. Humans had such a sense of humor. She picked up on the words, "Blue jeans and
a white-cotton
shirt." She learned to read lips thousands of years ago. She immediately came over and interrupted.
"Hey, you two love birds. Why do you find it so strange that our Lord wears faded blue jeans? I love them myself. They're one of the best creations of mankind. Who’s to say God didn’t give someone the idea to begin with? By the way, Nash, since you have
such an eye for detail, what kind of shoes was our Lord wearing?" she folded her hands and smiled sneakily.
Nash tried to remember but couldn’t. He shrugged and said, "Don’t have a clue. Got a hint?"
"Go ahead, Mr. Sneak-out-of-the-tent-and-visit-Jesus man. What kind of shoes was Jesus wearing?" said Enya.
"I give up." He looked to Irish for the answer.
"New Balance 985s, no socks. He has a wide foot and high arches. Trendy huh? Come on guys! Have some breakfast! You coming too, Freckles?"
"Right here." He grabbed Enya’s hand again.
Sewanee
It didn’t take Sewanee long to schedule a visit to Sanctuary. The Daughters of the King worked for days preparing a lunch for the kids while Scott Brannon arranged to have several hundred prayer books and several thousand service brochures prepared over four weeks of lessons. It was the least he could do, he thought.
Sewanee authorities got the news about thousands coming to protect the kids and Sewanee from so-called terrorists. They really liked the idea of calling the situation a terrorist threat. It was diverting attention from angels and other strange events, which they’d rather not discuss right now. The first of the blockades started arriving late on Tuesday. Sewanee unknowingly felt its first effects when they sent a priest and a group of students down the Winchester side of the mountain to get food supplies for the campus kitchen. They passed through an army of jeeps and soldier transports. They had no difficulty making their way to the bottom of the mountain near Cowan. They didn’t pay it much attention until
they started back. Although the blockades weren’t completely set up, they were stopped and asked to turn back. When the priest started fussing at them, they handcuffed him, put him in a troop transport, and left the students to fend for themselves. The students still didn’t understand what was going on. One of the kids named Jeff Stawford was a strong believer, who felt the Holy Spirit speak to him about warning Sewanee what was going on. The rest decided to go back to Nashville, and they dropped him off a half-mile from the mountain just as another group of transports passed by. It was dusk when Jeff ran across the cornfields. He heard the soldiers in the field around him; and then, he heard shots. As he crawled forward on his stomach, he heard them laughing about stopping them earlier.
"Hey, did you hear the priest getting in my face?"
"Yeah, he was a cocky old buzzard, wasn’t he?" another man chimed in.
There was as bonfire and several hundred soldiers gathered around drinking from kegs of beer on the tailgates of several trucks. They kept pointing back to Jeff’s direction, and Jeff realized the priest must be on his side of the fire. He kept crawling slowly towards the men.
Others started laughing together, "Did you see his face when you cuffed him?"
A large man with tattoos all over his shirtless body said, "He was even more surprised when I popped him."
Jeff rolled over on his back gasping at what he heard. How could these guys be soldiers? How could they be sent to protect the children? "Popping him" had to mean they shot him, then he heard something which made a lot of sense.
The tattooed man yelled to the others, "Isn’t this better than prison, guys? Think about this. I get paid to kill people, including those kids, and my first kill is this pompous priest. What a life! Huh, guys?" They all laughed and slapped each other on their backs.
Jeff turned to look beside him in the field. There were the open eyes of Priest Johns. Blood still trickled from his mouth as his corpse stared blankly between the corn stalks. Jeff felt immensely sick and couldn’t move for the longest time. He had to get to Sewanee to tell Sister Bernard about this. They had to know. This wasn’t protection; this was a trap. He waited until late that night. The men passed out one by one, then everything was quiet.
Clouds moved mysteriously over the moon, which made it almost too dark too see. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky a minute ago. He moved to the Eastside of the field at the base of Monteagle, directly under the white cross. He climbed quietly, slowly, and was thankful that the moon was hidden by clouds, especially since it was a full-moon night. There wasn’t any way he could have gotten away without the darkness.
