Call 498 : FREE HUGS

Hello Son, 


Sunday, October 6


After mass on Sunday morning, your family went to the mall.




 
Aunty D, Aunty C, Grandma and Megan will be meeting us at the mall for breakfast. They went for evening mass the day before.



We met at about 10 am at the food street.



After our breakfast, we went browsing - our separate ways. 

Dad was with Mom, Justine with your aunties, and Grandma with the maid.



Browse browse browse ...



Here there everywhere ...



From shop to shop ...



Mom was looking for suitable outfits and ideas for her children's costumes for the coming concert. 

At 1:30 pm ... Justine sent a text your parents to say that she wanted to go home, and that Aunty D said to let's have lunch first before going back.



Lunch???



Did - we - not - just - eat?



Anyway, we all met at the lunch place.



Dad and Mom had drinks whilst everyone else had their food.

In the middle of lunch, Mom heard saying that she didn't want to go back just yet. She wanted to check out Mothercare first. Besides, her purpose for shopping that day was to find some outfits for her 3 and 4 year olds, and as at lunch time, she has yet to find anything n-e-a-r to what she wanted. :(



And what did she want?



Hmmm ...



Interesting question ...



Let's see ...

Argh, she has no idea.



Absolutely no idea.



Dad said Mothercare will not have concert costumes, and besides, even if they do, the prices would be way way way beyond our concert budget.



"Nobody goes to Mothercare to buy concert outfits ..." Dad's exact words.

Shrug.



B-but, Mothercare is just so --- nice.



Oh well, we'll just drop by and check out anyways. 



Mom was somewhat insistent.



So after lunch, Dad and Mom went to Mothercare. 



Your other family members went home.

 

Mom decided she would comb the store today. 

The day before, she was at another mall from 10 am to 7 pm, and found nothing ... believe it or not. Your mother was still looking for costumes for the Jingle Bell Rock item as well as Bambi's item.



We were soon at the entrance of Mothercare.



Mom went in. 



Dad did not. He pointed towards the boutiques on the right of Mothercare and said he would be "around there."



Mom saw the items on promotion.



50% discount.



Really??? 50% ???



Good good ...



 
Stepping back to admire ...




 

Hmmm, this would do.

She would need 8 of those.



Unfortunately, there were not enough of size 4. :(



Oh never mind, how about these then?

She checked the sizes.



Hmm, sizes okay but there were not enough pieces.

 
The search continues ...
 

She picked up a couple of head gears.



Aww, so pretty ...

And so, Mom took her own sweet time, checking out each and every item that she could lay her hands on.










Then, at one point she picked up this hanger and gasped ...

Oh my gawd ...



Seriously ???



FREE HUGS ???



FREE???



Awww, You're with Mom, aren't You?




She turned around, and found another FREE HUGS top greeting her.



Omg ...

Dad had not been with her the whole time whilst she was at the shop, but just then, he appeared.



Mom was like, "Omg ... look at this ... and this ... Omg ..."



Here's a hug from me, Ma ... :D



Sniff ...



Yeah, and one for Dad too ... Mom noticed. 



That was a special moment, Son.



A hug from her son all the way from heaven.



Dad came to tell Mom to check out this other shop that was having a good sale.



He said, "Buy one FREE one ..." kinda promotion.



Mom listened ... but didn't pay much attention to that. She was still basking in her moment. She did wonder though whether she should buy that FREE HUGS tee shirt but decided not to in the end.



Should she have bought it? 



She knows where they are anyway now.



Mom has not seen this tee shirt before.



It was just amazing how every little thing reminds her of You.



Of your presence.



Your -- nearness.



As it turned out, Mom managed to get 8 cute little outfits from that BUY ONE FREE ONE shop Dad suggested. 



You brought Mom to that shop, she knows. You were shopping with your mother, weren't You? Helping her to find her outfits. You must have whispered to Dad to check out the shops "around there" and then urged Dad to :



Tell Mom to check out this shop, Dad ... :D

 

Thanks Son ... You definitely had a hand in that.



