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I realized it for the first time in my life: there is nothing but mystery in the world, how it hides behind the fabric of our poor, browbeat days, shining brightly, and we don't even know it.
- Sue Monk Kidd
A Safe Home for the Holidays
Congratulations to Giovanna Kranenberg, winner of The Joys of Christmas 2010. Quite a Christmas present! This week, we’ll be giving away the 2011 One-minute Devotions Page-a-Day Calendar, with true, bite-sized inspirational stories every day of the week. It’s a better way to wake up than morning coffee.
Speaking of wakeups, one of our readers, Shirley Gilbert, from Ringtown, Pennsylvania, recently had a dream that opened up her eyes… to a hidden danger that lurked in her home around the holidays:
“For the last twenty years, I would always hang Christmas wreaths on the bedroom windows when I would decorate.”
“One night, I had the most terrifying dream. I was outside and noticed our house engulfed in flames. My son and daughter were in their bedrooms looking out through the wreaths, screaming. I frantically yelled to them to open up the window and jump out. But neither of them could.”
“Both of them were trapped. The string that held the wreath to the window was tied around the lock and prevented the window from opening.”
“I was abruptly awakened. Immediately, I went to those windows and found out my dream was right. I could not open the window.”
“Never in twenty years had I known this. How could I possibly dream something that I didn’t know?”
Shirley wrote that she believes God was giving her a warning she needed to share with others. And now she is. Colorful decorations are part of what make Christmas such a joyous time of year… make sure they don’t turn your home into a deathtrap.
Thank you, Shirley, for sharing your story. This week’s Mysterious Ways newsletter tells the tale of a family hopelessly lost in a snowstorm… until a guiding light appeared in the darkness. Check it out, if you haven’t already.
Have you encountered any “Mysterious Ways” this holiday season, or in years past? We’d love to hear about them. Email us at mw@guideposts.org, or share your story right away in the comments below.
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Adam Hunter is a senior editor for Guideposts magazine and Managing Editor for Mysterious Ways. He’s edited the Mysterious Ways section since October 2006, and is continually amazed by the astounding stories shared by readers. Follow him on Twitter: @MMysteriousWays
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Hi, Guideposts! I just wanted to register a story I experienced just this past Sunday. It was a gloomy, rainy day. I was alone on this afternoon, and knew I had to get the Christmas decorations up. It took a lot of energy to put the decorations up without help, and I had a hard time getting myself motivated. I kept saying to myself "I don't want to do this," yet kept plugging along, getting boxes out of the garage, rummaging through them, and putting the decorations in their places. In addition to the gloom of that day, it was also a little cold in the house. The temperature was 66 degrees according to the thermostat. I'm a believer in trying to stay warm by wearing a sweater instead of turning on the heater. As I was putting up the Christmas tree (saving the best for last), I got a sense of urgency. It was mid-afternoon, yet the gloom made it appear that it was going to get dark soon, and I wanted to finish the tree so that I could turn on the lights (it is a pre-lit tree) and chase away the gloom. After I finished the tree and turned on the lights, the house got noticeably warmer. I looked at the thermostat, and it was 68 degrees! Because it was rainy and gloomy, no way did the temperature rise from the weather outside, since it was not a sunny day. After all the decorations were up, I relaxed and enjoyed the lighted-up tree and Christmas decorations in a warmed up house on that once gloomy evening!