At the top, he felt another presence. It didn’t scare him, but he knew someone was near. He was attempting to pull himself over the last boulder, when he heard, "Need some help?" He looked up to see an angel offering his hand as assistance. He was startled but relieved. He grabbed his hand, and the angel pulled him to the top over the rocks, and he laid on the ground exhausted.
"Thanks, are you my guardian angel?" asked Jeff.
The angel spoke almost scolding, "Why do humans always believe they only have one guardian angel? You have many. I’m a 'power,' not a guardian. I’m here on assignment." As the angel flew away he shouted, "Tell Sister Bernard to expect the unexpected."
Jeff finally made it to Sister Bernard’s quarters and tapped quietly on the door. The door flung instantly open since she was waiting for him. It was three in the morning, but she had been up all night in prayer. God told her to intercess and that she’d have a visitor soon. She grabbed him and pulled him into her room. He sipped on a cup of hot chocolate while babbling away about what happened.
She finally said, "So Dar-Raven has found another way. He can’t use his angels so he’s using these prisoners as soldiers? We’ve been unable to communicate with anyone outside Sewanee/Monteagle since about 1 p.m. Telephone lines are all down, and Internet services are down. We have some local folk with short waves, and they said traffic going through Monteagle is totally stopped. Only military convoys are being allowed through. There was a shipment of food coming from Malone & Hyde. It was to arrive today for the Quidnunc Café, but it never made it. There were some truckers in the backed up traffic saying they saw soldiers making the food trucks pull off the road into different fields before the incline. Some said they heard popping noises like gunfire. Could be hunters, but I bet it’s not. I think they want the kids to run for it. They want them off the mountain. Did you say they talked about killing the kids?" Sister Bernard asked while pacing back and forth, fuming.
"Yes, that guy yelled it to all of them. They were laughing about it," replied Jeff while shaking with emotion.
"Don’t tell anyone about this right now, not for a day or two. Tell the other students not to leave the mountain, especially on any field trips with priests."
"I’ve got to hitch a ride with the Daughters of the King tomorrow and talk to the leaders at Sanctuary or an angel like Aaron. Go back to the dorm. Remember, don’t say a word."
God's Lake
It was early afternoon at Sanctuary when Keel got the kids together. He talked to them about baptism and explained how Jesus met with them and asked for them to be baptized. He explained how it was a confession of how they believe inside. It was amazing to see the knowing looks, and they clearly understood. They also agreed that if their Lord wanted it, then so did they. The words came echoing out from the teenagers first.
A small group of girls started saying loudly, "Baptize us, baptize us, baptize us, baptize us." The other children picked up on it. Soon there was the tremendous sound of voices chanting the same thing; over and over they shouted it together.
Keel shouted back at them, "You will be baptized today, today, today!" They broke out clapping and cheering. Out of 5000 kids, 3000 wanted and needed to be baptized. Some, baptized as small children, wanted to do it again. It was their decision this time, having nothing to do with
their parents.
Keel felt an urgency about the baptisms, but it was for another reason that he didn’t understand. He felt his heart alarms going off. Something was going to happen this afternoon, but he didn’t know exactly what. He could tell by watching Irish and her girls that they knew it too.
There were some linemen trying to fix the telephone lines for Monteagle. They came by to visit the kids since the kids were a local tourist attraction. When they arrived, they saw everyone gathered around the Scout storage units. Keel saw them and lifted his hands in praise as six linemen appeared in three different trucks.
"Hey, do you guys have some heavy-duty lines and rope tackle?" he asked as he shook their hands.
"Yeah, but you don’t have phones out here. What’s up?" A couple of them were still carrying some standard climbing gear over their shoulders from the last job.
"Follow me, I’ll show you." He pointed to the opening in the mountain, which dropped straight down to the lake below. "We want to baptize 3000 kids today, down there. We don’t have a safe way to make it down and back."
The men peeked over the edge and whistled. "Man, oh man!! You guys must really be serious. Why don’t you pour it on them and save yourself the time and trouble?"
"We want to immerse like they did in the early church. There is more to it, isn’t there, Irish?" He knew he was putting her on the spot, but he didn’t like her holding back on him.
"Yes," she said, embarrassed, "trouble is coming."
"Do you want to elaborate?" asked Keel sarcastically. She felt the bite of his words.
