HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS

Stories of God's marvelous deeds in the lives of ordinary people

Compiled by Joan Royer

Psalm 96

Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.

Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
Proclaim his salvation day after day.

Declare his glory among the nations,
His marvelous deeds among all peoples.

INTRODUCTION

Declare his glory among the nations,
His marvelous deeds among all peoples.
Psalm 96:3

One day in my Quiet Time the Lord drew my attention to the scripture above.  He told me He wanted me to write a book which would tell of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS in my life and in others’ lives.  That is why this book was written. This book is meant to be an encouragement for you.  Hopefully it will strengthen you as you read how the Lord has revealed Himself and His ways in these stories.

									Joan Royer

TROUBLE ON THE HIGHWAY

“God, help me!” I shouted as my car slid out of control on the slippery Indiana highway on that cold rainy day in February.  I instinctively shut my eyes as my car careened down into the ditch on the right side of the road and into a field.  I “felt” the car moving for awhile as I sat braced for an impact or whatever might happen. I  was totally out of control of the steering of the car.  The car gradually slowed down enough for me to open my eyes and discover I was almost back on the highway!  I was approaching the same roadside ditch I had just driven through, but this time from the field side of it!  I accelerated the car trying to return to the road, but got stuck in the ditch.

As I sat in my car along the highway trying to grasp what had just happened, I began to see an amazing picture of what God had just done for me.......

The day began with plans to fly our private plane from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Columbia, Missouri, for a job interview for my husband.  I was busily packing the clothes for our two daughters so we could make a stopover at my sister’s home in Marion, Indiana, and leave the girls there while we visited Columbia.  I anxiously watched the cold rain and low clouds, wondering if they would hinder our flight and make us late for our appointment that evening.

Just then my husband called saying the weather was too bad to fly privately and we would need to catch a commercial flight very soon.  Would I make the trip by car to Marion? Would I drop off the girls at my sister’s home, and return to Indianapolis in time to catch the commercial flight?  There was just barely enough time if all went perfectly!

Driving at a high speed, I quickly made the trip, but I learned that the cold rain in Indianapolis changed to freezing rain and snow as I went north toward Marion.  Cautiously I arrived at my sister’s home, left the girls, and began the return trip - knowing I would not make the commercial flight on time unless I drove fast.

As I drove too fast for the icy road, God and His angels were watching over me, even in my unwise choice of speed.  All of a sudden I realized the car was sliding, and it was totally out of my control!  As I shut my eyes with the approaching danger and yelled, “God, help me!” God took over.  When I looked around as the car came to a stop in the ditch, I knew He had taken over, because I could see where His angels had steered the car - off the road, through a ditch, into a large open field, around a tree in a U-shaped turn, then back up to the edge of the road where the car stalled in the ditch.  The car and I were totally uninjured, not even scratched!

I walked to the nearest farmhouse where I used their telephone to call a AAA service truck to pull my car from the ditch.  Needless to say, we missed our commercial flight and had to postpone our visit to Columbia until the next day.

I knew, as I pondered the event, that an angel had guided my car that day because my eyes had been shut, and a car does not steer itself where my car went!

Some weeks later, as I drove along that same Indiana highway, I noticed something which again caused me amazement about God’s guiding hand.  I noticed that “my field” with the tree in the middle was the only open area for a long ways that was without buildings, fences, or signs which my car could have hit!

What could have been a tragedy turned out to be an enduring memory of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS!

To the Lord I cry aloud
and he answers me from his holy hill.
Psalm 3:4

A TREMENDOUS SUBSTITUTE

As I arrived home from church that Sunday evening the Lord spoke to me to turn on the TV.  As I did, I heard a pastor in the middle of his sermon say something which I immediately knew I was to write down.  The idea he gave was this:  Just before God is ready to give you His very best, Satan often offers a tremendous substitute.

The idea of a tremendous substitute was a new one for me, but since that time I have often found those words to be true.

It applied to my life one summer when I knew I needed to find a part-time job by September of that year because part of my financial provision would stop at the end of that month.  As I took this need to the Lord in prayer, He gave me a picture of a door set before me.  That door was open and behind it was bright light, so bright that I could not see what was there...but I knew it was His provision.  He told me to keep walking toward the “door” in September, and He would have something for me at that time.

So I walked, in faith, and kept the picture before me.  I had to fight battles with anxiety as the time drew closer and I still did not have the financial provision I needed.

By August I expected the Lord to bring me a job at any moment.  Just at that time a friend called and invited me to lunch.  She told me of a ministry position open at her church and asked if I would let her submit my name.  She knew I had a call to ministry, and this looked good in so many ways!  Could this be what the Lord had planned for me?  I knew I must pray about it and give it serious consideration.

As I pondered it there was one thing which bothered me about the job.  If  I took this job I would have to leave my church “family” of many years duration where I had friendships which were close and meaningful to me.  Only with the Lord’s help could I do that.  So I sought Him in prayer. 

I have learned over the years that if I really want to hear the Lord’s will I must first give up my own.  This was very hard to do!  I wanted the job the Lord had for me, and I needed the money soon, but I did not find peace about leaving my home church.  So I prayed until I could say, “God, whatever You want for my life, that is what I want too.  I am willing to pursue this job if that is what You want.”

Then He revealed to me that this job was a “tremendous substitute” which He had warned me about.  It had seemed so perfect in many ways.  That is often the way a “tremendous substitute” seems - perfect in many ways.  It is hard to tell it from the real thing except as you seek God and listen to Him.

I chose not to pursue that job, but to wait longer.  One day, in mid-September, two weeks before part of my financial provision ended, I walked into a Christian bookstore to buy a card.  As I chatted with the owner, he casually mentioned, “By the way, you don’t happen to be looking for a job, do you?  I have one available.”

With those words the Lord began the process of bringing me the “real thing.”  For years a desire in my heart had been to work at a Christian bookstore because of my love of reading and sharing Christian books.  Now, in the Lord’s perfect timing, He fulfilled that desire.  In the process He showed me another of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS!

The picture of the door with the light on the other side finally became a reality!  I walked through it with joy and thanksgiving!

I am the Lord;
in its time I will do this swiftly.
Isaiah 60:22

	THE LESSON

Do you want to know what the Lord is like?  I do!  And as I go through life, I have found that He gives me “lessons” through which He teaches me about Himself, His purposes, and His ways.

One day He taught me a lesson which I have remembered ever since.  It all started with the rain which came...and came...and came.

