A Magnolia's Heart Beats

The chat topic for this week is provided by Kim. She writes, "Tell about an experience when you sensed God’s super natural power working through you. Give details! :)"

I was 17 years old. I saw him come out of the stairway door. He was dressed in fatigues and had black grease paint under his eyes. He had a black duffle bag. He laid his duffel bag by the stairwell and we locked eyes as he suddenly stood on the other side of the unlocked glass door from me.

I repeat. I was 17 years old. I am 38 now. We didn't face matters of security issues back in the day, and the teen in me froze. This was a summer, spring break and Christmas holiday job that Daddy got for me answering the phone, opening the mail and directing visitors where they needed to go. And one I absolutely loved, except for at that moment!

I felt the need to run fast and run far. I stood up, but immediately had to sit back down because I could not feel my legs. Perhaps if I had run, he would hurt someone. I didn't know if he had a gun or not. I only knew he could have had one.

I prayed. I asked God what on earth I was supposed to do? It was a short prayer, "God, what do I do?" You can pray quick prayers like that. He is quick to answer if you listen.

I felt a whisper in my heart. "Press the new button." I sat there staring at this man on the other side of the glass like he was a visitor, contemplating whether or not to come in. I tried not to let him see the fear I felt. I'm thinking, "New button? What new button?" And then I remembered. When I started back to work that summer, I was told that a button was under the desk drawer, and I was not to press it unless I needed to. It was easy to bump and I wasn't to bump it. I'm not sure I even realized what it was for. I had only been back for a week or two! "Press the new button." My legs worked! I could feel my knee....Press Press Press Press Press! I heeded that voice. I pressed with my knee and just kept watching him.

He decided not to come into the receptionist's office but to go back in the stairwell. As soon I saw the door close completely, I stood up only to find out that I could feel nothing on my body. Fear had caused my body to collapse. How could I have pressed that button with jelly legs? Only by the power of God flowing through me.

Daddy had an office in the next building, but he was already off duty. He was a security officer at the time (he's retired now and works on contract 2 days a week.) But another officer came to the rescue. He appeared almost immediately, it seemed, and all I remember saying was "Stairwell. He let me press the button." He called down the hall for my boss to come up, which she did. He told her "so and so" was in the building and to get me to the back office to calm down.

He didn't take time to let me cry on his shoulder at that moment, and Daddy wouldn't have either. He took off for the stairwell and chased the man down, catching him a few streets over. I was so scared and I remember telling my boss that I wanted my Daddy (there's a mature employee, huh?) and that He let me press the button. She asked me, "Who?" and I told her that it was God. She was a believer, too, so she didn't question it. She helped me get up and we walked back to her office, where she called my Daddy to come and drive me home. I got to go home early that day. And I didn't have to fight the traffic alone. Imagine that!

About the man...I knew his name, I knew his face, and I knew his personality. He was known to be on medication and to be of significant threat when he was off of his medication. He was of the opinion that he was owed something by someone. He stalked that someone who worked in our building, and by law she could not give him what he owed.

But there was Someone else whose Name I knew. Although I have yet to see His face, I knew His personality. He was known to me to be my Defender and my Strength. When I had jelly legs He reinforced them enough to "Press the new button."

What was in his duffel bag, by the way? A football, an old coke can, a pair of stinky socks, and 2 job applications he had colored in blue marker. Outside the lines, I might add. No bomb squad was called. Again, this was back in the day. The officer just looked in it for inventory purposes and to make sure there was no weapon. The socks reeked, but they didn't count as a deadly weapon.

The last I heard, he was in and out of the state hospital. I should ask Daddy whatever became of him. I haven't thought of him in years. 21 years have gone by since then and I can still hear the whisper I felt in my heart, "Press the new button." I wonder if that button is still there. I'll ask Daddy. He can find out.