"You have to learn to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance. You can’t expect us to be your answer box for everything. Rely on what you know the Lord is telling you. Use the anointing to seek your answers. I do know trouble is coming this afternoon, but God has not shared anything more with me. It's going to be important for everyone to be there," she answered while pointing to the cave. Another 50 angels came up around Irish. The linemen were already in shock from seeing Irish; but now, they were completely stunned.
They all spoke out-loud saying, "Wow!"
Bob, one of the linemen said, "I heard you had angels here, but I didn’t believe it. I’ve been wrong about many things in my life, but just seeing you really makes a difference. Hal here has been on me about giving my life to the Lord. I have a strong feeling that he’s right."
Hal patted Bob on the shoulder, then said, "I’m a believer, Pentecostal myself. I feel exactly the same way as this beautiful angel. I got all sorts of danger signals going off inside my heart. You guys need to get your rear ends down there as fast as you can."
"Hey, you guys," another smaller lineman said, "we can fix up our biggest lines, anchoring them to cave wall at the bottom. Between all the extra line that we have and some help with lots of strips from sheets and sleeping bags. If you got them, we can make some pretty admirable webbing. We can make it so there's no day light at all between the lines—safer than a circus high trapeze net."
"Okay, Monkey," said Hal, "we’ll get the lines tied off up here. You go shimmy down and put in the anchor studs. Use some caps. That way, not even an earthquake will shake them loose." Monkey is what they all called this little guy. He could shimmy up a pole so fast that he looked like some kind of monkey in a circus act.
The linemen hurried together; and within a couple hours, they fixed safe webbing for the climb down. They placed pillows and blankets around the bottom of the exposed rock face just in case someone came down too fast.
Bob and John B took a fancy to a couple of Irish’s angels. They took their breaks and continued to talk to them. They kept bringing cool drinks of lake water to them as they came up from tying off lines and sheet cross pieces. Irish smiled as she knew how attractive humans could be to angels. It was more than fascination; it was intoxication. She also knew what her rainbow girls did to others, but there was something magical about the way humans and her girls could spark a close friendship, even create an instant romance. She was beginning to see it with these two guys.
The linemen were young men working handily with an agility that even impressed the humans. To these two angels, they were like knights riding in to save the day. Their tools and equipment were hanging off their hips like gunslingers, both masters of their art, and the girls were completely enthralled. Irish was one of the few who never stopped romances with humans from happening. She felt that New Jerusalem would be full of angel-human bonds of
love and marriage, and she looked forward to that generation.
She winked at the girls, and they mouthed back, "Thank you." (Thanking her for not disapproving.)
The job was finished so the linemen stayed and helped the kids, especially the little ones to get down to the lake. It took several hours, but everyone was so excited by the events taking place that there was no room for fatigue. The angels decided to join them and hovered briefly over the opening before dropping slowly into the cave as they gently did a feathered their landing. Bob and John B took advantage of the moment running under their special friends to catch them, and there wasn't any resistance. The angels put their arms around their heroes’ shoulders and were carried to a spot almost out of sight from the rest.
Bob spoke loudly, his voice echoing back through the walls, "I give my life to Jesus. I repent of my sins and accept Him as my Savior and Lord. I want to be baptized too." Everyone applauded heartily.
Irish flew up to the opening and disappeared for a moment. She came back while pulling shrub and brush over it, then feathered back to the lakeside and said to herself, "Just call it Godly intuition."
Keel took his place in the shallows of the lake with his staff upright in one hand and his pants rolled up past his knees. He was already getting cold and didn’t know how he was going to stand it with 3001 baptisms to go. There were hundreds of towels brought down, but he knew that they wouldn’t do him any good until it was over.
Irish saw his knees shaking and understood. She walked into the water and approached him saying, "My girls and I will help you."
Half the angels got in the water around Keel. They filled the cave with their brilliant rainbow light, and the kids loved it. They joined hands around Keel; and as they did, he could feel the water warming. Their presence was sending out wave after wave of spiritual heat. He remembered it with the healing at the accident. He felt the hot heat of the power of God flowing through him as with the resurrection of the boy at Sewanee. It was no different now. They were of God-like matter, and they worked in shifts around him.