Into the lower level of my house came that flood of water.  I could not keep up with it as I mopped and mopped.  No matter how long I soaked it up, it just kept coming!  My back started hurting from the mopping.  My discouragement increased.

The water invaded the carpet and I knew that carpet would have to be taken up, dried, and tacked down again.  This was not the first time this had happened, so I knew the cost.  That was one of my great concerns - the cost.  My finances were extremely tight, and I did not want to pay for water damage again.

So, as I continued mopping, experiencing the back pain, and grumbling in my mind, I began weeping.  It all seemed so hopeless!  As I did this, I started to talk to the Lord about it.

Finally, after pouring out my troubles to Him, I became quiet long enough to hear Him speak.  And what I heard was certainly not what I expected!  I heard His still small voice say, “Have you praised Me yet for this?”

Praised Him?  For this?  I certainly had not!  I had not even thought about praising Him for this awful situation!  But now I knew He wanted me to do just that!

Slowly I began to speak the words He wanted me to say...”I praise You, Lord, for the flood.  I praise You, Lord, for the aching back.  I praise You, Lord, for the cost of fixing up my carpet.”  I didn’t FEEL like praising Him, but He did not ask me to feel like it, only to praise Him.

As I did this, He revealed a thought to me which has remained throughout my life.  The thought was that God’s purpose was not to save me from the distress and difficulty of the situation, but to teach me something He wanted me to learn in the middle of the situation.  In fact He wanted to use that situation for my good!  He wanted me to learn to praise Him when things were difficult as well as when they were easy.

At this particular time He did not choose to change the circumstances...He chose to change me!  I remember this as one of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS!

In every thing give thanks:
for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thess. 5:18 

	
DADDY

We stood and thanked the judge, then made our way from the legal office to our car.  God had just answered a desire of my heart which had taken many years to unfold.

It started many years ago before I had any children.  I had just returned from Indiana University Medical Center where the doctor had recommended that it was time to consider adoption.

We had been married for nine years and had spent the last three years going through every type of procedure and test recommended by the specialists to help us get pregnant. Nothing had helped.  We did not understand at the time why this was happening to us, but I now realize God had a unique plan to bring to us our first child - a very special baby girl He picked just for us - by adoption.

It was an exciting time once the decision was made!  For ten months we filled out paperwork, received visits from the social worker...and waited.  The waiting experience is one I will never forget because every day took on an adventurous excitement!  Would today be the day of THE IMPORTANT TELEPHONE CALL?

Every time the phone rang, the thought went through my mind, “Will this be the call saying they have a baby for us?”  Every plan we made was contingent upon “when the baby comes.”

Then one day it actually happened!  The call came!  They had a baby girl for us!  The excitement I felt at the time cannot be put into words.  Life would be different for us from this moment on - forever - because we had a baby....a little girl!

We experienced a whole year of the delight of seeing the world through the wondering eyes of a child.  And now, today was the day to look back and reflect about what God had done in our lives by bringing Kim to us.  This morning we made the trip to meet with the judge for the procedure to legally adopt Kim.  We would have done this a year earlier if the law would have allowed.  Now the day had finally arrived!  After a year of having the silent concern that something might happen to take Kim from us, that concern was finally put to rest.

The judge finished all the questions and paperwork necessary, then relaxed as he addressed Kim for the first time.  At one year old she did not understand the significance of what was happening, but she knew this was a stranger talking to her. “Well, Kim, is there something you want to say about this?” questioned the judge in a friendly manner.

“Daddy!” she said, as she snuggled up in her father’s lap for security in this strange circumstance.  And we all laughed!

“I guess that expresses your answer pretty well!” laughed the judge.  For, indeed, that day she legally had a “Daddy” in a way she did not comprehend until later in life.  She had a family.  And we had the child God meant for us.  God had just performed another of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS!

Delight yourself in the Lord
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

	I KNOW THE PLANS

For several months the thought had been slipping quietly into my mind...the thought that someday I would move from the house I owned at that time.  I would glance briefly at that thought and then let it slip by, feeling the move would come at least one or two years in the future.  I had good reasons why I should wait that long to move...logical reasons..  They made sense to my mind.  But that was not the Lord’s plan.

It was Friday, June 23, and I was having my Quiet Time.  The Lord spoke to me saying He wanted me to place my house up for sale.  In spite of all the previous thoughts about this, I was still surprised.  I had not given much thought to actually doing it.  I wanted to be sure this was really God’s will before I acted on that word.  That would be a big step for me to take by myself.  I had never sold a house before!  So I waited.

On Saturday, June 24, He said the same thing to me again in my Quiet Time.  Since the word was reinforced, I began to look at it much more seriously.

On Sunday, June 25, as the Lord spoke the same message to me I was convinced I needed to act on it.  So, on Monday morning, in my Quiet Time, I agreed to put my house up for sale.  Then, with His guidance, I carefully outlined the steps I would take and the approximate times I wanted to take them.

At first I thought I would place the house on the market in September to give myself preparation time.  But He said I should plan so the new family could move in before school started.  So I made plans to close on the sale during the third week in August, around the 21st if possible.  I planned to begin renting my new home on August 1st so I could have three weeks to move my things, have a garage sale in the old house, and have time to clean the house I was selling before completing the move.

I believed these plans were from God, and yet, what amazed me was this only allowed one month for God to sell my house!  At that time many houses were sitting on the market in our city for 6-12 months without selling!

On Wednesday, June 28, my prayer partner and I prayed about this, and the advice that came was: “Call the Realtor right away and set this up.”  What Godly advice this turned out to be!

The Realtor and I met on Friday, June 30, one week after the Lord spoke to me to sell my house.  I shared with her about the Lord’s instructions, so we were both excited to see what He was going to do!

It was scary to sign my name on that document to sell my house while not knowing what lay ahead.  I was agreeing to a huge transition without knowing its far-reaching effects.  But what enabled me to sign was the assurance this was from the Lord.

I wanted the multiple listing realtors to tour my home on Wednesday, July 5, during the following week.  Therefore my realtor said she would have to put it on the computer on the following Monday, July 3rd.  I agreed to that, thinking I would have the 4th of July holiday to thoroughly clean and prepare the house for showing before Wednesday, July 5.  Little did I suspect what God was already doing even as I made these plans!

On Monday, July 3rd, my house listing was placed on the computer system.  A realtor saw it on the computer and came over that very afternoon.  That evening she brought her client to view the house, and they wrote a contract on it that same night.  I had not even cleaned it yet!  That extra special cleaning was not what the Lord needed to sell my house.  He just needed my obedience to list the house at the exact time He told me to.  He did the rest!

