Elizabeth, friend at my church, is the source of the following special story, derived from a conversation her sister, Deborah, had in the late 1980s, with their father, Robert, WWII veteran (born in 1925).
April 11, 2022: How God Gave My Father Hope for the Future
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
In the conversation her father said to his daughter, "Did I ever tell you how I knew I was supposed to marry your mother?" Her father began, "There was a war going on. I was young, but, I wanted to serve, so I lied about my age to be able to join the Army. I was only 17 and ended up as a foot soldier somewhere in Europe, about 800 miles behind Patton. We'd march all day and camp at night-day after day. Everyone took turns standing guard. That's when I learned how to sleep standing up and also how to shoot from the hip. (It isn't just an expression, it's a strategy). I got pretty good at both."
"War is horrible. I saw countless atrocities that people did to people. It literally made me sick." Half crying and half angry, he said, "I was so angry with God I could have spit. Fed up, I started yelling at God, telling him just what I thought of him and this war. Amid my shouting something strange and unexpected happened. I saw, as if right in front of me, a portrait of myself with a woman and four children. Somehow, I knew she was my wife and these were our children, our family. I stopped yelling and felt a strange measure of peace, but, the rage was tempered. The war continued, the atrocities got worse and I promptly forgot about the vision. After my enlistment was up, I returned to the states and started college at Bucknell University. It was during my senior year in 1948, that things got interesting."
"In the previous two school years, Fr. Deppon, the chaplain at Bucknell, had been telling me there was a woman I needed to meet. I really wasn't interested in dating, so, I kept avoiding the subject. Since it was my senior year and Fr. Deppon was never going to give it a rest, I finally agreed to meet this woman he'd been telling me about. As she approached, I saw her face and SHE WAS THE WOMAN FROM THE PORTRAIT! The memory of that dark, cold, raining night, and the family portrait I'd forgotten about, came vividly flooding back. I was overwhelmed and tried hard to hold myself together."
Fr. Deppone; "Bob, meet Alice. Alice meet Bob."
Daughter Debbie: "Oh, my word, Daddy! What did you say to her?"
Daddy: "I could barely speak and I honestly don't remember much of the conversation. All I know is that I liked her and, well, you see where we ended up," he said with a twinkle in his eye.
Debbie: "Did you tell her about the portrait?'
Daddy: Laughing hard, he said, "Are you kidding? That would have been something. Hi, Alice. You don't know me, but, I know I'm supposed to marry you and we're going to have 4 children together. Haha! No! I didn't have the courage to tell her until after the twins were born. (one being Elizabeth, my friend from church). I imagine that might have ended things before we had a chance to get started. No I kept it to myself until the portrait was complete."
Debbie: "Wow. That's amazing, Daddy."
Daddy: "Well it gets better. You know now that there are four of you kids, but, after you were born, the doctor told us not to risk having any more children. Your blood type is RH positive and youir mother's is RH negative, so you were basically poisoning each other for nine months. It wasn't until years later that the doctors figured out how to treat that, but, at the time, it was dangerous for both you and your mother and any fetus she might carry."
Daddy, continuing, "But, the fact remained that the portrait had four children, not two, and your mother and I had set our hearts on having four children, not two. You know how much she hated being an only child...We agreed to trust God and try for baby number three. As you know, she conceived! Your mother wondered early on whether she might be having twins. Each time she went to the docter she'd tell him that there seemed to be many more than four appendages jabbing her from within. She said it was like she was carrying an octopus. But, the doctor insisted it was only one, because he could never find a second heartbeat."
"The birth day (October 16, 1959) finally arrived. Off to the hospital we went. I got the happy news your mother had delivered a healthy baby boy. Then, five minutes later, after quite a flurry of activity, a second announcement: a healthy baby girl! (My church friend, Elizabeth). To the doctor's surprise your mother was right. I immediatley left the hospital to buy a dryer, knowing that we'd never survive without one, given the number of diapers we were going to have to wash going into the winter months."
"That is when your mother and I knew our family was complete. I knew God had given me a picture of hope that cold, dark rainy night somewhere in the back woods of Europe. And in his mercy, he did it by giving us our third and fourth babies in one pregnancy, saving your mother from future health risks."
Daddy: "And that, Debbie, is how God gave me a hope and a future in the middle of a war."
Allen Clark: "If, after reading this commentary, you do not believe there is a God, read it again!!! What gifts may be awaiting you?"
VAYA CON DIOS! GO WITH GOD!
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