I kept starting to cry reading all 96 wonderful comments last Memorial Box Monday. You guys are awesome!! No doubt all your stories of God’s complete faithfulness encouraged other readers as they posted their comments also! If you haven’t read all the stories, don’t miss out – go back and read them. (A Memorial Box is also explained there as well.)
Anyway, each of your stories confirms that our God is a Miracle-working, Mountain-moving, Awe-inspiring, Gasp-giving God!! Good chance, too, that other bloggy friends stories will trigger stories of your own! I’m just sayin…..
I am also having another Memorial Box giveaway. Infact let’s make this alittle more fun. If you already entered last week, but want to share another story, I will give you two more entries!! How stinkin’ fun is that?? If you haven’t entered yet but would like to enter, please leave a comment. You will get one entry for a comment. TWO entries if you tell a story that would be for your Memorial Box. And if you told one last week, but want to tell another one this week, then you will have FOUR entry points!! Woot Woot!!
Anyway, I do think that sometimes people think they need huge, wowzer kind of stories for their Memorial Box – but that’s not true!! God does huge things for us, but if we pay attention we can see His hand in all the small stuff too!!
Today I am going to share a story from 1992. In 1992 we were living in Virginia Beach where Dw was attending Seminary. We had no real income. Dw was working a few hours a week and we were living on a very fixed budget. There was no room for any frills, every penny counted. We were intent on not going into debt – at all!!
In February it was approaching Dw’s birthday. He was going to turn 37 in March and I just really wanted to have a little surprise party for him with some of our friends from seminary. I thought it would be fun to have a bread dip, since at the time, that was one of Dw’s favorite treats and it had been a really, really, really long time since he had had one. When I went to the grocery store I found that those loaves of pumpernickel were almost $4.00. Now that might not sound crazy expensive, but really, every penny counted. I prayed and asked the Lord if He could provide it another way? Maybe even a big sale?? I prayed about every time I thought about his birthday coming up. I just wanted to see God do it – Big time!!
Each week I went into the store and looked, still not on sale. So I prayed some more. At the same time, the seminary had a food pantry for students and their families. Each Friday I would take the kids and line up with the other families and wait our turn to go into the pantry. For $2.00 we usually walked away with TWO paper grocery bags FULL! It was so fun.
For instance: They might have a section of salad dressing and a little sign would tell you how many of each of the items we could pick. Sometimes they had some luxuries like almonds (yummm!) or things like that. Even chocolate one time – scrumptious!!
Once in a while they would have a bread section at the very end of the selection process. Not every time. Not even close. But when they did, we would get to pick a loaf of bread off the table. I had never seen anything but loaves of bread.
Anyway, as his birthday approached I wondered where the Lord was going to provide this Pumpernickel Round solid loaf from? It just didn’t even cross my mind about the food pantry. They seldom had bread and never Round Pumpernickel loaves!
So that Friday before Whitey’s party (yes, I love calling him Whitey, he is my beloved) I lined up to go thru the pantry. I waited my turn and slowly worked my way thru. As I turned the corner I saw a bread table. I got all excited!! I just knew there was going to be a Pumpernickel Loaf! I just knew it! I remember hopping in front of the table scanning all the items and then nearly bursting when I saw ONE round loaf of Pumpernickel bread!! I was giddy!! My Faithful God had answered a very specific prayer – that Dw would have a Bread Dip for his little surprise party.
If I can trust Him for a Pumpernickel Loaf of bread, how much more so can I trust Him to bring Jubilee home soon? *tears welling* He has been so good to me!! How I praise His name!!
And in our new Memorial Box we have a little tag off a loaf of bread.
What have you seen God do? How has He shown up?
Hi Linny,
I left a comment last week for the give away also.
Here's another…
I would put a little miniature garage sale sign. In 2007 my best friend offered to hold a garage sale fundraiser for us to help us raise money for our adoption for our 2 year old son from China.
She asked for donations of stuff for the garage sale from all her friends/neighboors. HS groups etc….I asked for donations from our friends, neighboors, etc also.
We made over $5000 at that garage sale. It was so incredible!!! It was amazing! Everyone who came said they had never seen anything like it!
Lesa
PS our son has been home for 2 years now!!!
Very nice story…but what is a bread dip????
Oh Linny your post gives me so much encouragement knowing my boy will come back to me. I know God loves him more than I do and i am standing on faith and praying without ceasing…and waiting for God to decide it is time to work a miracle in my boy's heart.
~suzanne
In 2001 I graduated from High School and spent the next year working for my dad.. In 2002 my younger twin brothers graduated and wanted to go to school in the big city (4.5 hours of driving then a 2 hour boat ride and 1 hour of driving after the boat ride).
I still didn't know what I was going to do with my life so I made a deal with my mom.. We would look for 3 bedroom houses for 2 days only and then the last 3 days for 2 bedrooms. I said that if God want me in the city then He would provide. We went looking and within 5 houses we found the right place!! I said, well I guess I'm moving.. I wonder what I'm going to do down here.
We went home early and our town has an event and at the event there was a prize to be won and so my brothers went and got the stamps from the 18 of 20 places and then next day I took their papers and mine and got the last stamps and dropped it off. We went down to where they were announcing the winner and they said they were going to be drawing 5 names. The first was a town drunk, the next was a friend who as friends we were praying that he would get it and just before they started drawing the names he asked that we would pray that the right person would get it. The next was me, then a person from my friends church and then someone from a church in the next town!! We then had to pick in order a key. Then in order try the key.. My key worked.. the only thing I remember is seeing my twin brothers heads bobbing up and down and not recognizing what just happened. I had won an 1989 Mazda 323… I had a house to live in and now a car!
I went back to work and placed an order for my dad and was telling the sales guy what was going on and said 'I have a house and a car and now all I need is a job' and he answered well we are hiring send in your resume.. So I did.. and the Monday after we had found a house I had an interview. (and got the job!)
As I was making an order, I was drinking a Jones Soda and under the cap is has little sayings… Mine said, accept a gift graciously.. and the car was named Jones! (I still have the cap somewhere!)
God got me to the big city and I messed up so much and yet, where I am now, (going to Bible School in the big city and so desiring to do His will) I'm okay with those things.. They have taught me and are being used to help others to heal and move forward..
God is good.
I love your blog and got hooked through findingolivia blog. We started the adoption process over two years ago and your blog is such an encouragement to me and my husband–cried a ton reading your special posts. I've told lots of people about your "memorial boxes" and I'm getting myself one and going to get others for the special people in my life for Christmas. Our blog is http://www.theavilateam.blogspot.com. God is working, even when it looks like the exact opposite! Sometimes I think God wants things to look so bad from an earthly perspective, so that when He provides, He alone gets the glory and we are left totally amazed and more in love than ever!!! Thanks for writing–it is a gift to my heart!