God knew something which I did not know when He said I should list my house for sale.  He knew there was a buyer who wanted a house just like mine and wanted it in my neighborhood.  He knew she would make an offer on a house just down the street from mine during that first weekend in July just before my listing was put on the computer.  He also knew she would miss buying that house because someone else made an offer just prior to hers.  She was eager and ready to move as soon as possible.  God was already at work in the situation.  He just wanted me to join Him in what He was doing!

And guess what!  The closing date she wanted was August 21st!  In fact, God worked out every detail of the schedule we set that Monday, June 26th, when I said “yes” to His request and we set the plans.  He even helped me find a lovely home to rent beginning August lst as we had planned.

Once again in my life God revealed Himself, His purposes, and His ways by displaying one of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS!

“For I know the plans I have for you,”
declares the Lord,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11

IN QUIETNESS AND CONFIDENCE

In quietness and in confidence
is your strength, My child.

Face each day and each moment
with quietness and confidence,
knowing I am with you always,
and have an answer for
every question, every decision.

I am your quietness.
I am your confidence.
I am your God.
I am your Lord.

I am your all in all.

I am your provider.
I am your source.
I am your sufficiency.
I am your power.
I am your strength.

I am all you ever need.

GOD’S THERAPY

It was Friday...the day for chemotherapy again!  How I dreaded those days!  Twice a month for four months I had been taking treatments in that therapy room with other cancer patients.  Some had much worse stories to tell than my story, so I learned to appreciate how well God was taking care of me even through the mastectomy and chemotherapy I had to endure.  God was with me - and how much I needed Him!  Especially today!

It all started with a routine mammogram which I did not want to have, but thought I should.  Then came the letter saying something looked suspicious in the X-ray.  Next came surgical biopsy day with many of my dear dear Christian friends waiting and praying with me for a report of “no cancer.”  Finally came the telephone call telling me there was definitely cancer, and I broke down and cried and secluded myself for the rest of that day as the news took on reality for me.

But God was with me.  He brought my daughters and Christian friends to comfort me in my grief.  I praise God for them!

During the next two months I went through the mastectomy and surgical recovery period with a love blanket of support from my daughters, my church family, and my friends who gave me food, flowers, cards, love, and prayers, as well as much appreciated visits and telephone calls.  I did not know how much those things meant until I needed them myself!

But now that time was past.  And today I had to face another chemotherapy treatment.  I would show up at the treatment room where the male nurse would insert a needle into my left arm to begin an IV setup.  He would draw blood samples to test to see if my system was strong enough to take the treatment.  Then I would wait for an hour or two until approval was given and drugs were sent to the therapy room for me.  After that the drugs would be dripped into my veins for several hours - first the anti-nausea drugs, then the chemotherapy drugs selected by me and my doctor.  Then I would wait...and pray.

Before I began chemotherapy I had asked the Lord how to pray about taking this therapy, and He instructed me to bind the bad effects of the drugs, and loose the good effects, so I did that day by day.  I especially prayed not to lose my hair.  I heard some stories from those who did lose theirs, and kept praying to be spared from that.  God answered that prayer, and I was so thankful for that blessing!

But today this therapy day was different than the others.  In my instructions I had been told to report any intestinal problems I developed.  Well, they had been developing, but I had not yet told the doctor about them.  Today I knew I must because I was getting sick for one to two hours at a time more and more frequently.  I never knew when or where the sickness would hit me.  As I reported this the words came that I did not want to hear:  “We may have to postpone your therapy treatments.”

One of my greatest desires at that time was to finish those treatments as soon as possible!  I certainly did not want to postpone them.  So that evening I cried out to the Lord, “What do I do about this, Lord?  How do I handle this?  How do I pray?  I do not want to postpone these treatments!  I want to get them finished and get on with my life again!  Please help me!”

And my wonderful God, in His still small voice, said, “You can ask Me to heal you, and I will.”

Well, I asked!  And He did!  After four months of times of sickness coming with increasing frequency, for the next two months of therapy I had no more sickness!

As I write this story two years later, I still have no sign of cancer in my body!  So I share this story with you to “declare His glory” and tell of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS!

And my God will meet all your needs
according to his glorious riches
in Christ Jesus.
Phil. 4:19

I LOVE YOU

It was the last day I could visit my father in the hospital.  He had a stroke and we did not know how long he would live.  We also did not know what his condition would be if he did live.

When I heard of his stroke I made the ten hour trip from Missouri to Indiana to see him.  After spending several days there, it was now time to return to Missouri...return without knowing the outcome of this stroke.

I did not look forward to this last visit to the hospital, knowing it could be the last time I might see my father alive.  What do you say at such a time?

My father and I had never been close.  He was not the type of person to be affectionate or share his feelings with others.  We did not communicate much except about surface things.  I wanted to be close to my father, but somehow it was not easy to feel close to him.  I had never heard him tell any person, “I love you.”  And as a child it would have made such a difference in my life to have heard those words!

Now, as an adult, I could see that Dad had loved me “in his way” by taking care of my material needs along with those of our family.  But, as a child, I did not perceive that.  I needed, as a child, to be told and shown that I was loved.  Therefore, I grew up thinking he really did not care much about me.

And now the time had arrived to say good-bye.  I dreaded this moment.  What should I say?  I leaned over his bed to hug him and said, “Dad, I have to leave now.  I have to go back to Missouri....I love you, Dad.”

And he said the words I had waited all my life to hear:  “I love you, too.”

As my sister and I left his room and walked down the hospital corridor, she said with tears in her eyes,  “That is the first time I ever heard Dad say ‘I love you’ to anyone in my whole life!”

I knew it was one of life’s rare and touching moments... and that God gave that moment as one of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS!
Oh, that we could turn aside
from all our pride and pain
and take the risk to tell someone
“I love you” - what great gain!

Take the time to tell someone
of the caring in your heart,
before the opportunity is past,
before you have to part.

CHARGE OVER THEE

My sister, Lois, and I were driving along a highway in Indiana heading toward Fort Wayne.  She had just received word that a friend of hers needed her immediately so she dropped everything to go.  As she left she asked if I wanted to ride along to keep her company.  So, together we left the Christian Conference we were attending telling friends we would return the next day.

As we traveled along the two lane highway, we came upon a large semi-truck and began to pass it.  When we were about half way around it the driver of the truck, apparently not seeing us in his side view mirror, began pulling into the passing lane where we were.

The next thing I knew we were careening off the left side of the highway with our car turning completely over and finally coming to a stop in a cornfield!  It was the strangest sensation turning over in a car...one which I hope I will never feel again!

