This story, from my assistant, Zaul, is a little more personal than the others because it involved me in a way I was initially unaware of. It is so simple, funny, and fascinating all at once that I felt compelled to share it.
Zaul has worked for me for the past seven years. He is not only an employee but a very good friend. He also runs his own catering business, as cooking is his first love.
“I had an older truck that I used to deliver our food, but it kept giving me problems,” Zaul explained. “It would break down, I’d get it fixed, and then it would break down again. Mechanics couldn’t figure out a long-term solution. It was causing me a tremendous amount of anxiety each day because I couldn’t afford a new vehicle, but I also couldn’t afford to have this one break down on me during a job or I’d lose my business.”
One evening, Zaul was sitting on his couch watching television — the drama Empire, to be exact. “There’s a character on the show named Cookie Lyon, played by Taraji P. Henson. I like Cookie a lot because she has a lot of fire and passion, which reminds me of my mom.”
Zaul’s mom died in 1999 when he was in his early twenties.
“I was really stressed about what to do regarding my truck, wondering if it would allow me to fulfill my next catering job. At the same time, I was watching this show, which got me thinking about my mom and how much I missed her. With all this weighing on my mind, I started talking to my mom. I asked her to send me a sign that would let me know she was with me and that everything regarding my truck and my business would work out.”
But Zaul didn’t ask for just any sign.
“I was also texting with Bill while I was talking to her and watching the show,” Zaul said. “I said to my mom, ‘I want you to have Bill text me the word cookie. That will be your sign to me.’ ”
As I’ve stated, asking for or watching for a specific sign from a spirit can cause us to miss other obvious signs. Could his mother send him a sign when he asks for one? Of course. Could she somehow make me use a random word like that with her son when he asks for it? That seems a bit over-the-top, even I have to say. While setting the intention is good, making such a specific request could result in disappointment.
“Did I think she would send me that sign through Bill?” Zaul said. “The word cookie? Really? No, I didn’t think that at all. It’s not that I didn’t believe, because I did. I had received many signs from her and other loved ones who had passed. But I knew it was kind of ridiculous to tell her that I wanted something that specific. I was just very frustrated with my situation and was hoping for something a little more convincing to pick me up.”
Zaul and I continued to text each other for a little longer before wrapping up our conversation. He told me he’d talk to me the next day.
“Bill texted back,” Zaul said. “I expected his response to be ‘See you tomorrow’ or ‘Have a good night’ or ‘Sounds good’ or even just ‘Okay.’ But what did it say? It said ‘cookie.’ No joke. It really said ‘cookie.’ I’d have fallen down if I hadn’t been sitting.”
Within seconds after I had sent that text, my phone rang. It was Zaul.
“I said, ‘Bill, why did you just send me that?’ He was confused and asked me what I was talking about. I said, ‘Cookie! Why did you text me the word cookie?’ He laughed at me. He said, ‘I never said that.’ I said, ‘Yes, you did. I have it right here on my phone.’ Bill looked at his phone and busted out laughing again.”
I hadn’t typed “cookie.” I’d typed “coolio” — as in, when he told me he’d see me tomorrow, I was whimsically saying “cool.” But the spell-check feature on my phone didn’t recognize the word, so it autocorrected it, turning the l into a k and the last o into an e, to change the message from coolio to cookie.
“I told Bill what had just happened, and he was really excited,” Zaul said. “Not as excited as I was, but pretty darn excited. He said, ‘Seriously, Zaul, could anyone ever receive a better sign than that?’ I’ve learned from Bill that signs don’t normally come to us in the way we expect or at our request. But to receive something that exact, just minutes after asking for it, was truly a gift, a gift from my mom.”
Zaul’s truck was able to last long enough for him to purchase another one, and his catering business continues to flourish today.
“I knew after receiving that text that everything was going to be okay. I didn’t know yet how things would be okay, but it strengthened my faith and gave me hope that they would be. The shock of seeing that one word significantly lessened the stress at hand and triggered a huge sigh of relief. It raised me up, which was exactly what I needed at that time in my life.”