Well, I did it. I have joined the MBM crew! Am i'm excited to exalt the Lord in another new, creative fashion.
Pumpernickle bread, eh?! Of course the Lord wanted to give DW a special b-day tasty treat. I just get so tickled at the cool stuff the Lord hears us ask him for.
Presently, I'm requesting the Lord point me in the direction of a few pcs of free solid wood furniture to paint. Free, because i'm practicing frugality. An that is a challenge for me seeing as my career was in Interior Design where my clients indulged in such things as $15,000 sofa's for a room they'll never sit in. I keep talking to Him as the hubby and I roam all over town asking, "where's my trash to treasure Lord?!" A truck drove by the other day and a few pcs of furniture fell off it in the road. I giggled to myself saying Lord if you actually have furniture fall off a truck for me I don't know what i'm gonna do. Don't worry the fallen off furniture wasn't mine… apparently He meant it for the people who jumped outta their car first. LOL… I'm waitin' though. It's coming, I know it is!
God is so good and loves us so much. I can't imagine being anyone else's kid.
Sweet Blessings,
Heather of S-A-M
I posted a comment,but oh how I would love to win that Memorial Box. I will post another story too.
4 years ago we had decided that we needed to move to a different school district. We found a house that was just being built as a speck home. It was perfect size and where we wanted to be. We went to the builder to get information on, figuring that it was out of our price range. When the sales person gave us the price, we thought that is not too bad. We left the sales office to go home and pray about it. The next day the sales person called me and said, "there was a mistake in the price sheet that I gave you, it should be $40,000 more. I knew then that it was not ours. She then went on to say that her manager said that they had to offer it to us at the lower price if we wanted it. We had 24 hours to decide. We prayed more that night and decided to go ahead with it.
Only my God can make those things happen. I would put a little house in my memorial box to show God's perfect timing.
Lisa
Newark, Ohio
I have read your blog for awhile, but just today started my own Memorial Box on my blog.
We are currently in the midst of an SN adoption from Taiwan. Adoption is always something my husband and I had thought we would do. But it was always that we would do it "later" Over the 6 months God has been been pressing this issue heavy on hearts. While we had always talked about doing it, we never felt the urgency that we did in early September. We ended up applying and getting our formal application officlly approved on September 30th. (It took 2 days to get it approved instead of the normal week). Then last week (only 10 days since we had been approved and 3 days since we should have been approved if it had taken a week)our program changed the prospective minimum age of adoptive parents from 25 to 30. We were accepted into the program not by weeks, but by days. If we had not inquired or not taken the leap of faith when we did we would not have made it into the program. Looking back we now know why God had put that urgency on our hearts and why we had to do it now and not later.
So our first item in our Memorial Box will be a watch. To us it is a reminder of God's Perfect Timing.
http://www.thethomassontales.com
That was suppose to be
http://www.thethomassontales.blogspot.com
🙂
Here's my second story:
When I was 35 weeks pregnant, my husband and I were living with his parents and he was commuting 2.5 hours to work each day. We knew we needed to move BEFORE our son was born. We found a place that we could afford monthly, but we didn't have enough for the upfront cost.
We went to visit his aunt one day, and she gave us an early "baby gift". It was a diaper, with the exact amount of money we needed enclosed. I still have that diaper, and would put that into my box.
Launi
Hi! I love reading your blog, however, I never share comments, but today I feel that I need to.
My mom died, November 10th 2008, an unexpected death at age 50 from diabetes. I am now a sophomore in college, and my dad lives home alone because I don't have any brothers or sisters. After her death, (and still today) my dad finds it very hard. He often tells me that he doesn't have much to do anymore, nothing to live for. From the first time that he told me this, I began to pray that something would come into his life that he could look forward to, something that would keep his mind on things and would give meaning to his life. I prayed all.the.time for this. Finally one day, my dad cleaned out the garage, and told me that he was going to fix up my mom's old 1963 Beetle (a chore she had hoped to accomplish since the death of her father). He set a deadline of June 17, 2009, which would have been my mom's 51st birthday. The car was finished by her birthday, and boy did it look perfect!! Soon after the car was finished I saw my dad, get back into the "I have nothing to live for" mode. So I began to pray for something else to take up his time, something he could look forward to. The very next night, I made him, myself and my boyfriend dinner. While we ate he kept telling me what a good cook I was. And then all a sudden he said, "We should open a restaurant/shop combo." My boyfriend and I then asked him what he meant. He said, "Jerry (my boyfriend) can be the mechanic (he is studying automotive in college now,) and you can cook for the costumers while they wait." He was so excited!! He decided that we would call it "Wheels and grill," and he has been looking for a building where this can all take place since. I still pray that he has things to look forward to, and things to occupy is time, and just recently he has been asked to join a dart league for our local Veterans of Foreign War post. It's amazing how God can answer your prayers in unimaginable ways. Although the death of my mom is the toughest thing that has ever happened to my dad and I, I know that [[God]] will get us through it. And…without our amazing God, we would have nothing to live for.
Linny,
I posted last week about the sand dollar. This week I'll tell another story of God's provision in my life.
I was 16 years old and in the high school band. We went on a band trip to a music festival in Hawaii. They had a luau for all the participants. Across the room, I saw the most handsome boy I had ever seen. He got in line behind me to get food. We kept running into each other throughout the week and exchanged addresses at the end of the trip. (I am from WV, he's from CA)
He is my husband. I would put a lei in my Memorial Box.
Hey! Here's another one that just popped back into my brain:)
My husband and I went to Orlando on vacation this past January. We decided to trailer our 2 motorcycles down to enjoy WDW in a different way.
About 3.5 hours into the trip (just south of Macon, GA) and in the desolate stretch of I-75 where there is NOTHING but pine trees, we hear this awful thump from the passenger side of the van. We both looked at the side mirrors to see if we ran over anything. Nope. Then Scott looked in the rear view mirror…the outer strap holding his bike snapped and caused his bike to lean on mine.
We knew we had to exit and fix it (even though we didn't have another strap). God always comes through. Not a 1/2 mile from where the strap broke, was an exit…with a truck stop! Only truck stops have straps. This was also the only exit with any store for miles.
We exited and bought a new strap and continued on, thanking God. Scott then looked at me and said, "You know, if the inner strap had broken, the bike would have fallen over the side of the trailer!" That would have been an awful wreck:( but God had His angels watching over us!
