Episode Fourteen: The Byte - Pastor Jaime Nieves

When I do weddings,

You know,

The end of the traditional wedding vows is till death do us part.

I never say that because I don't think that love stops in this life.

I think you can still love somebody to whom you were married for 50,

60 years on the other side.

It may change that the way you express it and the way you feel it may,

And the definition of it may change,

But love doesn't die.

It's eternal.

So I don't say till death do us part.

No,

I don't believe that for a second.

I'm a preacher's kid.

My dad was an ordained elder of the Anatom Methodist Church.

I'm following in his footsteps.

So church was a big part of my life.

Not only going to church on Sundays,

But being involved with the youth ministry,

The youth group back then.

I was very involved with that.

And most of the time in church,

I didn't listen to my dad's sermons.

I was playing around or talking to my sister.

I never listened.

And so I only got about a half of what he said.

But what I,

And so what I,

I remember certain things from the pulpit,

But I don't remember everything,

But my dad's greatest lessons to me was as a dad and not so much as a pastor of the church.

And he would just talk to me about God and,

And about love,

Inclusive love.

And just,

You know,

It wouldn't be sermons.

They would just be an everyday conversation.

So my dad is wonderful,

Great pastor who a lot of people were touched by in the church.

He was just a dad who were part of the same messages to me about God,

Just in everyday conversations.

And later when I got older and just before he suffered from Alzheimer's,

We had wonderful,

Rich conversations about theology,

You know,

About heaven,

About hell,

About resurrection.

You know,

All of these wonderful,

Wonderful conversations.

And I wish now that he was still alive to talk about those things.

And I have to say that I've had in the past,

I've had a lot of interest in psychics,

People who felt like they could talk with the dead.

I know that doesn't go over well with a lot of people in church,

But I,

At first it was just kind of fun.

But I ran across a gentleman,

Psychic,

Probably a year or two ago,

Who knew a lot of things that he couldn't have known from the information I gave him.

In those conversations,

He'd say,

Well,

You know,

Do you see birds a lot lately?

And I say,

Well,

You know,

I live in a rural area.

I see birds all the time.

He said,

Because your dad,

Your dad comes to you in birds.

Do you know that?

I'm like,

Well,

I thought it was butterflies,

But no,

I didn't know that.

He said,

Anytime you see a bird acting unusually,

It's your dad.

And I said,

Okay,

Well,

That was two years ago.

So right,

Maybe a month or two after I was sitting on my bed,

I had the,

My front door was,

The screen door was locked,

The wood door was open.

And I was sitting on my bed with my computer writing something.

And I heard this,

And I look outside and I see birds flying.

So I thought,

Well,

I don't know what that's about.

And it went on for 10 minutes.

And I thought that sounds awfully loud.

I thought,

I wonder if a bird ran into the glass and hit itself.

So I went out to that same sliding glass door and there was no bird.

And I looked out the other window,

The door,

And there was a bird,

A little robin.

He was sitting on a ledge at the foot of the door,

The glass door.

So I walked up slowly and I bent down and I touched the glass and I said,

Are you okay?

And we were,

You know,

This far apart and he didn't move.

And I tapped the glass and said,

Are you okay?

And so I got up to slowly open up the door and he jumped off onto my porch and I said,

I'm not coming out to scare you.

I said,

I just want to make sure.

Okay.

And I could see that he was okay.

So I locked the door and I said,

Well,

I said,

Dad,

If this is you,

Thank you for coming to see me.

And I went back in and 10 minutes later he had come back and he was sitting on the ledge on my door.

We were six inches apart.

And I sat down and I tapped the glass and I said,

Dad,

Is that you?

And I put my hand on the glass and he didn't budge.

I sat there for maybe 10 minutes talking to the bird.

And then I got up and I opened the door and he jumped off and then he jumped down my first stair and looked back at me.

And I said,

Do you want me to follow you?

So I walked out and he jumped down to the second stair and looked there and turned around and looked at me and I went down to the second stair and then the third stair.

And then he hopped down to the end of the driveway.

And I said,

Do you want me to follow you or do you just want me to acknowledge that that's you dad?

And he flew away.