My eyes were shut as we went over, but I was quite aware of every sensation.  I felt all the bumps and jolts, but at the same time became aware of a stinging pain in my finger!  I pulled my hand back from the pain thinking I must be receiving a cut from broken glass in the windshield.  My strangely calm thought was: “This must be what it is like to turn over in a car.”

As we thudded to a stop, right side up (Praise the Lord!), I opened my eyes and began to look around.  There was dust or smoke all around the car.  At once I realized the car could catch on fire!  I said we should get out immediately in case the car caught on fire.  We assured each other we were OK as we hunted for her glasses which had been thrown off her face.
	
Then we tried to open the doors.  They would not open!  At that moment I began to feel panic!  I began to pound on the door frantically.  But it would not open!

Just then Lois got the door on her side open, and we realized we could get out, so the panic stopped immediately.

As soon as we got out we walked away from the car through the field to the side of the highway where we sat down a moment to try to grasp what had just happened and what to do next.  Then we heard people yelling at us to come across the road away from the wires hanging near us.  We had not yet noticed them!

After we crossed the highway to those friendly voices calling to us, we sat down again in our shocked state and began to listen to them speak.  They said, “We never expected anyone to come out of that car alive!”  They told us that we had hit a pole and broken it in two so that the wires were hanging down around the car.  My side door, which I had frantically tried to open, was lodged against the pole we hit.  Thank the Lord I could not get it open, because I might have walked into live wires before realizing it.

After the ambulance got us to an emergency room they had Lois lie down because she had a headache.  When the nurse asked me if I was hurt, all I had to report was a cut finger - the pain I felt while the car was turning over.  A little later I overheard the nurse quietly tell someone that our blood pressures were “sky high!”  She immediately had me also lie down when she discovered that.

Due to the high blood pressure they asked us to be admitted overnight for observation even though we were not hurt.  As we lay in our hospital beds we called back to the Christian Conference we had just left, and the whole conference group stopped and prayed for us immediately.

We rested in our beds, bathed in prayer, thanking God for His protection.  He had just performed one of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS in our lives as He kept us safe through the accident.

For he shall give his angels
charge over thee,
to keep thee in all thy ways.
Psalm 91:11 KJV

	ONE SEED AT A TIME

One day my attention was drawn to some birds eating in the grass outside my kitchen window.  I noticed the birds picked up one seed at a time to eat.  The Lord gave me a mental picture of a whole pile of seeds.  Then He said He did not provide a pile of seeds for them, but just one seed at a time - and He would provide for me the same way!

THE REFLECTION

The quieter the water
the more perfect
the reflection.

The more you know
who you are in Me,
the quieter your soul
is before Me,
the more perfectly
you reflect Me!

“And we, who with unveiled faces
all reflect the Lord’s glory,
are being transformed into his likeness
with ever-increasing glory.”
2 Cor. 3:18

GOD’S MIRACLE BABY

It was Tuesday afternoon and I was walking up to my sister’s house.  I had been invited to come and share something with the prayer group gathered there.  This was a moment we had all been waiting for - a long LONG time, and it was finally here.

This began several years before when the doctors had done all they knew at the time to help my husband and me to get pregnant.  After exhausting their efforts they told us to consider adoption, so we went through adoption procedures.  Through this God brought us a baby girl who was a delight in our lives.

Later, when we moved to another town, a different doctor told us of one more possibility we might try - major surgery.  By this time we were so happy with our adopted child we would have been quite content to adopt a second time.  But something inside kept saying to me that perhaps I should try this one last possibility.  So, in the spring, I had surgery and went through weeks of pain and fatigue to recover.

By Thanksgiving we learned I was pregnant, so we spent the holiday telling our family and friends the good news and we all rejoiced together!

But the day after Thanksgiving, my body began a process of miscarrying that baby.  I spent most of the week in the hospital, then was sent home with the instruction to spend the rest of the nine months off my feet to try to save the baby.  How do you manage a home and a 22 month old child while in bed?

In the midst of the situation I kept talking to God about it.  “God, if You want me to have this baby, that is OK.  You know I want to.  But if, for some reason, it is not best for this baby to come into the world, I accept that.  Please do what You know is best.  I leave this in Your hands.”  And shortly after arriving home, the miscarriage was completed.

Well, that did not stop my sister’s prayer group!  When I got pregnant again within a few months of the miscarriage, they took this new baby as their prayer project!  They prayed for that baby’s life and health and for that baby to be able to be born.  Since I had miscarried once, and possibly twice, the doctors did not have as much hope for this third time, but that did not deter those prayer warriors.  They had faith!

The pregnancy went smoothly!  And a beautiful little child was born.  She even surprised us by coming three weeks early in time to be a Christmas present!  Little Elizabeth was a miracle of God through prayer - reminding me of Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, who had her own miracle birth experience.

So, today, all these thoughts flooded through my mind as I approached the house where these prayer warriors were gathered to see “their miracle baby.”  Baby Elizabeth and I entered, and we all praised God together!  Today was a day to ponder His ways, to look back and see HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS, and to declare His glory.

...with God all things are possible.
Matthew 19:26

NAILED TO THE CROSS

One of the Lord’s marvelous deeds is giving us the opportunity to become clean before Him through Jesus’ work on the cross.  There was a day in my life when He took me through a giant step in the process of becoming clean from past grudges, hurts, and unforgiven circumstances.  It all began at the very last meeting of the conference...

The conference I was attending in North Carolina was on “Prayer for Spiritual Awakening.”  One thing I learned is that if you want spiritual awakening you need to pray, but I also learned that effective prayer must come from a cleansed vessel.  God began a process of cleansing in me that day.  He started to clean me from past experiences.

I sat listening intently as the speaker shared a fresh experience of God’s work in his personal life - an experience only two weeks old.  I thank God for this man who was willing to be vulnerable enough to share how God revealed his own needs for cleansing and how God taught him to be free from the bondage of past events in his life.  He shared how he took each revealed memory of past hurts, grudges, and unforgiven events to the cross, confessed his part in those events, asked forgiveness, and then nailed those sins to the cross in his imagination as he accepted in his heart Christ’s finished work of paying the penalty for them.

I knew deep down inside God was calling me to do the same.  I felt like the conference was just beginning for me because there was so much inner work I wanted to do before returning home.

But the conference was over.  Even so, my heart was filled with the intense desire to be alone with God and let Him do that cleansing work in me also.  Oh, how I wanted to stay!