I'd place one of our son's tiny motorcycles in it for God's provision of safety!
About 6 years ago, right after one of my dogs died, I started looking for another dog. I wanted a small lap dog this time. No more Labs!! I searched every shelter and scoured the internet for a small lap puppy. (I needed a puppy because we were dealing with infertility and desperately wanted some kind of baby!) I specifically wanted a Shih Tzu. My husband has always refused to spend even a penny on a dog. So, that was why I was looking so hard for a rescue or something like that. Months passed and nothing. By the time my birthday rolled around (on Mother's Day) my husband surprised me with a $200 budget for a puppy. I was so excited. On our way home from church I grabbed a paper and started looking for any Shih Tzu puppies for sale. Most ads listed their prices for the dogs, but one ad did not. I called them when I got home and asked for their prices. Lets just say they were waaaay out of my price range! That was my last hope. I felt very discouraged. My husband suggested that we call them back (this was a few hours later) and just ask to come by to see the dogs. I guess just for fun. When I called them back, the lady told me (not knowing it was me from earlier) that she had one pup that was a few weeks older than the newer litter. This was the last one left from the old litter and she was $200!!! I couldnt believe it. We went straight there and yes, this dog was bigger and had a few different characteristics than the normal Shih Tzu, but I fell in love with her instantly. She was my Maggie! She filled my empty arms for 2 years until I finally got pregnant. Then sadly, when baby came home from the hospital, Maggie became a dog. Ha! Poor thing!
Yeah I wanted a better chance of winning that Memorial Box, and this is fun…
I would put a paycheck. In December of last year my husband was laid off. Normal this would have been a fast and complete down ward spiral… but God is good and Matt just trusted. He was laid off on a Monday. He spent Tuesday writing and filing out resumes and applications. He had one resume left… he had been doing wholesale for 5 years and was really wanting out of it but felt he could not do anything else… he loves technology and was driving by a computer sales and servicing store in the area… he felt God's leading and turned in his last resume. Wednesday he got a phone call… they wanted to schedule him for an interview… they thought is was funny that he had turn in a resume because they wanted to hire some one but had not advertised for it yet. He went to the interview Thursday. Got a phone call Thursday night that he was hired and they wanted him to start Friday as in "tomorrow". So my amazing God gave my husband a jod in 4 days; and it is a job that he loves… in fact he will probably make a life long career out of it. Another awesome thing is that we have 2 little ones and I did not even have to think about going to work and leaving them.
When we adopted our son it took every last dime we had saved. I was driving a VW Rabbit at the time and we had no money for a new car. L turned one on October 15. When we got his new big boy car seat out to put in the car I looked and my husband and said I don't know how much longer we can do this. There was just NO ROOM in that back seat and we had to scoot the front seat all the way forward to fit the car seat in the back. I just decided to trust God to meet that need the way he had met all our adoption expenses. On Friday the 20th, the day before his birthday party, we got a phone call from a friend. He said, How would you like a van?" I thought he was joking and laughed. He said no, really. I am serious. So My husband went to look at. You just won't believe this. Remember this is 2001 and it was a 1985 Dodge Caravan with only 27,000 miles on it. It had been used by an older man for days when the wanted an air conditioned car. He had passed away 2 weeks earlier. He kept it parked in his garage. It was absolutely immaculate. Yes it was outdated and Gold but it was only 3000.00. Perfect for me and I just fell in love with the God who would provide exactly what I needed when I needed it. People would make fun of me and I would just in turn tell them it was a gift from my dad who loved me beyond words. They didn't always get it but it has been a constant reminder to me of how God chooses to always meet our needs. Not always in ways we expect but he does answer. So I will put a picture of that van in my box.
I have so many….I am sending another….last year, we had our sweet dog hit by a car. My kids were devastated and begged for another dog….I was not so keen on it…it broke all of our hearts….well, God started working on me and I began researching and looking…had little to no money for one but entertained the kids with looking….well, we found one..the CUTEST little puppy….and was within our price range!! I called and yes, 2 were still available…I could not come then and said we would call after church on Sunday…she said they were likely to be gone…..we prayed. I called on Sunday and the lady said the pups were all gone. I hung up and prayed again-that if that was the dog for us, HE would have it be….and then began looking online immediately as I KNEW I was sunk to get one ASAP….well, I found one we decided to go look at and as I was getting all the kids in the van, the first lady called me and said the original purchaser backed out and the puppy was ours if we wanted it…we went to get him-sight unseen and YES, he was the puppy for us!!! SO, I would put in a picture of him when we brought him home…
I'll post another adoption provision story! The Sunday before we left for China, our church prayed over our family. A young couple handed us a check after church saying that they were just being obedient to the Spirit's leading. It was the exact amount we had put on credit card for our remaining flight fees.($3,000!)
I would place a letter X of some sort to remind us of God's exact, perfect provision!!!!
"Not to us O Lord, not to us, but to Your Name be the glory."
I would like to enter the giveaway again…..and here is another story for my memorial box:
I would put a camera in the memorial box. A few years back I took my 3 year old grandson to the county fair in Durango. I lost my camera in the fun house. When I realized it, I was quite upset. So I told my grandson that we had to pray so we sat on a bench and I prayed "Dear Jesus, please help me find my camera. Amen"
We never found it at the fair and I was sad because I take ALOT of pics ALL the time. (And I don't download them too often so there were a LOAD of pictures on my memory card!) He was sleeping over that night and after he had gone to bed I received a phone call from a man in Farmington NM. He said "I found your camera at the fair today." Within a day, I had my camera back. Yeah God!!! (My husband had engraved our last name & home phone # on my camera in the event it was ever lost. Such a smart hubby!)
So yeah, a tiny camera would definitely go in my memorial box!!
Linn, thanks for the opportunity to accumulate 4 entries in the giveaway!
