Through The Eyes of Our Kids

Kids are so special aren’t they? They truly have a childlike faith. They believe. They see the world in such a different light. I think that because of their faith, a faith that most of them time they can’t and don’t label (thank goodness) they are allowed to see what we only wish we could. What we wish we could but let’s be honest, as adults most of us would never really allow ourselves to be open to the experiences.

I’m talking about angels. Yep. Angels. And not in a very wishy, washy, “every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings” kind of way – but a very real fact. I know they exist, I know we even sometimes get the ability to interact with them.

Hebrews 13:2 – “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.”

I’m not a scholar in Angelology by any stretch of the imagination (who even knew this was a serious area of study?). I started thinking more in depth about this topic when my Mom mentioned that my Dad would be going on a mission trip to help rebuild a church, and really an ongoing thing. It reminded me of the butterflies. The butterflies you say? Yes. Out of the tornado in Joplin all sorts of stories from a lot of different people about the children who were in danger but instead saw butterfly wings.

A man and his granddaughter were trying to get to a house when the tornado struck and he realized they weren’t going to reach it.

So he and the child hit the ground and he laid on top of her and clung to the earth. The tornado was so strong it ripped the soles off of the man’s boots. All the while, the girl kept trying to look up, despite her granddad’s orders not to.

After the tornado passed, the man asked his grandchild why she kept looking up.

Apparently, she couldn’t help it.

“The butterfly that was holding you down was so beautiful,” the girl said.

Do you have goosebumps yet? No? Okay, hold on. Check out the Facebook Joplin tornado stories page.

I spoke to a man who told me a story that was very emotional and inspiring. This man has two young children (boy and a girl). They were running to get inside when the tornado hit but couldn’t make it into the house. The father grabbed his children and with the little boy facing the sky and the girl facing the ground while the father laid on top of them to hold them down. The father could only… grasp the grass and the tornado went over them. He held on with all his might and his legs were being pulled upward. Soon the tornado passed and they had survived. When the father got up, the soles of his shoes had been sucked off. The little boy was very excited saying how the giant butterfly was there. The father asked what he was talking about and the boy said he couldn’t see it the whole thing but behind his father was a giant pair of wings that were pushing them down toward the ground as the tornado attempted to suck them into the sky.

There are more, many more, including some told on the McHenry County Blog. There are multiple stories of the butterfly wings on this page, here are just a few:

A mother and child pulled over at a convenience store, gas station. The door had been locked by the people taking cover inside. When the tornado had passed, the mother marveled at how unhurt they were. Her child said it was because there were big butterfly wings covering their car. The final one I have heard was about a grandfather and grandson in a field. The grandfather covered his grandson to protect him from the tornado. Apparently the man did have some injuries, but the child did not. The little boy told his grandfather that he saw a lot of butterflies around him.

Are you seeing a pattern here? Only kids saw the butterflies.

I was intrigued, I have always believed that while not an “Angel” in the dictionary sense of the word, that Prayse has seen, talked to, and interacted with my Grandad after he died. There were multiple times the first 8 months after we lost him that I would hear her talking to someone in the living room. And not her usual babbles to herself at the time, this was a legitimate conversation. I’d walk in, wondering who was in my house and a little freaked out. She’d look up at me and tell me she was talking with Grandad-Great. Startled the first time I asked where he was? He had left when I came.

After that if I’d hear her speaking in the same way I’d stop and just listen instead of rushing in. Still not too sure I’d even peek around the corner, expecting her to be playing with her dolls or stuffed animals or even a book, something that said, “just using my imagination.” There she’d be, just standing in the middle of the room, looking slightly up as if she were really engaged with someone.

I have to admit, I was jealous. I missed him so bad it hurt, and here she was having a conversation with Grandad-Great.

I spent a few weeks in El Salvador after I graduated from High School and was able to visit a place of reverence. I don’t remember all of the details and names (they’re in Spanish anyway so trust me, I’d butcher them), but it was an amazing place, a small castle where olive oil seeped from the stone used to build it. Nobody knew why or how. But one thing was evident when you walked in, you knew you were on holy ground. I was 18 at the time and wish I could go back and experience it all again with a richer faith. In this place, children played games. Not just any games, special games. Games like Ring Around the Rosy. However there would be gaps between the children sometimes. Guess who they said filled them? The angels. The angels adults couldn’t see, but the children played with.

Searching the internet you find some legitimate stories and those who seem like quacks – with special directions to see your angel. “Does it include a magic brownie too?” I’d wonder.  The general running theme though was the stories of kids who had friends when younger, some of them who pushed them on the swing (while the parents watched from inside and could see them swinging higher and higher without pumping). And they disappeared as the kiddos grew up.

I know as  adults we have angels, I believe in spiritual warfare and I believe in guardian angels (Psalm 91:11 He has put his angels in charge of you to watch over you wherever you go.) But what is it about our babies? About their pure thoughts and views of the world that allows them to see what we cannot? I know how cherished they are, and that we need to realize that and take care of the babies – Matthew 18:10 – “Be careful. Don’t think these little children are worth nothing. I tell you that they have angels in heaven who are always with my Father in heaven.”

How do we keep them from becoming the jaded individuals that we are? Is it possible to keep them pure on some level? Or is our world so tainted that it’s pointless to even try? I have no idea. How can you teach someone to be something that you yourself are not? I don’t know the answer to that either.

I do know that our kids have something special. Something to be cherished. Something I’m jealous of.

What do you think? Fact or fiction in your mind?