Isaiah 65:24

This beautiful story was written by a doctor who worked in Central 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 with treacherous 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 baby could 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 porch 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)

When you receive this, say the prayer. That's all you have to do. No strings attached. Just send it on to whomever you want - but do send it on.

Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost, but a lot of rewards. Let's continue praying for one another. This awesome prayer takes less than a minute.

Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless my friends reading this. I ask You to minister to their spirit. Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is self doubting, release a renewed confidence to work through them. Where there is tiredness or exhaustion, I ask You to give them understanding, guidance, and strength. Where there is fear, reveal Your love and release to them Your courage. Bless their finances, give them greater vision, and raise up leaders and friends to support and encourage them. Give each of them discernment to recognize the evil forces around them and reveal to them the power they have in You to defeat it. I ask You to do these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

P.S.

Passing this on to anyone you consider a friend will bless you both. Passing this on to one not considered a friend is something Christ would do.

Lesson #7

With four year old children you need to watch what you are saying or doing, or else they end up repeating the same words or phrases. Such as with the cartoons that children watch, often they want to watch the 'big kid channels' where there are phrases that are not appropriate for children.
As often as I can I have my little monster watch the channel that is aimed more toward his age level or have him watch cartoons such as Scooby Doo where there is comedy and the 'bad guys' are apprehended in the end. This way he doesn't have to listen to every word (which I don't believe he does) and he also sees that the bad guy always gets in trouble because he is bad.
So, as a lesson for today, please keep an eye on what your children are watching, if you can, change the channel during a commercial break and inform the child that the show was 'over' and it was time for a better one. If they complain you can always use the trick that the TV is tired and needs to be turned off for a while. Don't be afraid to turn it off, studies show that children should not be glued to the TV. Have them exercise off their endless energy with activities outdoors or activities in doors, such as dancing to music or hide and go seek.

Today to burn off some extra energy, and built on an idea from the previous day, we made our own musical instruments! My little monster has a trampoline that sings when he bounces on it, and he likes to sing his own silly songs. To accompany his silly songs we crafted a guitar out of recycled bits and he was able to sing and dance to as many songs as he wished. To build a recycled guitar use:

• 1 small box (think small like ziti box)
• 3 rubber bands
• 3 paper clips
• 1 paper towel roll (just the cardboard, not the actual paper)
• Crayons
• Tape
• Glue
• scissors

1. Turn the cardboard box inside out so the outside is facing outward. Seal the box closed again with the tape or glue but leave one short end open with a slit big enough to hold the paper towel.
2. Cut six short holes into the box on one of the larger sides, this is where the makeshift strings will be. Please refer to the following pictures for where to place the holes. At this time you may have the child color the guitar with crayons and various other pieces of decoration. Stickers work as well. I had written my little monsters name on the side to make it more personalized.

3. Lace the rubber bands through the holes and secure inside the box using the paperclips. They should hold steady and should not break.
4. Place the paper towel role into the hole made on the top of the guitar, secure with tape or glue.
5. Strum and enjoy!

** Hint: In preparation for his moving up next year, we used this activity to work on shapes. Hence, the box is a 'rectangle,' the paper towel roll is a 'circle' and so on. We also counted the number of strings and drew a number of shapes on the different sides.

Sound Off [6]

'Every few years you'll look back and realize you never planned that far ahead back then.' -Anon.

It's true, we don't really know what is happening in a few years, or within a few moments. We may have the day planned without any room to spare and suddenly we have a flat tire and no way to move for a few hours.
As children we don't know what the future holds, except for the lollipop that lives in the drawer that we can't have.
As teenagers we want to be out of the house, and don't think of the problems that may ensue from living on our own turf. When we get there we realize how hard it is to hold down our own homes, with the mortgages, extra payments and the gas bills.
Before life used to be simple, boys were boys and didn't have cooties, then had cooties, then have cooties all over again. Love was just written on the Valentines Day cards, not just that stupid thing that makes our hearts break and bleed when we think of somebody, sort of but not always special.
Suddenly life may become complicated, but everything makes us stronger, no matter how we look at it. We wish that certain things may have gone a certain way but in the end it all works out, which we do appreciate.
Once in a while we find ourselves in the middle of huge decisions that we have to make, but we never do consider how much it would impact our lives in the long run. We never do think of that, that far ahead.
Some other advice that we hear of when considering who we want to date is what we should think of what the relationship may look like in a few years. Men sometimes want to meet the mothers of their new dates to see what their wives may look like in a few years. As women we may look at the annoying habits of our dates and think of how long we can stand the traits, a few days? A few years? Do it again and it's over?
In a few years I may look back and think, why did I do that? Who did I know that put me in the position that I'm in now? Looking back now I can see who I knew and who I'm still friends with and I know these relationships is what put me in the place I am now currently in.

We never do plan far enough ahead. Sometimes we just have to pack a little extra and hope that everything will end on a happy note.

Tell me, Neighbor

Close your eyes neighbor, what do you hear?

