Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden that its fragrance may be wafted abroad. Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its choicest fruits.
SONG OF SOLOMON 4:16
The daylight hours seemed to stretch on forever as I attempted to keep myself busy. Trying very hard not to count the minutes until what promised to be an extraordinary evening, I caught up on emails, took the dogs for a walk, and ran several errands. My last stop was a visit to the craft store to purchase material to make a blanket for a friend who was expecting a baby girl. Spending time among the rows of soft, pastel-colored fleece filled my mind with dreamy thoughts of “sugar and spice and everything nice,” and before I knew it, the afternoon was over.
As the appointed hour of sunset approached, I walked to my closet to pick out something to wear, I was still mystified . . . what does one wear to a party hosted by an angel? Casual? Dressy? As I snapped on the light, I gave a slight gasp. My decision had already been made for me. Hanging prominently on a hanger before me was a beautiful pink dress that shimmered and glistened in the light. It was a simple, elegant, three-quarter-length dress with long sleeves, a fitted bodice, and a slightly flared skirt. I realized the fabric was identical to the fabric of the gown Margaret had worn that morning . . . the gown I had so longingly admired! I quickly slipped on the dress. Of course, it fit perfectly.
The sun finally sank below the horizon and darkening shadows began their nightly trek across the lawn. I was so excited I could hardly bear it. I peered out the back door every minute or so, hoping to witness Margaret’s return. Thirty minutes passed and still nothing. It was now dark. The night air was still quite warm, so I slipped into my bedroom one more time to pin my hair into a soft updo. Finally satisfied, I strolled back through my room, and my eyes caught a glimmer of something bright through the shutters on the windows. My breath caught in my throat as I hurried through the house and stepped out the back door onto the porch.
Words can hardly describe the vision that my eyes beheld. My backyard was completely transformed! All around the pool, on the patio, on the grass, and around the fire pit stood enormous white rosebushes. They glowed with an ethereal white light, and floating above and around each rosebush were several glowing white orbs, similar to votive candles. They slowly circled and danced among the roses, creating the most beautiful visual effect I have ever seen. The very air was tinged in a white luminescence and was saturated with the fragrance of the white roses mixed with sweet almond and night-blooming jasmine from my gardens. It was intoxicating!
As I stood there marveling, the space around my statue of St. Francis began to glow with the same ethereal white light. Margaret appeared first. Dressed in a lovely white gown, she sparkled like newly fallen snow in the moonlight. Around her waist she wore a loosely tied scarf that looked as if it were made from spun gold. I don’t think I have ever seen her look more beautiful than she did tonight. As she stepped from the garden, two more angels appeared, dressed in the same sparkling white gowns, but these angels wore great, spun-gold sashes across their chests. They were tall and handsome, with dark-brown hair and radiant faces. My heart leapt for joy as I recognized them—they were the mighty warrior angels who were with Margaret and me just yesterday. As they approached, I noticed that one of the big angels carried a beautifully wrapped package in his mighty hands. A soft breeze began to rustle through the trees, prompting my wind chimes to sing their lovely lullaby, and the little tree frogs began their nightly chorus. The night sky was clear and the stars shined brightly overhead. Oh my—I breathed silently—God sure knows how to set the stage for a lovely party!
“Good evening, dear one,” said Margaret, beaming, as she enveloped me in a big hug. “What a glorious night for a celebration. Our Heavenly Father sends you his dearest love and blessings, and he is so excited about tonight.” My heart thrilled as I imagined my Lord’s personal involvement in this evening. “I see you remember our friends, Jenn. They did not want to miss this special time with you. Come, let’s all go sit down.”
Margaret led us over to our table and chairs by the garden. As she walked with me, she leaned over and whispered mischievously in my ear, “I love your dress!” I gave her a playful nudge in response. Four chairs covered elegantly in white silk and ribbons were placed around the table. We sat down, surrounded by the white roses and dancing, glowing orbs. Margaret beamed as she caught me eyeing the beautifully wrapped gift as it was placed on the table.
“Yes, my dear child, this gift is for you, but if you can stand the suspense for just a little while longer, I have a special message for you from our Father.”
I nodded, my excitement mounting.
Margaret stretched out her arms and opened her hands. “Let’s all join hands together,” she instructed quietly. I reached out my arms and placed each of my hands in the massive hand of one of the warrior angels—one on my left and one on my right—and then these angels joined their hands with Margaret. As we sat in silence for a moment, the most wondrous thing happened. All three angels began to glow with a radiant white light, and then it spread over to me, so that we all sat there at the little table, enveloped in the glory light of heaven.
