by Louise Klodt
“Mikey, when I shed my blood on that cross, something miraculous took place. I became the supreme sacrifice once and for all, and then Father raised Me from the dead. When that took place, great power became available for the cleansing of sin and healing.”
“I always thought I believed that,” I said.
“Know this one thing, Mikey, and don’t ever forget it. One drop of my blood has the power to give you a clean heart. You have only to ask. It’s your choice.”
Though my mind was working faster here on Kandalaura, it still took me a while to process what He was saying. This was not just a brain thing; it was a heart thing. My brain needed to be fixed, for sure, but my heart needed healing from all the lies I had believed about Jesus and how bad that made me feel.
He let me ponder and think. I began to weep because here in that atmosphere, I could see what I had done. I repented and asked Him to forgive me.
He just waited. He never condemned me. When He put His hand on my shoulder, I looked up and saw forgiveness in His eyes.
Finally I said, “I think I get it. I’ve been limiting the power of Your love by listening to the enemy. I see that now. I let my fear of not being good enough stand in the way of your love. Not any more, Jesus. Your love is way bigger than anything I’ve ever known. I’m never going to stand in the way of Your love again. I want every drop I can get!”
He smiled, even chuckled. “You’re getting it perfectly now, son, and you’re beginning to see with your spiritual eyes.”
His words and the immense kindness in those eyes reassured me. Instead of making me feel stupid for falling down and saying what I did, he made me feel all clean inside. His love melted away every thought of not being good enough. For the first time in a long time, I knew I had a pure heart.
I was totally changed in just a few minutes of being with Jesus. How can I ever thank him enough or repay him for what he had done?
“It’s by My grace you are changed, Mikey. Don’t ever try to earn it or repay Me. Just receive it and believe. It’s your faith that delights Me.”
“Jesus, I love You so much,” I said to Him. “I never knew the power of Your love. Now that I’ve experienced it, I’ll never forget it. Being here with You means more to me than anything in the whole world.”
He drew me close and embraced me as a father embraces his son. His love permeated every fiber of my being. I wanted to stay there forever.
Finally He spoke. “I have a job for you to do, Mikey. That’s why I sent Andron to fetch you.”
I thought Andron chose me, but it was Jesus. Andron was on a mission after all, and I was it. Did Andron know?
Jesus perceived my thoughts and began to explain. “Andron was the door that brought you to Kandalaura, son, but it is I who am the door to your destiny. You see, I have great plans for both of you. You are already learning much from each other. In the future you will also help each other. A season awaits you both which will bring much joy, but it will also require everything I have put inside you.”
That sounded exciting but also rather scary.
Again He perceived my thoughts and said, “You’re ready for it, Mikey. Your first job is to love and help people wherever you go. I’m also equipping you for another job. You’ll know what it is shortly after you arrive at your home. My Holy Spirit is giving you special gifts: the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, and greater discernment to equip you for everything I’m calling you to do. Read about these gifts in My Word, son. Hunger for My Word, and it will come alive before your very eyes.”
“Yes, Lord,” I replied. “I‘m going to do everything You’ve asked me to do.”
“I know, son. That’s why I chose you. There’s one more thing,” He said. “Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re too young. I tell you this. A day is coming soon when my two-and three-year-olds will pray for people, and they will be healed. In fact, it is already happening for some.”
My mouth fell open when I heard that. I looked at Him in amazement.
“That’s because they will never have been taught doubt and unbelief. They will only have seen My glory,” He explained.
He put His hand on my shoulder and said, “I must go now.”
That’s when I noticed the huge scar all the way from His palm to His wrist. Tears gushed from my eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
He embraced me again and said, “It was worth it all, Mikey.”
One more time, His love overwhelmed me. As He started to walk away, I ran and hugged His legs. I tried to stop Him. I couldn’t bear for Him to leave. I wanted this to last forever.
“Jesus, don’t leave me,” I cried. “Let me go with You. Take me with You,” I pleaded.
He looked down at me and said tenderly, “Mikey, I’ll always be just as close to you as I am right now. Believe it. I’ll never leave you. Keep that thought in your mind and soon we shall be together forever.”
“I‘ll do whatever You say,” I said. “I love You so much I can hardly stand it.”
“I know that, son,” He said. He put His arm around my shoulder and began walking. “I must go now. Tell my people how much I love them.” We walked a short distance and then suddenly He was gone.
I stood motionless, almost paralyzed, till Andron came and put his arm around my shoulders. Together we began walking back to his house.
“I guess I was your mission,” I said.
“Perhaps we are each others’ mission,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “Let me grab you some fruit. We can sit down for a few minutes while you recover.”
So we sat down on the grass and started talking.
