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| It Could Have Been Me; Testimony | |
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| Topic Started: Dec 8 2007, 07:01 PM (46 Views) | |
| Stace4Jesus | Dec 8 2007, 07:01 PM Post #1 |
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http://www.propheticministries.com/index.p...task=view&id=23 It Could Have Been Me" by Gayle Smith Wednesday, December 5, 2007 seemed like any other day, but I will remember it for as long as I live. I was at the mall moments before the shooting began, and I know that God intervened in my day and protected me and my little 4 year old boy from being in the middle of the shooting. Looking back and reflecting on my actions and decisions for my day, I clearly see how God sovereignly changed "my" plans and ordered my footsteps to safety. Here is my story: I had taken Ben in for his speech therapy class when Joe rang my cell phone and wondered if we could meet him for lunch. I thought that sounded like a great idea because I had many errands to run and knew that Ben would be ready for lunch as soon as he was out of class. Joe asked where should we meet? I pondered for a moment and not being able to think of anything immediately, said "God, give me wisdom" and the Westroads came to my mind immediately. I said how about we meet at the mall food court [this was unusual for me since I usually avoided mall food] but Joe said sure, I'll meet you there. We arrived there at about 11:50 a.m. and parked between the food court lot and the Von Maur store. We proceeded to go in and see that it was pretty busy but headed toward Subway and got in line, finally getting everyone's food in order we proceeded to sit down and eat and talk about our day. At about 12:45, I told Joe that Ben and I were going to stay and shop because I had a few things to get and had a little time to spare, so we gathered ourselves up and hugged and kissed and as Joe headed for the door, Ben and I headed toward the mall. Suddenly, Joe turned and came running back to us and put his arms around us and layed his hand on the top of Ben's head and said "I plead the blood of Jesus over you." I looked at him questioningly, and he said, I want you guys to be safe. As Ben and I continued to walk into the mall, Joe continued to walk with us and seemed unwilling to leave us there, eventually I stopped because I was heading into Younkers to buy him a birthday gift and didn't want him to see what I was getting for him. He realized he needed to get back to the office and turned and walked out, leaving us on our way into Younkers. We hit the men's section and then went into the Children's section to look for a Christmas outfit for Ben and some things for Jaymie, our 10 year old daughter who was at school. As I think about the next 30 minutes, I am so amazed at how God delayed me from leaving Younkers any earlier, because the Von Maur girls section was my very next stop and it is on the 3rd floor of Von Maur where the shooter killed 7 or 8 people. Anyway, at Younkers I struggled to find the right sizes for Ben, we tried clothes on, then suddenly Ben needed to use the restroom, and when I finally settled on our purchases, we headed to the checkout line (which earlier had been totally non-existent), it was suddenly 6-8 people deep. So, I decided to take a detour into the girls section again looking for any last minute gift ideas. Stopping at a number of racks, I never could settle on anything and really felt like I was wasting time and headed to the checkout which was now totally vacant again. At about 1:30, Joe called my cell and asked what we were doing, I said still shopping, and he said "Gayle, I am really praying for you guys, I'm not sure what is up, or if it maybe has to do with the President being in town, but God has me really praying for you guys." I said, great, keep it up, not sensing any danger, any urgency, just totally enjoying my time with Ben and the joy of the season. At 1:35, I left the Younkers store heading into the mall, and glanced at my watch thinking I had time to still hit Von Maur's girl section. It was at that moment that the thought came to me that "you do not have time to do that, you need to go to the bank and get Jaymie from school." I turned to Ben and said we have got to go, we will have to do Von Maur another day, we are just out of time. We walked straight to the exit through the food court and stopped by the doors. I knelt down and struggled with Ben's gloves and hat and all, he could not seem to get his fingers into his gloves properly and I felt stressed that we weren't out the doors yet. So I told him to leave them on and I would straighten them in the car. We loaded up and pulled out driving directly by the Von Maur store, at what must have been about 1:42, which is exactly when the shooting started. The news reports say that the shooter went into Von Maur around 1:30 and then left, and then returned 6 minutes later and immediately started shooting people. At 2:00 p.m. Joe called my cell phone and asked where we were, and if we had heard the news. I said no, what news, and he told me about the shootings at Von Maur. It took hours before the enormity of the situation fully sunk in and I began to think about my day and how close I was to being right there with my little Ben in tow. Struck by many emotions, we have all struggled to make sense out of it, but mostly, I have felt a wave of worship in my heart to my God for his enduring love and faithfulness. I do know that if Joe had not been sensitive to the Holy Spirit to pray for me, (and later we learned from our friend in Houston, Dorothy Horton, who called Weds. night to say that she had carried a burden since Tues. night for us and had been praying almost constantly,) that "my" plans would have taken Ben and I into Von Maur and up the escalator to the third floor at almost exactly 1:42 that day. We were at the opposite end of the mall and it probably would have taken us 7 minutes to walk down and get into Von Maur. I tremble at the thought of it, but also at the mercy and