We should all be a bit more greatful!

You should really take a minute and read this story!

I couldn't resist posting this today, it really touched me. I think that in our crazy world, we get so caught up in what we want, and getting more, more, more, that we forget that more than half of the world can only dream of the necessities. I am ashamed that with all of the things I have been given in life, I have less faith than those who have been dealt nothing but a bad deck of cards their entire lives. My eyes filled with tears as I came acroos this. I cannot believe the faith of the children in this story...

This beautiful story was written by a doctor who worked in South Africa.

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter.

We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive; as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator). We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly withtreacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates). "And it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed.

As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

"All right," I said, "put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm."

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the babycould so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.

During prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. "Please, God" she prayed, "Send us a hot water bottle today. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon."

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, "And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?"

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say "Amen"? I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything; the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever, received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there on the verandah was a large 22-pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes.

I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly-colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas – that would make a batch of buns for the weekend. Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the..... could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out. Yes, a brand new, rubber hot water bottle.

I cried.

I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.

Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!" Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully-dressed dolly.Her eyes shone! She had never doubted! Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"

"Of course," I replied!

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "that afternoon."

"Before they call, I will answer." (Isaiah 65:24)

Belated St. Patrick's Day!

Sorry about the bad scan of the tags. I had to scan them onto my computer instead of taking pictures of them and them posting them . They look a lot better in person! They were fun to make! I would love to know what you think. Feel free to leave a comment!

Is there such a thing as; Happy belated St. Patty's Day?
Ha Ha HA!!! Just a quick post of some tags I sent out to my awesome family members.
Ty and Shell, I sent you one today!
I am going to be posting some fun projects I have been working on in the next few days,
and I am also going to be giving out some RAKS.
A RAK is a random act of kindness, in the scrapbooking world.
I have so much ribbon and flowers that I want to give away! Stay tuned!
Have a great night!

Thoughts of gratitude!

I have been thinking about my Mom and Dad for the last week or so. I just have to say that I have the best parent's in the world. I know that my siblings read this blog and they feel the same way about my Mom and Dad. Each of my siblings have an extremely close relationship with them. It takes work and we all know that, but the pay off is so rewarding! There was a time, about 7 years ago, that I was having a really hard time in my life. My Mom happened to be over at my house and something set me off. I asked her to leave my house. I remember the look of hurt she had on her face. It is heart breaking just thinking about it right now. My mom was very hurt and yet, the next morning I got a letter of apology from her! I was the one that was offensive!! I was the one that should have apologized, but because she was my mother and she never wanted anything to happen to our relatioship, she was the one that was the bigger person. In the letter she dropped off,my Mother was so humble, she was sorry for anthing she said, and for the hurt is caused me. From that day on, I really understood what being a Mother was all about. There have been times in my teenage years that I felt that my Mom and Dad were not treating me right. I was a teenager though, I was stupid! They were always humble, my entire childhood, and now. They have been so good to ALL SIX OF MY CHILDREN. My Mother has a special relatioship with my 2 older kids. I am not their biological mother but that has never stopped my parents from having a relatioship with them. They show them the exact amount of love as they show my four younger kids. They are coming from Utah to see my oldest daughter graduate in May. They come to visit 3 or 4 times a year . It is important to them to maintain a relatioship with them, even though they live 1600 miles away. As a parent, I will always do whatever it takes to always have a relatioship with my kids. I will be at every wedding, and do my best to be there for the important days of my kids lives. That is what our lives should be about...family. I just have been thinking about this a lot lately. I have such a supportive, loving husband that is such a good father. I couldn't be happier with him!! I am close to my siblings and talk to each of them all of the time. We are all spread around the U.S. but we were all raised with the knowledge that siblings should be close. This is a picture of my beautiful Mother and my little Nephew, Lawrence. I just felt like I should express my gratitude. Our family vacation was so much fun. I will not soon forget it!