We packed the van with our luggage and began the 1 and 1/2 day trip back to Missouri.  The drawing by God to come apart with Him and begin that cleansing work was so real I could not escape it, nor did I want to.  However God knew what to do with all those travel hours!

As the miles flew by and people became quieter, I began looking out the window and drawing apart in my mind to communicate with the Lord.  “Lord, please show me those areas in my life that need cleansing!   Take me back, Lord, in my memory to times and events which I need to confess before You.”

And He did!  The first event He brought to my mind seemed so insignificant to me, I would not have considered it if He had not shown it to me from His viewpoint.  He reminded me of a time when I was six years old and my mother was in bed recovering from the delivery at our home of my baby brother.  My aunt was taking care of our family until my mother was able again.  I had injured myself and wanted a bandage on the wound, but she would not give me one.  I went to my mother and asked for one, and she let me have it.

The Lord began to show me I had never forgiven my aunt for not understanding the need of a small child, not just for a bandage, but for the love and concern that mother gave with that bandage.  I had held a grudge against her ever since that day and did not even know it!

First the Lord had me confess my sin of holding a grudge, then forgive my aunt for not helping me.  As the speaker taught us, I pictured myself taking my sin to the cross and nailing it there.  Christ had already paid the price for it and I accepted that payment and thanked Him for it.

What a wonderful cleansing followed!  All the way home, for hour after hour on the van, the Lord took me back in my memory and worked cleansing from past events.  The prayer Jesus taught became very real to me:  “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors!”  As I forgave others, He worked cleansing in me of my debts.  Those debts got nailed to Jesus’ cross all the way across the country from North Carolina to Missouri as God worked one of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS in my life!

For if you forgive men when they sin against you,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men their sins,
your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6:14-15

ONE STITCH AT A TIME

I am sitting in my chair looking at the picture which my mother stitched on canvas for me.  It is a lovely picture of a clump of birch trees blowing in the wind.  I liked that picture the moment I saw it in the store.

I bought the kit to make it myself, but did not get around to doing it.  Then one day my mother saw the kit and volunteered to stitch it for me.  At that time in her life she was retired and had time to sew.  So, although I had the initial desire to create the picture on canvas, and bought all the materials to do so, it was not completed and framed until another person, my mother, volunteered to do the actual stitching.  Out of that combination came this beautiful picture hanging on my wall.  
	
As I sit here pondering this, the thoughts begin to form in my mind from the Lord about how our lives are similar in relation to Him.  He is the One who had the original idea, the initial desire, for our lives.  He provided life for us and all the materials needed to stitch a beautiful picture from it.  One thing is left for us to do to get the picture completed.

We have to work with Him, using what He has given us, to create that beautiful picture.  It must be stitched day by day, one stitch at a time.  He will provide the directions for us - as were provided with the picture mother stitched.  She just had to follow those to get the picture right.  Our directions can be found in His Word, the Bible.  If we follow those directions, when we come to the end of the picture, He will put the frame on it, and we can all rejoice in HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS..

I will instruct you and teach you
in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.
Psalm 32:8

LIKE A LITTLE CHILD

As an adult I have often been guided by the Lord to look back into my past and remember an event which needs to be worked through.  Sometimes I need to forgive someone, sometimes I need to ask the Lord to forgive me, sometimes I need to be freed from a wrong attitude, and sometimes I need healing.  This story involves both forgiveness and emotional healing for something which happened to me as a young child.

I do not remember why, but my father was angry with me.  In the process of dealing with me in his anger, he sent me outside our home to stand by myself on our front porch in the dark.  I was very afraid of the dark, so that was a dreadful punishment for me.  But there was also a feeling of rejection and fear during that event...enough that it continued as a very painful memory for many years.

As an adult I brought that memory to the surface under the Lord’s guidance one day.  I had to forgive my father for treating me that way.  It was easy enough to say “I forgive him” to the Lord because I now had children of my own and could understand how irritating they could be at times.  Perhaps I had been that way.

But somehow the Lord was not finished with that memory.  I did not have a sense of peace about the memory, and it kept returning to my mind.  So I asked the Lord how to be free from the pain of that memory.  Then I began to see that the feeling of being unwanted and rejected was still there and needed to be healed.  “How could I be healed?” I asked Him.  Then He performed one of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS in my life to bring healing to me.

He had me bring back and review in my mind the picture of myself standing on that porch as a little child.  Then He reminded me that He was always with me and that I could imagine Him there on that porch with me - because He really was.  So, in my imagination, I pictured Him standing there with me.  And, somehow, it was not dark anymore when He was there, and I was not afraid.

In my imagination He took my hand and we walked together down the steps off the porch and into a grassy area beside the house.  His presence blessed me and freed me to be the child I was.  We took hands and danced around in circles as children do.  Then He stooped down and waited and watched as I danced and ran around in the grass full of joy and delight in being with Him.

This was so healing to me that now it is a pleasure to go back to that memory.  When I do, I remember, not pain, but Jesus being with me and accepting me for being a child and acting like a child...and just loving me as a child.  My earthly father could not accept me acting like a child, but my Heavenly Father loved me that way!

He (Jesus) said to them, “Let the little children
come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive
the kingdom of God like a little child
will never enter it.”
And he took the children in his arms,
put his hands on them and blessed them.
Mark 10:14-16

BAPTIZED BY ONE SPIRIT INTO ONE BODY

My husband and I had traveled from Missouri to California for the American Academy of Family Physicians Convention where he was to be initiated as a new member along with hundreds of others who had passed their board exams.  The night for the initiation ceremony had arrived and we were preparing to attend.

I was ready to go when, at the last minute, I decided to change to a red dress.  This red dress had pinned to its collar a dove pin, a tiny silver pin which to me stood for the Holy Spirit.  It identified me as a Christian - like the first century Christians used the sign of the fish to identify themselves.  But tonight, in my hurry to change, I did not notice that pin.  I just followed a sudden urge to change to that red dress.

As my husband and I parted at the huge theater, we made plans to meet after the ceremony by the front entranceway.  Then he went to the stage area while I sat in the theater to watch.  We did not think when we made those plans about the thousands of people at the convention and how difficult it might be to find someone after such a meeting.  But, God had a plan for the waiting time!

After the ceremony I went outside and stood near the entranceway on the sidewalk in front, waiting.  I waited and waited, wondering why we had not been more specific in our meeting place.  Standing there in my bright red dress, I was easy to see.  But it was not the red dress that caught someone’s attention, it was the tiny tiny Holy Spirit pin!

