AND THEN JESUS WALKED IN THE ROOM

It's a rare occasion when we can observe someone who appears to be Jesus in the flesh. Jesus said that whoever had seen Him had seen the Father. On a recent trip I felt like I had seen God, Himself, walk in a room. The person didn't announce that she was God or some creature worth adoring. She merely walked in the room with an unbelievable presence of peace and love accompanying her. Her name is Jennifer and she has the spiritual ambiance of an angel or Jesus or God Himself. Why do I describe her that way? Certainly it was her calmness upon entering the busy circumstances she walked into, which was a family gathering. She had been at work all day, having traveled an hour to work, worked eight hours at a difficult job, traveled again an hour to the gathering. Yet, she had no appearance of being tired from her long day. She appeared fresh and eager to see her many family members in attendance. Jennifer's family consists of her husband, a five year old son and twin baby boys who are seven months old. Her extended family present in the house included lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, second cousins, etc., of which there were 18 present at the family gathering. Upon her entrance into the house, Jennifer's eyes searched for her babies, the objects of her motherly love. She greeted all of the other relatives with kind regard and grace, telling them she appreciated their part in helping take care of her children that day. But her eyes searched for her children. It appeared that she could hardly wait to embrace them and speak loving words to them. Her long drive to and from work and her long work day caused her to deserve some time by herself before becoming an attentive mom again. Not Jennifer. She had spent all day without her babies and she had stored up love that longed to embrace her offspring by touching them and speaking loving words to them. Her eyes spotted one of the twins in a baby seat and she ran over to him, focusing her entire attention on him. She put her warm hands on his bare, chubby legs, running her hands up and down his legs while speaking sweet "somethings" to him, looking admiringly into his eyes. Then she cupped his face in both hands while uttering more soothing, love filled words to him. The twin Jacob was visibly moved by the unconditional love of his mother so his eyes lit up like a beam from a spot light and his mouth broke into a big toothless smile. His little legs began to bounce up and down in the baby seat. Jennifer lifted him out of the seat and cuddled him against her chest, continuing to speak love words to him, genuinely validating his existence. The rapid relaxation of his body was visible to everyone in the room. He was sheltered in the arms of complete, unconditional love. That scene of adoration continued for about five minutes. Then Jennifer asked the location of the other twin. He was sitting on the lap of one of the adult cousins in another room. The loving mom handed Jacob to an aunt to hold and walked playfully but stealthily into the adjoining room. I heard her begin her loving litany delivered to Jason, the other seven month old twin. I peeked around the corner and observed her doing the same thing, running her loving hands up and down his little legs while validating his existence with her assuring words. Then she cupped his sweet face in her hands and continued with gentle words of love while looking directly into his eyes. His reaction was the same as his twin, complete elation at seeing his adoring mother. As she picked him up, his little body did the same things as Jacob's did, it relaxed completely as he was cradled in her arms while she spoke of his value to her life. All I could think was that Jesus was still in the room. After assuring her twins of her love and their value, she asked where her five year old was playing. She was told that he was upstairs with his teenage girl cousins playing video games. She walked to the stairs and called his name, Anthony. Anthony ran down the stairs, leaving his game willingly, and was embraced by his mom who told him how much she had missed being with him that day, telling him that she wished she could have been with him but that they are together again and she was so glad. Neither did she ask him if he was a good boy that day, putting him to a test, nor did she ask him or a report about his day. She merely told him about how much she missed his smiles, his funny stories and how she missed being able to read to him that day. That five year old boy soaked in her love like a sponge. My thought was no wonder Anthony is the picture of how a five year old boy should be. He is blessed with good looks, good manners, kindness, a maturity beyond his years and the ability to talk to adults like he's an adult, without fear of rebuke or disapproval from the listener. Anthony ran upstairs to play with his cousins and Jennifer came into the kitchen to converse with her aunts and me. She picked up one of the twins on the way to the kitchen and he placed his head right under her chin as she hugged and hugged him. She was being refilled with the love and adoration of her child and the baby was experiencing the building of a firm foundation in his psyche. . Jennifer began to tell us about the twins and their differences, said one was a leader and one was a follower. The boys were only seven months old and she already knew keys to their personalities. She explained that one was definitely an adventurer and the other one played it safe. I asked how she can tell them apart since they are considered identical twins. She said that one has a little red tiny birth mark beside his nose that the other twin doesn't have. Not once did Jennifer utter a word of exhaustion from her busy day at work. Not once did she gripe about having to come home to more work. Every word from her mouth brought another assurance of her calm and sweet disposition. Later, the information from my son was that her background is not the background that would lend itself to her present calm disposition. Her mother abandoned her when she was small and her dad was a drug addict, so she was raised in foster homes. Either some of her foster mothers taught her how to love her children or it comes from God. Jennifer knew that being with twin babies and a five year old had been difficult for her husband James, even though he had had help part of the day. Cradling one baby on her hip, she took a cup of coffee to her husband. Not one word of, "You think you have had a bad day. Think about me. I had to be on my feet all day in the lab." No, not that young wife and mother. Instead, she gave her husband the attention that he badly needed after his day of full responsibility of the boys was ending. She knew the labor that is necessary for caring for twins and another child, and she was refilling the tank of her husband which had grown empty of affirmation. She was a jewel to watch. I went to bed before they left but I was amazed that the calm, loving composure never left Jennifer. Yes, it was like Jesus was there in person. His love filled the rooms of the house through Jennifer. That must be what He meant when He said that we would be His witnesses. I know that I had witnessed the true personality of Jesus that day through a human vessel, Jennifer. If all of God's children had the same issues of peace and love emanating from their beings that Jennifer has, there would be no more wars, no more family dramas, no divorces, no killings, no suicides, no seductions, no abuses and no conflicts. There would be peace on earth. I want to be the same witness that Jennifer was that day, where people think Jesus walked in the room. Don't you?