The Newest Angel

"A penny for your thoughts" seems like all I've been saying to God lately. What with the earthquake in China, the cyclone in Burma, the devestating tornado's here in America, and the devasting loss of three precious children of Christan Singers Todd Smith, Nicole Sponberg and Stephen Curtis Chapman, I just have to stop and wonder what God is thinking.

He's certainly got my attention. What are you trying to tell me thru these tragedies, Lord?
How can I make a difference in the lives of these hurting people?

My prayers, even if I prayed all day long, seem so insignificant in the midst of so much suffering. Sometimes words even if they are prayers don't feel powerful enough and I just have to get my hands on something before I can feel that I've helped in any way.

While I'm in waiting for my next "hands on project" I will just have to be satisfied letting my fingers do the work here on the keyboard. My hands are yours Lord. Use them however you wish.

I have been reminded the last few weeks of a poem I memorized as a teenager. My mother who belonged to the "Book of the Month Club" got a poem book one day entitled The Best Loved Poems of The American People. I was so into poetry and I kept the book in my bed stand and read it over and over. My favorite section was the Memory and Grief Section. Morbid? You bet. But after all I was a teenage girl and we all know how much they like drama!

The poem I memorized was called PRAYER FOR A VERY NEW ANGEL, by Violet Alleyn Storey. I would read the poem out loud and break into a wail of tears. As I have been feeling the pain of the Smiths, Sponbergs and Chapmans this week I decided to post the poem as my prayer for all the new little angels in Gods kingdom.

God, God, be lenient her first night there.
The crib she slept in was so near my bed;
Her blue and white blanket was so soft,
Her pillow hollowed so to fit her head.

Teach me that she'll not want small rooms or me
When she has You and Heavens's immensity!

I always left a light out in the hall.
I hoped to make her fearless in the dark;
And yet, she was so small-one little light,
Not in the room, it scarcely mattered. Hark!

No,no; she seldom cried! Please God, not too far,
For her to see, this first night, light a star!

And in the morning, when she first woke up,
I always kissed her on her left cheek where
The dimple was. And, oh, I wet the brush.
It makes it easier to curl her hair.

Just, just tomorrow morning, God, I pray,
When she wakes up, could you do things for her my way!

Violet Alleyn Storey

Saying YES to God

I have just come off the most amazing 6 weeks of my life as I watched God’s hand at work in an up close and personal way.

It all began with a phone call as I lay basking in the warmth of the Florida sun in the middle of March. My sister Jo, who belongs to the same bible study as I do, was calling to give me an update on Deb, one of the women in our group.

Deb, who has been battling breast cancer for the last six years, had just received some tough news from her oncologist. Despite her chemo, the cancer was continuing to invade her brain. As an accountant for a local restaurant business, she had no choice but to finally resign from her job. It would be a while before she would be able to start collecting any kind of disability and until then her finances would be tight.

Jo was calling to ask my opinion on holding a benefit to help with some of Deb’s expenses, and if they did have one, would I like to help?

Betty, another woman in the group, had come up with the idea. Just a few weeks prior we had been discussing what real love for God looked like and Ken one of the men in the group had said “I think if you really love Jesus, you don't just sit around worshiping all day you reach out and do something for one of God's children. Its kind of like the Nike slogan,so if you love him you'll 'Just Do It!' ”

Kens words would remain with Betty, and when her love for God deepened her compassion for Deb, she sprung into action and she recruited my sister’s help .

“Sure, I’ll help. It sounds like a great idea” I told my sister over the phone. Stretched out in my chaise lounge watching the clouds roll by, I figured, if I was lucky, by the time I got back home the whole thing would be planned and all I would have to do was put on an apron and serve up some spaghetti.

………….at least that’s what I had hoped.

A few days after I returned from Florida, we met for lunch for the first time at the restaurant where Deb had been employed for many years. There were four of us, Betty, Jo, Kate, and myself.

As we discussed our thoughts, our worries increased. Was this something we thought we could pull off? Certainly none of us were qualified to do this and yet something spurred us on, or should I say SOMEONE.

What was God getting us into? We were all shaking in our boots.

I had just started an on-line bible study on one of my favorite blogs “Write From the Heart by Lelia Chealey http://leliachealey.blogspot.com/2008/03/learning-to-say-yes.html
The Bible Study is called “What Happens When Women Say YES To God” by Lysa TerKeurst http://lysaterkeurst.blogspot.com/.

I was first introduced to Lysa when I heard her speak in Naples. Her topic that day was based on her book and was called “Radically Obedient Outrageously Blessed".
I remember wondering as we sat around discussing the benefit, if this radical obedience to God we were undertaking, would make us outrageously blessed when it was all said and done.

We finished our lunch that afternoon and made plans to meet again a few days later. As we were preparing to leave, the restaurant manager stopped by our table and we shared our plans with her. She asked us to call if she could help in any way.

The next morning as I prayed for God’s hand in this giant endeavor, he led me to a scripture.

“Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord,
I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken
to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."

The LORD said to him, "Who gave
man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him
blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? Now go; I will help you speak and will
teach you what to say."

But Moses said, "O Lord, please
send someone else to do it." Exodus 4:10-15

My sentiments exactly. “Lord isn’t there someone else more qualified that knows what they’re doing.”

We met back at the same restaurant at the end of the week. Before we started any conversation Jo asked if we could please start with a prayer, and she asked the Holy Spirit to come to our aid and to be with us and guide our decisions that day.

The prayer helped us to focus on making this an endeavor that would glorify God.

Our original plan for a meal was fried chicken. As we planned the menu several employees stopped by our table to offer their support and tell us about other benefits they had attended. Some thought chicken would eat into our profits too much, and we agreed, and we began looking into pulled pork sandwiches.