Hi linny
My story just happened this weekend. For the past 4 years my hubby and I have gone camping on Columbus Day weekend at a campground about 40 miles from our house. On this weekend they do trick or treating for the kids. All the campers have candy and the kids walk around all dressed up. When we were matched with Sierra in May of 2008 we KNEW we would have her with us when we went camping there in Oct. 2008 . But that was not God's plan. We did not travel until January of this year. Imagine how excited we were about going this year finally with our sweet little girl. I have taken a yaer off of work( maybe will be more). Things are very tight financially. I have been working weekends at a family farm near by. The owners are great people, wonderful people to work for. So when it turned out they were going to be short handed on Columbus Day weekend I volunteered to work for a few hours Sat. and Sun. I would still leave with my family on Friday but I would drive the 80 mile round trip on Sat. and Sun.to work from 11-5. The part that was difficult for me was that I would miss the trick or treating with Sierra. They have done it for the last 10 years at 2:00. We had planned and made her costume together. We have been talking about it for weeks, but now she would do it with her Dada and older brother. It was OK. Deep inside I was so sad I would be missing it. Anyway we arrived at the campground on Friday and walked up to the office to introduce Sierra. The owners had heard our story and had seen pictures but had never met Sierra. While we were up there they asked if she had brought a costume. We said yes. They replied "Good, then she can come trick or treating tomorrow night at 6:00!!! I said 6:00??? But you've always done it in the afternoon??? Ahhhh but this year they changed it. Trick or treating was going to be at 6!!! And since I finished work at 5, I could make it!!! I started to cry. I knew that God had a hand in this. It was a small thing but so dear to my heart. So at 5 minutes before 6 I pulled up to our camper and was greeted by the cutest little witch I ever saw!!! And her , and I and Dada were off trick or treating. I would put a little witch in my box to remind me of the little things that He knows are important to us!!!
Kathie
Here's my second story:
I would put in one of my business cards. Six years ago, I started my first "grown up job" right out of high school. I worked in an office with some peple that weren't the greatest influences. After almost 9 months, I was unexpectedly laid off. I was devastated! Three days later I was offered another job. I interviewed, was hired, and started working all on the very same day. Through this job I met my best friend, who ultimately led me to Christ. If I had continued at my other job, I can't help but wonder where I would have ended up.
We started a Bible Study with some of our co-workers. We met over the lunch hour once a week, and that group has grown from just three of us to fifteen people in just four years.
I loved these women, but I was beginning to feel restless and that perhaps this was not where God wanted me to be any longer. Given the current economic situation though, quitting a perfectly good job seemed rather foolish to me.
Then, two months ago I was laid off.
But since then, the door has opened for me to move to South Carolina with my cousin. Something that I have wanted to do for many years, but most likely would not have done if I hadn't lost my job.
I don't have a full-time job lined up yet, but my business card reminds me that He is always faithful and will work something out!
That is AWESOME!
It also makes me very hungry for pumpernickle bread.
We take a bag of food to church every week for the food pantry and you better believe I'm going to find something special to put in that bag this week that may end up being someones "hidden treasure."
I LOVE your stories!
Ooh! I'm so excited to share this one! After I posted last week, something absolutely amazing happened…
When I began contemplating adoption as a single woman, my family was pretty skeptical. I began to doubt, and asked God if He would humor me a bit and let me put out a fleece of sorts. So I asked for something outrageous. I asked Him to have someone give me $1000 for my adoption expenses. I did not tell a single soul that I had asked God for it, so that if it happened, I would KNOW it was from Him.
It has been about a year of praying and waiting, and the last 2 weeks the Lord has given me incredible confirmation through scripture and circumstances. Then, on Thursday, guess what? Yep! I opened a letter from my great aunt and there, tucked inside the folded pages, was a check for $1000! She wrote, "So happy to send you this money…I'm only obeying God and sending the money, so receive it with love and prayers." Wow! I photocopied the check and it is in safekeeping until it has a permanent home in my Memorial Box!! Thank You, Jesus!
Hmmm…. I have another story that definitely would need representing in a Memorial Box (if I got one!). But I am not sure what item would represent it. I'd rather not share the story publicly – but it is a story that, when I think of it, is a breathtaking reminder of God's forgiveness and the sweetness of having Christian friends here on earth to remind me of that forgiveness!
When I was in Bible College, I truly ONLY had 2 pennies to rub together. I was washing my clothes in the tub, and I hung on to those two pennies, because I could say, "Yes, I have money!" But one day a fellow student walked up to me and handed me an envelope. She said she felt led to give me this, her godmother had sent it to her, but she wanted me to have it. And it was $100!!!!! Which lasted me ALL semester! And was SUCH a blessing! So I guess, when I get my Memorial Box, I will have to take a $100 bill out of our Monopoly game! 🙂
Nancy in CT
Here's another story of God's Faithfulness…one super hot day in early May of 1996, I decided to get a cool frozen yogurt for lunch. When in the store, I idly picked up a free publication called "County Kids." Now, mind you…I had no kids. But I like to read on my lunch breaks. I casually flipped it open, and it landed on the ads section…and at the very top was a picture of a PRECIOUS baby girl from China…it was an adoption ad! I ran out of the shop, went back to work early and called the number. And 18 mos later, my beloved daughter was placed in my arms, in Changsha China. I still have that precious ad. It is a treasure!
Another item I would put in our memorial box would be a card with Hannah on it, and the meaning of her name. In our family names are a big deal. All of our children are adopted and they have all received a new name- a new start in Christ! We had accepted a referral for our baby girl- Hannah Grace (which means grace, grace). How beautiful. She had some medical needs, but she was ours and we couldn't wait to bring her home!
A week before the adoption was finalized in Ethiopia….she went to be with Jesus. Although I can't even express how the wind was knocked out of our sails, our dreams for her crushed, our minds shattered……we knew that we had to tell our other 6 children at the time. HOW??? Lord give me strength.
So we did, holding her card in my hands…I explained our God is one of Grace and our little Grace….was HEALED completely! She would never know pain again…never have all those surgeries….and her tears have been wiped away. WOW- was our God faithful in opening it up for our children to learn about healing, death, and our victory over it through Jesus Christ! Heaven's doors were opened through this tragic situation and our hearts still can't wait to see our baby girl smiling- being held by our Saviour!
Okay here goes…
My husband and I asked Jesus into our hearts in the spring of 1997. We had been married for about 3 years. We wanted children very badly but no children. I had felt that God had spoken to me that he would restore the years the locust had eaten and I believed he would bless us with children. Fast forward to Feb. 14, 1998. I decided to take a ride on one of our horses. I was having trouble calming her and was riding up to my husband to get off. Well before I got to him she threw me off straight up and down I landed on my spine. I could not move. My husband called 9*11. While I waited I lay there singing praises to the Lord 🙂 I was a new Christian an I believed my God would intervene. I was numb from the cold. I knew God was going to provide children and if I were in a wheelchair I would manage.
I arrived at the hospital and the first x-rays were scary. They didn't know if I would walk and wanted to do more x-rays. My husband was praying and begging our mighty God.( I was oblivious to the bad X-ray) WEll between first and second x-rays crushed vertabrae was gone! They sent me home I couldn't walk for about 3 days but I slowly came around and now I have 5 children :). Many more stories where my mighty God has made himself known intimately.
I praise him for His Mercy endureth forever.
