I have two daughters, twenty-two and thirty-one years old. When my eldest daughter was eight, an only child, I made up my mind that I didn't want anymore children and decided to have a tubal ligation. I had been on birth control for eight years. I went to my doctor to make plans for this surgical procedure. During the examination, he found ovarian cysts. The doctor instructed me to go home, pack a bag, and check right into the hospital. The surgery was performed and everything went smoothly.

Three weeks after the operation, I was lying in bed one night when I saw a brilliant flash of light in my bedroom. I thought a car had turned around in my driveway. But when my husband walked into the room, he told me that I was glowing, that my face was radiant with light. I just laughed at him. A week later I found out that I was pregnant.

I was devastated. I was so angry with God that I stopped going to church. Then one night I had a dream. In the dream, I was in the bathroom thinking that I couldn't be pregnant, when all of a sudden a very tall man appeared. He said that God had sent him to tell me that everything was going to be okay. He told me that he was my guardian angel and that his name was Jerry. He reminded me of a great Zulu warrior.

My daughter was gifted from the start. She has a voice from God, even though no one else in our family can sing. I love to listen to music and I play the radio all day. One day, when my daughter was about four years old, I noticed that she was singing the words to the songs that she liked. It was so beautiful that I just cried and cried.

We started going to church again and I enrolled her in kindergarten, at four years of age! They told me one day that I should enroll her in a special school of the arts that was being offered at that time. I took her to the audition and she was chosen by all four of the teachers who interviewed her. During class sessions, they taught her various old spiritual songs. The pastor of our church would coax her to sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" during the praise services. The spirit of the Lord would come into the room and everyone, I mean everyone, would be dancing or crying.

It's just proof to me that God knows what's best for us even when we don't know it ourselves.

Sharon Delk

slim49@earthlink.net