God provides in big ways and small ways.

Over the years, the Lord has blessed our family in many many ways, and in recent weeks we've needed to rely on his hand even more - which has been a blessing!

Since August, we've had several large ticket items break down including our refrigerator, washer, dish washer, and furnace. Along with work travel and medical bills, we found ourselves with too much month at the end of the money.

On October 31, I had an appointment for Ben that would cost $45. I had $40 left in my wallet. I asked to Lord to provide the $5 I needed. Walked downstairs, opened a old purse I rarely carried, but had taken to a wedding the weekend before and there was $15. Thank you, Father.

About a week later, Susanna woke in the night crying. I went in to check on her and her little body was freezing. She always been a hot baby and got sweaty in fleece jammies, but obviously that was changing. I pulled a bag of clothes-to-grow-into out of her closet and we tried on about a half-dozen fleece footie jammies without any success. It seemed like the feet and zippers were bothering her. We finally settled on one, but when I got her in the morning she had unzipped them.

That morning, I thought to myself, "I'm going to have to figure out this jammie situation." I didn't ask for help. I wasn't praying. I simply put it on my priority list.

Just an hour later, I took Ben to preschool and a friend stopped me. She said, "Hold on. I have a pair of jammies for Susanna. I pulled these out for Paige, but they are too small for her. I think they'll fit Susanna perfectly."

In her hands were a pair of fleece, non-footie jammies. They are warm, two pieces so no zippers and fit perfectly.

I am humbled that God loves and sees our every need and sent us pajamas without my even asking. He just said, "Here's what you need." And it is perfect!

The last testimony is on a bigger scale. Like I said, our furnace had quit working Friday, October 18. We tried all the restarts with no luck, and didn't think it was an emergency so we waited out the weekend for a service technician to come on Monday.

He found the problem after a bit of investigation. Someone had put a small stick in the exhaust vent that goes to the outside of our house. That stick had worked it's way all the way to the furnace and somehow stopped it. (That vent happens to be about eye-level for the two youngest members of our family.)

The technician, removed the stick and the furnace was back in business. We thanked the Lord that we had heat again and that the problem had not been more serious.

Last week, our house seemed cold a couple days in a row and one morning we heard the furnace making a loud humming sound. I thought, "Oh dear, it's really broken this time."

I called the same company and they said they'd come out later that day. I talked with two people throughout the day who said that their furnace made a loud humming sound and they needed a new furnace.

Driving home, I started to pray, "Lord, you have been so good to us through these couple of rough months, thank you for providing what we need, but I don't think I can take anymore. Please spare us from replacing our furnace. Please let it be ok." (Admittedly, a pretty selfish and crummy prayer.)

I got home and Chuck said that the service person came and it wasn't making the noise. Hmm, isn't that how things go sometimes?

But then our house got warmer. One day went by and we held our breath, maybe this was just the calm before the storm. Two days went by. Three days and finally we accepted that the Lord had simply blessed us. Chuck and I really believe that the Lord healed our furnace. It sounds silly to say that God healed our furnace, but as I write this, it's 26 degrees outside. Not so silly.

Thank you, Father for blessing and healing our furnace. Thank you that we have heat tonight. Thank you that we have warm jammies. Thank you that you are always with us. Thank you for this season to of challenges so we could see your hand better and trust you rather than rely on our own strength. Thank you for being a loving Father who sees us and provides our every need!

Or what man is there among you, who, if his son ask bread, will give him a stone?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Matthew 7:18-20

Kayla sees Jesus

Kayla was around three or four and we were in middle of a Sunday morning service when she told me she saw Jesus. She had been playing quietly, but she stopped, looked up and pointed to the front of the church.

She said something simple like, “There's Jesus.”

I looked but didn't see anything. At first I thought, maybe she was looking at the picture that used to be behind the baptismal fount, but she wasn't looking there. She was looking off toward the right side of the podium.

She stood there and looked off to that side for a little bit and then started playing again.

I was awe-inspired. Everyone was busy, but here is the quietness of a little child saying, “Hey look, there's Jesus.” It made me realize God is there with us each time we worship in His house.

It is such a blessing that the innocence of our children allows them to see things that we can no longer see. 


17) But Jesus called them, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God.
18) Verily I say unto you, Whosoever will not receive the kingdom of God as a little child,shall in no wise enter therein. 
~ Luke 18:17-18

A Comforting Kiss - Denise Wilton

This is really my mom's testimony (Dee Lamb). I don't remember any of it. I just remember what she told me. God gave it to her so she wouldn't be nervous about me going under anesthetic.

When I was four or five, I needed to have tubes put in my ears and in those days, they put you under to do that procedure.

My mom was nervous about me going under and she prayed about. The morning of the surgery, I got up and said, "That man kissed me."

We weren't really around any men except my grandpa (my dad was overseas serving in the military), so she asked me, "Who kissed you?"

I told her, "That Jesus man."

I went on to tell her that he kissed me on my cheek and she new that what I was saying was true. She knew that Jesus had come to visit me to let her know that everything was going to be okay.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.    ~John 14:27

Walls of Prayer

I wanted to share this testimony at prayer service last Wednesday, but couldn't remember the details so I didn't share it then. But I still feel the need to share it, so I am copying it now.

This testimony can be found in True Restoration Testimonies, page 82. It was submitted by Clara Thomas.

In Oklahoma, one of our pastors was stricken with a severe illness. He had a long period of recovery, allowing him time to pray diligently for his congregation. One night he was given a dream. In the dream he was taken by one of God's messengers into every home in his branch.

He saw that Satan was not allowed to enter the truly dedicated home. A beautiful wall of prayer was standing firmly around every home which had regular family worship. Each day of family worship added another stone of strength to the wall of prayer which Satan could not penetrate.

In the homes where family worship was observed only occasionally, Satan could creep in with sin and sorrow. And in the homes where there was no family worship, Satan freely came and went as his evil heart desired.

This made the pastor realize the importance and great need for constant daily prayer, scripture study, and daily worship in our homes.


I will call upon the Lord, for he is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
~ Psalms 18:3

Wheels When We Needed Them - Jean Schmidt

 Cars!  It’s hard to live without them!  We live close to work and a grocery store, but still, we need a car to get to church, doctor appointments, Wal-Mart, visit our grandkids, etc.  The Lord has blessed us with cars just when we needed them.  I would like to share a few testimonies about those cars.

When we were engaged, Ken had a car, but it died on our way to North Dakota to visit his family for Christmas.  For several months we had to rely on Jean’s parents for rides to Graceland and the grocery store.  But just before our wedding, Ken was able to buy a car for $35.  Think of that!  It was a decent car, not fancy, but needed tires and a few other things.  It served us for a few years and was definitely a testimony to us.