“I walked with Jesus for a few steps,” I said, “then suddenly He just disappeared.”
“Yes, He does that sometimes,” said Andron. “He’s not limited to our dimensions, you know. We never know what He will do next. But whatever He does, it’s always for our good. I’m sure He knew how difficult it would be for you to say goodbye.”
Andron was right. Jesus knew I was having a hard time saying goodbye, so He did what was best.
Andron continued, “Sometimes when He visits in the afternoon like this, He creates a new bird or butterfly. Once He planted a new flower and it grew right away. On another visit, He planted a large seed. We had no idea what it would be. Eventually it grew into a tree with leaves that sparkled like diamonds. Then they began to appear in other places. I call them chandelier trees because the leaves remind me of prisms that reflect the light into rainbows.”
“Wow!” I exclaimed. “I saw some of those on our ride. I’m amazed at everything He creates. It never entered my mind that He’s still creating. Most of all, I’m amazed by His love. I had no idea.”
As I thought about what had taken place, tears began to gush from my eyes. There was no stopping them.
Now even Andron had tears. He too was overcome with thoughts of Jesus’s love. I had never seen Andron like that before.
In that moment, we were bonded together deeper than ever before. We were more than friends. We were brothers.
Arm in arm we headed back to His house for relaxation and dinner. I couldn’t help but wonder what the future would bring. I could tell Andron was wondering too. We didn’t talk the rest of the way because the presence of God was so heavy on us both.
Chapter 13
&nb
sp; FAMILY, LAUGHTER, AND FAREWELL
SINCE I HAD only been in Andron’s home for a short time, he decided to show me around. It was like touring a huge log cabin. Beautiful woodwork was everywhere throughout the house, including walls, furniture, and fixtures. There were no plug-ins or cords anywhere. They don’t need them. A wooden spiral staircase led to the upstairs. Mom would have loved decorating this house for Christmas.
Andron’s mom had brought the outdoors inside with paintings and things she had woven that had plants and animals on them. She made colorful cushions for the furniture his father had built. The boys had done their part by carving beautiful animals for display. Nicholas hung framed photos he had taken of the galaxies and stars.
In the middle of the lower floor, four steps led down to another even lower level, which was their eating area. It was circular in shape with a huge round table in the center. Cushioned chairs went all the way around. Hanging from the ceiling was the most beautiful chandelier I had ever seen. It was made of wood, but many diamonds and crystals hung down from it. I don’t know how they kept the lights lit, since they don’t use electricity. They have other sources of energy for everything. All I knew was that I could have easily lived in a place like that, not too fancy, just comfortable. I felt as much at home here as I did in my own home.
Andron’s mom began carrying what looked like a feast into the eating area. We helped her carry it in. I could hardly believe my eyes. It looked almost like a display in the 4H section at the fair. Fruit, vegetables, and dips were all carefully arranged on white serving platters.
I saw display cabinets on the first floor that featured china she had painted. Her talents amazed me. Actually the entire family seemed super talented. I wasn’t surprised. There were many things to look at, but the sight of food reminded me that I was hungry.
Andron’s mom called everyone to dinner, and soon we were all seated at the table. We held hands, and Andron’s father thanked God for the food and asked Him to bless it.
The food was so tasty that I had to comment on it. “At home I would say that such good food was out of this world.” We all laughed.
Later Andron’s father looked at Andron and me, wondering how we had spent our time that day.
“I took Mikey to the Glory Cave,” he said. “He got to ride Kandaletta. Then when we got back, Jesus was waiting for him.”
“I thought so,” said Andron’s father. “I could see the glory of God all over the two of you.”
At the mention of God’s glory, the memory of my encounter returned to me, and I began to feel hot all over.
“Whew,” I sighed. “It’s all coming back again. I never felt anything that strong before.”
“Me either,” said Andron. The mention of the glory had the same affect on him and he was turning red all over.
Soon it spread over the entire table until the glory of God covered us all. It was all we could do to breathe. It felt like the glory cloud at the pond. We stopped everything and soaked it all in. Nobody moved or talked. We all just sat there in complete silence, allowing ourselves to be overcome with the presence of God. I wondered, Is this what it’s like in God’s throne room in heaven?
The love we shared together that night, for God and for each other, created a bond that would last forever. This was another one of those moments I would carry with me for the rest of my life.
Eventually the glory cloud lifted, and we began to feel lighter. We even began to laugh. First it was little chuckles. Then it grew louder. Before we were through, there were gales of laughter and tears were coming out of everyone’s eyes. It reminded me of the time when Dad announced that I could go on the trip. Andron and I did cartwheels down the hallway and laughed hysterically. God is awesome, but He’s also fun.