A woman came up to me, introduced herself, said she was from North Carolina, indicated she was a Christian too, and said, “I just wanted to meet my sister in Christ who was wearing that Holy Spirit pin!”  With that we hugged, and she disappeared in the crowd.

My heart leaped and joy exploded within me!  God lifted up my spirit like a cloud floating above the world!  In that moment, I had experienced supernatural instant communion with someone I had never met before - another member of the “Body of Christ”.

The joy of that moment returned in memory many times over the years to bring a smile to my thoughts.  To me this remains as one of  HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS!

We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body -
whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free -
and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
1 Cor. 12:13

HELP ALONG THE ROAD

It started out as just another routine day for Harold.  He and a partner were to deliver cars from Columbia, Missouri, to Effingham, Illinois, and they were just getting underway.  Little did Harold realize that today God was going to display one of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS in his life - one he would never forget!  As Harold tells the story:

We started our trip from Columbia, but somehow got  separated from each other along the way.  It suddenly dawned on me that I knew the town to which we were going, but did not know the name of the car dealer.  I did not know if my partner was ahead or behind me on the road.  I was in a quandary as to what to do!

“Lord, I need Your help!” I prayed as I stopped along the side of I-70 east of Columbia.  I spotted a telephone not too far away, but was afraid I might miss my partner if I left my car to use it.  What should I do?

About that time a car pulled off the road in front of me and started backing up.  As I approached the car a stranger said, “Could I be of any help?”  As I explained my situation and reluctance to leave my car to telephone, he said, “That is no problem.  I have got a phone in my car.”

The stranger proceeded to call my sales manager in Columbia and learn the name of the dealer I was to contact in Effingham.  I felt immensely comforted to learn that information.

As we chatted a bit I said to him, “I do not know where you stand in your religious life, but I want to share something with you.  I was standing out here along the road, and I was really in a quandary.  Finally I thought about the Lord and I said, ‘Lord, I need Your help!’  And about that time you pulled off the side of the road.  It really proved to me that the good Lord can take care of us!”

The stranger kind of grinned and said, “Well, I think you are right!”  And he shared with me that he was a Baptist minister from near Atlanta, Georgia, and was traveling from Kansas City where he had just visited his mother.  He even said he had been to Columbia before and had sung at my own church in Columbia some years ago!  Then, wishing me well, he drove on.

Later I was surprised when stopping at a rest stop in Wentzville to find my minister friend there, so we got to talk some more.  Even so I made it to Effingham to the right place only about fifteen minutes behind my partner.

Sometime later I received a letter from my newfound brother in Christ from along I-70 which said: 

Dear Harold,
	It was good to meet you by the side of the road last week.  I am sorry it was under such circumstances, and I hope everything worked out the rest of your trip.
	Oftentimes in my travels I have needed help along the road, and the Lord sent me the person I needed at the time.  I appreciate your testimony to me that you prayed and I showed up.  It was no inconvenience to me, and it was a delight to meet you.
	May the Lord richly bless you in all things, and if you are ever in Atlanta, give me a call.
							Awaiting the shout!
							Bill

What started out for Harold as a perplexing situation leaving him troubled and uncertain as to what to do, turned out to be a testimony of God’s care, and a display of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS!

The Lord will hear when I call to him.
Psalm 4:3

AGLOW WITH THE SPIRIT

The airline stewardess was staying at the Hotel Denver while she had layover time between flights.  This was her usual place to stay, but little did she know how different this particular visit would be!

While she was in her hotel room that evening she looked out the hotel window and saw the Denver Convention Center.  This was not unusual, but what was shocking that  particular night was what she saw coming from the top of that Convention Center.  She saw flames covering it!  As she watched in awe, she realized the building was not being consumed!

She said to herself, “I must find out what is going on over there!”

The next morning while riding down in the elevator she began conversing with a group of ladies from Indiana who were in the elevator with her.  After finding out they were attending meetings at the Convention Center, she told them what she saw the night before.  So they invited her to come to their meetings that day - meetings of the Women’s Aglow organization holding their annual National Convention.

The stewardess did attend those meetings and left at the end of the day very impressed!  She was a Christian, but had never heard of Aglow before.  She said she must get involved in Aglow back home.  It turned out the headquarters were right near her house.

God performed one of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS for her at that time.  We do not know why, but perhaps He was calling her into a deeper walk with Himself.  What we do know is that while those Aglow women were praying and praising the Lord, God touched the life of this woman through a supernatural sign.  In the process, He also gave a visible sign of encouragement to all of those women at the Aglow Convention!

Jesus said...
“But I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men to myself.”
John 12:32

THE LORD DETERMINES HIS STEPS

For many months my husband had been seeking a different job.  Each time he was informed of another job possibility we would discuss it, consider that area of the country, look at the job, and try to see if this was the right place for us to move. We wanted a good job for him, but we also wanted a good place to live and raise our children of two and five years old.

The answer seemed to be “no” to each one, until he was contacted by Duke University about a position there.  This was different.  It had many attractive features and the  decision was not an automatic no.  But, even so, he was not quite sure.

He asked his contact person at Duke to allow him until the end of  that month of December to make his decision.  All during that month the answer did not come with peace to him.  He wanted an assurance inside that this was the right step to take before giving up his old job and moving our family.

At the end of December, with no answer clear, he asked for the month of January to finish making the decision, and was granted that request.  In spite of all his efforts to come to an understanding of what to do, the answer did not come!  It was so frustrating!  On the one hand, it was a good job with people he liked.  But, on the other hand, he did not feel a clear direction to take that job.

By the last day in January, he knew he had to make a decision one way or the other.  So he told me he would go ahead and accept the job even without a sureness within himself.  But God had a different plan!

At 4:30 on the afternoon of January 31st he called the contact person at Duke University to say he would accept the job.  But that person’s secretary said he had just left to go to Europe just shortly before the phone call, and he would not be back for nine days.  She really wanted to know my husband’s answer, but he said he would wait to talk to the contact person.

During those nine days, he was contacted about a job in another state and went to look at it.  And this job was just what he wanted!  There was no hesitating or waiting.  He knew this was the right place for him!  So, in God’s perfect timing, he accepted the right job and we moved our family to Columbia, Missouri, which proved to be an excellent place to live and raise our family.

God had picked the best place for us!  But not only that, he had kept us from making the wrong decision until the right job came!