Ok ok, I posted a story here last week (and not even on my blog-gasp!) So I might as well keep up the tradition!
This weeks item is a plastic apple. When I finished my student teaching at a school I LOVED (funny though, our rivals while growing up) I had no idea where God would plunk me. I had taken a teaching assistant job at that same school, but it was only to finish out the year. By May, I had people asking all around me about what I was going to do for a job. I consistently said, "I'm not sure where God will put me. But I trust him, wholly."
Tony trusted Him too, but being the planner (and financial guy) wondered alongside all the others where I would work. We were married in the spring of 1999, so he was 100% supporting me.
Literally, all summer everyone else seemed to sweat what I was going to do. I had put my resume out at only a couple of places. I KNEW God heard my heart, heard my cry. And He was faithful.
About two weeks before schools started all around this area, I got a call. It was from the school I had student taught, and did the teaching assistant role in! One teacher moved into the role of Assistant Principal, which opened up her teaching position. They were offering me THAT position!
To find out how God not only gave me the cupcake, but the icing and cherry too, pop over to my blog. I can get it all posted before the night ends!
But anyway, my loving, well-timed God blessed me with my current job as a teacher. And what better symbol than an apple? It represents my teaching, AND my trust. I trusted Him 100%.
Hmmm, thanks Linny. I needed that reminder!
My goodness Linny look at all these comments. How exciting.
OK, I have another one. One of my Aunts had passed away in January 2003.I was upset with myself because I never went to see her before she died, it was stupid and I felt like a jerk. Years went by, and we were struggling financially, and I prayed to God. Could you just let some money fall into our hands. We can't get a leg up. I'm not sure how much longer after that prayer or plea, call it what you will, I received a letter from a lawyer asking me if I was Mrs. So and so's niece. At first I thought it was a clever bill collector. Well I eventually gave this guy a call. He was a lawyer and he was indeed my Aunts lawyer. Get this, it seems he had a check that he had been holding for me since my Aunt died. She had me in her will but I had moved and it took this lawyer years to track me down. Well he was a holding a $10,000 check!!!! all I had to do was fill out the paper work confirming, that I was her niece and he would put the check in the mail!!!!!
Talk about money from no where.I will never get over that one. God held that money until we really needed it. Wonder if He's holding anymore. Anyway I thought that would be a good Memorial box story. I guess I would put a $10,000 bill in there from the game of "life"
This is a good one for women waiting for God to change their husband's heart about adoption.
My husband said absolutely NO to adoption and knowing him I gave up completely on my dream…but God didn't. Five years later my son met in kindergarten a little girl adopted from China and fell completely head over heels with her and the thought of having a Chinese sister. My son's passion for a sister from China tugged at my husband but that wasn't enough to soften my husband's heart.
Then one day when I was feeling very tired of camping, I got a call from a salesperson offering me a free stay at one of those timeshares in Orlando if we listened to their 2 hour sales pitch while there. I have had bad experiences with those timeshares so I really was surprised that I said yes. When I sat at the table waiting for the salesman to show up I remember asking God "what am I doing here? I love trailer-camping and I'd rather camp that become indebted in this way". The salesman sat down and proceeded with small talk and asked us about our family. I returned his interest and asked him about his. He talked briefly about his two biological children but his heart just poured out and his face just seemed to glow when he started talking about his daughter adopted from Romania. We talked the whole time about his daughter and about adoption and I asked him what agency he had used and he wrote down "All God's Children". I get goose bumps just thinking about it. On a follow-up letter he wrote "Don't give up on your husband".
God can move the most hardened heart so ladies out there keep praying and waiting on God.
I love this story!! 🙂 God does care about EACH detail of our lives. Nothing is too insignificant for Him. 🙂
Think I forgot to mention that 3 years after the meeting with that timeshare salesman, we brought home our daughter from China.
I would have to put a ladybug in my memorial box. 7 years ago, my husband and I decided to adopt from China. As we started the process, the wait time from when your paperwork leaves for China and when you get your referral was 14 months (nothing compared to the years of waiting right now, but at the time, it was considered a very long wait). The adoption community has come to see the ladybug as a sign of good luck and often after some are sited, referrals come. As we began the process, I found myself very unsure of whether it was the Lord's will for us to adopt or if it was just my will and I wanted very much to know that the Lord was directing me. We had some things come up which made us put the adoption on hold for a number of months and the wait times weren't getting any better, causing me to doubt the direction we were going in. So I prayed "Lord, you and I both know that I don't believe in luck. But I do believe that you can use things as a sign. I would just ask you that if it truly is your will that we adopt from China, that you would show me a ladybug." A few weeks later I was driving around our town and noticed that in an effort to spruce things up, the town had let local artists paint the garbage cans that lined main street. The one that I drove past the most was designed with a ladybug smack dab in the middle of it. I wish I could say that I was immediately reassured but sometimes one needs a 2 x 4 to the head to believe that the thing you want the most is really what the Lord also wants for you (maybe I'm the only one like this :D). So again I prayed "Lord, thank you for that answer, but it's not a real ladybug, could you please send me a real one?" A few weeks later, I was in the midwest, helping my grandma clean through my grandpa's things after his death and while in an upstairs bedroom, she said "would you just look at these ladybugs, they are everywhere this year!" They were coming in through the cracks of the windows and had even gotten between the glass and frame of one of her pictures! I smiled and told her the story of the ladybug. She said "well, you're welcome to these." You would think that would be all it would take, but after flying back to Washington state, I said "Lord, I'm sorry, I don't want to doubt you, but I really, really want to make sure. Gideon laid a fleece before you and I'm going to do this one more time and that will be all, I promise." We had not seen any ladybugs at all the whole summer, despite the infestations of the midwest. The next day I was working in my flower beds and going over all the emotional upheaval of the previous months, when I looked on the lattice work and there at eye level was a black ladybug with red spots. I had never seen one before and have never seen one since. I could just feel God laughing, saying "now will you believe that I will give you the desires of your heart?". We went on to adopt a precious little girl from China. The wait times by the time we got our paperwork to China were a whopping 5 1/2 months, unheard of then and definitely unheard of now. She's been home almost five years now and there is definitely no doubt that she was meant to be part of our family.
Hi Linny,
I haven't posted in a long time and I've never had a Memorial Box Monday story come to mind but I was just reminded of this and had to share.
It was around 2001 and my first daughter was 3 years old. A friend and I decided to take our girls to the circus for the first time. My husband and I were very tight on money, and since we had already spent the money on the ticket, we told Maddie that we wouldn't be buying any souvenirs
at the circus. I felt bad, but also felt that I didn't want to start a precedent with my children that we would buy 'extras' at every fun event—the ticket WAS the 'extra' at that time (still is!).