After Daniel was born, we decided to move to Independence because Sariah had so many medical appointments that it didn’t make sense to drive back and forth from north Missouri. He was still an infant when we moved, and Jean was busy caring for two babies.  Ken worked at night and was free to take Sariah to the doctor, and that worked out well. But then our car broke down and we were without wheels.  Friends came to our aid with a car they had that they didn’t use and they just gave it to us!  Once again, God blessed us.

Fast forward several years—to the time when Ken was serving Grain Valley as pastor, about 1991 to 1996.  We drove an old clunker station wagon that had no air-conditioner and the bottom was rusted so badly you could see the road under your feet while driving.  But it was big enough to get all 6 of us to church and back home (we had Ryan by this time).  Some friends at church decided that we needed a better vehicle and one night, just before Christmas, a large, beautiful van came to our street and parked close to our house.  Those friends gave us an envelope containing the keys, title, and money to license it.  What a wonderful gift!  We were so thrilled!  And we all had plenty of room and a comfortable seat to sit in.

After the van had served its useful life, and Daniel was in college and Ryan had moved to a group home, we didn’t really need such a large vehicle anymore.  Just at that time, some friends (we sure have a lot of wonderful friends!) gave us a blue Chevy Citation that was perfect for the 4 of us.  It had a shimmy that got worse as the speed increased, but when we had the tires balanced and the front end aligned, the shimmy went away.  God was looking after us again!  We eventually gave the van to a family in need of a larger vehicle.  It was good to be able to “pay it forward”.

In 2002, Jean began praying for another vehicle as the blue car was showing its age and wasn’t too reliable anymore.  On Easter Sunday, we noticed a different car at our neighbor’s house and thought they had got a new one.  When we asked them about it, our neighbor said, “Oh no, it belongs to my sister and her husband and then brought it up here to try to sell it”.  We took it out for a test drive and liked it very much.  It was a navy blue Ford Crown Victoria.  The price they wanted was just the amount we had saved, so we bought it on the spot.  How great was that—we didn’t have to go look for a car, it came to us!  We drove that car on several vacations and put many miles on it.  It was a comfortable car and got fairly good gas mileage for a V-8.  It was a true blessing.

That brings us to our current car.  In 2008, we knew we were going to have to look for another car.  The Crown Vic was beginning to “nickel and dime” us to death.  Once again, we started praying.  One night at prayer service I mentioned to Sallie that we were looking for a car to buy and told her to keep her eyes open for one.  She immediately said she knew someone who wanted to sell their second car that they didn’t need.  We went and looked at it and it was in good shape, had a new transmission, and was priced right.  It needed a little cleaning and polishing but looked fine when we were done.  We have really enjoyed our minivan and it has been very reliable. 

Who knows what kind of car we will have next time.  But we do know that God takes care of us and is even interested in providing us with cars when we need them.  Every time we prayed for a car, one came.  God is good!

A Book of Mormon Testimony - Sent by Gus Ralston

My childhood religious background consisted of various neighbors taking me to the particular denomination to worship. This did not result in any person commitment to the Lord Jesus on my part.

           

In 1967, when I was 28 years old, I was living with my Aunt Carrie and Uncle J. Baird in Grain Valley, Missouri. Book of Mormon events and characters were always discussed in their home, and I decided to read the Book of Mormon so I could participate in these conversations.

           

There is a passage of scripture in the book of Moroni which says, And if you shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth to you by the power of the Holy Ghost.

“Fair enough. I’ll do that,” I said when I read those words. I began to pray continually for the Lord to manifest the truth to me through some experience. For at least a year I prayed fervently for that experience, but nothing happened.

           

In the meantime I continued reading and studying. It occurred to me that from a theological viewpoint, the Bible and Book of Mormon were compatible. Therefore, I realized that the Book of Mormon must be what it claimed to be. I was baptized and became a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints. Then I was ordained to the office of priest in the ministry of the church.

           

Three years passed from the time my reading of the Book of Mormon commenced. I had just finished reading the book, He Walked the Americas and I was mentally comparing this book to the Book of Mormon. Suddenly, the Spirit of Truth descended on me in such power that I had to reach out and take hold of something to steady myself. This spirit was so powerful. It was physical, not mental, and it caused my very flesh to know that these books were true. Even the flesh in my little finger knew the truth.

           

I know beyond a shadow of doubt that the Book of Mormon is what it claims to be because of the totality of the experience that was mine, from the inception of the reading to the very powerful spiritual witness. Nothing would cause me to deny it!

           

The Lord may be slow in answering our prayers, but He is never late.

Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. ~ John 14:17


From the book, To the Convincing by Ardie Launius page 63

The Potter's Wheel - Sallie Presler

I love pottery. I love to make pottery, read pottery books, study about ancient pottery and teach pottery. Last fall I sold one of my kick wheels so that I might have space and money towards the purchase of an electric wheel. At my age, physical strength and limited funds, I was looking for a middle-of-the-road wheel.

 For many months, I would look each day both morning and evening on Craigslist, EBay, The Star and different pottery sites for a good used wheel. In that time, many have come up for sale. Each time I was too late, out bid, or for some other reason did not get it. Each time I would pray and say, "If this is not the wheel for me, Lord, please make it so." And each time I did not get the wheel, I would simply thank Him.

The last couple of years I have been feeling lost spiritually. I knew that God was there, that He loved me and cared for me, that He knew my name and had plans for me. But, where was He? I had been asking for light and direction. It seemed He was only giving me barely enough for the present moment. I wanted to see farther down the road. I have seemed always to be on edge, almost in a stall pattern. It has been easy to see that He was sustaining me, just as He did the Israelites in the wilderness, but like them I wanted more. I had begged and pleaded. Each time, I would just feel an overwhelming amount of His love and grace, but no direction at all. I wanted a map.

About three weeks ago, a Brent B wheel came up on Craigslist. It would be a perfect wheel for me. Brent is my favorite wheel maker and the "B" is the middle-of-the-road model. The price was right; the seller lived nearby, and it was not too old. But it was Sunday.

I have been trying to keep the Lord's Day holy. I know that we each look at that principle differently and I am not judging anyone for his or her interpretation of what it means to keep the Lord's Day holy. I know emergencies come up even on Sunday. Here, I reasoned, was an emergency for me. I knew this wheel would be gone tomorrow. So I called. Apparently, I was the second to call because she had already accepted a deposit on it. I would have to wait until Friday it see if the other person came up with the money for it. Each day I felt worse. I had rationalized calling on Sunday and now felt sorry about it. By the time Friday came, I had decided that there was no wheel out there that was worth this feeling. I did not get that wheel.

