Chapter 28

Open the eyes of their hearts.

—Ephesians 1:18

It is difficult to find human words to adequately describe visions. 

Soon after Roma passed through that thin veil between the world we inhabit and the one we are all steadily approaching, two friends, unknown to each other, contacted me about clear visions they had of Roma the night he made that journey. I asked each of them to share, in their own words, what they saw. Cheryl contacted me first, so I will share her vision first.

I met Cheryl in 2013 through an adoption and orphan-hosting Facebook group. She got to know Roma and me first by reading But the Greatest of These Is Love. We began to message and discovered she lived only an hour north of me. Then we realized another member of the group, who also had just read my book, was also close enough to meet in person. We met for lunch, and as is often the case when God puts people in our lives, Cheryl, Sue, and I have bonded into a band of three, intimately joined for eternity.

Here is Cheryl’s vision in her words:

I am awestruck by how many lives this little boy from the border of Russia and Georgia has touched. So many became a part of this story and have held the Michael family and Roma deeply in their hearts. Roma’s giant personality made us all feel that he was a part of our everyday lives. We grieve as his bigger-than-life presence stepped over to the other side, while still leaving the memory of his wide-open arms and radiant smile that remains forever etched in our thoughts.

After Debbie and I texted that fateful night, I sobbed as my heart ached deeply for my dear sister and her family. I cried out with the words from Romans 8:26: “the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

In the early morning of December 7th, I was awakened by God to pray over and over again. I talked to God and Roma out loud. I was lost in time in this prayerful realm. At one point, I drifted back to sleep, then awakened by this noise that filled my room overhead. The sound resembled the beginning of a windstorm with the gentleness of an ocean breeze. The deep warm embrace was like a thick warm cloud that was all encompassing. 

It was Angels, and Roma was with them. They were going to and fro accompanied by this systematic flowing sound. In my humanness, I called out loud to Roma to be strong and voiced that he did not have to leave. The breeze forcefully whooshed a few more times, then faded, and disappeared.

The veil between heaven and earth is truly so thin.

The next morning, I lit a candle to remind myself to pray every time I passed throughout the day. A candle much like the one that burned in Georgia in Roma’s homeland for him. As it flickered, it held the sadness of loss and the gratefulness for a family that embraced their Roma with complete and immense unending love. A love that reminds us all, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Cheryl closed with one of her own life verses: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18)

Heather, a friend from church, reported her vision to me as well. She would go on to share the vision she experienced the night of Roma’s homegoing with other Christian groups. Here are her words:

If you would have asked me the morning of December 6, 2015, why I felt so out of sorts all day long, I would have not been able to explain it at the time. However, by 11 p.m., I could tell you with a broken heart that I saw heaven come to earth that evening. As I listened to our pastor’s sermon that December morning on Luke 2:34-36, in which the prophet Simeon is speaking to Mary saying, “This child (Jesus) is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” I kept thinking about Mary and that prophecy, not only for her son’s life but for her own life too. There is pain in that prophecy, extreme pain, in fact. I thought of all the mothers that have had their souls pierced in one way or another. My own mother lost her son six years ago to suicide from mental illness and addiction. I had even texted one of my best friends that afternoon saying I was praying for her, trusting that because of what Mary went through, we must hold on to God’s promises and know that He hears our prayers when we have a child in pain. 

Being a prayer minister at our church, I received a call that Roma had taken a bad fall and had been sent to the shock trauma hospital. I was requested to begin praying; it was about 7 p.m. I felt sick to my stomach. I had only known Roma for the past three years, but this young man just lit up the room. I spent some time getting to know him from a ministry at church for young adults, and he was so open with his emotions and full of “light,” God’s light. I doubt Roma understood that Jesus was shining through him, but everyone who knew him could see it. 

The evening I got the call I began to pray. I was back to that “please Father do not let Debbie be another mother whose soul will be pierced this day. Yes God, I understand: shock trauma and the severity of what that means, but I also know YOU are a God of miracles, and I am praying for a miracle right now. So on my knees, I am pleading for a miracle.” 

Hours pass; in tears and exhaustion I go to bed. I always read before I go to bed. I get out my Jesus Calling devotional. I read the devotional and then pulled out another book. All of sudden I hear the Lord’s still small voice saying, “if this was your son in shock trauma, do you think Debbie would quit praying to begin reading at this pressing time?”  

I felt this stabbing in my heart. Clearly God had something to share with me, or He had some further healing for Roma. I’m worn out, but I have no choice but to listen. By this time, it’s close to 10:45 p.m. (and I mention this in case anyone else got a revelation around the same time) and I get back to my knees to pray. After some amount of time, I begin to see white and purple lights. These brilliant lights swirling like how I would imagine the Northern lights to look. Then I see God on His throne in all His majesty. He is large in stature but beautiful, so much light surrounding HIM, sitting there with the kindest, most gentle look on his face with His arms wide open. 

All of a sudden, like a little bullet, comes running this little boy like a lightning bolt straight to God. It’s Roma, little Roma about seven years old, and he runs straight under God’s white robe and underneath Him to the other side, and then Roma stops and turns to look back at God. Roma turns his little face with this ornery little grin, almost the way kids do who want to play hide-n-seek. I am outside of this vision, and I am trying to figure out what is going on. God is still sitting there with His arms open just waiting for Roma, and it appears Roma is figuring out what he is to do. Then all of all sudden, Roma runs straight back to God and jumps into His arms and God wraps Roma up into the most loving fatherly hug. At this time, it’s no longer seven-year-old Roma, it’s 21-year-old Roma, the Roma I knew. The love that God pours all over Roma is indescribable. The peace that came upon me after the vision ended was amazing. 

Debbie always said that Roma was God’s son, I truly saw that Roma really was God’s beloved son, and he went home to heaven that night. 

This vision gave me complete comfort and peace in knowing that when God calls all of us who love Him home to heaven, we go joyfully, excitedly running into the arms of our Father God. This vision also reiterates what God’s word tells us: just how individual we are to God that He even knows the number of hairs on our heads.  I never knew little Roma, but God surely did, and He never forgot how Roma looked at that young age. Debbie showed me a picture of Roma turning his head with the same charming smile that I saw in the vision; the picture so exactly mirrors what I saw that it took my breath away. In the same way “. . . let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16. 

Saying good-bye to Roma was painful, but I trust he was placed in all our hearts to teach us to let our lights shine; that’s what Roma did best! Shine on Roma. We are looking up and looking forward to seeing you again sweet friend! 

Continue with Chapter 29