Doug Tales 115: Lizzy

Because Doug Mendenhall shared about his daughter’s metaphysical experiences, others contacted him about similar gifts of the spirit. One of the first he met was a young girl named Lizzy, and he tells a little about her in Possibilities: Lessons From the Spirit (2002), pp. 61-62:

The first part of July 2001, I received a phone call from Chris. She said she had met a woman who had several kids. One of them, a girl about eight years of age named Lizzy, had the ability to “see spirits.” Chris had told Lizzy’s mother Ann about my daughter Denise and her gifts. Lizzy’s mother wanted her to meet Denise. It seems that Lizzy was terrified of her “gift.” We set up a meeting at Chris’ house. We had a pleasant meal and afterwards I had a chance to talk to Ann about what her daughter could see.

“She sees spirits,” Ann told me. “She can see good ones and bad ones. But she is shy about it and doesn’t want anyone to know. We have encouraged her to keep the gift and develop it further. I was hoping that by meeting Denise, she would see that it is OK to see spirits and have gifts like this.”

Lizzy was very shy. She came over and sat by me for a minute. “Lizzy,” I said, “could I talk to you about your gifts? You see my daughter, Denise, sees spirits like you do and I have never met anyone before like her until now. Can I ask you a few questions?”

“Yes,” she responded.

“Good,” I said back to her. “Are you scared of the spirits sometimes?”

“Yes,” she shyly answered.

“Do they ever harm you?” I asked.

“No,” she said.

“After playing with Denise today, do you understand it’s OK to see them? That she sees them all the time?”

“Yes, I know it’s OK,” she answered.

“Do you see any here now?” I couldn’t help asking.

“Yes, there is one behind you,” she said.

I had felt someone there and had an idea of who it was, but wanted her to look and tell me, so I asked, “Who is it?”

She timidly looked up and said, “She has long brown hair and is wearing a dress.”

I was so pleased that she was willing to use her gifts. We saw her at one of our book review meetings and she was totally different. The shy, timid little girl was gone. She walked right up to me and told me who was standing next to me (from the spirit world). What a special little girl. I was so happy to meet someone that had gifts similar to my daughter.

I had a chance to meet Lizzy a year later. She said that since she turned eight her gifts don’t seem to be as pronounced as before. She still has seen her grandmother, who is on the other side of the veil, but not much more. It appears she is content to be where she is at with her gifts. Hopefully she will retain them and develop them even more.