Heaven Can't Wait |
About God
How Geri Met God Geri was working at the TV station one day. She was putting together one of the many weekend segments on NBC5 ChIcago's Weekend Today show. This segment had to do with how to make a better/healthier omelet by using broccoli (at least that's how she remembers it today). "I know I've done this segment before. By now, don't all my viewers know how to make a healthier omelet. Is this It?" she asked herself. Then she asked God. "Is this it, God? Is this what you want me to do for the rest of my life. Is this it? Is this all there is?" Geri remembers turning to her right side and shining on her, on the ceiling in the studio, a klieg light. Ha! She thought. And looking at that light she asked again, "Is this it, God?" That was the beginning. That was in the summer of 2005. By September of 2005, Geri couldn't get up for work. She struggled through. And, almost impulsively, she went into her boss and said "I can't do this any more. I'll work until the end of the ratings book in November, and then I'll do something else." Geri was scared. Very very scared. She had no idea what she was going to do. That was the beginning. Now, after almost four years, she is telling her story. In the beginning The fabulous managers at Channel 5 tried to put me somewhere. A writing shift here, a fill in producer slot there. The final show I produced was a weekend 5pm show for the anchor Bob Sirott. I put the show together in the computer. I wrote the last tease. Then, some force from within me, in my heart area, pushed me away from the computer. In my head, I heard the words: "You do not want to do this anymore!" To which I answered, out loud I might add, "I know that. But, what do you want me to do?" I was frustrated with the sense of not wanting to produce news shows. I was frustrated filling on various jobs in the newsroom that I did not want to do. I sat in newsrooms, with that voice in my head screaming, "I don't care. I don't care about any of these stories. Not a one." At the same time, I was worried. Working in news for more than two decades as a reporter, writer and producer afford me freedom when it came to writing checks for the things I wanted for myself and my family. If I didn't do this, where would I get the money to pay my bills? The next week, I was asked to fill in on my old weekend producer slot. It seemed I was in a maze and not knowing how to get out. But before I had the opportunity to do my old job, I was hospitalized. It was April 21, 2006. My eye had swollen up. I couldn't see. But nevermind that, more worrisome was how I looked. (Yes, that is the major concern when you spend a decade in television.) My eye had really swollen up. It was protruding at least an inch and a half. It had been swelling up overnight and all day. A friend kept saying, "I'll take you to the emergency room." To which I kept replying, "I don't want to go anywhere. I want to stay home." Finally, at 5 p,m, that night, rush our, she took me into Northwestern's Emergency Room. It was a very painful ride; every bump and slam on the break, I felt with intense pain. Well, remember those words I said "I don't want to go anywhere. I want to stay home." Stay home I did. For more than a year. No work, very little play and a lot of sleep. For more than a year I was unable to be in crowds and unable to watch TV. I mean really unable to watch TV. A television commercial of 30 seconds was way too much stimulation. I couldn't bear it. My body was so sensitive, I couldn't last more than a second or two watching television. Odd, since that's how I made my living. Instead, I mostly slept and took warm sea-salt baths. I read a lot and listened to the radio when I wasn't being a student of God's. And in all that time, most nights, I made dinner and had dinner with my family. I remember before I had this awakening, I would yearn to cook dinner for my family and sit and talk to my husband and two sons. For a year, most nights I prepared dinner thanking God so much for the opportunity to cook and be with my family. How blessed God is, that in my illness I could do what I most yearned to do. Thank you, God! My appreciation was endless even while my confusion abounded. Oddly, from the time I was in the hospital to this day right now. I never for one minute believed I was in danger. Nevermind what I could and could not do and what I did and did not do. And especially, the living that I was not making for my family and my future had me on edge. Regardless of all that was outwardly going wrong in my life, inside things were going very very right. I felt that God was with me every step of the way. I felt that God was guiding me down a different path that was not yet lit up for me. It was there, I knew it. I had total trust. It made no sense to have that trust, but I guess that's what trust is; believing when there is no evidence to have faith. In a way it was easy to trust, because inside me I felt and still feel the presence of God right beside me, right inside me. Even at the hospital. As my close friends and family stared at me. I told them "Don't worry. Everything is going to be alright. I just know it. Something is happening to me. I don't know what is happening to me. But I know I am to rest and to listen. " I rested, I listened. I heard. I saw and I felt. God introduced me to pieces of Heaven. And I wrote it all down. At this point, I have to stop to thank my husband John and my two children; who watched their wife and mother change like night and day changes. While I tried to console them, it was very hard on them. Most times they saw me in confusion rather than in gratitude. I thank them immensely for staying with me and respecting my transformation. I went from working at the TV station all the time to mostly sleeping in bed all the time. It was a reversal of fortune. A reversal that allowed me to see all that God wanted me to see. The ironic fact the whole story begins with an eye injury was not lost on me. I knew I was not seeing the big picture. And I knew I had to fasten the seat belt, because God was about to show it to me. Step by Step. Step One: The Light at the end of The Tunnel. Really! The first step was my first dream or vision. I was sleeping on my beautiful bed in my cozy bedroom. I saw a very bright bright light. My first thought was, I need to close the blinds. In my bedroom there are windows stacked on top of each other and the ceilings are very high. Cathedral-like. I picked my head up (still in the dream-state and I saw where the light was coming from. I realized then I was in a dream-state. So, I remembered hearing about the Light. I said to myself. There's a light, I guess I should go toward it. Nothing happened at first. I remembered that feet wouldn't work where I was. I attempted to move my feet, but that didn't propel me. So, I decided to think toward it. My thoughts were on the light and I started to move toward it. But immediately I was slapped back into reality and woke up. I thought that was strange. One thought I had was maybe I'm not good enough to travel to the light. Maybe my soul wasn't pure enough to see God, if that was indeed what the light was. I believed and still believe that was what the Light was. To fill in more information about The Tunnel. I have to say, I have heard about it and read about others experiencing The Tunnel. My Tunnel did not include relatives or friends or anything. It was just a tunnel, with no one in sight to help me. Just the Light at the other end. At this point, I need to tell you that in the summer of 2009 I visited the end of the tunnel, probably better said, God showed me the full (I can only guess at this) view. But it was a long time getting there. He showed me many things in dreams, apparitions and automatic writing. My experiences have been and are so lovely that I want to tell you more about them. More on this story to come.
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