Mom knows.



She recognized the --- vibes. :D



Some 2 hours later, Mom emerged from that shop.



It was almost 6 pm. 



Your parents decided to have a bite before going home. 



We were on the escalator going down a floor, when Mom exclaimed, "Hey, let's check out this shop ..."




We weren't supposed to go there. We were supposed to go down another floor for dinner.



In we went into that shop. 



You must have whispered to Mom to go in because she found all her teachers' uniform (striped tees) there, on sale. She had been meaning to get them for some months now, but have been waiting for the sale ... 



USUAL : RM39-90



Slashed down to : RM24-90



 
You must have whispered to your mother to check out the shop because Dad and her were supposed to go down another floor for dinner. You must have. She can feel it.



Mom decoded silently as she stared at the slashed price tags.



RM39-90

Decode : 21



RM24-90

Decode : 15




Both You. Your departure date and your age.



Was she trying too hard, your mother, You think?



Hah, maybe ...



It was just weird that she found all the tees today at the reduced price ... especially on the same day that she was zapped by those FREE HUGS tops. Who could blame her?



She definitely had some angel help there, she's sure of it.

What have You got to say about that, Daniel?



Dad helped Mom to pick up 6 pieces. 



Mom took them to the paying counter. 



As she was standing in line, she found herself walking back to those tee shirts, to get another one. She had bought 6 blue ones for the school staffs. Somehow she found herself leaving the short queue (counter), and going back to get another one ... this time, red ... she thought for herself.



She picked up the red tee and walked back to the payment line.



Dad appeared and stood nearby, like 3 feet away from Mom ... He was not in the queue.



There were like 5 payment counters, and so the line was moving. 



Mom moved along. 



It was her turn. At first, she thought she be at counter 4 ... You know with all the zaps she was getting, she honestly thought she was destined to be at counter 4 ... but no, she ended up at counter 5.



Oh well ...



Never mind ...



Are You taking a break, Son? Having crumpets and tea with Jesus in Mama Mary's kitchen perhaps? She smiled at the thought. 

She observed the cashier casually as he attended to her purchases. 



Then, she noticed that Dad was making a sign. He was like, raising his eye-brows and signalling to her to turn around.



Mom slowly turned back ... and as she did ...



Oh my gosh ...



Gasp ...



You won't believe this but there was a man in a green FREE HUGS tee-shirt standing



right 



behind 



your 


 
mother. 



Omg, what are the chances???



What are the chances???



Mom was ecstatic.



She made her purchases, and hurried towards Dad who was then waiting at the payment exit.



"I have to get a picture ... Help me take a picture ... Omg, I have to get a picture ..."



That man was also done with his purchases and was walking towards your parents. 



That FREE HUGS --- those words --- were talking to her, she could feel it.



There was just no way for your mother to take a photo without the guy knowing. He was walking towards her.



He passed her.



She groaned inwardly with frustration.



"Can I just run up to him and ask if I can take a photo of his tee shirt?" the breathless words came out of your mother's mouth and into your father's shocked ears.



"Don't be crazy ..." Dad said.



"But I have to ... I have to ... I need the eviDANS ..."



The guy had walked on. 



Quickly, Mom brought up her mobile and snapped whatever that she could of him ... 



Correction, of his behind.

There ...



Her FREE HUGS ...



ZAP ZAP ZAP ...
 


Mom was talking at 1,000 words per minute as we made our way down one more floor to the eatery.



"Did you see the colour? It's the same shade ... Omg ... I can't believe it ... Son is giving me a hug ... he's giving me a hug all the way from heaven ... Omg ... I can't believe it ... I can't believe it ..."

"He must have whispered to me to get the red one too ... because the timing for the zap was not right at the time ... Omg ... It's too amazing ..."



It's incredible ...



We had a quick dinner and oh, by the way, no prizes for guessing what the topic of your parents' conversation was.



After dinner, we went to the car.



We were soon driving out of the parking lot. 