When we finally finished eating, it was late, but we didn’t care. I couldn’t help thinking that leaving all this would be hard. I knew I would miss Kandalaura and everyone here.
“It was Andron’s father who intercepted my thought. “Yes,” he said. “And we’ll miss you too, but you know you have a mission, Mikey, and it’s almost time to return.”
I felt a heavy lump in my throat and a knife in my heart. I knew he was right. “I could really get to like this place,” I said. “I love it here, and I love being with you guys. I’ll never forget this as long as I live.”
“We feel the same way about you, Mikey,” said Andron’s mom. “But we know that your parents need you, and you’ve been commissioned to do something very important on Earth.”
“I guess we all knew this visit had to come to an end sometime,” said Nicholas. “But we’ll all miss you. You’re like family.”
“I was hoping it would be longer,” said Andron. “Who knows? Perhaps if you stayed much longer, you wouldn’t want to go back.”
“That’s true,” I said reluctantly. “But I sure could have used at least one more day.”
“I can tell that your body needs a rest,” said Andron’s mom.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” I said.
“Your body seems to burn energy much faster than ours,” said Andron’s father. “But don’t worry, Mikey. It’s not your fault. It’s something we failed to address. Next time you come, our scientists will have created a concentrated food for you, much like your vitamins, then you’ll be able to stay longer.”
“We’ll be leaving in the morning,” said Andron.
“Whew,” I sighed. “This leaving thing’s going to be hard, but I want you all to know how thankful I am for letting me stay. It’s been awesome. I could never have dreamed this whole thing up, not even in my wildest imagination, and mine gets pretty wild sometimes. I don’t know how I’ll ever explain to Mom and Dad how wonderful this has been.”
“Mikey,” said Andron’s mom, “trust us when we say that it’s been our great pleasure to have you. Please let your mom know how indebted we are to you both.”
“I will,” I said. Then I asked, “Do you all feel as I do that this is not the last of it, that we’ll all see each other again?”
“I, for one, do,” said Andron. “It’s almost like we are destined, all of us, to see each other again.” The whole family agreed.
With that we had a family hug and said good night. Tomorrow Andron and I would begin the journey back to Earth.
Chapter 14
TRANSPORT TO EARTH
THE NEXT MORNING I woke early. That was good because I wanted to say goodbye to my animal friends. Andron and I headed over to Dolphin Bay. He whistled for Molly and Henri, and sure enough they came swimming up to us. I gave them each a long hug.
“I’m going to miss you two,” I said. “You gave me quite a ride. I don’t know when I’ve ever had so much fun.”
They made their dolphin sound, nodded their heads, and waved goodbye with their flippers. We watched them for a few minutes as they headed out for deeper waters, jumping and splashing as they swam.
Next on my list was Andron’s lion, Ian. Someday when I get to heaven, I’ll have my very own lion. We found Ian lying down close to the large field. He stood up and walked over to us.
“Ian,” I said, “it’s time for me to leave. I couldn’t leave without hugging you goodbye, if that’s all right.”
Ian laid down at my feet, stretching out his legs. He roared a soft roar and turned his head to let me know he would like that. He
was majestic and kingly, yet his fur was so soft that for a moment he seemed like a big stuffed animal I might keep on my bed. His eyes were soft and kind.
“Ian, when I get to heaven, I’ll ask Jesus for a lion just like you. I’m going to miss you more than you know. You’ll always be in here,” I said, pointing to my heart. “I won’t ever forget you.” My words seemed to please him because he smiled a small lion smile and once again roared a soft lion roar, turning his head. He’s so gentle. And what a mane! I love that animal!
Next were Kandaletta and Andron’s horse, Lightning. We found them together behind Andron’s house. I admire them both for their strength and their beauty. What magnificent flights we had! And those wings—so graceful.
“We’ll ride again,” I said to Kandaletta, putting my arms around her neck and patting her. “I’m sure of it.” She neighed and nodded her head. I gave Lightning a big hug too. Then we headed back to Andron’s house for the most difficult farewell.
I hugged each member of the family. “I can’t say anything,” I said, choking up.
“There’s no need to,” said Andron’s father. When he hugged me goodbye, I was overcome once again by the immense love behind the gesture. I wanted to tell them so much, but words wouldn’t come.
“We all know,” he said, looking deep into my eyes. It was at that moment he let me know that I had been received into their family as one of their own. We had a big family hug. No words were spoken; much was communicated. It was time to leave, and I could hardly bear the thought. My body felt pounds heavier as we walked toward the transport.
When we stepped outdoors, I got a huge surprise. Many of the town folk had gathered to tell me goodbye. I hugged the children and shook hands with the chefs, musicians, and artists I had met. Even some of the dancers were there.
