Mystery-Liz Hill
On Sunday morning I had an incredible power encounter with the Spirit of God. It came on me with unexpected suddenness and power. I was in worship as usual in our morning service and there was a really wonderful presence of God in the meeting. For those of you who are wondering what I mean by this, I will try to explain. Often Christians think that a well performed set of worship songs that stir us up is the presence of God, but it was more than that. The music was great, but the air was charged with the power of God. All around me people were coming unglued with joy and laughter as the TANGIBLE love of God released joy into the meeting. Some were dancing, others laughing, some reeled like drunks their faces covered in unabashed delight that God was near. Many were just prone on the floor enjoying God. As I was enjoying the moment Jenni one of our pastors walked up to me and said
“Nigel, my Mom drew this for Mystery, I did not tell her anything before she did it”
Then she handed me the picture above. As soon as I looked at it the power of God hit me! At first it felt like a strong pressure against my chest which built in intensity until it seemed to crescendo and explode sending me crashing to the floor. As I hit the floor I could feel the power coursing through me so violently that my left foot was vibrating so hard against the floor that it was actually rather painful. Then it seemed to fade away. However every time I looked at the picture I was hit by a new wave of power. God really got my attention!
When I got home I read the attached note explaining the journey that Liz took in giving us the word. It was tremendously encouraging, especially in view of the fact that Liz had no idea of the promises and the journey we have already been on. I loved the way God spoke to her, using her creativity and her own gift for words to craft a very unique and special word for my treasure-Mystery.
Read it below, I think you will be struck by the loving tenderness of our Father.
MYSTERY
(June 2010)
As I placed little Mystery before God and asked for pictures I saw bows as in pretty pink ribbons tied in bows. But, the word “Down” as in Down Syndrome, then seemed to be highlighted and my reaction was; “NO, what a horrible label to put on to a new born baby girl. I understand this much, that research has found and named a syndrome by the person who first identified the common characteristics and grouped them, but no God did not give this label to Mystery”.
Starting afresh I asked the Lord once again for pictures and again bows came to me, but this time arrow heads pointing upwards toward a rainbow. Instead of the word down, wond was highlighted, and immediately I recognized the connection, it is the anagram form of down and contains two thirds of the letters that make up wonder.
I pondered this little revelation, as I thought that the word down could just as easily become wo(u)nd (as in sore). I questioned this whilst I was inadvertently caught up in this word game, and this is what I felt that God was saying,
“By labeling My special ones with this general term you create the wound in them, whilst you continue to subject them to this label through their babyhood, childhood and adulthood. But This little girl of mine will mystify and confuse the medics especially, because she is not labeled this way, so she will not carry the wound which implies imperfection”..
As her name compels the instinct to solve and find solutions, It occurred to me also that it provides the missing er needed to turn wond into wonder . So instead of a wound, she carries wonder.
*WONDER:
Mystery will convey not only to her family everything that this word wonder implies but to all who encounter her.
She will transform an otherwise dull event into a wondrous one.
She will leave wonderful stories in her wake.
Mystery will inspire wonder in her family and all who meet her.
She will inspire tears of delight.
She will stir up tender emotions long buried, in the most hardened of
hearts. The tears won’t be out of pity for her but rather out of the transparent innocence that she reflects.
I believe that God has given to you, Desmond family, much more than a SIGN of his amazing love for you all, but a WONDER too, His own personification of it.
*SYMMETRY
Whilst drawing the pictures, 6 trumpeter hornbills grabbed my attention as they flew almost towards the window from out of the blue, then disappeared as suddenly over the roof.
Immediately I felt the significance of 6 birds in flight and although they weren’t in formation, there was such a sense of order and form & purpose in my experience of them that moment, that I felt this was significant. At some point just prior to this image, I also saw the word sym(m)etry stand out for me when I looked at her name, MYSTERY, (Another anagram).
I felt I was being urged to continue these thoughts.. Symmetry suggests beauty, balance, order and harmony, congruity etc.
I noted with interest how the pictures that came to me were all coming together as a unit, as a harmonious whole, there was beauty, and balance too. It struck me then that it is the addition of Mystery to your family that is necessary to produce this completeness.. Form and order will be the unifying factor as you find your new sense of purpose that has been inspired by the birth of Mystery.
BOWS
The pretty pink ribbons tied into bows, birds in flight, and the rainbow. As I reflected again on this word bow, ‘bent’ as in ‘not straight’ and immediately this spoke of a negative image to me. But I felt the following prompting, the heavenly bodies in the universe all follow curved or bowed rather than straight planes. Arches lend beauty to structures such as buildings and bridges, and in terms of durability and strength the bow shape in the arches obviously enhances these qualities.. Mystery may not conform to our way of thinking in terms of what is normal, regular, acceptable, but like the bow in these physical structures, she adds another dimension that is not only beautiful, but sound, strong and necessary for the completion of harmony and wholeness. Yes, she will break the barriers of conventional thinking. Just as the rainbow elicits surprise and delighted gasps of wonder, when we look up expecting to see clear or cloudy, grey or stormy skies and instead see a rainbow, this non conformist quality in Mystery will also turn so many preconceived ideas about Down syndrome upside down and inside out
COLOURS
The colour blue, and the glare of white light stood out for me as significant for Mystery..
Firstly blue indicates the life giving flow of the Holy Spirit, revelation and the prophetic. This will be perfected in her as she grows up.
I wished I could accurately portray the white glare of pure reflected light on to the sea that followed the flight of the arrowhead in it’s upward movement. Because just as light plays tricks on our conventional understanding of colour, as in a “blue sea” so Mystery will add another dimension to commonly held concepts of wisdom, foolishness and the nature of God’s love. So as the glare of white light changes blue sea to a brightness that our eyes struggle to get used to, so Mystery will bring brightness into lives especially broken lives who have become too familiar with darkness. White suggests purity, holiness, righteousness and peace, she will radiate these qualities as naturally as the sun radiates warmth…
The little pink bows speak of completeness, wholeness. Mystery has brought it, but it doesn’t end there because whenever one unties a ribbon something is loosed into the atmosphere. Mystery will continually produce unexpected little surprises that will touch deep places in the hearts of many.
ARROWHEADS
.As He points the way (arrowhead), and leads you forward, beyond the rainbow, he will show you the other side where you will find new hope, new peace, new joy above and beyond all your expectations.
God works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.