One day last week, as I was praying on the situation, I remembered a book I had read by Stormie Omartian. In it she tells of giving everything to God, then asking Him to sort through it and give back the things He wants for you. I pondered this for a while. I had given my heart, might, mind, will, husband, son, family, work, home, vehicle, health, wealth/or lack of it. What had I not turned over to Him? Then it hit me...my pottery.

So after much thought, I laid my love of pottery at His feet. I told Him I did not want anything in my life that would be a distraction from where He was trying to lead me. No pottery wheel was more important to me than He is. Even pottery itself was not as important to me as He is. "Lord, do you want me to give it up altogether to better follow You?" I prayed.

Then, this past Monday morning, I sat down at the computer and opened up Craigslist. And, you guessed it, there was another Brent wheel. This time it was a CXC. That is like the Cadillac of wheels. It is professional wheel, one that would successfully center a piece of pottery six or seven feet tall. My heart leapt.

Then I looked closely at the ad and realized it had been posted on the day before... Sunday. I knew that wheel; at that low price and young age was already gone. But, I stopped and prayed that if God wanted me to have it that it would be there. I called. It was still available. The seller asked if we could pick it up in the afternoon and pay with cash only. My husband, Aaron, and I were scheduled to take our son, Dane, to the airport that afternoon and I kept thinking is there a way to pick up the wheel and still get Dane to the airport? Finally, I left that in God's hands, too, and told the owner that it would be 9:00 pm before we could be there to pick it up.

Now I realized that we wouldn't even have time to go by a bank to get cash for the wheel and still have time to get Dane to the airport comfortably. A quick check with my relatives (mother, father, husband, brother and sister-in-law) and together we had exactly the amount needed... to the dollar!

On the way back from the airport, my husband asked if I had been anxious about the wheel, thinking that perhaps the wheel had been sold to someone else during our delay to pick it up. I told him honestly, it was almost every thought I had going to and from the airport! But, I also told Him that if I trusted that God really had provided this wheel for me, it would be in His hands waiting for me.

We picked up the wheel that evening.

God desires to bless us. He is a loving Heavenly Father. And, as our pastor's wife, Donna Billings, so often prays, God blessed me with that which was "better than best."

He didn't just give me a middle-of-the-road wheel. He gave me a CXC for virtually the same price as the Brent B wheel had been. He didn't just hint at my question of whether or not pottery was part of His plan for me, He answered it in such a way that there will never be any doubt in my mind.

How great is our God?

Wherefore, seek not the things of this world; but seek ye first to build up the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:38

Walls of Prayer

Today's testimony was published in True Restoration Testimonies, by Clara Thomas (Red book, page 82). 

In Oklahoma, one of our pastors was stricken with a severe illness. He had a long period of recovery, allowing him time to pray diligently for his congregation. One night he was given a dream. In the dream he was taken by one of God's messengers into every home in his branch.

He saw that Satan was not allowed to enter the truly dedicated home. A beautiful wall of prayer was standing firm around every home which had regular family worship. Each day of family worship added another stone of strength to the wall of prayer which Satan could not penetrate.

In the homes where family worship was observed only occasionally, Satan could creep in with sin and sorrow. And in the homes where there was no family worship, Satan freely came and went as his evil heart desired.

This made the pastor realize the importance and great need for constant daily prayer, scripture study, and daily worship in our homes.

Calm in the Midst of the Storm - Laura Handy

In the summer of 1979, we were preparing for our home dedication service. The night before the service I was awakened in the middle of the night with an urgency that something was wrong. The Spirit told me to check the iron in the kitchen. When I got halfway down the hallway I could smell something “hot.”  I quickly went to the laundry closet and saw that the iron was face down on some clothes, and they were smoldering. I unplugged the iron and ran water on the shirt that was almost on fire.

 

I thanked the Lord for waking me in time to avoid a fire. As soon as I was done with my prayer of thanks, there arose a tempest of rushing wind out side. It sounded like a thousand voices speaking at once. I can’t describe the way it sounded, but it was like a roaring. It rattled all the windows and beat at the doors. I realized that we were under attack. The adversary was trying to instill fear and doubt. I rebuked the evil in the name of Jesus, and calm regained control.

The next day we were told by the Spirit that our home would be a place of safety, a refuge in the storm. We would be protected with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. We were also told that we would never be lacking in basket or store. Over the years there have been many people who have come to stay with us….some for a short time…some longer.

The Lord has greatly blessed us. We have weathered many a storm, and by His grace have always had our needs met. He is my daily bread!

 

 

Psalms 107:28-31

28) Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

29) He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

30) Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

31) Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

An Angels' Handywork - by Barbie Jones

Last fall my husband, Jim, went to Arizona on a missionary trip. He was going to be gone for over a week. In preparation for his leaving, I prayed that my needs would be taken care of while he was gone. Not having my handyman around was a real step out in faith for me.

While he was gone, I had been reading a book about angels. It pointed out the many times they appeared in the scriptures and how they are on duty 24/7 for the Lord’s command to go on a mission. It was such an enlightening book and I really enjoyed it.

As I got ready for bed one night, I went to flush the stool, but to my surprise, the handle didn’t work. Instantly I said, “Oh no, Lord, not while Jim is gone.” I’ve been trying to remember and work on the scripture Philippians 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputing. So instead I said, “This is probably a testimony to help me appreciate my handyman husband.” I tried to see what I could do by looking into the top. Sometimes the chain just gets tangled or comes off, but that was not the case. The tank was not even full of water; the valve just was not working. It would be almost a week to go before Jim would be home, so I prayed, “With your help, Lord, I can handle this problem.” (This meant flushing it manually with a bucket of water.)

That night as I said my prayers, I remembered about the angels on duty 24/7 so I just prayed, almost half jokingly, “If there would just happen to be one of those angels around in the neighborhood and is not too busy, could you have one of them fix my stool?” I then went to bed.

The next morning while getting ready for work, I just realized that the stool had not worked the previous night. As I went to flush it again, I paused and remembered my prayer, so I said, “Lord, if this will work I will tell this testimony.” I have to admit that I laughed as I said it, because I really did not think it would work. However, to my great surprise, it worked! I was so grateful and thanked the Lord over and over, and asked for forgiveness of my lack of faith.

So, here I am sharing my testimony, as embarrassing as it is, but I promised the Lord I would. God is so good and He hears and answers our prayers.

32) ... Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin.
33) And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.
34) Therefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and tom-morrow is cast into the over, how much more will he not provide for you, if ye are not of little faith.
Matt. 6:32-34

A Heavenly Visitor - Jackie Enderle

When my mom passed away in July of 2011, I had the responsibility of explaining to my 2-year-old son where his beloved Grammy went. I decided to keep it honest and simple.

"Grammy doesn't live with Baba Jack anymore. She went to live in heaven with Jesus. She can't come visit us or play anymore. She's busy working with Jesus now and we won't see her for a while. But she loves us and Jesus loves us. And someday we will see her again."

After a double checking that Grammy wasn't at church, Jesus' house, Ben seemed satisfied with the explanation and didn't ask to see or talk to Grammy for almost three months.

We were sending out invitations for his third birthday and I asked him who he wanted to invite. The first two people on his list, "Grammy Jesus." After that, he asked to see Grammy every single day for three weeks or more.

When he asked, I always told him that he needed to pray to God the Father and ask if Grammy could visit him. Then we'd pray together:

Dear God in Heaven,

We love you and praise you. Father, Ben misses his Grammy. Could she please visit him. We love you.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen

One Sunday morning, God answered Ben's prayer. As we walked into the sanctuary at Grain Valley, Ben pointed to the back wall and said, "Look Mama! Grammy Jesus!" He pointed to the same spot three more times, each time excitedly saying, "Look, Grammy Jesus!"

I wasn't privileged to see our heavenly visitors, but I know they were there. That was the first Sunday Ben "sat" through an entire service. (A miracle in itself.)

God is so generous. He answered my little boy's prayer to see his Grammy and gave him the added testimony of seeing Jesus too. Although Ben won't remember this experience into adulthood, what a beautiful blessing.

And what a blessing for our entire congregation to have Jesus come and worship with us on a Sunday morning. God is such a loving and generous father. Glory to God!


Psalm 150
1) Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in the firmament of his power.
2) Praise him for his mighty acts; priase him according to his excellent greatness.
3) Praise him with the sound of the trumpet; praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4)Praise him with the timbrel and dance; praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5) Praise him upon the loud cymbals; praise him upon the high-sounding cymbals.
6) Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord

Pray for Your Enemies - Adriane Howe

I learned to pray when I was a little girl. I was taught to pray for things I was thankful for, my parents, our house, and food on the table. When I was around my teenage years I learned to pray for my friends and family who were sick, for safety when traveling, things I was thankful for and forgiveness for things I had done wrong. As an adult I learned from trials and tribulations to pray for protection, wisdom and strength. There was one particular situation that first taught me the importance of praying for my enemies.

I had worked for a couple that was strong in their Baptist beliefs and they were constantly trying to show me how wrong my faith in the Book of Mormon was and how me and all my family that believed as I did were going to rot in hell. After a brutal verbal assault from them one day, I left work and prayed. Without thinking at all, my car and I drove to Susan Mauck at the clinic.

As I was praying in the car the Lord gave me Psalm 46. I wasn’t sure what it was so when I got to the clinic with tears and snot bubbles, Susan took me to the back and prayed with me. We then looked up Psalm 46, verse one is the part that stood out immediately, “God is our refuge and strength, a present help in trouble”.

Susan encouraged me to pray for my enemies as much if not more than my family. I found this task extremely difficult because I was so upset, but I did pray for my enemies and when I was done I was filled with such peace, no anger, no feelings of revenge, just peace.

When I met my husband Paul in 2007, he had warned me that his ex-wife was a handful and would cause us many problems. He made it clear from the beginning that it would be best if I never really dealt with her one-on-one. I found out that she suffers from several different mental illnesses.

In the first year being married to Paul, I wondered why this woman was so evil, why when I had always treated her with grace and respect was she always so hateful and spiteful towards me. I had many conversations with my mom about my frustrations with this woman and how it didn’t matter what I did she seemed to find a way to influence my house into chaos and negativity. I remember one day when I just felt like I couldn’t deal any longer with the chaotic life this woman seemed to constantly be causing us, my mom asked me if I had prayed for the woman. No, why would I? I haven’t done anything wrong.

Instead I prayed for myself, “Give me the strength to keep my angry thoughts to myself, give me patience to put up with this woman who clearly has no desire to ever deal with me in a civil way”. My prayers were for me, but my mom reminded me that this woman is the one who needed prayers.

So I started praying for this woman who constantly did me wrong, called me names, told lies about me, was in all ways my enemy. I prayed that her heart would be softened, that she would have joy in her life. That the demons that whispered in her ear to create chaos would be bound to the hell they came from.

For the next two and a half years, I prayed almost every day for this woman because I now saw her in a different light. I saw her as Jesus saw her, broken in spirit, joyless, loveless. My heart was so broken for her, that she clearly was lacking Jesus in her life. Even when this woman called me names or sent me terrible text messages I always responded as Jesus would have wanted me to, with love and forgiveness.

I let her know often that I was praying for her. Sometimes in her anger she would scoff at me as though I was mocking her by telling her that I was praying for her. She would respond with a quick hateful jab attacking me as a Christian. There were many times over the past few years that I wondered if God really heard me. Or maybe I wasn’t praying enough or the right way because it seemed like this woman was NEVER going to change and my prayers were never going to be answered.

In October of 2011, this woman called my husband and asked if she could come over and talk to the both of us together. I was a little skeptical, but she seemed adamant that we all talked together. With tears in her eyes she told us that she had a very spiritual experience that had changed her life. That she was so sorry for the way she had treated us the past few years and to please forgive her.

She specifically let me know that she was so sorry for purposely trying to sabotage me and my marriage that she had been angry and jealous and there was no excuse for the horrible things she had done. She said that she had not had joy or love in her life and she finally realized it was her own fault; she had been pushing the joy and love away and embracing anger and hate for far too long and she knew now how toxic she had been to herself and everyone around her. She asked me for my forgiveness which I gladly gave her.

I let her know that I truly had been praying for her, that she would find joy again. She thanked me and promised that she would never act this way again.

I was so grateful that God heard my prayers. This woman will never be the perfect friend to me, she still suffers from her illness and struggles with that, but I know without a doubt that my prayers helped her. That God took the time to listen to the prayers of one small Christian whose heart was breaking for another. It may have taken a few years before my prayers were answered but I know that it had to be in God's time not my own.

God tells us to pray without ceasing, and his promise is that he does hear and he does respond. We need to learn to be patient and wait for Gods time to answer, and when he does answer you will know without a doubt that your Savior hears you!

