Imago Voices Q and A

When/where do you feel God’s presence?

I haven’t felt God’s presence very much lately.

When I was a kid, my parents took my siblings and me to Disney World many times. We always drove from Chicago. Once we stayed at a Disney resort property, but usually my parents reserved a discount hotel nearby. To save money, we brought Subway sandwiches and our own drinks into the parks. My dad would carry a Playmate cooler around with him at the parks asking us if we were thirsty. He was probably hoping we’d finish the drinks so it wouldn’t be so heavy. It was always fun. Some of the best memories I have from my childhood are traveling places with my family.

My husband and kids and I went to Disney World for the first time as a family at the end of January this year. I loved it. I loved planning it. I loved traveling there. I loved navigating the parks, choosing what to see next. I loved using the Disney app. I loved our meals. I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF THIS TRIP.

I cried on this trip.

It was our third day at the Disney parks, and we were at Magic Kingdom. We had just finished eating a dinner everyone liked, and we were finding a good place to watch the fireworks show they have each night before the park closes. We found a good spot on Main Street, and the show began. There was a voice that came over the sound system welcoming us to a magical place where dreams come true. And then I just lost it. Tears were flowing, and I couldn’t stop them. I remember thinking, “Why am I crying? Am I sad? Am I happy?”

Grief hits us at the oddest moments.

I lost my dad last July to prostate cancer. We knew two years before he passed that the cancer had spread to his bones, and he wasn’t going to live a lot longer, but knowing doesn’t really make it any better. When a person dies slowly it feels like you’re drinking little sips of poison every day - not enough to kill you but just enough to make you sick. I actually developed a weird skin condition where I would randomly get hives on my hands and arms. They disappeared after my dad passed.

Being at the happiest place on earth, watching the fireworks, remembering what it was like so many years ago when I was a child, wishing so much that my dad could have been there to see the smiles on my kids’ faces - I think the feelings of joy and sadness became so overwhelming they just spilled out of my eyes. 

And in that moment, I felt God’s presence.

Lisa, along with her husband and three kids, is a long time Imago attendee. She is a member of the Genesis Team and the newest member of the Leadership Team.