Invisible Friends

As an adult I have come to understand that while we may “feel” lonely, we are never alone. We live in a world that is unseen but as real as you and I. Before my brother, Naldo was born, my parents said that I used to have an imaginary friend and their name was “Twel”. I’m laughing just thinking about it now. My mother told me that I said Twel lived in the corner of my ceiling. For all I know, it could have been rats running a mock in our home’s ceiling but they said I used to play outside with my friend often.

I’ve spent a long time searching for the ad that apparently “proved” that I had an imaginary friend. I think it’s an old KFC advert. If I recall correctly, it starts off with a little girl sitting with her invisible friend in the garden and her dad is mowing the lawn when he moves the mower in front a patch of grass and she is livid. She’s mad because her dad just mowed her friend over and it ends with him taking her and her friend for ice-cream. When I saw this ad for the first time I got it immediately but the rest of my family was left confused until I explained the situation and they said that only someone who’s had an imaginary friend would understand that. So it was a big joke!

Needless to say, growing up, I’ve had somewhat of an active imagination to the point where I could not and still can’t watch horror movies and suspense-thrillers are pushing it. As a child, I would have such vivid dreams that I to me, they were as real as the people around us.

Back to the invisible friends, my mother thought I was seeing demons! Being somewhat inquisitive about this subject, I went onto John Paul Jackson’s Ministry website and found some really interesting stuff. He speaks a lot about the prophetic and dreams. This is what he has to say and I loved it so I had to share it with you. At least this way I know I’m not a crack-pot but knowing that we have the host of heaven surrounding us on every side is a wonderful, welcomed comfort.

Did you have invisible friends when you were a child — playmates only you could see? Concerned parents occasionally approach me about this topic. What are “invisible friends”? Are they dangerous? Is this a sign of a prophetic gift? What should parents do when their children insist these people are real? Though I am not the final authority on the topic, I do have some ideas based on Scripture and personal experience.

When it comes to their children having invisible friends, many Christian parents assume the worst. It’s a familiar spirit! It’s a spirit guide! That could very well be true, but remember: For every counterfeit, there is an original. In other words, there is a strong possibility that when children play with invisible friends, they are really seeing and interacting with angels — and often, they are aware of that.

WHAT DO ANGELS LOOK LIKE?

The Bible says that we won’t always be able to tell the difference between humans and angels:

“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.”
— Hebrews 13:2

It would be very difficult for us to “unwittingly” entertain angels if they looked like angels. We would know exactly what they were if they were glowing or had six-foot wingspans. Instead, based on this Scripture, we can assume that sometimes, angels look just like you and me. They may appear to us as painters, mathematicians or doctors; they may look African, Irish or Hispanic. They may even look like children.

The night Diane and I brought Micah home from the hospital, I was visited by two angels: a 7-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy. I didn’t immediately understand they were angels, because they were unlike any angels I had seen before. They began to tell me different things about Micah, and I asked them, “How do you know that?”

“Because we’re angels sent from the throne of God,” they replied.

“You’re not angels,” I said. “I know what angels are like. They’re bigger than you. They’re adult-sized. Some of them are really huge, and some of them are really muscular, and some of them are really fast, and you’re not any of that. You’re just a 7-year-old little girl and a 10-year-old little boy.”

“You haven’t seen everything,” they answered.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you don’t know that many of us choose to take the form of a child when we are assigned to that child. Your children talk to us, because we take a form that doesn’t threaten them but allows them to become what God created them to become. We’re here to help them, not to prove we’re anything. Here’s another one of us now!”

A little boy approached, and the girl said, “Tell him what’s going on.”

“I was there,” the second boy told me. “I saw them up in the throne room, and I saw God giving them the assignment to watch over your son Micah. What they tell you, you need to do, because I saw God giving them the command.”

WHAT SHOULD PARENTS DO?

As time progresses, I think we will discover again and again that we “haven’t seen everything” yet. In the meantime, if your children are playing with invisible friends, talk to them about it. Find out how they feel when they’re playing with them. Do they feel happy? Peaceful? Scared? If your children show any hesitancy, rephrase your questions and ask again. In most cases, their answers will reveal to you exactly who sent these invisible playmates.