Not only did God have the right job for my husband, but our children were able to attend the Columbia Schools from kindergarten through 12th grade and also graduate from the University of Missouri in Columbia.  When Columbia was selected by Money Magazine as the second best city in which to live in the United States one year, it only affirmed the decision God helped us make in 1974 when we moved there.  In my opinion God had truly performed one of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS for us!

In his heart a man plans his course,
but the Lord determines his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

UNKNOWN DANGER

My ears were hurting from the air pressure change as our small plane circled and prepared to land at the airport at Vientiane, Laos.  We were about to visit the third city on our two-week tour through Southeast Asia.  Having traveled from the huge city of Tokyo, Japan, where we lived at that time, to the bustling city of Hong Kong, then to Saigon, Vietnam, we were not quite prepared for the sparseness and bleakness of the countryside in the Vientiane area.  As we landed and began exploring the city, our amazement increased as we saw practically no stores, only one stoplight in the whole city, and very little traffic on the streets.  We had a lot to learn about Laos from the person we were visiting.

Our host shared with us about the country, and in the process mentioned a short trip which possibly could be arranged to visit the ancient capital of Laos called Luang Prabang.  It  could be reached at that time by joining a pilot who flew a small plane there on special occasions and stopped at a  mountain village along the route to deliver rice.  This sounded intriguing to us two young explorers wanting to experience all we could during this rare opportunity to visit Laos.

It was arranged.  We were told to be at the airport the next day and be ready for a short flight into the mountain village, then another short flight north to the old capital.  We also were told we would have about two hours to explore the capital, and then we would have to return to the airport.  We were warned not to be late because the pilot would not wait for us.  When he was ready to leave, he would leave, with or without us.

The next day when we boarded the plane we found ourselves the only two passengers on a small plane with jumpseats along the walls facing the middle.  Along with the supplies, we took off for the village in the mountains.  This was quite different from a commercial flight!

To get to the village we had to fly low between two mountains and wind our way down quickly into a small valley.  As we landed on the edge of the village, we got out of the plane to stretch while the pilot took care of his business there.  It was raining, so we stood under the high wing of the plane and began to look around.  People began to gather near the plane just as interested in looking at us as we were at them.  They stooped down and just stared while we waited.  As I watched them I remembered the description I had read of Khmer people of the Laos mountain area, and these people looked just like the description.

The pilot returned and we took off again, this time to land in Luang Prabang, the ancient capital of Laos, in the early afternoon.  My husband and I quickly began to walk through as much of the city as we could cover in our two hour time limit.  We believed that as we traveled we got a better feel for the place we visited if we spent time walking there.  Actually I do not remember seeing any type of transportation we could have used anyway.  We discovered that this city had a beauty which made one wish it could still be the capital city instead of the bleak Vientiane.

Believe me, we took no chances on missing our plane back!  So we were at the airport at the designated time, not wanting to be left in northern Laos by ourselves.  As we waited for the pilot to arrive we sat on boxes sitting in the airport area - boxes of explosives.  We could hear shooting in the distance so we knew fighting was not too far away.  It was spring of 1962, and there was warfare in northern Laos at that time.  Uneasily we waited, and were relieved when the pilot returned and we took off for our return flight to Vientiane.

That night, after we returned, our host discussed our trip with us.  When we finished, he remarked, “I did not want to worry you before you left so I did not tell you this...but two weeks ago as that plane flew into the same small mountain village to deliver rice, it was shot at from the mountains on the sides!”

We were shocked!  We had no idea it was that dangerous!  But God did!  How many times He protects us when we are unaware of it.  I believe He was performing another of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS in protecting us during that whole trip!

If I go up to the heavens, you are there...
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
Psalm 139:8-10

COME TO SAY GOOD-BYE

From the time I was a child I knew there was a spiritual realm which we did not ordinarily see or experience in our daily lives.  I knew this because of a story my mother used to tell me about her sister, Fern...

Fern was pregnant and the time of birthing was near.  Even as she waited for this event, her mother, my grandmother, was very ill and near death.  However the news of the graveness of her mother’s illness was being kept from Fern because the family did not want her to deal with this until after the baby was born.

Then her mother died.  The family did not tell Fern, but waited.  The delivery time came and the new baby arrived into this world.  Sometime after the delivery, the family gathered at Fern’s bedside to tell her the news about her mother.

As they walked in they were surprised when Fern said she knew why they had come!  She said, “You have come to tell me Mom’s dead, haven’t you?”  As they questioned her about how she knew, she told them this incredible story:

She and the new baby were lying in their room when she saw her mother walk into the room.  Her mother walked over to the baby’s bed, looked at her, and said, “I just wanted to see the baby before I go.”  So Fern knew her mother was “leaving” and told the family this with peace in her heart.  It was as if her mother had come to tell her good-bye.

The family all knew that their mother had not visited Fern in her physical body!

As this story was shared with me as a child, I saw God’s hand in this situation, and knew there was a supernatural spiritual realm not usually visible with our natural eyes which had appeared at that time.  God, in His mysterious ways, and for His own reasons, had performed one of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS which brought comfort to their whole family and especially to Fern!

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born
and a time to die.
Eccl. 3:1-2

I WILL RESCUE HIM

“Oh, God, help us!” I began to pray as my husband and I flew in a twin engine plane toward the airport at Marion, Indiana.  “We need Your right now, Lord!  This plane is having engine trouble!  Help my husband land this plane safely!”  I prayed hard and fast, over and over, as we descended toward the landing strip.

The plane which my husband was piloting suddenly had one of the two engines quit working as we were in mid-air.  Even though he had had training in what to do if this should ever happen, this had never happened to us before!  He navigated the plane with his attention riveted on the instrument panel trying to keep the plane level with power coming from one side only.  This was very difficult!  While his attention was riveted on the instrument panel, my attention was riveted on the Lord.  We needed Him right now!

Joyce, my sister, was standing outside the small airport building at Marion with our two young daughters watching for our plane to appear.  Kim and Beth were excitedly watching for their Mom and Dad to come and get them after their trip.  They loved to visit Aunt Joyce and Uncle Edd, but they also missed Mom and Dad.  Their eyes repeatedly looked across the sky to see the first sign of the arriving plane.

As they watched, a plane did indeed come into view off at a distance, but there was something strange about that plane.  It had a long trail of gray-white smoke coming from one of its engines - an ominous-looking trail!  They began to wonder and ask Aunt Joyce if this could be their parents’ plane.

Joyce, suspecting the worst, knew this probably was!  But she did not want the girls to see it coming in and watch what might happen!  So she skillfully took them back into the airport building and tried to divert their attention...all the while wondering what was happening outside.  She was a praying Christian woman, and she also was calling on the Lord in her heart as much as she could while entertaining Kim and Beth.