Mom couldn't help but notice the vehicle in front of us, as we were following it from behind, from where we parking, to all the way to the exit.

4719 



She could have sworn the numbers were staring back at her.



Decode : 21



She was right. They certainly were.



Thank you, Son ... what an awesome day we had at the shops that day.



We love You and miss You so much ... 



Keep the zaps coming ... <3

Call 497 : GOD's HEART

Hello Son,


Thursday, Sept 26


 
Mom received a religious sharing in her email sent to her from a friend.



As you know, she receives many, many, many articles forwarded to her on email. Who doesn't? Anyway, she normally does not have the time to read them. However, this particular one had the title that aroused her curiosity ... this time. 



Yeah, this time ... because this is not the first time she sees a religious article / email in her in-box. However instead, this would be the few rare times, that she is checking in on such an article when she doesn't really have much time on her hands.



Did You whisper to her?



Check this out, Ma ... :D



The Power Of A Mother's Prayer.



She read the sharing slowly.  

Mothers,

Never stop praying for your husbands and children.

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.

She never existed before.

The woman existed, but the mother, never.

A mother is something absolutely new.

Mothers have an unfair advantage with the Lord.

Hmmm ... 



Unfair advantage? 



She read on ...

In Luke 7, Jesus observed a huge funeral procession in Nain. 

The entire town was present. 

He observed the pastors and apostles weeping. 

He observed the elders weeping. 

He observed the fathers weeping. 

He observed the children weeping. 

He observed the sadness on people's faces. 

Nothing seemed to move Him, 

until HE SAW THE MOTHER.

Pause ...



Nothing moved Him until he saw the mother ...



Pause ...



She continued on ...

The Bible says He had compassion when He saw her and 

immediately raised her boy from the dead. (Luke 7:12 - 15)

It was the cry of a mother who moved the Heart of God.

Still today, Mothers who cry before the Lord for their families, 

for their marriage, for their homes move the Heart of God.

Pause ...



Okay, now that paragraph above bothered her.



It was the - cry - of - a - mother who moved - the - Heart - of - God ...



God raised the dead boy because He was moved by the mother's cries ...



Pause ...



Pause ...



Pause ...



Okay ...



Right ...



Fine ...



So why wasn't God moved by her? 

By her --- cries?



Couldn't He tell by her --- cries --- how desperate she was at the material time for Him to save her son and make him well? She had clung on to all His promises. She had no choice.



Nothing is impossible with the Lord.



God will make a way, when there is no way.



In His time ... He will make all things beautiful in His time.



She had held on to all the tiniest fragmented hope that she had that her son would be healed. 



So, where was God when she was crying out to Him?



You could ask Jesus that ... in your own time. 



Or maybe, You already know all the answers. 

Why wasn't He moved by her tears, she'd like to know.



Find out please, Son.



Why?



Why was God's heart not moved by all her silent tears?



Could He not tell the depth of her ... her ...



anguish, 



anxiety, 



grief, 



distress, 



despair ... 



helplessness ...



her ...



her ...


 

Argh, where's the Thesaurus?



That Thursday evening at home, Mom said to Justine, "You know the story in the Bible where Jesus raised a dead boy?"



Your sister was a bit startled at first. 



Oh, who could blame her? The question was quite unexpected.



Mom continued, "The boy had died ... and you know what, Jesus was not moved by anything he saw ... not the fathers, not the priests, not the people around ... not until He saw the mother ..."



Justine was like, "Ohh -- kayyy ..."



Mom went on, "It was the mother's weeping that moved God's heart ..."



Yeah, the Heart of God ...



Pause ...



Was that sarcasm she detected now?



Justine responded slowly with another, "Oh -- kayyy ..."



Mom continued, "If I could turn back the clock, I tell you ... I would -- cry more ..."

Your sister snorted.



"Yes, my cries apparently did not touch God's heart ... I didn't tear my hair out and ... and ... wail ... and ... and beat my chest like ... a crazy woman ... Bottom line, I did not touch God's heart ..."

Jus made a face, "That's not what it means la ..."



