Miracle

A twig snapped. Brayleigh turned to see a pair of yellow eyes staring at her. A wolf!

At first, she was rooted to her spot staring at the powerful black furry creature. Fear brought sweat to her brow and her heart beat against her ribs. A slow step back. Another. The ground beneath her foot slid. Swoosh! Gravity pulled her through the hole. Thud. She landed in the dark earth. Terror gripped her before the pain in her arm. She landed with her arm twisted under her.

From her shoulder to her fingers pain seared. She used her other arm to raise herself off the injured one. It must be broken. Fingers refused to move. Sure enough—a bone was almost sticking through the skin. She passed out.

A while later, she came to and realization of her predicament assailed her. She needed help!

First, she had to immobilize her arm. She inched her belt off, refastened the buckle, and slid it over her head. With gentle movements, she placed her injured arm on the belt and her hand between the buttons of her shirt, to rest on her stomach.

She peered around her. The space was a small room. It didn’t appear to be any other way out—but up. Sunlight barely penetrated. Shaking, she rose and leaned against the wall of her cave. Her head swam and her breath was ragged. A yell would not be heard from any human. She was all alone.

It was up to her and she needed to climb out. Try as she might, she was not able get a good toe hold. A few rocks littered the ground. Brayleigh drug them over to make stepping stones. She tentatively climbed. The climb was slow—she only had use of one hand. Any jolt of the injured one brought extreme pain.

The fourth stone slipped and so did she. Bang! This time, she landed on her backside and thankfully didn’t hit her head. “Thank You, Lord!” The prayer escaped her lips. Realization struck her. She hadn’t prayed. “Lord, I am all alone and hurt. Please help me. I need strength to get out or... a miracle.”

Sweet peace washed over her. With new resolve, she stacked the rocks. She tilted her head up and glimpsed a ledge. “I just need to get to the ledge then maybe I can pull myself up from there.” She giggled. “I’m talking to myself again. Oh, well, hearing myself makes me feel better.”

She lifted her leg. Snap! She spun to the noise. “What was that?” Brayleigh didn’t see anything. Dead silence met her. Her foot came down on the first rock. As she climbed, she kept her eyes peeled to where the sound came from. A scraping came from the dark crevice. She was not alone!

A nose poked out followed by dark eyes. She didn’t wait to find out what it was. Fear made her scramble up the rocks. From the top rock, she leapt to the ledge, pulling herself up. She lie panting on the flat surface. “Amazing! I made it! Thank you Lord!” She paused and frowned, “Did you just give me a miracle?” She poked her face over the edge. “Wow. What a long way down. I wouldn’t normally be able to make the jump. I guess the Lord sent that, whatever it is, to frighten me into a mighty leap.” A smile grew at the realization.

Her legs were weak but held her up. Brayleigh stretched and reached. “I can’t reach the top!” She sat. Knees up and head resting on them, she prayed. “Lord, I need another miracle. I’m too short to reach out of this hole. My arm is throbbing. I keep getting dizzy. I’m frightened, tired, and thirsty. No one knows where I am and I don’t want to cry.” A sob erupted. She swallowed another. Brayleigh got to her feet. Automatically, she reached up and her foot found a hold. The rock took her weight. Her other foot found a thick protruding root.

There she was—suspended on the side of the wall, with loose dirt sliding down all around her. She hugged and pressed as she searched for another foot hold. That’s when she almost screamed!

Those yellow eyes pierced hers. The wolf!

 

She trembled. Did he want to eat her? She whispered, “Lord, now what do I do?”

“He is my creation. Trust me.”

Those words reverberated through her being. “Is that You, Lord?”

“Reach up.”

Her hand reached upward almost on its own. The wolf leaned toward her and opened his mouth. She squeezed her eyes tight. A tug on her shirt collar and she was rising. Without a second thought, she opened her eyes and grabbed hold of soft fur. Inch by inch she ascended.  The progress stopped. The wolf started to slip. “Oh no! Lord, please!”

Wings beat the air around her. A huge black bird grabbed the other side of her shirt. Together they pulled her up and over the side. The bird swooped away to the nearest tree to survey her. The wolf trotted a bit away, sat and glowered at her. Brayleigh trembled. She slowly sat up—careful of her injury.

“Thank you again Lord. I don’t understand. Why would these animals help me? Your ways are higher than mine. Shall I get up and go home? How do I thank these beautiful yet frightening creatures?”

All through her prayer to the Lord, her eyes had never left the wolf. “Thank you wolf for saving my life.” She relaxed.

Her gaze went to the bird she believed to be a hawk. “Thank you for helping the wolf save my life.” The hawk dipped his head, flapped his mighty wings, and soared into the cloudless blue sky.

She turned toward the wolf, but he was gone. Brayleigh swiveled her head back and forth. “Well, if you are still watching, I’m leaving now.”

She carefully picked herself up and headed home. “No one will believe me. But I know what happened. Mama always said, ‘God works in mysterious ways.’ Oh, boy... does He!”

