I"ve mentioned before about a beloved niece of mine that was killed in a car accident, three yrs ago June 6th. She was the daughter of my baby sister and her husband a UPC assistant Pastor. Their struggle and overcoming thru the Lord is a story in itself.
My nieces name was Erica and she spent many hours here at my home while it was just my son and I living here. She would come over and play board games or browse the computer. Erica had a beautiful, trained voice and was in the choir at a Christian college. It was common before she died for Erica and another niece, their friends and my now wife Liz to get together here and sing Christian songs occapella.
Erica went thru a spell where she was a little rebellious to her parents wishes and was behaving a little less than what one would expect from a young apostolic Christian lady. Mostly it was just in the boy or two she was interested in . . .one of which was showing sign of being abusive to her.
About a week before the accident we had an evangelist . . .and I have to admit , he was not one of my favorites, . . .brother "so and so" . .He"s one of those that will point you out and call you by name to come to the alter if he feels that you are balking . . .a real brash young man.
But anyway, his message really got to Erica and she went to the alter diligently seeking from the Lord, the help she needed for her life. By a happenstance there were pictures taken that included her at the end of the service . . . .another thing I was not happy with, as I did"nt appreciate the picture taking that was going on at this time. But be that as it may, . . .the look on Ericas face as she saught God and the Joy she had on her face when she received her blessing . . .she shined. And those pictures were a great deal of comfort later to all of us as they reminded us of her walk with God just days before her earthly life would be over.
It"s now almost three yrs later. My sister and brother in law have survived their loss and are stonger in the Lord than ever. But you know that they miss their daughter . Hers was the first grave behind our church where he often preaches.
You know . . .the devil will afflict us tho in anyway he can. There are scripture in the word that folk stand on to mean that our whole house will be saved if we serve the Lord. This man believed this and I know it afflicted his mind wondering tho if Erica was truly right with God when the accident took place.
Well to the point of this post and the reason I am writing it.
Last night at church, our Pastors wife (who plays the piano), a very quiet lady , not prone to giving messages, lingered, quietly continuing pecking at a few chords of the piano, seemingly long after the music stopped. She stops and with face aglow, looking yrs younger than her age, announced that she had an experience in a vision that she wanted to share.
She admitted that she had often worried about Ericas standing with the Lord. And then proceeded to tell about a day she was spending in prayer and reading the bible. She said that while she meditated all of a sudden it was like she saw a bright light and could hear music faintly. She heard a voice say "You know what that music is , don"t you?" At that point she wondered what was going on because she was awake, so she closed her eyes and said "Lord , if your trying to show me something, open my eyes to what it is". The voice said "Come and see, but you know you can only come so far". She starts going to the light and it was getting brighter and the singing was getting louder. Then she heard a noise that sounded like rain, but when she looked around it wasn"t raining. Then she saw a river that was crystal clear and was where the "rain" sound was coming from. The voice told her "This is as far as you can go". She stops at the river and the voice then tells her "Listen to the music . .you know what it is"
It was at that moment that she realized that what she was hearing was Erica singing. It wasn"t the same voice that she remembered . . .it was different . . .but at the same time was unmistakably Erica.
It was here her vision ended.
I often doubt when I hear of these things, and am guilty of dissecting things to death. The radiance tho of her face coupled with the blessing and power of the message. The joy it brought her parents and all the family, coupled with the warmth I feel in my heart, happy that my beloved little angel is prolly singing even more beautifully in the everlasting, makes me profoundly thankful for a loving Savior , and full of hope that our loved ones are not lost to us, but are only waiting in eternal joy for our arrival.
Erica Marie Ford
A Vision
