A Visit With Frank Kelly

Monday evening Paul and I went on a date. It's funny - we almost always end up going to the same place to eat. So, we made our way to Nabeel's (a wonderful place to eat if you are ever in the Birmingham area). We ate a nice dinner and shared great conversation. It's amazing how just a few minutes of talking without interruption can really build your marriage. After our meal, we drove next door and walked into the church - not really for any particular reason other than to spend some time there. When we entered the church, we realized that they had a special guest doing a talk. The speaker was a man named Frank Kelly. We found a seat and listened to his story. We had missed about half of his talk, but we still enjoyed hearing, and learning from, his life experiences. Little did I know what a treat I was in for! Paul has been to many services like this, but it was my first one. It was titled a 'healing service'. After Frank finished his story, he invited us all to stay and he would pray with each one of us individually. Turns out that Frank has a gift, given from God. Frank is what I would call an intercessor. He can lay his hands on someone, say a prayer, and God is able to work through him. Normally, I would be the first one out of the building and getting in my car. Seriously, this stuff kinda gives me the willies. However, God gave me peace. He led us into the church that night and put Frank in front of us for a reason. I felt no anxiety at all. And if you know me, that in itself is pretty awesome. Since we had arrived late that night, we were sitting near the back of the church, which put us in the back of the line to see Frank. We took this opportunity to pray, reflect and read while we waited. It was a special time. The crowd got smaller and smaller as time ticked by and soon it was our turn to speak with Frank. He came right over to us and asked (well, he kinda stated) "you two married?" Ha. Yep. He first addressed us as a couple. He said some extremely interesting things pertaining to our situation in life at this moment. One example - He told Paul not to question me quite so much. Ha! Trust that your wife knows what's important. Paul is the authority, however I know how to run things. Awesome. Perfect. He then directly addressed us as individuals. As Catholics, we sometimes ask people to pray for us. We not only ask or family and friends for prayers, we also ask those who have gone before us to pray for us. So, Frank gave us each of us a list of saints (those who are in Heaven) that could pray for us and directly intercede for us with our special intentions. Paul's list: St Ignatius of Loyola (for discernment), St Gregory the Great (for wisdom), St Ansel (for understanding) and he also told Paul to read Psalm 146. Um. As if the specific saints weren't enough...God wanted Paul to read that particular psalm?! "...the Lord protects the stranger, sustains the orphan, and the widow." WOW! Then Frank prayed for me. He first mentioned peace. Am I feeling the peace of God? Oh yes! He then named St Theresa of Avila (for depression and perfection...give it to God, St Francis de Sales (for writing and the gift of counsel in working with people), St Pius the 10th (the Eucharistic saint), and drumroll please... St Rose of Lima (everything will fall into place). Wow! No doubt! We left that evening with the biggest sense of peace and comfort in what we are doing with our lives. We know that God has led us down this path as a family and we are both completely anxiety free regarding the future of our family. Incredible. Thank you, God.