After 2 hours we had visited and revisited the menu so many times that it was our brain that was fried. Just as we were planning our next meeting, a woman walked to our table and handed us a folded check. She was not a woman the world would think of as “one of the beautiful people.” But we were just about to learn the difference between the worlds view and God’s view.

We learned that as a new employee at the restaurant, Deb had befriended this woman when no one else seemed to give her the time of day. Deb had made her feel special and now she wanted to be able to make the first donation to her benefit. She was a single woman, making only minimum wage, and yet when we unfolded the check our mouths fell open. It was made out for $500 and noted that it was for benefit expenses.

Any doubt we may have had about whether or not this benefit was something God wanted us to do was quickly disolved. And this would only be the first of the miracles God was to perform through the generosity of the community.

Before leaving, another blessing came our way. The waitresses and bakery staff came forward and offered to provide, free of charge, all the desserts for the dinner. Amazing!

Everything I have learned over the last few years about God using the talents he has given us to glorify Him, was coming true. It amazed me to see God working thru the four of us. I could walk up to a total stranger and tell my life story. But asking for a donation left me tongue tied. So instead of seeking donations, I offered to be the person to write up a letter for someone else to take to the local businesses asking for help with a either a prize donation or a gift of money. They all agreed because none of them wanted this job.

After asking for God to give me the words for the letter, he led me to the 27th Psalm

“I am confident of this, that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”

The verse became the theme for our benefit. Yes, we hoped to raise money to help Deb out, but more than financial blessings we wanted Deb to be able to experience God’s love in a powerful way thru her community.

It really surprised me when Kate and Betty, the two very reserved members of the team, agreed, ever so hesitantly, to go around together and ask for the donations. I couldn’t help but think of the Exodus scripture again.

"I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak
to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you
were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform
miraculous signs with it."

As the two women found their voice over the next few weeks and not only asked for donations, but spoke to a newspaper reporter, and also spoke in front of two different groups, the Moses scripture played out. Not only did God send them out together like he did Moses and Aaron, but he gave them the words they were to say. We all agreed that the letter they took with them, containing the Word of God, had spoken to the merchants’ heart. It became their staff and with God's help they were able to gather some wonderful donations. People were being so generous. Most days it felt like God had opened the sky and was pouring down blessings from above.

Jo’s area of expertise was coordinating the dinner. By our third meeting we had again changed the menu and now we were planning on serving ham, meatballs, baked beans, potatoes, and coleslaw. Not only was Jo able to persuade several organizations to loan their cooking equipment and their extra table and chairs, she also managed to get the ham and meatballs donated by two area businesses, as well as donations of food from the local supermarket. A team effort scored gift cards for food at two major food chains, and 42 dozen rolls were donated by a friend who managed the bakery in a big restaurant in a neighboring town. Various parish members brought roasters of beans or potatoes, or items for the bake sale.

Our original plan had been to hold the benefit in our church hall. It seated 250 people. When we kept hearing that we should plan for 500 people, we tried to reserve the Knights of Columbus hall. The Knights agreed to cut the rent in half for us, but the date we were planning was already taken.

After prayerful consideration we all decided it should be held at the church. It was something we all had pictured in our mind and God gave us peace about our decision, and then blessed us with yet another donation. The Taymouth Township Fire Department not only donated a tent to house any overflow, but they agreed to put it up and take it down at no cost.

Every day heralded a new blessing. The camaraderie among the four of us was truly amazing. Several times we had a difference of opinion, but the dedication to follow God’s will helped us to remember to lay down our own will and go with the flow.

Some days we would be up to our elbows on a project and someone would remember we had forgotten to pray, and we would stop what we were doing and take the time to give God praise and ask for guidance.

Every time our minds wanted to play the “what if” game, we kept repeating the phrase “God is in control, and whatever happens will be in His will and for His purpose.”

May 16th finally arrived. With the dawn came the awareness that God had sent us a picture perfect day. Not too hot and not too cold. The daily readings spoke directly to our hearts and we felt God’s hand so strongly that day.

The workers began arriving. Jo worked in the kitchen and Betty, Kate and I worked in the church putting the finishing touches on the items donated for a silent auction and raffle. Our entire Bible Study group was on hand manning the bake sale, setting up tables, bringing in food, selling and taking tickets, and greeting the public. Our families joined in to help.

From the time the doors opened to the public at 4p.m. until the ending time of 7 p.m. the people came in steady streams. There were Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, and Baptists all gathered together under one church roof for one purpose, to do the will of God by supporting their sister in need.

God’s Spirit was so alive and evident in the heart of everyone who walked thru the doors that night. The look on their faces told us they felt the awesomeness of God’s presence.

Deb and her family were truly humbled and overwhelmed to see so many people turn out for the event. They were blessed to see the abundant generosity in the hearts of their community.

After the miraculous way God had orchestrated this event, we shouldn’t have been surprised that there was not only enough food to feed the multitudes, approximately 500 people, but at the end of the night there were enough leftovers to fill 12 baskets. Actually there was enough food left to send home with Debs family, to send to the Emmaus House, a shelter for women, to put in the freezer for a funeral several days later, to feed the girls softball team the following day, and to send home with the kitchen workers.

Our small in size community gave in a big way and poured out over $13,000 to help Deb with her cancer expenses. The gift of love they left in her heart is priceless.

I am so glad that I was able to be part of this small miracle. How many blessings would I have missed if the work had been done and all I would have had to do was serve up some spaghetti as I had originally hoped?

I can’t begin to thank God enough for allowing me the opportunity to say YES to Him. I will savor the outrageous blessings forever.