Then Margaret began to speak in a gentle, clear voice. “I am honored, Jennifer, to have been your guide through this journey of your life’s experiences and encounters with God. You have put away your fears and have come face-to-face with the reality that you are intimately connected to the Divine—you have never been apart from it. The realm of heaven came with you into this world and walks alongside you each and every day . . . teaching, guiding, and revealing the truths God needs you to know in order to live the abundant life he desires for you.
“On our journey together, you have opened yourself and made yourself vulnerable in order to discover how God has been present in your life. You have gained in the understanding of your spiritual gifts and now know how to use them to do your part in the advancement of the Kingdom. You have the power to help others discover that they, too, are God’s beloved, and are never alone.
“What God desires more than anything else is for his children to seek him, to develop an intimate and prayerful relationship with him, to ask him for what they need in order to live full, joyful, complete lives. Oh, my dear child, our Father has so much to give to each of his children! You are the delight of his heart, and his dearest wish is to be the delight of your heart! This has been his plan since the very beginning.”
My heart overflowed with love and humility as I sat there listening to Margaret’s words. Fighting back the tears that were once again welling in my eyes, my gaze fell upon the wrapped package on the table, and I recalled a meaningful story about the gifts God wished to share with us.
“Margaret,” I said, a little shyly, “something you said just now, about how God has so much he wants to give us, reminds me of a remarkable vision someone once shared with me. Would you like to hear about it?”
“We would love to,” all three angels exclaimed at once. That made me smile. And so I told them about the vision of the gifts.
A woman sees herself in a room in heaven, and the room is filled with beautifully wrapped packages. As she wanders around the room to get a closer look, she realizes that they all have her name on them. The Lord is standing there watching her, and she asks him, “Lord, what are these? Are they all for me?” The Lord replies, “Yes, child, they have been up here your entire life, just waiting for you to ask for them. When you ask for a gift, it is sent to you. These are the leftover gifts you have never asked for.
“This woman realized that she needed to free herself to ask God for his blessings and for the desires of her heart, because he so much wanted to give them. In fact, he has them all ready to send.”
“That is an important lesson,” said Margaret. “Remember when I told you at the beginning of our journey that I wanted you to approach it with the faith of a child?”
I nodded.
“When you were a child, I watched you receive your birthday and Christmas gifts with pure delight and expectation. And the gifts you received brought you joy, enrichment, and knowledge. That is how God wants his children to be, Jenn, with the gifts he is so willing to provide to you. He wants you to ask for whatever is in your heart with childlike expectation, and then joyfully open your arms to receive.”
I thought about what Margaret said for a moment. “I think I have always had a hard time asking God for my heart’s desires because I felt that they wouldn’t be important enough to God. After all, he is God and has a lot more to worry about than me. But I love what you just said, because it reminds me that I am his child—the delight of his heart—of course he wants me to come to him with my needs and desires!”
My three angel friends smiled in approval. Then Margaret continued. “I have a suggestion for you, Jenn. Make a list of the deepest desires of your heart, pray over them with expectation, and then tuck them inside your Bible in Matthew chapter twenty-one, verse twenty-two, where it reads, ‘Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.’ Then, every few months or so, pull out your list and see how God has acted upon it. I think you will be astonished at the results. Just remember,” she said, with a twinkle in her eye, “that God sometimes answers with something different from what you have asked for, because he knows you better than you know yourself.”
The two warrior angels were nodding their heads enthusiastically as Margaret finished speaking. That made me smile!
“Let’s get back to the party,” Margaret said with a grin. “I have asked someone else to join our little celebration.” She turned in her chair, looked out into the yard, and called, “Come on out, sweet babies!”
Suddenly I spied three little heads peeking out from behind one of the tall rosebushes. In response to Margaret’s call, out pranced my three sweet dogs, wagging their tails. Each wore a beautiful white satin bow tied to its collar.
I clapped my hands. “Hannah! Isabel! Cody! You look fabulous!” My darling canine trio trotted over to our table and stood by each of the three angels.
“We could not have had the party without them, Jenn. They have so graciously shared their home and yard with us these past few days.” Margaret directed her attention to the pups as they watched her with great interest. “And to show our thanks to you, little four-legged children, we have something for you.”