Remember that in biblical times, it was common knowledge that angels sometimes take the visage of the people they protect; why else would the Christians meeting in Mary’s house have thought it was Peter’s angel at the door (Acts 12:12–15)? I remember being a child and talking to angels who looked like my friends, but I knew they were angels. They told me what they were, but I also just knew. Your children will likely “just know” as well.

Be open to the possibility that God is communicating to your children via people, objects or animals (remember Balaam’s donkey) only they can see. If you raise your children in the way God has set before them, they will see and know things that are humanly impossible for them to see and know. They will be able to interact with Heaven, as God intended all of us to do. They will have eyes to see.

Related articles

• Paranormal Corner: Kids who talk to ‘invisible friends’ may be sensitive to spirits, experts say (nj.com)
• Your Toddler’s Imaginary Friend (everydayhealth.com)

I’m followed by Angels

I honestly have no choice but to write a response to “Sometimes I don’t know…” because the support has been so incredible but more than the “Angels that follow me” this is about the confirmation that God Himself has shown. He really is just that good that He blew my mind AGAIN like he did in “The Life Of This Student”….

To go back, last week or so I was having a particularly bad day (as we all do) and I decided to write about it. Understand that I am deliberate about what I say in this little space of mine, it’s a gentle warning and nothing to be worried about. I don’t think that it was more than two hours after the proverbial “ink” had dried on THAT post that I saw a poster for an event called the “Young Economists For Africa”  . They were hosting an event on THAT day on east campus and the speakers were two young, black women (one an actuarial analyst and the other a leading economist at the Competition Commission) at the top of their games. Now you might say oh okay, so what? The so what, is because I have full intentions of using the degree I’m currently completing to become one of South Africa’s top black female economists!!! Yes, there I said it!!! Now, I’m feeling awkward because I’ve never said that more than TWICE out aloud. To believe so boldly seemed kind of silly back then. The engagement was not earth-shattering (but I must say that those women knew their beans/business) but what it did was give me a bigger picture, to refocus, like God was lifting my eyes.

My church-home is “His People Joburg” in Parktown North and I love it to bits and pieces. It really is an amazing place. Pastor Carol and Andrew Gossman run the second morning service called AM2 and boy do they hear from God, which is amazeballs but we all can hear from God which is also amazeballs. During the services, there are “words of knowledge” shared like, someone has left ear pain or depression or what ever the “knowledge” is, members of the congregation are asked to raise their hands so that others directly around then pray for healing – I just love it. On this Sunday past, I think God definitely had it in for me. The word of knowledge was simply that everything was going to be okay. It was that quiet confidence I needed because that was the very thing that my heart was aching to know. As if that wasn’t enough, the guest speakers for the morning was a family that attended my church but were now residing in the USA. They shared their testimony of how they felt a prompting from God to take their business, as fund managers, to the States at a time when the recession was still in full force. They shared how their business had almost failed to the point of giving away the office equipment when one client offered them funds to manage. They are now at a point (almost two years later) where they are managing funds in excess of 80 million US dollars from being dead-broke in a foreign country with nothing but a word from God and faith the size of a mustard seed.

What brought me to an almost ugly cry (with much restraint) was when their daughters sang “There can be miracles” by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. “Many nights we prayed, with no proof anyone could hear. In our hearts a hopeful song, we barely understood. Now we are not afraid, although we know there’s much to fear. We were moving mountains long, before we knew we could. (skip to the bridge) They don’t always happen when you ask. And it’s easy to give in to your fear. But when you’re blinded by your pain, can’t see the way clear through the rain. A small but still resilient voice says hope is very near. There can be miracles, when you believe. Though hope is frail, it’s hard to kill. Who knows what miracles, you can achieve. You will when you – BELIEVE…”

 Deep down, I know that  I still have so much more to give and that my contribution will be significant. I can’t get away from that knowing and I won’t reject it either. On a Facebook friend’s page, this quote struck a deep chord, it read: Your spirit carries a memory of your future, that’s why you constantly get this feeling on the inside of you, telling you that you are meant to be more than what you are… it’s what you do with these promptings that matter!”

To those who responded, I’m humbled by your stories and words of encouragement – YOU too give me hope, my heart says thank you.