Keel asked Hunter, Anne, and Carey to help him, and Anne was one of the first. After, they all worked together bringing him child after child, all immersed in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The teenagers responded with glorious shouts and praise as the cave exploded with their heavenly sounds. A chorus of kids started singing "prasssise" again. As happened before, the white anointing flowed from their mouths as they breathed. It filled the chamber of the cave like incense in the Holiest of Holies.
John B jumped up from watching all this and shouted, "I want what you have. I’m not a believer. I need Jesus. He ran into the water with his angel friend following him. He rushed to Keel, confessing his sins with tears, and then with his statement, "I receive Jesus as my Savior," Keel put him under the water.
His angel friend ran to him as he came out of the water and held him in such a tight embrace that he could hardly breathe. It took Irish tapping her on her shoulder for her to finally let him go. Irish’s angels had never seen salvation so powerfully demonstrated. It was the most moving event in their angel lives, Irish’s too.
Everyone heard the racket at the same time as three Black Hawk helicopters were fast approaching the camp. It was Dar-Raven’s group. They were ordered to make a surprise attack, to kill some kids and get out fast.
"Riddle them," Dar-Raven said, "then head to Chattanooga." Dar-Raven figured that if they lost a couple hundred kids, they’d pack up an
d leave, then he’d have them.
As the helicopters approached, they were on the line with Dar-Raven. "Commander Dar, this is Captain Grislow of Black Hawk 101 reporting, approaching target area."
Dar-Raven was so excited he could barely speak. He was pleased to find these prisoners who were qualified to fly helicopters and willing to do the job. "Tell me, Captain Grislow, have you sighted any movement, any targets yet?"
"That’s a negative, Commander Dar. There's nothing at the target." The captain was making a sweep of the area, and the other two were coming down almost on top of the long houses. They were scanning with infrared for any heat sources.
"What do you mean there are no targets moving? What did 5000 kids do, disappear into thin air?" Dar-Raven was getting very upset. He couldn’t imagine how the angels could hide so many kids. What kind of magic were they using? He was mystified.
"Commander Dar, this is flight captain of 505. I have no active heat readings from this camp at all. Do you want us to destroy any structures?"
Dar-Raven didn’t want buildings destroyed; he wanted kids destroyed. They’d rebuild the buildings, but they couldn’t do anything about the dead kids. Dar-Raven got panicky, and his paranoia got the best of him.
"It’s a trap! Get out of there! They must have known were coming! Get out of there, right now! Who knows? They could even use borrowed heavy armament. Get out! Get out!" That’s what he would do. They’d found out. How, he didn’t know. It was just like God to empty the camp so the kids didn’t get hurt when God nailed them.
"We're responding as ordered, Commander Dar" The three Black Hawks veered off and headed full speed towards Chattanooga.
No one in the cave said a word. They had no idea why the helicopters had come, but Hal picked up a low frequency communication on his walkie-talkie. After the copters left, Hal said, "Who’s Commander Dar? Why did he send three Black Hawks to kill the kids?"
More silence, then they burst out singing "Victory in Jesus." They had been delivered again. Irish looked over to the shore, and her two angels had completely enclosed their friends in their wings, locked in a series of passionate kisses. Those humans, she thought, they were such good kissers, she remembered again.
Preparing For Praise
The kids were so excited about the baptism that they forgot about lunch. By the time everyone got out of the cave, they were famished, and Irish’s girls started preparing an early supper.
Keel went to see Cole and Nash. "I need your help guys. I know God chose me to lead the children, but I’ve never done a service in my life. I want to do it right. Do either of you have something like a guideline I can follow?" Keel acted fragile, a little helpless. Cole and Nash asked him to wait a minute so they went by themselves to talk.
"We’re both Episcopalian, Nash. What do you want to do?" asked Cole. "This might be your call. I’m leaving after the service tomorrow. I know how we follow the Episcopal liturgy, but this is different. These kids don’t want just liturgy; they want Holy Ghost worship."
Nash didn’t say anything for a minute. "There is a way that liturgy will work. I came from an Episcopal praise church in Nashville. We had liturgy, but we knew how to worship the Holy Ghost way. We sang music mixed up between the traditional and the praise songs while not restricting the Holy Spirit, and we shouldn’t restrict the kids."