A crystal bowl had appeared on the table and it was filled to the brim with heart-shaped dog treats. Each angel took a treat from the bowl and placed it on the table before them. Cody, using all the restraint he could muster, sat down before Margaret in his best ‘sit,’ and without any prompting pronounced three carefully formed syllables: “Rhy! Rhuv! Rhoo!”
Our two mighty angel friends roared with laughter. They asked simultaneously, “Do the other dogs talk, too?”
“No”—I laughed—“but they do a very nice doggy-speak when asked.”
And sure enough, as each angel commanded them to speak, Hannah and Isabel responded brilliantly with a sharp ruff!
The laughter and ruffs lasted for a few more minutes until I noticed the bowl was practically empty of treats.
“I hate to be a party pooper,” I scolded, “but these kiddos still have to eat their dinner. I think we have had enough treats for tonight.”
Margaret sneaked one final treat to Cody and then stood up. “We can’t let them leave without a blessing,” she said, looking at them fondly. The other two angels stood and joined Margaret. Each angel placed a gentle hand on a dog’s forehead. I was amazed at how quiet and still the dogs had become. Maybe they sensed the presence of their Creator in their new friends.
Margaret prayed, “May God bless and keep you, dear little ones, for all the days of your lives. May you always have sunshine to play in, treats to fill your tummies, and your momma’s love to keep you warm and cozy at night. God loves you very much, Hannah, Isabel, and Cody.”
After a few last pats and hand licks and tail wags all around, the pups trotted off to the porch, where they snuggled into their outside beds to wait for me. I was so touched that Margaret had included my sweet dogs in this special evening. She really knew my heart.
Next, Margaret picked up the gift from the table and came to stand by my chair. “Okay, Jennifer, now it is your turn for a treat.” She looked fondly over at her heavenly companions and continued. “We spent quite a bit of time in the throne room with our Father today, discussing which gift would be the perfect one to give to you this evening. After all, as we just acknowledged, God has so many gifts to give to his children.”
I nodded. The suspense was killing me.
Margaret then leaned down and placed the gift in my hands. It was wrapped in lovely pearl-white paper and tied with a light-blue satin ribbon. “We present this to you, Jennifer, with much love from the very heart of heaven. Go ahead, child, . . . open it!”
Their eyes shining like the stars, the angels watched as I carefully removed the ribbon and unwrapped the package. I lifted the cover from the box and looked inside . . . and gasped. A bright luminescence flooded out of the box, illuminating my face. As I peered closer for a better look at the contents, I realized that the box was full of tiny, shimmering, diamond-like crystals just slightly larger than grains of sand. It was breathtakingly beautiful . . . but what was it?
I looked up with a questioning gaze to see all three angels smiling at me, laughing softly with joy. Then Margaret spoke, answering my question before it could form on my lips. “This, Jennifer, is a very special gift. The box you hold in your hands contains the seeds of hope.”
My mouth dropped open in surprise. I didn’t know there really was such a thing!
Margaret continued. “When we began this journey together, you expressed the desire to explore the mysterious Divine encounters you have experienced, and to understand the reason God was revealing his presence to you so profoundly. The answer to your question is sitting in this box in your hands, dear one. God has been revealing himself to you so that you can reveal him to others. By sharing your Divine dreams and the encounters you have had with your Creator, you will be sowing these seeds of hope into the hearts and lives of countless others. And each of these tiny seeds is inscribed with the promise you now know well . . . I am with you always.”
Tears really did begin to flow now. I was humbled, and honored, that God would entrust me with such a special endeavor.
With a tender smile, Margaret continued. “Hope must not be contained, so together, in a few moments, we are going to scatter these seeds. Your garden, Jennifer, will become a sacred garden, where the seeds of hope will rest and find nourishment. And as your testimony finds open and believing hearts, the seeds of hope will take root and grow. As they grow, their roots will spread deep and wide to search out new fertile ground. This is how hope spreads.”
I had no words. Just more goose bumps.
“Come now . . . let’s do this!” Margaret said excitedly, motioning for the rest of us to join her as she stepped through the rosebushes and walked into the yard. “Bring the box with you, Jenn,” she called.
As we stood together in the deep backyard, I carefully tilted the box and poured the tiny, glowing seeds into the waiting cupped hands of each angel, and then poured some into my own. “Margaret,” I whispered, “tell us when!” I could hardly breathe . . . this moment felt so holy.