Matt. 5:45-50
45) Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.
46) But I say unto you, love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you; and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you;
47) That ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and unjust.
48) For if ye love only them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans the same?
50) Ye are therefore commanded to be perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.

Fingers Healed - Emili Elefson

I was about three or four years old and spending the weekend with my grandparents. My grandmother and I had gone to the co-op grocery store to pick up a few things. I remember I was eating Chili Cheese Fritos when it happened. She was buckling me in for the ride home and somehow I got all four of my fingers in the way of the slamming car door. I remember her opening it and crying with me as we drove off. As soon as we got home, she liberally poured consecrated oil all over my fingers and prayed over them before putting me down for a nap. The next thing I remember is waking up from a three to four-hour nap and feeling no pain. Upon further inspection by my Grandmother, there were no marks or bruises on my hand either. I am grateful for a Grandmother who led me to the Lord, but I am more grateful for a loving Savior who hears our every prayer.

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
~ James 5:16

Meningitis Forgiveness - Michael Perry

It started out as a rash, a small one on my side, like a patch of poison ivy. I had been cleaning out a wooded area for several days messing with vines and brush and debris, so catching poison ivy wasn’t unusual even if it was mid-February. A day or two later, my head started to ache. Overnight the feeling changed from a dull ache to the constant tightening of a vice on both temples, accompanied by a 10-pound hammer smashing over and over onto my anvil-like forehead. I was miserable! I had experienced migraines as a child. They must have returned. Another day passed, and I was begging my doctor for the strongest migraine medication available. That didn’t help any more than the poison ivy cream was helping.


Two days later, I wound up in the hospital with a case of shingles (which I had never heard of before) and spinal meningitis - the viral variety not the bacterial type - not so great for me, but not bad for the people around me. After a few days of intravenous antiviral medication and some seriously strong pain medicine, the hospital staff sent me home; there was nothing else to be done. I wasn’t contagious. I wasn’t dying. The virus would run its course. No problem…for them.

The problem for me was the pain. I had never experienced such constant excruciating pain before: all through my head, in my neck, and running down my spine. Light hurt. Sound hurt. Sitting hurt. Laying down hurt. Standing hurt. For all intents and purposes, I was completely incapacitated. For weeks I laid in bed, so sick I could scarcely move. Keep in mind that while trying to care for my needs, my wonderful wife Jessica was also taking care of a three-year-old Makayla, two-year-old Nicholas, and infant Rebekah, as well as Brian and Destiny every other week.

I had been administered to in the hospital, but again I called for the elders, and then again, and then again. Five weeks went by from the time that I had come home, and still the headaches and neck aches persisted. I still couldn’t stand up without the pain creating wave after wave of nausea. While I should have been ramping up for the busiest time of a landscaper’s year, I was laying in bed with a pillow over my head.

I started visiting my chiropractor thinking that if he could just adjust my neck and stretch out the vertebrae, perhaps the headaches would resolve themselves. Adjustments just made me sick though, as did the acupuncture he tried (I’ve never liked needles, but now I have a distinct distaste for them, especially when they are dangling from my face and forehead). Another administration came and went without a healing, without relief. Desperation and depression were setting in.

Sure that a good massage and neck popping would be the ticket this time, I again visited my chiropractor, also an elder in the restoration. I walked into the clinic without an appointment, and a man I had never met before, nor since, stepped over to me, introduced himself, and announced that I needed an administration. I thanked him for his concern, and countered that I needed my vertebrae separated.

“No,” he said, “you need an administration.” I told him I had been administered to at least six times in as many weeks and really wanted a heating pad on my neck and head, followed by a nice adjustment. He was quite gracious and asked if I was looking for a healing. I told him I would settle for just a little relief, but yes, a healing would be nice. We compromised: an administration first followed by a chiropractic adjustment—no acupuncture.

I did not believe I would be healed, and I was not, but the moment the elders put their hands on my head something happened. Then he started to speak.

He told me first that the Lord was with me, that the Lord knew of my struggles and was carrying me. He said that the Lord wanted me to know that the sin that I battled with was forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ. At that moment, a weight that I didn’t know I had been carrying lifted from my shoulders. I hadn’t realized how heavy the burden of my sin was. Jesus Christ took that burden from me right then and there at that moment.

Surely all of us have seen the movie, or the play, or the musical about Scrooge. At one point old Jacob Marley swoops through the air weighted down with what looks like several hundred pounds of chains around his shoulders and neck. It was the heavy weight of chains just like Jacob Marley’s that I shed, or rather that Christ took from me that day. I wept openly in my new freedom.

Five days later I sat in church, still very much in pain. I couldn’t keep from squeezing repeatedly at my neck trying to release the tension or relieve the pain or something, anything! After the service, as I walked across the back of the sanctuary hurting frustrated and down, my dear friend Susan pulled me aside, placed the palm of her right hand on the exact spot from which most of the pain seemed to be radiating, just at the base of my skull, and she prayed. She asked the Lord to release me from my pain so that I might attend to my family and my business. He did! It was a simple prayer: a supplication, a request; it was not an administration. I walked out of the church pain-free. My neck felt tight for several more weeks. My head felt oddly heavy, but the pain was gone.

I have never since felt physical pain quite that horrific, nor have I felt as free as when Christ lifted the weight of my sins from me at the Chiropractor’s office. I don’t completely understand the sequence of events, or why God chose to move the way He did, at the times He did, but there was no doubt then, nor is there now that it was in His time, in His way, that He acted, that He forgave, that He healed.

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
~ John 8:36

Your Heavenly Father will Provide - Liz Scully

Years ago while we lived in Appleton City, I had a dream where God told me we were always to have a large house with lots of rooms and plenty of food on hand for those that would come through. We were blessed with that not only in Appleton City, but also Warsaw. I always felt we would house and feed those making their way to Zion.

Then we moved to Blue Springs and were in a much smaller home for several years. We took several kids in for a variety of reasons. We then moved to our home in Grain Valley, here we have had many people live with us over the past eight years.

As I was doing lawn work and talking to God, it came to me that we were still in a large home because we need to house and feed those coming through, not just moving to Zion, but also moving to a different places in their lives.

I’m thankful that God always gives us what we need and hope that we will always be His willing servants.

And your heavenly Father will provide for you, whatsoever things ye need for food, what you shall eat; and for rainment, what ye shall wear or put on.
~Matt. 6:27

Saved From an Evil Spirit - Ron Brooks

Although it has been many years since Christmas 1952, I shall never forget the night an evil spirit came to claim my body. The experience left me with undeniable evidence regarding the truthfulness of Ephesians 6:12. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." It also left me with an undeniable testimony of God’s love, and that Jesus lives and watches over me.