Cole looked at Nash and said, "Well, do you really think we restrict the Holy Spirit at my church?" He pulled his sleeve up and pinched his black skin. Of course, Nash knew they didn’t, having worshiped more than once at Cole’s church. They both came from anointed Holy Ghost worship.
"So we seem to agree, liturgy is okay as long as the Holy Spirit has free reign? It’s up to Keel and the kids to determine how to change the service so it fits them. I don’t know where to start. Do you have any of your church programs stuffed in your car somewhere?"
Cole’s face lit up, "You know, I do."
He turned and ran off to get a couple from under his seat. Nash motioned to Keel to wait a second more. He remembered Enya’s prayer book was stuffed in her backpack. She read it at night as one of her favorite devotional books. They met back in a couple of minutes and approached Keel together. Nash handed him the prayer book, and Cole gave him the program.
"What’s this?" said Keel, looking very confused.
Nash spoke slowly trying to help Keel understand, "Keel, we can’t tell you how to run the service, but we can give you the framework and a guide to the service. It’s up to you to determine how to change it for the kids. See, look at this program. It matches this prayer book.
Keel wasn’t very impressed. He saw the opening acclamation, a processional hymn, then a list of songs, some he knew, most he didn’t. "What’s a collect? Isn’t this a little stiff for the kids?"
"Don’t worry what a collect is. Let the Holy Spirit lead you, improvise. You asked for a program, and this is one. We both come from churches that worship in the Spirit and truth."
Keel suddenly felt okay with it. He began to see how he could change and make it work for the kids. "Well, this is God’s Mountain, miracle mountain! Let’s give it a try!"
"Sure, that’s what we’re saying. Use the anointing to help you work through this." Nash patted Keel on the back as they left him alone to figure it out.
Before they got too far, Keel had already thumbed through the most worn pages, and the celebration of the communion caught his eye. He shouted at them, "You know this is exactly what I needed! I didn’t know what to say for the communion! This language can really be powerful as long as it’s said under the influence of the Holy Spirit! Thanks guys!"
Keel ran off to the long houses to see if he could find Hunter and the girls. Each one wrote down things from the program and the prayer book. Keel said, "Go pray about it. Ask God to anoint your minds to understand how best to do this."
Anne asked Keel, "Can I work with Hunter?" Hunter looked surprised but flattered. Keel looked puzzled, then Carey winked at him, and he understood, then blushed a little.
"Sure, why not. Let’s get it done. Remember, we want a celebration, not a funeral dirge."
Carey mobilized the teenage girls into teams to help with the little kids. They prayed together under the shade of some big oaks down from their long house while Anne and Hunter went by themselves.
Anne spoke first, "I didn’t embarrass you, did I?" She looked away from him while hoping she hadn’t. She was a little embarrassed at her own boldness.
Hunter blushed this time. He walked close to her with his elbow slightly brushing against hers. He wanted to take her hand but was still too unsure of himself, too awkward. This had never happened to him before. The girls never took a second look at him in school. It may have been because he was always talking about Jesus. Now, it was Jesus drawing them together. God was the catalyst of affection, but it was mixed up with respect, trust, and caring. It made both of them feel a little more special.
"I’m bold when it comes to Jesus, but I’m not too good with girls. I want to thank you for asking. It’s what I really wanted but didn’t realize it."
Anne beamed; she couldn’t imagine her luck. She finally had someone who really wanted to be with her, only her. She was special and together—they were both special. She knew God was in the details. She knew that God was even interested in Christian girls and guys getting together. The right ones, that is.
"Did you see those angels with Bob and John B?"
"Boy did I! They sure didn’t waste any time."
As they approached a rock out-cropping under some trees, he finally took her hand. He thought she might jerk it away from him, but she didn’t. She squeezed it tenderly and pulled close to him while leaning against him as they walked. They both felt like time was suspended somehow. They knew they had a lot of work and prayer to do, but this made it all the better.
Anne stopped walking, turned to him, and stepped almost uncomfortably close. She asked, "
Hunter, do you think we’ll know each other in heaven? I mean, if the Lord comes soon, and I believe He is, will we ever be able to complete our lives? Like fall in love, live together a long time, be together?"