As if reading my thoughts, Margaret lifted her cupped hands to the sky and pronounced in a clear voice “Let these words from Isaiah be fulfilled: ‘For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.’ ”
Then she lowered her arms and with a bright smile said, “Now!”
With that, the four of us swung our arms in great arcs, releasing the tiny glowing seeds of hope. I watched as the seeds scattered all over my yard and gardens, shimmering and sparkling as they settled into the ground. For a sacred moment the ground looked like a mirror image of the twinkling heavens above us. Soon the shimmering stopped. The seeds were now at rest. Waiting.
We walked back to our table in silence, and after we were all seated, Margaret said softly, “It was no coincidence, Jenn, that God chose the setting of your garden for our journey together. His love for gardens is represented in Scripture from beginning to end. God created the Garden of Eden for his beloved children, Adam and Eve. He walked with them and talked with them in that beautiful place. This was the setting of perfect relationship between God and humanity until the Fall from Grace. The Garden of Gethsemane was a retreat of serenity and prayer for our beloved Jesus as he faithfully carried out the Divine will of the Father. The Garden Tomb, where Jesus was buried, became the most sacred place on earth when he emerged from the tomb alive, victorious over sin and death. Here in this garden, Grace was restored. And when the great I AM finally comes to dwell among his children once again in the new heaven and earth, a glorious new garden will spring forth from in front of his throne, a crystal clear river of the water of life lined on either side by the trees of life, laden with luscious fruits. This garden will celebrate the fully restored relationship between God and his beloved children.
“God rejoices in the time that he spends with you here in your garden, dear one. The roots of his love for you grow deeper than you could ever imagine. And it pleases him so much that your garden has been added to those nurturing these precious seeds of hope—hope that will lead his beloved children back into a relationship with him.”
As she finished speaking, a gentle breeze began rustling the treetops, picking up in intensity as it brushed through the yard, ringing my wind chimes and rustling the leaves and blossoms of the white rosebushes with the sound of a melancholy sigh. I sensed a change in the air.
Before I could even say a proper thank-you for this wonderful evening, Margaret and the two mighty angels rose from the table. As she looked at me fondly, I knew she understood the feelings in my heart. I loved her so much and had treasured the moments we had here at this table, sharing coffee, laughter, tears, and stories of God’s revealed truths. With a sinking feeling, I suspected that my beloved angel and her two friends were soon going to leave my backyard for the final time. I rose from my chair to join them.
Confirming my last thought, Margaret gently placed her hands in mine and looked into my eyes. “It is now time for us to return Home, for our assignment here is finished. You will see us again, for we are always with you—remember that I am your guardian angel! And who knows”—she winked mysteriously—“our Father may have other assignments for you and me in the future.” Her blue eyes danced merrily as she smiled her beautiful smile and wrapped me in a big hug. Then she whispered, “Give your sweet Guy a hug from me, and tell him he will catch many fish with that believing heart of his.”
I laughed in surprise as she released me. Heaven had been listening to our conversation that night on the porch.
I addressed the three dear angels standing in front of me. “Thank you, all of you,” I said with a full heart. “This was a wonderful party, and your gift is precious to me. I will think of each of you every day as I sit out here in my garden. I love you all so much.”
“We love you, too, Jennifer,” all three said at once. That made me smile again. Each of the mighty warrior angels gave me a big, sweet, gentle hug, and then all three angels turned and retreated slowly back through the white rosebushes toward the statue of St. Francis.
As they shimmered and vanished in a soft glow of white light, my backyard was returned to its original setting—the roses and glowing, dancing lights were gone.
Feeling the return of those pesky tears, I breathed a deep sigh and walked over to where the angels had just departed. Something on the ground at the feet of St. Francis caught my attention. I smiled through my tears as I recognized what it was. There lay a beautiful white rose, with no thorns. Suddenly, the air around me was filled with a sweet, clear voice that could only belong to an angel, and to my delight, she was singing a hymn I dearly loved called “In the Garden” . . .
“I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses; and the voice I hear, falling on my ear; The Son of God discloses.
“And he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own, and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known . . . ”
I closed my eyes and let my mind fill with the image of Jesus smiling at me and holding my hand as we listened to the hymn together here in my own garden.
All too soon, Margaret’s sweet, beautiful voice faded away, and I knelt down to pick up the white rose. As I stood and brushed the tears from my face, a smile formed on my lips as I looked at the rose in my hand. I knew just what to do with it.