Now why doesn't that line bring some confort to her?



So anyway, after dinner that Thursday evening, Mom copied and pasted that article in her Silent Thots Blog. She changed all the images though.

SILENT THOTS

After publishing the post, Mom asked Dad to have a read.



Her specific instructions to your father were, "Read the Silent Thots blog ... The Power of a Mother's Prayer ..."



Later that night, Mom asked Dad whether he'd read the article. 



Dad said yes.



Mom queried, "Well, what do you think?"



Dad replied, "About what?"



She responded impatiently, "That weeping mother ... did you not read? That weeping mother ... she moved the heart of God ... with all her weeping ..."



Dad did not comment.



Mom couldn't help but bring up her pathetic line again. 



Can You blame her? 



That article has made her --- think!



"Why was God not moved by my cries?" she posed the question, nonchalently.

Dad chose not to say anything.



She continued, "You read it, right? Jesus was not moved by the pastors, the apostles, the children, the people, the whole town ... no, He was not moved at all, not at all ... until He saw the MOTHER ... What's that about?"



Dad was quiet.



She went on, "The moment Jesus saw the mother, He immediately raised the dead boy up ... it was the cries of the mother that touched the heart of God ..."



There it was again ...



The heart of God ...

gary rowell

That God was not touched by her tormented cries at the material time 44 months ago, somehow made her feel quite -- worthless. Why is it that miracles only happened to other people? Why couldn't it have been benign? It could have been so easy for God to um, wave His wand, to change those ... those ... mischievous dots to benign.



But He didn't.



He chose not to.



And You wanna know why?



Well, because apparently, your mother's cries did not touch God's heart.



Grimace.



Dad offered a quick, "It's different ..."



Yeah yeah ...



Not wanting to leave it be just yet, she presented her closing line, "I got this article today ... Thursday ... and Thursday is my Silent Thots day ... I am supposed to think about this somehow ..."



On Monday, she received a poem that zapped. (Call 496)



3 days later, she gets a Silent Thot email.



Pause to connect the dots.




What's your comment on this, Son?



Oh by the way, she didn't mention this to Dad, but she didn't like the line that said:



When Mothers stop praying, their families (especially their children) perish. 

Especially their children ...



Pause ...



Especially their children???
 


What's that about?



So anyway, Mom was soon reading the rest of the article. She decided to give that last paragraph the same attention she did to the earlier paragraphs.



The last paragraph reads :

A mother's role is so vital that a father cannot get his prayers answered if he dishonors or disrespects her (1 Peter 3:7). 

Because of this favor over mothers, they are also the most attacked persons in the home. 

The devil is terrified of Mothers (the powerhouse in the home).

Yet the Lord has put inside Mothers grace and resilience to overcome any situation. 

 
Today, as the woman of the home, consider yourself blessed.

Consider yourself highly favored and consider yourself dangerous when you pray.

Dad made no comment on the first line.



Chuckle.



But You know what --- the word dangerous --- jumped up and zapped her.



That was your very first 3 syllable word.



Dangerous ...



You would say it in this manner ...



Dane-nnnnnn-gerous ... :D



Dad remembers this.



Consider yourself highly favored and dane-nnnnn-gerous when you pray, Ma ... :D



Smile ...



Is that your message to Mom, Son?



So that was Thursday 26th.



Friday, Sept 27

On Friday, the next day, Justine came to pick Mom up from school, for lunch.



We went to our favourite noodle restaurant.



As always we enjoyed our pan mee noodles.



Your sister ordered the herbal noodles.

Mom had the spicy one. 



Slurppp.

When the bill came to our table, Mom saw it immediately.



"Your brother is with us, Jus ..." your mother said with a big smile.



"See ..." Mom showed Justine the receipt.

24 ... 



It's so easy ... (your line from the hospital bed)



So obvious ...



Suddenly, Mom reacted, "Eh, what are the chances?" as she pulled out a previous receipt from her purse from a lunch take-away on Wednesday 25th. 



Two days ago.



Dad had stopped her at the bakery that Wednesday.