My friend told me that she had planned to buy her girls a small toy and asked if this was okay with me. I certainly didn't have an issue with that, and I remember telling Maddie that her friends might get something small, but we just couldn't today.
I will never forget sitting in my seat next to my 3 year old, watching all the lightsabers, spinning toys, and light up swords illuminating the circus tent, while my daughter sat quietly not saying a word. She didn't cry, but I could see how hard this was for her. I had tears in my eyes, praying, 'God, I know you want me to stay strong on this. I know you want us to be wise with our money and in what we teach our children. But this is hard…I'm not sure I can do this.' I was mighty close to just giving in and grabbing the closest elephant snow cone cup I could find! But instead, I prayed that God would show me somehow that I was making the right decision.
Moments later, it was intermission. The music died down, the lights came up and suddenly, a beautiful, red, heart shaped balloon came floating down right into my daughter's lap. I will never forget the look on her face when she looked at me and said, "Mommy! I DID get a souvenir!' I looked around, trying to find out who this balloon belonged to and no one claimed it. I knew without a doubt that God was gently reassuring me that I had done well. What a blessing that was…I'll be searching for a small red balloon to put in my box someday!
Thanks for reminding me, Linny…
Love,
Alissa
Yeah–I LOVE reading all these reminders of God's provision!
My next thing in my box will be a little elephant. Less than 1 week before my husband was scheduled to deploy, our 4 yo son (at the time) was determined to need emergency surgery that, if not done quickly, could affect him his whole life. We lived in a small town, but there was a great children's hospital 1 hour away in the city. We rushed him there and he was scheduled for surgery the next morning. As he got ready, they gave him some calming medicine then explained to him about the anethesia mask that they'd be putting on him. Well, he was already pretty loopy that the mask looked like an elephant to him. So, he promptly did his very best elephant impression for the next several minutes. All the laughter calmed this mommy's anxious heart! And, he was healed and you would hardly know he had been hospitalized when Dad left 4 days later. Praise God!
Oooooooh, enter me again! Enter me again! 🙂 One time I had my 2 youngest kiddos in the van and we went through the McD drive-thru and nearly got into an accident! I had pulled over after we got our food to hand their Happy Meals back to them (after checking to make sure we weren't in anyone's way). Suddenly I was shocked to see the vehicle in front of me backing right into me! I started screaming and trying to shift into reverse and honk the horn all at the same time. But I was so shocked I was clumsy and couldn't do anything right. My eyes saw the other car heading toward us closer and closer and it never hit us!!! I still think somehow God put up an invisible force field around us or something!! I could not humanly figure out HOW they had missed us!! So I would need to put a little McD sign in there or a little car to remind me of God's protection–not only from getting hurt but also from having to pay to get the car fixed, dealing with insurance, etc. PTL!
Carrie – mom to 4 from Korea
Hey Linn,
Although I don't have a box yet for our memories, I do have some items in mind and would love to be entered to win a box to put them in. 🙂 One of those items is my yellow "Live Strong" bracelet.
Now, most everyone knows what a symbol this yellow band has become, and it means that for me too BUT it means SO much more. I wear this band as a daily memorial because it reminds me of a time in my life when I was battling cancer and all the AMAZING ways God provided for Cheremi and I during that time (I won't go into details here because it would take too long, but you can ask me sometime and I'll share it). It also reminds me that God has plans for my life and that He took me through cancer for a reason. "Live Strong" to me means to live strong for God – be His tool, His instrument where ever and when ever He wants me to be. This band will go in my box but it will be a constant reminder around my wrist as well to "Live Strong" for God.
James
I was cleaning out a lot of the many clothes that my daughter has outgrown to give to a friend of several foster children. I came across one dress in particular that I just cannot get rid of. It was the dress I bought years before I ever had my daughter (7 years to be exact). I prayed over this dress those 7 years and believed God would give me the baby girl to fill that dress. I call it my Faith dress.
And I realized yesterday I really need a Memorial Box! So I'd LOVE to enter!
I'm so glad you are having another contest and this one sounds so fun!
In my Memorial Box I would like to put a small toy swing.
When I was in second grade my best friend in the world lived right next to the neighborhood playground. Each day after school I would rush to my favorite swing and wait for her to see me and come out to play. We were just the best of friends ever! So I was crushed when her family moved out of state one week after school ended. For the next three weeks I would sit in my favorite swing and stare at her house and pray. I desperately asked God to move another family into her house that had a daughter I could make friends with. Everyday I would do the same thing…swing, stare and pray. I was so lonely, with no other girls my age in our neighbor to play with and missed my best friend so much. Then one day I saw a moving van at the house and ran to "my" swing to watch the action. I was so thrilled when I saw a girl that looked to be a couple years older than me moving items into the house. I got even more excited to see a girl a couple of years younger than me helping her. And when I saw a third girl that looked exactly my age, I almost fell off my swing! God's heart bent to hear the prayers of a very sad second grader and He answered by sending three times what I had asked for. They even had a younger brother that was the same age as my younger brother. We all quickly became the closest of friends and spent the rest of our childhoods together!
It's fun to be entering another chance for a MB giveaway, but I am also on the lookout for one, because I have lots to put in one!
One item: a tiny replica of a research paper. In 2002, I was sitting in church on a Sunday evening when I knew God was calling me to serve Him in Africa by helping orphans there. The next day, I started the process, at age 51, of going back to school to become a nurse. Over the next few years, people would ask me where in Africa I would work, and I told them that I didn't know, but I knew God would show me, just as He was so clearly leading me through every step of preparation.
In 2007 I was preparing to go to Uganda as part of a mission team. At our first team meeting, I shared that I was planning to work as a nurse in Africa when my schooling was complete. A teammate said I should visit Wentz Clinic while we were there. As she described it, I began to wonder . . . "Could that be "my" clinic?" I went home and checked the research paper I had written for a class 2 years previously, and sure enough, it was the SAME clinic I had written about in my paper about what was being done for the orphans of the AIDS epedemic in Africa – "my" clinic! I remember finding information about that clinic online while I was researching, and thinking, "Wouldn't it be awesome to work there someday?!"
However, our team wasn't going to be working near the clinic, and it looked to be impossible to visit – but I asked everyone to pray, and in an amazing way, God provided a way for me to visit the clinic just before going to the airport on the way home from Uganda. After touring the clinic, I was invited to meet Pastor Peter, head of ARM, the organization which ran the clinic. He invited me to come work in the clinic for 2 months after I graduated the next year! I KNEW God would show me where He wanted me to serve, and He did. And so in 2008, I went for 2 months, and while I was there, God asked me to start an orphanage. But that's another story!
