By: Linda Honea
In the "Write to Freedom" series, where readers become writers!
Editor's Note: I love it when friends send me pieces of their life stories! We can see the "Divine Thread" as my friend, Linda, calls it, which weaves our lives together in ways that leave us in awe! Is it amazing or what how this red double-decker bus enters and re-enters the Honea family's lives… what do YOU think the meaning of this "divine thread" may be? Enter your guesses in the comment box below and let's see!
Journal Entry – April 10, 2012 – Linda South Honea
Someone has to write this down just because of the amazing, serendipitous, Divine thread over time… I guess the someone is ME!
In the summer of 1976, age 17, I was on a 6-week tour with an international youth group. I was one of five U.S.A. representatives chosen to participate. We toured the whole state of Texas and one of our stops was Victoria, Texas.
Victoria was a quaint town in South Texas with a beautiful courthouse. But, the outstanding moment for me was when the city hosts brought out a Red Double-decker bus. I had never seen one, much less ridden around or had my picture taken on one.
In 1981, I married Mike from Victoria, TX. I told Mike repeatedly about the Red Double-decker bus. He had lived in Victoria for 16 years and he was absolutely sure – there was no bus.
By 1982, I was almost convinced that I had confused the bus in Victoria for one in another town. Then something happened… Mike and I moved to Victoria to take temp jobs for the summer. Once day in June, we were driving around downtown Victoria and we turned a corner to see… Yes! It was the Red Double-decker bus parked beside an old building. The bus was older and not drivable, but there it was! I couldn’t stop cheering and Mike was stunned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fast forward 30 years ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mike and I were married 29½ years and now, divorced 14 months.
April 2012, Mike is visiting our girls, Stephanie and Katie, along with Michael, our precious grandson in Dallas. The girls have a new apartment and they have been decorating and hanging pictures. On Monday evening, my cell phone starts ringing and pictures are coming via email!
Over the girls' dining room table, as the huge central piece of art, is a black and white cityscape with a Red Double-decker bus!!! And that’s not all… right on the front of the bus is ‘Victoria’!! (our girls never knew this story; in fact, their roommate bought the print).
36 years after the first sighting of the bus, we are flabbergasted, incredulous, and laughing out loud!
~The End~
or not?
What do you think?
Is it coincidence? A divine thread?
What do YOU think the meaning of the Red Double-Decker bus is? Use the comment box below and let's get some ideas out to the Honea family!
More stories by Linda South Honea
Linda South Honea has been a pioneer her whole life. At 18 months she boldly went bra-less and diaper-less to follow the dog under the fence, out into the big world beyond the back yard. At 6-years-old she stole the neighbor boys’ baseball equipment because they wouldn’t let girls play. Linda was the first of her siblings to fly on a plane(remember Braniff Airlines?); and she has traveled the world many times since. As a PFC’s wife, she was awarded the Molly Pitcher Medal (highest honor of the U.S. Army Artillery given to a civilian woman), when she started one of the first family support organizations at Fort Sill, OK. While her family lived under terrorist threat in Germany, Linda and six other women led, served, and reassured 200+ women during Desert Storm.
2008 brought a battle that Linda didn’t have the “proper gear” for… betrayal, adultery, shunning, and a divorce that was worse than death. She has since learned to find her true identity in 'being' rather than 'doing.' Linda’s laughter and humor change the atmosphere! Many folks have said that her words, albeit in heavily accented TEXAN, propel them forward courageously, and, that Linda is an authentic, honest woman of God.
"My heart's desire is to see that people are set free to live out their dreams, that women serve alongside men on any and all battlefields, and that families be reunited and restored."
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I am not sure what to call it – but it seems like something more than chance was involved. Cool story & what a story this piece can tell for many years to come.
It is a mystery, isn’t it? I wonder if Linda has more insight into this now… so much as happened in the last few months! Life just keep rolling on 🙂 Thanks, Mike, for reading and sharing your thoughts!
Hi Susan…Since I do not believe in coincidence and do believe in the Divinity, my answer is 'divine thread'! It is quite amazing how this very powerful connection works in our lives everyday! Awesome story…Thank you for sharing…Hughie 🙂
Thanks so much for contributing, Hughie!