Gradually, in what seemed a long period of time, my husband maneuvered the plane toward the runway - closer and closer - while I watched breathlessly and prayed all the way.  Was there a fire?  We could not see it if there was!  Would we be able to land, get out of the plane, and get away from it in time?  Unanswered questions assailed my mind in those moments before landing.

God was right there with us in those moments of desperate prayers. We landed safely, got out of the plane, and saw the reason for our engine loss as we watched the smoke coming from it.  The smoke was being blown behind us as we flew, so we could not see it while in the cockpit.

We had an extra thankful and joyful reunion with our loved ones in that airport that day!  God had spared our lives from the danger near us and kept us for His purposes.  He had revealed Himself as our protector and deliverer.  He had truly performed one of  HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS!

As I reflect back on this event etched vividly in my memory, I am reminded that God kept us safe from a possible fuel tank explosion from that burning engine.  And I am also reminded that the engine loss could have taken place over a large city or over the countryside instead of near the airport of our destination.  God was, indeed, watching over us even before I started praying!

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord,
I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him 
and show him my salvation.”
Psalm 91:14-16

THE TRAIN TRACKS

John was driving his car home one day along a country road which had little traffic at that time.  He had driven along this road many times and felt comfortable knowing what to expect.  He was coming upon a railroad track which he had crossed many times before.

This railroad track was one of those lines which probably used to have trains along it regularly, but now was seldom used any if at all. It was the kind of track where you seldom stopped and looked because you had been over it so many times without seeing a train.  John certainly was not accustomed to seeing trains on it!

But this day a very strange event took place as John approached those country train tracks.  Just before reaching them, he suddenly saw flashing red warning lights signaling an approaching train.  He was so surprised by this he had to slam on his brakes to stop in time.  Just as he screeched to a stop at the edge of the tracks, a train passed by immediately in front of his car!

He was visibly shaken by the incident!  He went home afterwards and shared this mysterious event with his family.  You see, there were no electric signal lights at that crossing!

This has been remembered and discussed for years in our family.  It is one of those mysterious ways of God which we cannot explain but at which we marvel.  It was truly one of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS!

I warned you when you felt secure...
Jeremiah 22:21 

SEEK THE GIVER

I was at a Christian Conference with many wonderful people, great speakers, and blessed music.  I had come to the conference with an unspoken question in my heart that I wanted answered...unspoken to people, that is.  God knew the question in my heart.  I hoped I could find the answer at this conference.  But there were only two days left and I still did not have it.

The question was about a teaching which I had been hearing and reading...a teaching which said I should seek a specific gift of the Spirit.  According to this teaching, if I did not have this particular gift, I was missing something important which God had for me.  It seemed I was not “complete” until I received that gift.  My question was:  “What about that, Lord?  Do You want me to ask for and receive that particular gift?”

One afternoon I was planning to attend a session offered at 4:00.  But around 2:00 a friend injured herself and needed transportation to the local hospital.  So I volunteered, hoping I would still be able to make the session at 4:00.  We were finished at the hospital just in time to return to the conference and walk directly to the 4:00 session.  As I walked in, the speaker entered with me.

As she began to share with the group, the answer to my question began coming from her!  I sat there in amazement!  She said, in essence, that we should not seek any particular gift, but seek the Giver of the gifts and let Him decide what He wants to give each of us.  I knew that was my answer!  And I had not even told her my question!

I had a great peace about that!  I was to seek Jesus, and if He wanted me to have that particular gift, He would give it to me.  The gift was not to come before my relationship with Him!

Later, as I shared with the speaker how God had used her to answer my question, she surprised me even further by telling me this:  she had sought the Lord about what she should share at the 4:00 session.  She did not get an answer, so she left for the session not knowing.  She said as we walked in at the last minute God spoke to her about what to say!  She and I both knew that it was specifically for me.  She felt God waited to tell her what to share to see if I would make it back in time and attend the session.  We could both agree this was one of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS!

...the Lord searches every heart
and understands every motive behind the thoughts.
If you seek him, he will be found by you...
1 Chronicles 28:9

SAWMILL

God sometimes shows HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS in our lives when we are in great need and we cry out to Him for help.  That is what happened in the lives of Jean and Jack at the stressful time of a job change which involved a move to a strange city.  Jack had just gotten a new job near Columbus, Ohio, which was a much larger city than where they lived in Indiana.  At the time of this story Jack was already in Columbus and Jean was preparing to drive there to meet him.  Together they planned to choose a house to buy so the whole family could move.

Jean felt overwhelmed with the task before them.  How were they to find a house in that large city which was just right for their family?  The day before her departure to drive alone to Columbus, she was especially concerned with what lay ahead - the decision about the right house.  Jean was a Christian and knew God could help her.  So, in her need, she cried out to Him, “God, will You show me a sign to help find our house?”

That night as Jean slept, God gave her a dream.  Although she awoke not remembering exactly what she dreamed, she did remember a strange thing about that dream...the word sawmill kept being repeated in the dream.  When she got up she did not think too much about the word sawmill because it did not mean anything to her.  But - it did to God!

She started out on her trip to Columbus and things went along quietly for her.  As she neared Columbus she began to look for the exit she was to take to meet Jack and the Realtor.  Her thoughts were about where to turn off the highway.

As Jean says:  “Then all at once I saw it!...a sign along the highway said SAWMILL!!!  Immediately bells started ringing in my head, and I praised the Lord for His sign to me!”

When she finished her journey and met with Jack and the Realtor, she told them about all this.  The Realtor was really surprised because one of the homes she was going to show them was in Olde Sawmill Addition!

Yes, they did buy that special house in Olde Sawmill and they knew they had the house the Lord had chosen for them!  God had just performed another of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS in their lives!

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
Psalm 16:7

HE WHO WATCHES OVER YOU

My husband and I were returning to Indiana from a trip to Missouri in our small plane.  It had been a long day and we were both tired.  As we flew through the darkness late that night, the humming sound of the plane began to lull us both to sleep without our realizing it.

The next thing I remember is suddenly awakening.  I looked at my husband and saw that he was asleep as I had been.  I quickly woke him up!

He immediately looked at the gauges on the instrument panel of the plane and saw that we had dropped about 1000 feet while we slept!  Had we continued to sleep, obviously we would have crashed.  But, just in time, we had been awakened!  God had not been sleeping but watching over us to perform one of HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS!

He who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel 
will neither slumber nor sleep.
Psalm 121:3-4