I was in my freshman year at Graceland College, which is now Graceland University.

My parents had traveled from Long Beach, California to pick me up, and then go on to Monet, Missouri to celebrate Christmas with my grandparents and a few other family members. It was a family reunion of those who had gathered to the small rural home of my grandparents.

On Sunday morning we attended church services at the local RLDS congregation. After church, the pastor asked if I would agree to preach during the evening service. At the time I held the office of Deacon and did not have much experience in the preaching ministry. However I readily agreed, trusting that the Lord would support and direct my efforts. He did.

Today I do not remember the words that were spoken, nor even the sermon topic. But I do remember being able to speak under the direction of the Holy Spirit, and felt joy in being so blessed.

That night, after enjoying an evening of family fellowship, we retired to our several beds. Although small, my grandparents home provided several bedrooms both upstairs and down. The bedroom I shared with my grandparents was at the top of a flight of stairs. My grandfather and grandmother slept in a bed on one side of the room, while I slept in a bed on the opposite side. A yard light shining through a window between the two beds dimly illuminated the room. The stairway ended at the foot of the beds.

Around two in the morning I was awakened by the sound of a train whistle several miles away in the distance. Although not very loud, the mournful sound aroused me.

I woke to an intense coldness in the room. It was unlike any coldness I had ever before experienced. It was not like the cold of winter that freezes from the outside, it was a cold that penetrated to the core. This was not a physical sensation due to winter weather. This was the manifestation of a demonic presence. I have since become aware that this intense coldness accompanies a spirit that does not have the light, or warmth of Jesus.

In addition to the cold I became aware of an intense blackness near the stairway. As I watched, this blackness began to flow toward me. It came closer and closer and began to settle over and around me. I felt as though I was being cast into outer space. The intense blackness is hard to describe, but it is similar to what one experiences when the lights are turned off in a cave.

I fought back mentally. The blackness retreated - but returned. I mentally willed it away again, but it kept returning, stronger each time. I called to my grandmother, waking her up. She immediately exclaimed about the coldness. I told her what was happening, and she got up out of bed. A light hung from the ceiling and was turned on by pulling on a string. Grandmother pulled the string, but there was nothing there, only the intense coldness remained. I don’t know why, but grandmother pulled on the string again turning off the light. Then she got into bed with me. The blackness then began attacking both of us.

I realized that there was nothing we could do to protect ourselves from this evil spirit. I told grandmother that we should pray for deliverance. We began to pray to Jesus for protection.

As we were engaged in earnest prayer a beautiful light appeared above, near the ceiling. Words fail to describe the beauty of that light. To the best I can describe, it appeared like gossamer angel hair often seen on Christmas trees, but it had an internal luminosity that was at once soft, yet vibrant. The light brought a feeling of deliverance and calm reassurance. Fear gave way to the knowledge that we were being protected and delivered from evil by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

As we watched, the light came down and completely encircled the darkness, lifting it up through the ceiling. As the light approached the ceiling it parted, then closed allowing the light, with the darkness, to pass through. A feeling of joy, peace, love, and protection remained.

After Christmas I returned to Graceland. I was living in the home of Bishop Earl Higdon in Lamoni, Iowa. Several male students occupied bedrooms on the second floor of the home. The first night back at Graceland I again experienced that intense coldness upon entering my room. I had told my roommate about my experience with the dark spirit. When he felt the cold oppressive presence in the room he picked up his things and moved across the hall. In addition to the cold I perceived a darkness in one area of the room. But also present in the room was my beautiful cloud of light.

I reasoned that if the darkness had followed me all the way from southern Missouri to southern Iowa there was no place I could go to escape. But as long as I had my white light to protect me there was no reason to fear. Each night as I went to bed the blackness appeared in one corner and the light in the other, and each night I would pray to God for protection, and then lie down to go to sleep secure in the confidence that Jesus was watching over me. After about a week the dark cloud left and did not return.

No, I shall never forget the night that an evil spirit came to posses me. But I also will always have the knowledge that Jesus loves and protects me.

Ronald W. Brooks
Grain Valley, Missouri
August 6, 2011

Building a House with God - Sallie Presler

Aaron and I had bought an old two-story, 2600 square foot house that had been vacant for a couple of years and started renovating it. It was in sorry condition. In many years of neglect, the yard had become a mess. We hired someone to help us design what would look nice, then we started in. We landscaped. Expensive!


Then we started inside. The kitchen was original, I think. We gutted it and got a new kitchen. Then we pulled up the carpets and refinished the oak floors and just went room by room and redid the whole house, plumbing, electrical, everything.

Through the course of this Dane was born. We had been there almost five years, had almost finished the whole house, when God woke me up one morning and told me to sell the house. Wow, no God, please, it has taken us almost five years to get the house the way we want it. But, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was He speaking to me. I woke up Aaron and told him. He said the same thing about taking five years and all most done, etc. Then he said, "We only have two or three small things to do, let's finish and put it on the market." We did.

We started praying about where God would have us move. I was in real-estate at the time and immediately started looking. We looked in Independence, Lees Summit, Blue Springs, really everywhere. We started making offers.

The second family through our home bought it. We negotiated that we would be able to stay in the house for a month after it closed. We were feverishly looking. And making offers, good offers, not low-dollar. But each one, for one reason or another, never came close to being signed.

My dad wanted us to move to the lake by them, but Aaron and I were city people and didn't want to live that far out of town. But, dad kept insisting that we come look at a lot down the street from him. So one Sunday we drove out and after lunch went to look at the lot. It was not at all what we wanted. Then he insisted that we go talk with Mrs. Wren (her family owned the lake). We called her, she was so sweet and asked us to come over.

Oh my! We drove up into her drive. She had a three-story New England Colonial. We had just sold our two-story New England Colonial. We talked about her house and the house we had just sold. Hers had the same floor plan, just bigger. We really hit it off well. She brought out huge maps of the lake and put them out on her twelve-foot dinning room table. She showed us a couple of lots that she would sell us. Aaron and I knew nothing of the lake except right where Mom and Dad lived. Mrs. Wren had one lot just four doors down from them. I knew right where it was. It was solid forest, you could not even step off the road. She said that at our expense we would have to make sure there was enough square footage to meet city codes and that there was enough fall to attach on to the sewer. But, she would sell it to us for $3,000. What a deal. I knew a surveyor and a plumber. And it had plenty of square footage and just enough fall.