She had hopped down ... and hopped back in to the car shortly after buying some buns and sandwiches.



She had showed the receipt to Dad with a big grin.

"Son says hi," Mom had said to Dad, with a chuckle.  :D




Tuesday, October 1

On Tuesday morning, about 6:30 am, before going to school, Mom asked Dad, 

"Where is Son? Do you think Son is trapped between two worlds?" 



She heard herself asking the question and knows it to be absurd, absurd because, after You left for God's Home, You were tactful enough to send your mother sign after sign after sign (to infinity) to assure her that You are safe with the Lord ...



Yeah, even Dad said, "Don't be silly ..."



Still ...



"How is it that he's so near me ... I feel like he's right beside all the time ..." Mom explained. 



"Is he zapping me from heaven? Yeah, yeah, of course he must be ... Didn't he tell me many times already ... Lord, make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother ... She'll know I'm safe with You, as she stands under my colors ..."



"You know, I think I touched God's heart ... " she deduced slowly.



"Yes, I think I did ... I must have ..." 



"I'm calling God every day and asking, Hello God, can I Speak to my son, please? and God is like ... maybe ... replying, okay, hang on ... let Me get him. 

"And then, maybe God calls out, Daniellll, your mother is on the line ..."



Dad nodded with a grin.



"I tell you, this blog exists because I touched God's heart ... " Mom said quite proudly.



"And so He allows me to talk to my son ..." she finished triumphantly.



Pause ...



Can You tell that that Power of a Mother's Prayer article --- is still bugging her? 



You can, can't You?



Oh my gosh, You definitely can, because something totally out-of-this-world incredible would soon happen to Mom and witnessed by Dad by afternoon time.

Okay, let her recall and relate step by step.



It's totally awesome.



Omg.



Mom was at the time in school.



It was about 1:10 pm.



Dad would leave the school at 1:15 pm, with the kids, to drop them off.



Mom dialed the land-line. 



She wanted to call Dad to ask him to wait for her, as she wanted to go home together with the kids at the same time. She was in the school at the time, and Dad was with the van downstairs.



She called twice.



Twice -- the line went blank.
 


No ringing, nothing. 



Mom had no choice but to rush down to the car. 



It was almost 1:15 pm. She didn't want Dad to leave without her.



She took the lift down.



On the ground floor, she half-ran out of the lift to the van.



Okay, okay ... from here on, read slowly.

Mom opened the car door.



The children were all inside.



Dad was on the driver's seat.



Mom got into the passenger seat in front.



Immediately, the moment she got in, like within 2 seconds, the line



I just called to say I love You



came through on the radio, as if to greet her.

W-what???



Omg ... what???



Mom sat up right.



"OMG ... Did you hear that???" at the same time pointing to the time on the dashboard.



It was 1:14 pm.



Omg ...



That's 24.



Omg ...



Are You kidding her???



Mom was totally overwhelmed.



"I just told You this morning that God allows Son to talk to me ... I mean, only this morning I told you that, and now he's calling me ... he's calling me ... Omg ... Look at the time! What are the chances?"



Dad witnessed everything.



The moment your mother got into the car, those lyrics came on to greet her.



I just called to say I love you. 

Gosh, what are the chances?



No chance.



Not one bit of a chance.



Mom asked Dad, "I called you twice just now ... no answer ..."



Dad said, "I answered ... but there was nothing ... I kept saying hello hello hello ..."



Pause ...



Omg ...



"If you had answered my call, I would have told you to wait a bit, because I had to clear up some things on my desk," Mom explained, and then continued excitedly, "I would have definitely not come down at 1:14 pm to listen to that line!"



Oh gosh ...



Oh gosh ...



Oh gosh ...



Thank you Jesus ...



That was the most super-amazing ZAP ever!

Taken in Lourdes about 4 months before You left us in Jan 21, 2010.

I just called to say I love you ...



Mom loves You back, Daniel ... <3



We all do ...



We miss You so much ...



Keep the zaps coming always, Son ... <3