Grandma’s calling ‘manja!’ Grandpa just waking up from a nap?

Children laughing in the foyer, Mom and Dad helping in the kitchen?

Auntie setting the table, the clinking of the silverware against the flatware?

Can you hear our conversations over dinner?

Laughing over old times, children asking for attention?

Grandpa telling old stories, little brother telling new ones,

Grandma laughing at forgetting the mashed potatoes, no use crying over spilled milk?

Take a deep breath neighbor, now what do you smell?

Dessert cooking in the oven, fresh turkey sitting on the counter?

The tangy smell of homemade pickles and cranberry sauce?

How about the stove crackling behind you, giving the room warmth?

She spilled the coffee, can you smell that too?

Open your eyes neighbor, what do you see?

All of us sitting at the table, the eldest, head of households at the ends?

An Italian meal spread across the table with candles in the center?

Happy faces all around, family not concerned over the cold weather outside?

Have a taste neighbor, what is that flavor?

Is it food cooked by love for a family to share?

Is it a traditional spread passed down from generation to generation?

Does it taste better with every bite until it all is gone?

Tell me neighbor is this what you believe how a house should be?

For Christmas, Easter, and every Sunday in between?

All are home, from the workers to the students?

Where are the ones that we lost during the year, is the hole filled?

Tell me neighbor, is this how you grew up?

The Runaways

"I'm a ChChChCh-Cherie Bomb!" I had that song stuck in my head for days! On a whole "The Runaways" was a decent movie, but a few parts could be edited out. Placing Kristen and Dakota together though was interesting, as you may know I Dislike Kristen but Like Dakota so it was a love/hate kind of feeling during the whole movie. "The Runaways" follows these two girls before, during and after thier brief run as a band named "The Runaways," which is aptly named. The five girls that are involved in the band all come from different backgrounds and all have different temperments, but have the same goal: Play in a rock & roll band. At the time girls were not encouraged to play electric guitars, much less be in a band playing rock & roll music. They were scorned. Dakota, playing 'Cherie Currie', idolizes David Bowie. (Insert internal rock & roll at heart sigh here) Kristen, playing 'Joan Jett' has a different agenda and wants to play in a band no matter what it takes. The course of the movie takes you from before the band, the hard work that the girls pull off to take over the world and the down ward spiral that Cherie takes at the end of the world tour. Joan however, as this is, in a sense, a documentary, later writes the song "I love Rock & Roll" which does play at the end of the movie. I wonder however, if the original song was played during the movie or if was Kristen singing.
If you like rock & roll, sex & well, the freedom of living in that era *cough cough* then I would recommend it. If you don't like Kristen (which I still don't) or the sex era (basically thats how I interepreted it) then I wouldn't recommend it.
I watched it, but most of the time I was counting stitches on my new blanket that I'm crocheting, so really it wasn't a waste of time. I would recommend doing the same.

Hey [Insert Name Here]

Hey dipshit,
Listen up, cause I really don’t like your attitude.
You throw out the line reel it in and hope that perhaps I’ll bite.
I won’t.
Instead I’ll tie the damn hook to a rock and pull,
and pull and tease and pull.
Kind of hard to cook up a rock isn’t it?
Hey bitch,
Listen up, cause I don’t like to repeat myself.
You can call me names and hope that you’ll get a response.
You won’t.
Instead I’ll be rubber and ignore whatever hateful things you say,
and smile and laugh and smile.
Kind of hard to be rude to someone who just won’t take it isn’t it?
Hey player,
Listen up, cause you better have your brain switched on.
You can leave me and pretend for a while that maybe I’ll start to love you.
I won’t.
Instead I’ll go out and enjoy my time without you trying to be cute,
and dance and sing and dance.
Kind of hard to be a player to someone who just won’t play the game isn’t it?
Hey ass,
Listen up, cause I know you have the ears for what I have to say.
You can pretend that you care about what I say and think that I give a care.
I won’t.
Instead I’ll give you a small ear, and talk to a few more of my friends,
and laugh and care and laugh.
Kind of hard to pretend to have a conversation when the other isn’t into it, isn’t it?
Hey you,
Listen up, cause I don’t like to repeat myself.
You can think that I still care for you and really want to talk to you again.
I don’t.
Instead I’ll just keep ignoring you, and enjoy life without you,
and live and live and live.
Kind of hard to watch someone take the fun out of life for you, isn’t it?

Lesson #6

Lesson #8 is centered on always being prepared for rainy days. You never know when a beautiful day like any summer day should be like. Thus you should be prepared and have another idea up your sleeve.

It was a rainy,
             no good,
             rotton,
             chilly day outside so instead of having a picnic ouside like I planned we instead stayed inside and had an indoor picnic. We had peanut butter sandwiches, popcorn, orange and peaches slices, milk and rice crispies.
            It was a wonderful picnic indoors! Everyone brought a friend and it was a lovely little luncheon. At least I thought so, until niether of them wanted to finish thier sandwiches. At least I got all the popcorn. Hehe!