 

Boys and girls, the Lord does do things we cannot understand. Anything He does is a miracle because He is the only one who does miracles. His miracles may be large ones like what happened to Brayleigh or small ones we don’t see or recognize. He protects us and gives us things we need all the time. All we need to do is have faith in Him. Trust Him to get us through. He doesn’t say He will take away our trials but that He will get us through them. We just need to have faith. Brayleigh is a fictional character from my imagination but I know people who have experience great miracles like she did, myself included.

The thing I want you to take away from this story is faith and a relationship with the Lord. If you have trusted the Lord as Savior, you have a loving heavenly Father who wants what is best for you. He loves for you to talk to him about anything. You develop the kind of relationship Brayleigh exampled by talking to him and listening to His voice and reading His words in the Bible.

 

The verse Brayleigh quoted is Isaiah: 55:8 “For my thought are not your thoughts, nor are your way my ways.” says the Lord.

It would be a great idea if you memorized that verse.

 

Verses in NKJV unless otherwise stated

 

 

A Giving Christmas (2015)

I love Christmas time. The snow, decorations, beautiful lights, special food, music, caroling, and the spirit of Christmas makes me glow with warmth. I love presents--don’t you? I’m happy to receive but most importantly, I love to give.

When my children were small, I shopped and picked out just the right thing to wrap for them to open on Christmas morning. I didn’t wrap the gifts until Christmas Eve after the children were snug in bed. I made sure each package looked pretty and then carried them to the tree.

Excitement filled me. I hardly slept Christmas Eve. I'm not normally a morning person which means I need to sleep in a little and don’t jump right out of bed. I tend to be a night owl. I love to stay up late. On Christmas morning, typically to this day, I’m the first one awake. I lie there in the dark waiting until I think the sun is finally peeking over the horizon.

As soon as possible, I nudged my sleeping husband awake. I crept out of bed and threw on a robe and slid my feet into soft slippers. I scurried into the kitchen and made coffee. Listening to the coffee maker, I turned on all the beautiful Christmas lights. They looked so pretty in the semidarkness.

The tree was gorgeous with packages in reds, green, gold, and silver. Sure enough, the stockings were overflowing with cool trinkets, fruit, and candy.

I couldn’t wait to see my kid’s faces as they saw the gifts. Tradition in our home is to play the Chipmunks on a record, tape, or now a CD. Their father queued it up and the Chipmunks blared Christmas songs. The first chords of the song signaled the children and our faithful dog, Chance, to come out of their rooms.

Their faces, though sleepy, glowed and split into huge grins. Expressions of “Oh,” “Ah,” and “Look!” passed out of their lips. I sat and watched. I was filled with a joy knowing I helped make their Christmas special. We didn’t have a lot of money for gifts but that wasn’t important. The important things are doing for and giving to others.

My children are all grown now, and I have eleven grandchildren with my new husband’s grandchildren, we have 16. I still love Christmas and try to make it as special as I can.

I hope you have a heart that would rather give than receive. Our Christmas’ would not have been as special if we only thought about getting gifts. Then the focus would have been only on the gifts and who got what, and not on others and their needs to feel special.

We should have a heart to give. This time of year, we are reminded again and again to give to others. I hope that is what you love to do all throughout the year.

Have a blessed and merry Christmas!

 

 

 

Influences

I drove down a curvy road when out of the corner of my eye—I saw it—just in time.  A gigantic rock bounced down the hillside at me. Reflex made me swerve. I barely missed it. The boulder crashed down the other side.  It uprooted a sapling. The huge monstrosity landed with a thud against a giant tree.

A gasps escaped my lips. The brakes screeched as I skidded to a stop. My hand trembled as I drug it over my face. A few moments passed as I tried to catch my breath. That was close.

"Thank you Lord Jesus! You protected me again!" My prayer was spoken in a whisper but with urgency. I knew I could have been taken down with the boulder. My little car would have been no match for the rock's enormous weight and momentum.  Finally, I felt calm enough to keep driving. My glances around me and up the hill became more frequent as I carefully drove. I replayed the scene over in my head.  Soon, my thoughts turned to the rock itself. It had seemed to be after me, but I knew that was not true. It was a reddish color made out of the dirt surrounding it. It may have started small but as it rolled it took on mass.

The last few days it had rained. The mountains here were thousands of feet high. If a stone dislodged and gathered dirt and mud around it, bit by bit, it would grow. Over and over again soil, leaves, and debris would grab hold. I knew rolling a snowball around your yard made it bigger, until you had the base of a snowman. Maybe, this applied to masses of soil, mud, and leaves.

My thoughts compared the rock to my life and the things I let affect me. I know bitterness starts as a small hurt or offense, but will grow into an ugly mass if I let it. People, circumstances, and things I read and watch mold me into who I am. Those can be good and make me a strong rock full of peace, love, and kindness. Those could also be bad influences that make me weak, sad, bitter, and even cruel. I may surround myself with a mixture of great and poor influences.