God had shown me, through every step of going back to school and the many "Memorial Box" stories along the way, that He had a plan, and I knew He would show me where He wanted me. And, yep, sure enough He did, so clearly and simply. He is awesome!
Round two. My husband works in construction. He was working on a bridge in AZ. He drove an old company truck that had to be started by sticking two wires together under the hood(so not safe). One day when he was starting the truck, it lurched forward and almost smashed his legs between the bridge railing and the bumper. Thankfully there just happened to be a piece of metal that stopped the truck and gave him a few inches of space to be squished into. All ended well, no damage to the legs. I would put a little truck in my memorial box to remember that one.
What a beautiful story. God takes care of even the little things. We so often forget that don't we. I'm believing my dear friend that Jubilee is going to be coming home to her forever family. Hugs..
I left a post last week, and just this morning, have a new story to tell.
My husband and I have eight children. We homeschool them, but not on Tuesdays, because this is my husband's day off, and we often run errands or do fun family stuff. My two oldest have a job doing a garbage route on Tuesday mornings, starting at 7:00 A.M.
At about 10:00 A.M. I received a cell phone call from my dad, saying the boys' boss had just brought Jackson into his office. Jackson had gotten his right hand/wrist/arm caught in some of the hydraulics on the garbage truck. It's difficult to explain the myriad of emotions that went through my mind at that moment. Dad went on to explain that there doesn't appear to be any real damage. Miraculously, it squeezed just at the distal end of his radius/ulna, and there was enough 'give' to not break any bones. There is some swelling and bruising, but the skin wasn't broken.
God had been prompting me to pray for the boys this morning, more than normal. As I was baking Jackson's birthday cake for tomorrow, I was sending up prayers for them. I am so grateful for His protection.
I'm not sure what I will put in my Memorial Box to commemorate this day. Perhaps a tiny garbage truck? Any other ideas?
You've inspired me to start our family a memorial box. My husband made me this funny little cabinet while we were dating…I never knew what to do with it until I started reading your Memorial Box posts… Now, for God to fill it…
Thanks for your story… you are right, if God cared enough to see you got that bread, He has even greater plans for Jubilee! Praying for her to come home quickly!
I would put a lunch box in my memory box. As a receptionist at my previous job, I watched my co-workers leave for lunch in groups. Prior to the last 6 months I was there, I usually had a "lunch buddy" or two, which was very nice. Due to the economy, all of my buddies had been let go, leaving me to dine alone. Not once in the last 6 months did anyone ask me to go to lunch with them. When I was finally let go in July, it was more of a relief than burden.
Last month, I started a new job. Everyday my new co-workers have invited me to lunch.
It's such a small gesture for them, but for whatever reason, it makes a huge difference in my day.
Hi! I left a comment with post last week and here's another … =o)
The Bible says we should encourage others, in fact, in the book of Hebrews, chapter 3, verse 13, it says "encourage one another daily…so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." And in Hebrews again, chapter 10, verse 25, it says "let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another …" There's a little story I'd like to tell you. This actually happened in October 2003 …
It was a Friday. It was the end of the week and it had been a hard week! By the time bedtime came, I was pretty drained. My husband and I were lying in bed, getting ready to go to sleep. We were talking a little bit and we said our goodnights and I rolled onto my side. My husband then proceeded to drape his arm over me. What you need to know now is that when my husband starts to fall asleep, he TWITCHES – do any of you or your husbands do that? – I think it's really weird and I like to give him a hard time about it, but on this night, had he not TWITCHED, I wouldn't have this story to tell you.
So, anyway, his arm was draped over me and I began to say my prayers. I said something like this … "Father God, thank-you for this day – thank-you for all the wonderful blessings you bestow upon me. Lord, I need to be encouraged. I'm feeling so down, please Father, send me some encouragement …" THEN MY HUSBAND TWITCHED! He TWITCHED so BIG that he threw my whole prayer off!
"No Fair!", I said.
"What?", he whispered. "Am I falling asleep already?"
"Did you even get a chance to say your prayers yet?" I questioned.
He said, "Yes. I started to …"
"Oh." I said.
"I was praying for you", he whispered again.
"You were?", I asked, thinking why would he be praying for me … so I asked him?
He said, "I was praying that God would give you encouragement."
"Thanks Hon," I whispered back.
Then I prayed to God to thank Him … I never realized an answer to prayer so quickly before! God answered my prayer by letting me know that the very thing I asked for was the very thing my husband was asking for too … and that in itself was encouragement to me!
Psalm 10:17 – You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry.
Two years ago, my daughter and son were in a terrible car accident. My husband and I were driving about 2 minutes behind them. When came upon the scene of the accident we recognized the car. Just about then my cell phone rang and it was my son telling us they were in an accident. The car was completely totaled and it was smoking really bad. It was a really scary scene. It was unbelievable that someone didn't die there that day.
My son had a broken leg and some other bumps and bruises. My daughter had a broken collar bone and a bad bruise where the seat belt was. She was in the hospital for a few days and a couple of weeks later ended up with surgery on her collar bone.
These things were so minor compared to what could have been. God was there that day and protected my children. I would put a picture of the terribly smashed up car to remind us how merciful He is and how much He loves us!
Blessings,
Karen
I post last week, but wanted to share another thing that I want to put in my box….
I would put a copy of my husband's MRI. He was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation and Syringomyelia in June 2008. He had been sick for awhile, but the doctors kept saying there was nothing serious wrong with him. I finally took him to the ER and the doctor in charge that night listened to our concerns and immediately sent him for a CT scan and MRI. The results were concerning so he sent my husband to a neurosurgeon. That was the beginning of a long road for our family. My husband was scheduled for brain surgery on July 8, 2008 and for heart surgery a week later (July 15). Had it not been for that MRI that the ER doc ordered for him, we would not have my husband here with us today. I KNOW without a doubt that the Lord sent us to that ER on the night that wonderful doctor was working. Any other doctor would have treated my hubby's symptoms instead of trying to find the cause, as at the time, the symptoms were not severe enough to really indicate a major problem. That MRI saved my husband's life!
He has shown up through you. When I wonder what on earth is going on in my little world and where is God in all of it, He reminds me that He's right beside me and will hold me and take care of me.
Linny, you challenge me to remember my roots and to Praise Him for His awesome love for me.
At times I wonder how it will all work out, but then I look back at the many, many wonders He has done for me and my family and I can't help but praise Him.