Coincidence could be,

But I'm thinking that everything is connected.

And I think that our loved ones who have gone on to to be reborn in the life eternal are still very much with us.

Even on the other side,

We are connected.

We're connected with nature.

We are connected with our loved ones.

That love never breaks.

That bond of work never breaks.

So I just think this is an amazing thing that I'm learning.

And I know it sounds crazy,

But I believe that.

I believe there's another level of understanding of this sacred connection that we have.

And God's just waiting for us to figure it out through our own experiences.

I'm so curious.

Why do you can help me out here?

Why do some church people not did you say don't like psychics or don't like the fact psychics talk to the dead?

Why is that?

I'm just curious.

I think there's something in I forget.

I forget where it is in the Bible,

But something that talks about maybe it's when they're talking about the three wise men or something.

But there's something about you know,

The people that are soothsayers,

That are fortune tellers or evil.

They're wicked.

They're God.

I mean,

They're the devil.

People who do that,

Who are magic,

Who try to or sorcerers,

All that,

All from the devil.

All icky.

And so a lot of people,

I still think,

Hang to that,

You know,

That's demonic.

That's demonic because that's how evil comes.

I'm like,

Well,

Not if they're trying to talk to dead people.

But then again,

A lot of people were dead is dead.

They're on the other side.

And they don't interact with you.

But I say,

No,

Well,

They're on the other side,

But they're with you.

If you believe the Apostle Paul,

Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Nothing,

Not even death to this life and rebirth to the next life.

We are still connected.

They still know and love us and care for us and are with us in some mysterious way that we don't.

Our minds can't,

Our human minds can't comprehend just the way that nature is there for us.

That nature relies on us,

We rely on nature.

It's all this divine mystery,

Part of the divine mystery.

And so when people,

It's very,

It's easier to be very black and white.

It's in the Bible.

It's bad.

No,

You don't talk to psychics because they're evil.

One of my ideas or theories,

And we can use your father as an example,

Is it sounds like you were surrounded and deeply,

Deeply loved by both of your parents.

Yes.

And love to me is an energy that is infinite and it lasts forever and infused your father's spirit and his way of being.

Yes.

What does the other side mean anyway?

I wouldn't be surprised if it's that love that is imprinted,

That energy that is imprinted with his soul that is around you,

Which to me is incredibly beautiful and also divine.

Yes.

I mean,

That's a beautiful way to put it,

Kirsten.

It is,

It's that it's the imprint of his love that stays with a person that's there forever.

When we,

When I do weddings,

You know,

The end of the traditional wedding vows is till death do us part.

I never say that because I don't think that love stops in this life.

I think you can still love somebody to whom you were married for 50,

60 years on the other side.

It may change that the way you express it and the way you feel it may,

And the definition of it may change.

But love doesn't die.

It's eternal.

So I don't say till death do us part.

No,

I don't believe that for a second.

Love cannot be destroyed.

I mean,

That energy cannot be destroyed.

It is,

If it is perfect,

Unselfish love,

Then it's directly connected with that,

With God's energy,

Unless you it's maligned in some way.

But if it is,

You know,

The kind of love that your father had for you,

Then it lives forever.

That's what I think too.

And I love the way you put it.

It's the imprint of his love that surrounds me.

I love that.

And I can feel his presence through that.

I love that.

I think that's beautifully put.

Yeah.

I like to think that this universe that we live in is,

You know,

Every atom in between every atom is what holds it together as love.

Because it's such a pure energy source.

That is my fantasy.

I'm not saying that's reality at all,

But it is a,

It is a beautiful way to consider what's going on around us.

Absolutely.

I love that.

I need to thank Jamie Nieves for sharing her story today,

As well as the creators of the music used.

Music L.

Files,

Lyran,

Winnie the Moog,

And Frank Schroeder.

For complete attribution,

Please see the Bite Sized Blessings website at bite-sized-blessings.

Com.

On the website,

You'll find links to other change makers,

Books,

And music.

I think we'll lift and inspire you.

Thank you for listening.

And instead of a request,

I'm going to ask a question this week.

The question is,

Where are you prophetic and how can you use your voice like Jamie?