Not sure I follow the meaning of divine thread; yet, it is cool how that old red double-decker bus kept showing up in their lives. The best part is when it appeared in a beautiful picture on the daughter's wall as art. Memories flood back for the parents and a kinder more loving time in their lives. Love the story of this red double-decker bus…thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much, Carla!
Such a great story Susan! For us it was always the Alberta Wild Rose; there was atime that we kept seeing the wild rose which remembered us of the time when we really got serious about our relationship. Someitimes smells can bring us back to these moments as well….Great post; thank you!
The Alberta Wild Rose… wow, Olga, that is very interesting! That you took time to think about what you were seeing and why the rose kept appearing shows a lot about you – and how you’re very passionate about life and especially relationships! Thanks so much for stopping by to read and post!
I love how God works in our lives. What a truly amazing story! Thanks for sharing! Can't imagine the feeling you had when you saw that picture hanging above your daughter's table!
Thanks so much, Sue – I'm sorry I didn't see your comment until today! 🙂
Posting this story gave me hope that a light bulb would go on for me through ya'lls comments. And I still wait for more comments, no doubt! [Susan I am pondering all the insight from you]
In the meantime, I was challenged to ask for some insight too!
Remember the movie, Frequency? Dennis Quaid played a dad in communication with his son, Jim Caviezel, between 1969 and 1999 via a ham radio during an aurora borealis. I really love this movie! Jim's, the son's, life in 1999 is constantly changing based on the actions of his father in 1969. It is dramatic and powerful! Throughout the movie, the father is the reassuring voice for the son. In the end, and I won't say how, but in the end…the father saves the son.
NOW — The red double decker bus? (confessing I only know a 'part')
The "Divine Thread" is: the Father reminding me/us of His constancy… His plan… His 'with me' status.
I realized that, in the past, I looked at events/circumstances; then, I interpreted my life forwards or backwards from that point.
Now, I see (light bulb ON) that God, my Father, sees my end from my beginning. He smiled in heaven as He formed me in 1958. From that place, from that vista or viewpoint: He sees 1976, riding a double decker bus in Victoria, TX; He sees 1981, marrying my sweetheart from Victoria, TX; He sees 1982, spotting the bus again; and He sees 2012, a poster in my daughter's dining room.
I've made choices and others have made choices that bumped me around, got me far off my path, thwarted my destiny, or so I thought. But no, the Father, like Frank Sullivan did for his son John Sullivan in Frequency, in the end and every day… the Father saves me.
Ah, Linda, I totally resonate with what you’re saying! I haven’t seen the movie, “Frequency” but I’m definitely putting that on my to-do list this week! It sounds fascinating 🙂 It’s such an honor to share a little bit of your life story – you are an amazing woman! I can’t wait to hear more 🙂
I just wanted to add how fun it is that God surprises us (probably more than we realize) with these "divine threads" … He must think it fun when we puzzle through the possible meaning! It really does make us think of His divine nature and character and how it all works out into our ordinary, every day lives!
It took me a few days to ponder this story, and I can't say I have 'the answer" but it certainly seems like a "divine thread" rather than simply a coincidence! I can only imagine the chagrin Linda must have felt when that photo of her daughter's dining room picture flashed across her mobile phone screen!
Not just any red double-decker bus, either, but one that says "Victoria" on the front! The bus in the photo is set against a black and white cityscape, so the red really stands out….
Buses usually symbolize groups of people, or ministries, with a common goal and destination…. Your married life began with a man from Victoria… a city you had previously had such a remarkable experience in that your memory recorded it in the forefront of your conscious memories…
This story takes place within a family context…. involving your children and grandchild…
Okay…. "red" "double-decker bus" "victoria"….
Okay… just typing while thinking…. without editing…
The first thing coming to mind when I consider "double" is a promise from the Old Testament, after God's children had endured years of pain and grief, due to their own brokenness… and they turned their hearts around to Him… He promised "two mercies for every woe" or double the blessings.
The color red reminds me of the blood of Jesus that covers all of our sins and makes us Righteous in God's eyes… it gives us a 2nd chance, or a 3rd, 4th, etc….
Victoria is close to "victory".
Through the blood of Jesus God gives your family a double blessing and great victory of the season of trials you've been through.
I'm just thinking as I type… trying not to think too much, just letting images come to my mind as I pray. So I'm sure I only have part of the picture, if any of it at all!
I look forward to hearing what others may have to say, especially from your family, Linda!
What is God saying to you, Linda?