Much love and thanks,
Jenn
My 1st Son Ethan has such a sweet heart. He is very compassionate but ever so emotional! I know he will make a great dad/husband some day! Anyway we took all 5 of our children to the Circus when it came to town, we get discounts through Girl Scouts so we were able to afford it. We mentioned to the kids before we left that we didnt have money for all the "junk" that they sell at these things so dont even ask! Enjoy "The greatest show on Earth" and be happy!! Well Ethan (at the time was 4yrs old now 9) went upstairs to his room while we were all getting into the car. He finally came back down got into the car and off we went. We made it in time to go down to the 3 rings and get up close to the animals, see an Elephant painting, These are Ethans FAVORITE animal ever, we got to get pictures with the clowns and had a lot of fun! WE sat through the show and let them all have an icee that come in an animal cup! When the show was over we all made a potty stop before getting back in the car, while we were in there I guess a vendor decided to park thier cart outside the potty door! Ethan came out and just looked in amazement at all the "stuff" He then in all his cuteness said "mommy its my favorite Ellie..can I have just 1 elephant?? I said "buddy we dont have enough money for that Im sorry maybe for your birthday…." with that he pulled out a handful of pennies and put them on the counter and said can I buy it? The lady looked at me I at her then to my hubby who had tears runniing down his cheeks…needless to say we came home with that elephant and a few other goodies! The lady pretended to take his money and we paid the rest. He still cherrishes that Elephant! So if I ever get around to starting my Memorial Box (that I want to start) inside will go a small Elephant or a Penny Im not yet sure which!
I am a little late commenting on this, but I had to share!
It's after midnight here. My husband it out hunting, and I'm home with our 2 small kids. I should have been in bed hours ago, but I keep getting distracted so I've stayed up late. Our little boy's 1st birthday party is on Saturday so I've been working on some last minute details.
Anyway, I've been doing a lot of work with family pictures recently and almost a year ago my computer kicked the bucket. I had all of our family pictures on it and started to freak out. Thankfully my dad was able to burn CD's and DVD's of all of the photos and videos before my computer was completely gone. I put all of them in our fireproof safe so they would be safe.
A couple of nights ago I decided to look for pictures of our little girl. She is 3.5 years old now, but I had the first 2 years of her life on those CD's. I went through every single CD in the safe and none of them had her pictures on them. I couldn't imagine where they would be and searched all of the places that CD could have been.
I was very distraught at the thought of losing every picture I had taken from her first 2 years! For the past few nights I've laid in bed praying to God that he would show me that CD. I had no clue where to look, and I basically prayed God would just "give it to me."
Tonight as I was grabbing a stack of blank DVD's to burn a new slideshow onto at the very top of the stack was a CD labeled "Madeline." My heart skipped a beat. Was God really giving me that CD I had so clearly asked him for?
Yep! Yippee Jesus! It had every picture on it that was missing!
I've said it before, but you have been key to increasing my faith over this past year. The stories you have shared have taught me that God is involved in the details of my life, and that even the most absurd request is completely within His realm of possibilities. I need only ask, and believe in faith and He is more than willing to reveal Himself to me.
So, if I had a memorial box I would put a blank CD in it to remind me of the one He helped me find.
Thanks Linny for all you do for me. God has used you in my life in a HUGE way!
~Amy
Hi Linny,
I am new to your blog but it is a Godsend! We are on our own adoption journey for 1-1/2 years now for 3 siblings from India and are also believing that God will provide ALL the funds because we don't have it! But anyway that is another story. I have a memorial story that I would keep forever as God's unfailing and unmeasureable love for each of us!! We built our house now 5 years ago and built it for an investment, so we were not intending to live in it long. (Ha! We have been here for the last 3 years on the market–still waiting). That's another miracle we are waiting for! I hadn't unpacked everything, as I thought we wouldn't be here long enough to have to just pack up again. Well, my son wanted his toy airplane that was quite large but I had no idea where it was. The boxes were stacked up on top of one another for a couple of rows on either side of where I was looking. I thought I had exhausted myself looking through all these boxes and couldn't find it anywhere. I put out a small prayer like.."God help me" and as I started looking at the boxes again starting at the top and scanning down to the bottom box to look at what I had wrote for the contents. My eyes stopped on something new…the words "BEHIND YOU" were written on this box. It took me a second or two to think about that and thought wait a minute… that is not my writing and what about that anyway? Well, I turned around and decided to go through the boxes again and looking only 1 or 2 boxes in I found the mysterious missing plane!!!I still have that box with God's handwriting on it. By the way, He does have excellent writing skills! I wrote on the top, "Do not throw this box away–Keep it as a reminder of God's unfailing love and help–no matter how BIG or small. I am reminded once again myself that if He can find a plane in a box and tell me so, He can be the big God He is and provide the mountain of funds needed for this adoption! Thanks Linny for your encouragement!! I would put a picture of that box in my box!
~Lisa
I have a "red glass heart paperweight" that I call the heart of God. Here is the story written in third person–I wanted to post it Monday but I am running a bit behind as it is NOW Thursday and this is LAST weeks post by you-AHH!!But I had to enter to try and win.
The whole story is posted on my blog-it was too long to leave as a comment. Here is the end–
As she sits in the chair beside her mothers bed looking upon the shell of her mother’s body she realizes her whole life all she ever wanted was to be loved. That is why she fell on the ground and begged for Jesus to enter her heart because the minister said “He would never leave us or forsake us and loved us as we were” That is why when a young man paid her attention she gave her heart away without thought or care. She remembers three days earlier she heard the words she always wanted her mother to say. As a young girl she would say them to her mother and wait only to be disappointed that they were not reciprocated. Paramedics were bringing her mother in through the back door of the house. They had brought her home to die. That is what she wanted. She was very heavily medicated for the trip to try to make it as comfortable for her as possible. She had been in a great deal of pain as the cancer had eaten through her bones causing fractures. As they wheeled her into her room she opened her eyes and looked around and an overwhelming look of peace passed over her mother’s face. Her mother looked into her eyes and mumbled three tiny words that will forever reverb through her life as the three greatest words. Though her mother was heavily medicated and her speech was slurred the young woman knew with everything that was within her what her mother had said… “I love you”. Her mother never spoke again or awoke fully again. As she sit starring at what was not her mother at all, but something like a shadow, she knew she was loved. She knew she had always been loved, but something about those three words, she knew that only God knew how badly she needed to hear them. She knew that they had to have come from Him, the one who infinitely loved her. She rose leaned over her dead mother and gently kissed her hand and said I love you. Then she held up what was in her hand, gave the red object a good look and then tightly grasped “the heart of God.”