We began frantically looking for a floor plan. I worked with several builders and had huge piles of house plan books. We looked through them many times trying to find one that we liked. None of them seemed right. Then one morning, I had awakened and was sitting in bed praying. As I finished, I reached down to the floor and picked up one of the books that we had been through many times. I flopped it open, there was the perfect floor plan! I called Aaron and told him that I had found a floor plan. He didn't ask anything about it, just said, "Call and order the plans."

We moved just the necessities into a very small two-bedroom apartment and everything else into storage. We started building almost immediately. I had never contracted a house before, but God knew how. He went before us each step of the way.

Val brought out his big 944 and a skid loader. He taught me how to run both of them and the two of us cleared the lot and dug the basement.

The framers said they would knock off money if we would keep the house cleaned out, so each evening Dane (just turned two) and I would go clean and sweep out the mess the builders had made that day. Dane would pick up all the nails and I would pick up the wood scraps. Then we would sweep. We had a good time doing it. We got him a little hammer and taught him to hammer the nails into Styrofoam.

When the finish carpenter said that he needed the fireplace insert, I got in the car and headed to the fireplace store in Lee's Summit. I pulled into the parking lot, sat there and prayed, "Please show me, Lord. I don't know anything about fireplaces." I walked through the store and came around to the door. I had not heard God speak, so I asked him again. Then I started walking again. As I walked, one seemed to stand out. I asked the price. It was just what we had specked for it. I paid for it had it delivered.

A year after we moved in, my dad came running down the street. He asked what kind of fireplace we had, I told him. "Wow," he said, "How did you know what kind to get? I have just been reading and that was the most perfect fireplace you could have gotten for your home." Hey! God is so good.

On a Friday, the framers said that they only had a half day left, so they would finish up on Monday. That Friday Aaron came home to say that Jeff had just quit at the office. That sent Aaron into a spin. Jeff was his partner and they had three hired. We talked and prayed all weekend. Sunday evening we decided that Monday morning he would give everyone there two months notice, at the end of two months we would move the office to our basement, cutting all overhead and just work from there. So, Monday morning when the framers came to finished, I told them that now we were going to frame out the basement. It would have costs considerable more to have called them back after they had packed up all their tools, not to mention the sheetrockers and everyone else. Perfect timing, God.

I had wanted wood floors, but after pricing them (way out of our budget), had budgeted for carpet and linoleum. As we were nearing that part of the building phase, an old friend called and said that he had started installing wood floors and would like to give me a bid on our home. I laughed and told him that it was way too much. He insisted on coming over and did give us a bid. It was for what I had budgeted for carpet for both floors. Wow again. So we decided we could put in wood floors on the main floor, and live on plywood upstairs for a couple of years until we could save enough to put carpet upstairs. It took more like five years before we could afford flooring upstairs, but, by then I had figured out that I was allergic to duct mites and the worst thing for that is carpeting. What a blessing that we didn't have carpet throughout the house. Our only carpeting is in Dane's room and the guest room. Again, God is so good.

It took me a few months to figure out why God had had us sell the house in town and move. God knew that our house payment in town was $768 a month, our taxes and insurance were high. God knew that Jeff would quit, leaving Aaron holding the lease on the building, all the debt they had incurred setting up business and the continual overhead with the rent and salaries. When we moved the office to the basement of our new home, our house payment was $350 a month with much less in insurance and taxes, no office rent, salaries or overhead. We did have $10,000 in debt to pay, but that was do-able living with such low overhead. Way to go God!

I know there were soooo many more testimonies about the move, but I don't recall them at this moment. I should have written them down at that time.

God is so good. He was there each step of the way. And he will be there for you.

A Brief Meeting - Adriane Howe

This is from a dream I had in July of 2010. I believe with all my heart that God allowed this vision to occur. There is no doubt in this testimony, God is so good, and he blesses us in so many ways. This is just one of my blessings God has granted me; I hope that it will be a blessing for those who read it as well. 

As I went to sleep that night my heart was so troubled, in fact my heart and soul had been troubled since a conversation had occurred between Shane’s sister Abbey and I back in May. Feelings were, and still are, very raw after Shane’s death. Many unanswered questions and speculations, accusations and anger lingered. I had always been close to Abbey and was very distraught over the conversation we had. I stated my side and left it at that because I loved her and didn’t want to cause her any more pain. But I was troubled over the whole thing.

On this night in July I went to bed very troubled and fell asleep quickly, which rarely happens for me. In my dream a man, a large man with dark features came to me and said that Shane was waiting for me, that he had something very important to tell me but we had to go quickly. The next thing I know we are standing in a trolley car style diner. Of course I thought to myself, "HELLO Shane is dead why would he be meeting me in this diner?" The large man told me not to ask questions because they didn’t matter, what matters was that Shane would be there waiting for me. I sat at a table near the kitchen while the man disappeared into the kitchen.

I looked around to observe where I was, a normal enough diner for being late at night, people eating, laughing and joking. Seemed to be a place many came after a night out on the town and a few too many drinks. I felt a little out of place. I wouldn’t say scared, but on guard.

Then when I looked back to my table he was there. Shane was sitting right in front of me with a smile so big, so loving, almost as if he was shining with happiness. He was wearing an army green t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. He looked amazing, like every sorrow I had once seen in his eyes was gone. I was immediately moved to tears. I asked Shane if it was ok if I hugged him, Shane looked over and the man that brought me nodded. I wrapped my arms around him so hard I felt I’d break my own arms off. I cried, Shane just laughed and told me it was ok, he was ok.

I told him how sorry I was how everything ended and that I never thought it would end like that. He said he knew and he said he was sorry for putting me through all of that. He said he had learned so much since making it to heaven. That heaven wasn’t all white robes and golden gates that in fact it was pretty normal, just pure and beautiful and nothing but love. A place where souls could learn the truth and be forgiven for the mistakes they made in life. He said the colors were so amazing and beautiful, not like the colors we are use to.

I asked him if he could forgive me for marrying so soon after he died, he laughed and said, “Well, he’s a good man, but did that really work out how you had planned?” I laughed too because nothing seems to ever work out exactly how you think. He also said something to me concerning a part of my future. (I feel lead not discuss this part so I won’t be sharing that portion of my testimony at this time.)

He told me how proud he was that I was raising Braden with the truth. and he told me Braden would be ok. He said that he sees Braden all the time and he watches us when he has the time, because he works in heaven. Everyone has a job to do. I told him that I was really upset about his sister that I feared she was drifting into the black that had once taken him away from me and there was nothing I could do to bring her back. He looked at me with such peace and reassurance and told me not to let that trouble me any longer, that Abbey would be fine, it would take awhile, but in the end she would be fine. She would see the truth. 