I want to be strong, kind, and full of love for others. How can I make sure I become that way? I need to pick good friends that build me up--not put in negative thoughts that will make cracks in my being. The books I read and the shows I watch should be carefully picked. The activities I do, places I go, and all the things that occupy my time should be considered.

This is the way the Lord wants me to live. He wants to be the focus of my life. The Lord should be my guide when I decide who to hang out with, places to go, what books to read, shows to watch, and things to do. As I’m around these things I want them to help me become a solid person who makes the best choices. I want people to see a strong woman with deep faith, love for others, kindness, and with a conviction to do the right thing.

What do you want to become? Strong? Weak? Solid but with a crack of bad running through? Choose wisely. I don’t want to think I’m solid--then break apart because I let in some bad influence. There is a saying: a bad apple can spoil the whole bushel. I don’t want to be spoiled or turn out bad because I was around the wrong person or thing in my life. How about you?

Ponder and memorize: Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. (NKJV)  Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. (NLT)

Proverbs 27:17 As Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

Proverbs 27:21b and a man is valued by what others say of him.

Verses in NKJV unless otherwise stated

Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving is around the corner. I’m disappointed in our local stores. They went from Halloween to Christmas in their displays and what we can purchase. I remember when Thanksgiving was a big celebration and I could get wonderful decorations. In the past, I’ve sent out Thanksgiving cards to family. I didn’t see any to purchase. This makes me sad.

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on all the Lord has done for us. We should do this every day, but we have a special day set aside in our country to do this. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens", to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November.

In our family, we gather together in one of our homes. We arrive in the mid-morning and stay late into the night. We feast as much as we can and thank the Lord for His bounty. Our morning is filled with snacks and our big meal is in the middle of the afternoon.

A tradition my son started was to have everyone in the family share what they are thankful for. This tradition started the year his dad and daughter passed away. That Thanksgiving was a very tearful time. We all said we were thankful for different things, with every person acutely aware of the missing loved ones. We were somber and sad, yet thankful to our Lord for His love, mercy, provisions, and especially His salvation.

I love pumpkin pie. It is my favorite. My birthday is near Thanksgiving and sometimes falls on that day. Ever since I was a child I had pumpkin pie for my birthday. I keep up the tradition. I normally make my own because I’m picky as to the flavor and I make my own crust. My daughters have learned how to make it the way I love and sometimes I get one made by their hands. The pie one of them made becomes even more special and tastes heavenly.

After our huge meal, there are at least three different deserts to taste and we have coffee. Football is on the television and table games will be brought out. If the weather is nice here in Colorado, a game of football will be played or at least watched by young and old at sometime during the day. Basically it’s a day for family, but we don’t forget to thank our Lord.

What do you do to celebrate Thanksgiving? If you live in another country, you may not celebrate. I hope you still take time to thank the Lord for all His blessings He pours down upon us. There are many blessings we don’t even recognize. We wake up, we breathe—we are alive. There are so many blessings, we could never count them all.

Take a moment to thank the Lord.

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Psalm 16:8 Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! If you haven’t memorized this verse, please do so. 

Verses in NKJV unless otherwise stated
  
Other Thanksgiving and being thankful posts: Thankfulness   Thankfulness 2

 

 

Generosity 2

Tabatha got sick and died. She had lived in Joppa and was a generous person who made clothes for widows. A widow is a woman whose husband had died. Most of the time, being a widow meant not having enough money and becoming poor. This was especially true two thousand years ago when Tabatha lived.

Peter, one of Jesus Apostles, was in a nearby town. Two men who knew Tabatha went to find Peter. They urged him, “Please come at once!”

Peter agreed. Upon arrival, he was taken upstairs to where Tabatha’s body lie on a bed. There, he met all the widows who were crying. They showed him the garments Tabatha had made for them. “She was a giving person. She made us these cloaks, robes, and other clothes because she was kind and generous.” Many tears were spent.

Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down and prayed. After he prayed, he turned toward the bed and said, “Tabatha, get up.”

An amazing thing happened, she opened her eyes. She sat up and Peter took her hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the others and presented her alive. Peter was just the instrument to make Tabatha whole again. The Lord is the creator and giver of life.

Many people heard of this miracle and knew this was from God and believed in the Lord.

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What do you think Tabatha did after that? I believe she rejoiced in the Lord. She probably had a renewed zeal to make more things for others. I would think she told everyone about the Lord. She was probably a sweet lady before she died, but I bet she became more so. Can you imagine what she would have been like?

The Lord loves a cheerful giver. We should be generous with what the Lord gives us.

Thanksgiving Day is in a short time. That’s a time to give thanks to others and the Lord. Thanksgiving and Christmas is a time to give of your time and possessions to others.

Please memorize one or more of these verses:

Deuteronomy 15: 11 For the poor will never cease from the land: therefore I command you saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.

2 Corinthians 9:7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

Acts 20:35c …It is more blessed to give than receive.

Verses in NKJV unless otherwise stated