goodness of God in sparing us and directing us out the doors so that we did not even experience the panic and fear that swept through the mall. Joe and I both thought of 9/11 and how people were kept from entering the twin towers by "little things" in their lifes...stopping to tie a shoe and missing the bus, stopping for an extra cup of coffee, or answering the phone, and it was small things yesterday that kept me from going to Von Maur, thank you Jesus. As I have pondered these events over the past 24 hours, I have asked God so many things. Why did he direct us there on that day when we rarely ever go to the mall, and why were our footsteps so carefully orchestrated right out the doors at the exact moment we needed to be out, and why did innocent people have to die that day, and why didn't I hear a warning from the Holy Spirit myself. Some things God has answered, and I know that over the next weeks and maybe months God will continue to reveal things to us, other things are not settled yet, but here is what the Lord has shown us so far: • When I first asked the Lord why we were spared and others were not, I heard him say, "...goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life." Psa. 23 And yet, I know that God loves each and every person that was involved yesterday...... • When I asked Joe the same question, the Lord spoke to him, "man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt. 4:4 It was God's unction for prayer that caused Joe to carry us in prayer and also Dorothy, and maybe some others that we do not know about yet. • The Lord also showed me that as his children we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and that the footsteps of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord. I know that God ordered our footsteps yesterday, from start to finish, and I now believe he does every day. • Why were we at the mall in the first place? Not sure about this one, but when the news people reported this morning that the gunmen had many more live rounds that he could have used but did not, I wondered if the Lord placed us there, because we are his vessels in the earth, and perhaps His Spirit in that place stopped any further lives from being taken. I just don't know the reason why yet. I do know that the Lord has dealt with me about some things personally, lessons learned through this ordeal. What bothered me the most was my lack of hearing any warning from God. I have a strong gift of discernment, but yesterday I was oblivious to any unction from God to get out, to pray, to intercede, I just didn't hear. Why is that? Could it be that I am too consumed in my life right now? Too busy with Christmas shopping and Christmas plans, too busy enjoying my time with my family and fretting over everything I need to get done this month! We are the people of God, we need to hear and hear accurately. If I would have been more in tune with His Spirit, maybe he was calling me to intercede in that place and prevent the tragedy or cause a different outcome, or operate in his authority in whatever way he would have directed. So forgive me God, for being so busy that I only heard part of what you said. You got me to Westroads, and you got me safely out, but I'm quite sure I missed your instructions for why I was there. One thing that stands out so much is the warm feeling of God's intense and passionate love for me. God's love is resting over me like a warm and glowing mantle. I also feel so loved by my husband and that means so much to me. Joe has many things to share on this story from his perspective. God had shown him some things that he dismissed too quickly and didn't pursue, and yes, God had him in prayer and I believe that God used that prayer to get Ben and I out. I thank God first for his incredible love and faithfulness to me, even when I seem too busy for him, and I thank God so much for my loving husband, who took the time to pray for us and call us and sense that there was a need for prayer and covering. Joe and I want to express our deepest condolences and heart felt sympathy to the family members of the victims, to every person who experienced trauma, fear, panic, and pain through this ordeal, and it is our greatest prayer that you all be healed and restored and carried in the grace and peace of God through all of this. Mostly, we pray that if you do not know Jesus as your personal savior and best friend, that your hearts will be opened to his invitation and that you will ask him into your lives, experience his love, and receive the gift of eternal life with him. -------------- Her Husband's Story God is still in control! God really is in control even during terrible circumstances. Let me start by offering our sincere condolences to those who have lost loved ones, or have been impacted in anyway by the terrible event that took place on 12-05-2007 at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska. I wish that we could wrap our arms around you and take away all the pain, but I cannot. The only one who can do that is Jesus. He loves you, He loves your family, and He loves those who were injured or deceased in the shooting. Amazingly enough, He also loves that poor hurting individual who committed this terrible crime. It is His desire that none would perish, but all would come to the knowledge that by Jesus only can a man be saved. I cannot begin to know the degree of pain that you are feeling right now over this terrible act, but I know someone who knows your every thought, and He knows the number of hairs on your head and He knows to the second how long you will spend on this earth, and it is His deepest desire that you would spend eternity with Him. I would like to humbly submit my thoughts over the past several days to you in writing. It is my desire that this letter will bring some form of comfort or closure for someone who happens to stumble by this page. I am also writing this to share what I know the Lord showed me thru this situation. It may be old information to some of you, but hopefully a ray of light to some. Everything I will share with you lines