They stood silently facing each other. Hunter sensed the importance and the mystery of Anne’s question. "Oh, Anne I hope so. I really hope so."
Anne stood on her tiptoes and kissed him gently on his lips. Hunter kissed back and responded by encircling her with his arms, then picked her easily off the ground.
"Gosh," he thought, "she must only weigh about 80 pounds."
They both became very self-conscious and looked back at the busy camp. "No one had noticed," they thought together.
They both sat down trying to concentrate on the task at hand, but it was impossible, and Anne spoke first, "Hunter, maybe I need to go join Carey. As long as we’re together, I know I can’t focus on this. I hope you take it as a compliment?"
Hunter understood exactly. It was almost too much for him to even let her go from his squeeze. "You’re right. I guess we need to take some extra time to ensure we give this 100 percent. This is what the Lord has called us to. We need to promise ourselves something."
Anne replied, "What’s that?" and picked up his hand again.
"We need to promise ourselves that the Lord is number one, but we also need to set aside some time to be together, just the two of us. Is it a deal?" Hunter felt relieved that he struck the balance for both of them.
"That’s exactly what I was going to say. You see, God can work out those kinds of things with a couple of kids like us, making sure we have the right perspectives. We really are in harmony, aren’t we?" Anne got up, walked slowly away, and held to his hand till she was completely out of his reach.
She waved, mouthing, "I’ll see you later" as she rounded the corner of the long house moving out of sight. Anne was happier than she had ever been in her life. Nothing could ruin today, nothing.
Hunter sat for a long time thinking about what happened. He prayed that the Lord would convict him if he had done anything wrong. This was new territory to him, and he didn’t have any peers to guide him. He had to rely on the Lord to give him His wisdom. He had to really rely on the Holy Spirit to cool him down so he could complete the job Keel asked him to do. Still, when he prayed, he never received a rebuke from God. He knew as he said that they needed to keep God as number one; nothing was more important.
It wasn’t long before Keel saw a group of kids who had finished supper gathering around Anne and another group around Carey. Hunter was organizing the guys into teams to help him. Keel heard different ones breaking into singing and heard some groups that were singing a Psalm, then another singing the Lord’s Prayer. It was beautiful. He wondered how they figured out how to do it to the music. Then, he saw some of Irish’s girls helping different groups, and now that made sense. If the angels didn’t know how to worship, no one does. Keel heard a lot of clapping coming from something he had read in the prayer book, and other groups were stomping their feet. He wondered how this all worked together. He ran off to study the communion parts.
Made In Heaven
Some of the linemen had already left, but Bob and John B asked to stay a little longer. They were sitting under a tree with their new angel friends just talking. They all looked like school kids on their first dates. An hour after the others left, they approached Nash.
"Mr. Nash, sir, we need to talk to you."
They had their angel friends with them while still holding hands. Nash chuckled at the way grownups acted when love struck them hard. He wondered if he looked as goofy being goo-goo eyed over Enya.
"Sure, what can I do for you?"
Nash admired their taste. These two angels were beautiful. Of course, he had never seen an ugly one, but these two were exceptional. They were close to six foot and beautifully slender with perfect proportions, not a fat cell on them. They seemed about 25, but he bet they were more like 2500. One named Lydia was oriental with
short, black hair that seemed almost blue it was so dark. Her hair was swept forward slightly around her ears and face, giving her small features a pixie look. Her olive skin was so smooth that he doubted heaven even heard of wrinkles or pimples. Her rainbow eyes filled up her pupils and seemed to declare her excitement for living.
The other, Magdalene, everyone called her Maggie, was an Irishmen’s dream, except unlike Irish, she had an American accent. She was a blazing red head with huge amounts of hair sweeping around her head and down the middle of her back. It was all very carefully pinned away from her shoulders with gold hair clips, showing off her long, slender neck line. Nash wondered how long it took her to do her hair. She held herself regally as she walked. She was full of self-assurance; and when she smiled, her rather wide mouth on her high cheek bone face made her look as if she could gobble you up.
"What can I do for you guys and gals?" Keel waited while expecting almost anything.