Then, in true Shane fashion, he asked me if I wanted to see him do a trick. Of course I laughed and said yes. He picked up a mountain dew pop bottle and balanced it on the tip of his finger and then walked it two tables down and back. To me this seemed like nothing and I just laughed at him for being silly. That’s when I realized that nobody else in the diner could actually see Shane except me so the bottle had “floated” back and forth. All the drunken party goers thought that was a cool trick and kept asking the waitress how she did it. She just smiled and said that strange stuff like that happened all the time at the diner.

Shane hugged me again and said it was time for him to go. He told me that all things happen for a reason and we never really know until we get to heaven why they happen the way they do, he had no regrets. He kissed the top of my head told me he loved me and was gone. 

I immediately woke covered in sweat with tears streaming down my face and my troubled heart felt more at peace than it ever had. I thank God for allowing me to speak with Shane for that brief moment; it has made such a difference in my life. 

*A few weeks after this dream my mom had mentioned to Susan (Mauck) my dream, Susan called me and asked me to tell her my experience. When I was done relaying the dream Susan took a deep breath and through tears she told me that the Holy Spirit had confirmed my testimony was a vision and that she felt that the large man in my dream was one of the Three Nephites guiding and protecting me. I was overwhelmed to hear her say this, and quickly in my head questioned why I of all people would be so fortunate to be blessed with the honor of being in the presence of one of the Three Nephites. I have found a simple answer, it was God’s will and even though I do not always understand or feel worthy of such blessings, I am grateful that God granted me such an amazing blessing. 

**Shane was right about Abbey as well. In November 2010 Abbey emailed me a short and to the point email. She said she was going to a group counseling session for survivors of suicide and felt like she needed to tell me. She came and spent Christmas at my house with my family and sat down with me that night and we shared many things. I was able to comfort her at that moment in a way that only God could have managed to arrange. She is in contact with me all the time now. Her spirit has changed and I no longer see or sense the darkness that once threatened to pull her away. God is so gracious and he truly does have a hand in every part of our lives, both the darkest times and the most joyous times.

I'm Coming to Take You Home - by Beulah Marshall

Many years ago, I was pregnant and insisting the baby was dead. The droctors did nothing about it. After months of this I told Joe that I was naming our baby 'Jody'.

"That's good." he said. "Jody works for either boy or girl."

"This is a girl," I said. And the tests came back and I was right.

Years later, I still grieved for her loss and now Joe was dying of cancer. When I came into the room, tears were streaming down his face.

"Are you in pain?" I asked.

"I heard her voice," he said. "She said, 'Hi Daddy, I'm Jody and I'm coming to take you home.'"

From that time til death, he waited for her coming and told everyone about his experience.

God's Protection - by David Argotsinger

“I foresaw the Lord always before my face; for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved; Therefore, did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope; Because thou wilt not leave my soul in prison, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.”


These words were attributed to King David by Peter in Acts, chapter 2 verses 25-28. He said these words concerning Christ. My life hasn’t even approached the magnitude of King David’s life. I’m not even king in my own home. Not that I should be. But when David says, “Thou hast made known to me the ways of life”, I marvel at how similar his life is to any one of us with respect to our relationship to God.

My God is a God of miracles. Daily examples occur if we would only open our eyes to them. My life has been full. The miracles have been a constant thread throughout my life, most of which have gone unnoticed or unappreciated. One event that did get noticed and appreciated occurred a few years ago while I was still working for Unilever in the Wishbone Salad Dressing Department.

It was a pleasant day in April 2000. School was winding down for the year and my wife had just graduated from University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg and was doing some substitute teaching at Blue Springs South High School. I had taken it upon myself to do an audit of the mixing of a certain variety of salad dressing. (We would conduct periodic audits in the mixroom looking for ways to improve the process.) Unfortunately, on this occasion, all the mixing was taking place in the middle of the night, to be packaged the following morning.

I was in the plant by midnight and the audit was completed by the beginning of the first shift. Since I was on an improvement committee scheduled to meet that morning, I stayed around for it. It was one of the few meetings I actually stayed awake for before or since.

Following the meeting, I headed for home. I had no indications that I was going to have any trouble. I felt alert, but was anxious to get home. I remember approaching Robert’s Nursery on 40 Highway, but the next thing I remember I was bouncing around in my Red Dodge Dakota. Apparently, I had fallen asleep. The truck had gone straight ahead while the highway had curved sharply to the left.

I woke up just in time to try to regain control of my truck, but there was absolutely no controlling it. I tried pulling it back to the road to no avail. I hit a concrete culvert ripping off the left rear wheel and at the same time narrowly missing a grove of trees. Another 20 yards, the truck left rear hit a tree turning the truck sideways. Its momentum caused it to rip through a wooden fence, rolling over and landing gracefully on its wheels (or what was left of them) a few feet from a young family’s swing set.

About 20 minutes later, my wife received a call from the Blue Springs Police Department telling her that her husband was in an accident and that he was alright. She went to the high school office and someone said, ”It must be a day for accidents, because the PE teacher’s neighbor called and said there was a pickup in their back yard and their fence was down.

Throughout all this the airbags did not deploy, but my rescuers were unable to get me out without using the Jaws of Life to rip off the driver’s side door. By the time all that was over, there wasn’t a square inch of that truck that didn’t have some sort of damage to it. I had a little pain in my side that made it difficult to move and a small cut on my hand from all the broken glass, but I was otherwise unhurt. The most discomfort was being strapped to a hard, straight board and being bounced around all the way to the hospital in Independence.

Shortly afterward, I discovered I had a mild condition of hypothyroidism which I believe contributed to my dropping off to sleep without any warning. God has intervened in my life more times than I can count and more times than I have realized at the time. While the truck was leaving the road and bumping into things and rolling over, I felt assured that I was going to be alright and that God would take care of me this time.

Throughout scripture, miracles were associated with preaching the Kingdom of God to those who would listen. Each one of us can learn from our daily experiences and can learn more of what God has in store for us when Zion becomes a reality. In the beginning paragraph, I quoted from Acts which, in turn, was a quote from Psalm 16. David begins this psalm by saying, “Preserve me, O God; for in thee do I put my trust.” He concludes this Psalm by saying, “Thou wilt show me the path of life; in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” To all those who read this, may you trust in the Lord and experience firsthand the joys and pleasures that God has in store for you both in this life and the next.