up first with the Word of God, and secondly with the nature of God. Yesterday morning, I woke up very disturbed in the Spirit. I had a very short vision which I know came from the Lord. He was clearly trying to show me something. My problem is most of the time I have my ears (my Spiritual ears) full of wax. Here is what happened: I woke up and jumped into the shower to get ready for work. The first thing that happened was that I immediately began praying for my family. I never got the peace that this day would be un-eventful. I jumped out of the shower and into my car to head to work. The Lord pulled me into prayer again. When I thought I was done praying for my family, the Lord allowed me to see a sequence of events. Here is what He showed me. I saw myself on the phone with my wife, and I was talking to her. She was at the mall, and I was screaming over the phone to her and telling her to "get out of there and go straight home" I did not understand this, but I knew that President Bush was in Nebraska today, and felt that it must have had something to do with him... I immediately prayed for my wife and children, then for President Bush for protection and all... But the Lord IMMEDIATELY pulled me back into prayer for my wife and son Benjamin. I got to work and called my wife and asked her how she was feeling, and how Ben was feeling. She said fine, but I still had no release to stop praying. Around 11:00 or so Gayle and I talked and made plans to meet for lunch. She wanted to eat at the mall, and I love the teryaki chicken, so that was fine with me. I met her there around 12:00 and we ate lunch.. When it was time for me to go back to work, I just did not have peace about leaving my wife and son in the mall.. I started walking away, and then turned and went back to them and hugged them and prayed for them, pleading the blood of Jesus on both of them. STILL NO PEACE! I now was late to get back to work and had to leave. I told Gayle many times during the day that I was praying for her and Ben and that I just did not have peace about this day. I jumped in my car to go back to work. Called Gayle again at 1:00, and again at 1:30. I am sure she was beginning to get annoyed with me, but I could not get the earlier thing out of my Spirit. I told her that I just didn't feel good about them being out on this day. Gayle packed Ben up and they left the mall at around 1:35 or so. The shooting started at 1:42. She was going to go to Von Maur to look for something for our daughter, and would have been on the 3'rd floor in the little girl's section. It is clear that Jesus intervened. This brings up some sobering questions.. Why did Jesus not stop this event from happening ? I believe he tried to, but no-one (including me) was fully tuned in to His frequency. We may have heard bits and pieces, but the business of the day prevented full disclosure, and our own thinking also got in the way. It certainly was not His desire that this terrible thing would happen, but people ALWAYS have a free will. When you have demonic forces working in a life (such as were at work in this young individual) the devil's plans will always seem to succeed. I say "seem to succeed" because in every situation (including this one), God will have the last word. He will get glory out of even this terrible situation. I believe that God is constantly trying to talk to us and to gain our full attention. We get busy hammering out a living, growing our children and careers, just so many things competing for our "hearing". The Holy Spirit is a gentleman, He is always right, and always trying to lead us into all truth and righteousness. He leads us by His "still small voice", not a raging loud verbal voice (at least I have never heard Him verbally), but a very gentle leading in our Spirit. The bible tells us in the 23rd Psalm "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want", have you ever really thought about this? What I believe this means is that "WHEN the Lord is our shepherd, when He is "Lord", His sheep will hear His voice (Jn. 10:2-4)... When we hear His voice, and follow His leading, we will want for nothing because where He leads, it is good. When we follow His leading, we are always in the place where He wants us. His plans for us are ALWAYS good (Jeremiah 29:11), therefore if His plans for us are good, why would He lead us into destruction? Some could say "then what were His plans for those innocent people who died? Well, His plans for them were good also, the problem is (and I want to VERY gently say this) is that not everyone is hearing (or recognizing) the voice of God, and when He tries to lead or re-direct our path, we do not necessarily know it was God making the suggestion, so we ignore the "leading". This can be fatal. How many people didn't show up to work on the day of 9-11 at the WTC? Many of them did not know why, but they just didn't feel like going to work that day.. Didn't feel, or were led not to? (But as many as are led by the Spirit, they are the sons of God).. My sheep hear my voice, and another they will NOT follow.. The bible tells us that "My people perish for lack of knowledge", the fact is that if you were driving down a road on a dark stormy night at 55 miles per hour, and the Holy Spirit suddenly spoke "slow down to 3 miles per hour" what would you do? I have heard similar things while driving only to turn a bend in the road and see a deer in the middle of the road that I would not have seen until it was too late had I not slowed down. Was this coincidence, or the leading of the Holy Spirit? All I know is when I follow His leading, things work, when I don't listen, I always find myself in trouble. * I would like to dedicate this page first and foremost to Jesus, and secondly to those who suffered great loss. I believe that stories of heroic actions will begin to surface, and the true nature of these dear people will be revealed over the next several days as information and events unfold in the media before us.. • More to come soon... |
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10:55 PM Nov 25