"Can we stay?" the two lineman pointed at each other. "We got a lot of vacation time left. We want to spend some more time here if you didn’t mind?" They looked rather nervous, not knowing what kind of answer they might get.
"Wow, now that’s an interesting request. Here’s the truth, guys. I don’t run this show. That young man over there named Keel does, and it’s his decision. Let me ask your angels something?" They both let go of their linemen and stepped close to Nash. Almost too close, and he stepped back. They certainly knew what kind of effect they had on others.
He thought to himself, "Trying to get my vote, I guess."
"Aren’t you two on assignment?" Nash might as well have dropped a bomb. Their eyes dimmed and shrunk back to smaller rainbow dots immediately, and they blushed a glowing red.
"Yes," they said while looking uncomfortably towards the ground.
Lydia replied, "But Irish understands. She really does. She’s had 20 human husbands herself. She really does understand." The linemen looked a little startled by the angels using the word "husbands."
Nash didn’t miss it. "Guys, you really didn’t think God’s angels want it any other way, did you?"
They knew exactly what he was talking about. They said together a little embarrassed, their own home fires ebbing slightly, "No, Mr. Nash, but we’ve never felt this way in our lives. Right, Bob?" asked John B.
Bob answered, "We know they’re special. We know they make everyone around them feel good. This is different. It’s way beyond that. We’ve talked about it. There's something so wonderful about our angels, and we can’t imagine living without them. Yes, as husbands. Right John B?" John B nodded his head while affirming Bob’s declaration.
"Well then, before you go talk to Keel, I’d like to give my opinion on the reaction you’ll get. This is a Sanctuary for the children. It’s not for grownups, although Enya and I will be the only two after tomorrow. We could be asked to leave at any time, and we would have to. This is a special place only for children, you aren’t. Keel will be obedient to that calling. Also, since your angels are on assignment, no matter what they say about Irish, they are obligated to complete the task God has sent them to do." The two angels were nodding "yes" at their friends while tears flowed down their cheeks.
"In addition, I believe these are the last days. I have no idea when our Lord will come. It could be tomorrow. Time is short. Time is not a luxury to be wasted. Here is my suggestion. Honor God, marry these angels if it is allowed, now, today. Don’t either one of you let this boat leave without you on it. Let them do what’s right and work it out with Irish. Maybe, she’ll let them leave for a short time, but they must be in agreement to return to finish what they’ve started. I speak from experience. Love must be shared. It’s too great and too precious, but it must be shared righteously with God’s blessing. Now, you go work it out. By the way, Cole is an ordained priest who’s leaving tomorrow. You might want to take advantage of it."
Nash didn’t ha
ve any idea where he got those instant opinions about love and marriage, especially to angels. Somehow, he knew what he said was right. He felt the Lord wouldn’t restrain true love from flourishing in the midst of end-time trouble.
Enya came up behind Nash as he was finishing his little speech. The linemen and their angels went to speak to Irish, but they kept pointing over to Cole’s tent. They were couples on a mission, and he doubted they’d fail.
"Are you the Mr. Angel Match Maker now?" She poked him in his side as she held on to his waist while placing her head against him.
"Seemed like a good thing to do at the time. I haven’t been struck down with lightning so far. Might not want to take a chance."
Enya kissed him on his neck and said, "I’ll risk it. Isn’t love wonderful?"
Nash looked up into the sky and said, "I wouldn’t know," and smiled sneakily.
Enya punched him hard on his arm and said, "I’ll get you Mr. Nash. You’re bad, Nash. You’re real bad."
They watched the lovebirds talking excitedly to Irish, then they saw Irish hugging each of her girls affectionately. Right after, they were running together towards Cole’s tent. One of the angels looked over towards Enya and Nash giving him the okay sign.
"Guess they got their answer," said Nash. Nash looked around her, "No Freckles? Hey, where’s your son, Mom?"
"He’s set me free tonight. Mother's night out. He’s on the confession group—the group learning to do the confession a different way. Said he’d see me tomorrow. Don’t you hate it when they start growing up, Dad?"
"No kidding. So, we’re alone with nothing to do. Imagine that." Nash waited for the comeback.
"Not exactly," replied Enya as she pulled him towards the tent. "You’re going to need oxygen. Your lips are mine." They laughed like kids and raced for the tent.