Week of August 23
I was returning from my college reunion and I was heading south on Interstate 75 when I distinctly heard a voice in my head.
“Stop at the next Cracker Barrel and ask for Ellen.”
“Is that you speaking Lord?”
Again I hear, “Stop at the next Cracker Barrel and ask for Ellen.”
It wasn’t long before I saw a billboard telling me there was a Cracker Barrel at the next exit. I turned off. I asked the hostess if Ellen was on today.
”There is no Ellen working in this restaurant,” the Hostess said.
It was nearing the dinner hour so I decided to stay and eat. When the waitress brought my food I asked her if an Ellen had ever worked at this Cracker Barrel.
“Oh Ellen works in the gift shop,” she said.
I hastily finished my dinner and went directly to the gift shop. There was an older woman standing behind the counter.
“Are you Ellen?”
“No,” the woman said, “ Ellen left a short while ago. She has problems you know.”
The restaurant couldn’t give out an address or telephone for Ellen of course so all I could do was leave her an encouraging note with my E-mail and telephone number.
I never heard from Ellen. I should have gone to the gift shop before I ate my dinner. Somehow I feel I let God down.
Dave Coleman
Bradenton, Fl.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The Ring
Our three month-old daughter came home from the hospital in September of 1999.She was born in June weighing 2 pounds 3 ounces and spent the next 93 days under special care. She had now doubled her weight, and they put her in my arms attached to oxygen, weighing 4 pounds 6 ounces and said, “Here, she can go home with you now.”
During one of her first few weeks home, while I was feeding her, I accidentally scratched her with the marquis diamond of my engagement ring. It broke my heart to hurt my teeny girl. I took the ring off and decided to keep it off until after she was weaned.
A few weeks later, however, John and I were getting dressed up for a date night out without the children. I wanted to put my ring back on, but sadly, I could not find it. I grumbled about it throughout the night, but John, the eternal optimist, assured me we would find it. For days we looked, but we never discovered it. I tried to remind myself that it was a material posession and that I should continue to be thankful that the amazing man who gave me the ring, loved me with an undying love. The ring was gone, but our love and marriage endured.
Several months later we moved from our country home and were heading to the suburbs. Friends from everywhere came to help us. I rallied the team that was working in the master bedroom suite. I told them my story about the ring and asked everyone to look for the ring as they packed and moved and cleaned. The truck was packed,the vacuuming finished, and the door closed. The ring had not been found.
The next day John and I returned to the house for a final walk through. I returned to the master bedroom suite, opened the door, and there in the middle of the floor of the library, on the top of the variegated plush carpeting was my ring. I squealed, I leapt, I cried. I was so thankful to find it. I really had missed the ring. John came running and he rejoiced with me. We prayed and thanked God. When I saw the ring it was if God were saying, “Here you go. I have been holding onto this for you. And I am holding onto you as you make this move. Christine, I know you were unsure about this move, but I am with you and I bless you on this new season of your family’s adventure.”
If that wasn’t amazing enough, God used this ring to remind me of his tender mercy toward me again, about four years later. We were in the middle of what I believed to be one of the most difficult seasons of our lives. We had pursued a dream of owning our own business. We owned and operated three coffee shops in Western New York. Financial pressure caused us to close one shop and then a second. The flagship store remained open, but seemingly by a thread. The potential financial hardship seemed unbearable to me.
God brought a new friend into my life during this time. This friend regularly spoke truthfully to me. Granted, her words were not always very comforting, but they were true. She quoted Bible verses such as, “You are pressed down, but not crushed.” I believe God and I believed God’s word so I had to concede that this was true. But I whined and argued that whatever the single last increment there was in the range of pressed down before you get to crushed, whatever that last increment was, that is where I felt I was.
I began to see a pattern in our conversations. My friend did not seem particularly interested in hearing all of the specific details of my circumstances. She was gracious of course, but she always wanted to talk about God and God’s work in my life. She wanted to discuss the truths about who God is and how He acts. She pointed to the truth of scripture which showed that God does not always rescue us from painful experiences. She would even point me to the martyrs. She repeatedly reminded me that, “God sees you” and “God is for you.”
I would get off of the phone after talking with this friend and mutter, “If God sees me why doesn’t he fix things? He could bring more customers into our shop in spite of our limited advertising budget. He has the power to bless this effort supernaturally in spite of our inadequacies and mistakes. He sees me, indeed.” But I knew it was true.
One afternoon my friend and I sat quietly for a few minutes, then she asked, “Can you tell me about your engagement ring?” I wasn’t quite sure why she asked or what I was supposed to say. I told her our engagement story and how I was surprised to find the ring in my dessert at the close of a fancy dinner out with John.
And then it hit me, my ring! Oh, my, the ring! I quickly retold the story of my ring and the old country farm house. And I wept. This friend had only known me a short time. She had no way of knowing about the ring story. She believed that it was God who prompted her to ask me about the ring. God sees me. He saw me in my pain and spoke to my friend and He reached down and reminded me once again that He sees me, He loves me. He has not lost track of me or my family. God comforted me.
The last shop closed in 2004 and it was a sad, painful time. We continue to recover from the financial impact of that journey. But God sees me and our family together, still seeking and serving our Savior. And any time I need a reminder that “God sees me” and that “God is on my side,” I put on my engagement ring and wear it without the wedding band for a day. It sets up there on my finger as a reminder of how God set it up on top of that rug and said, “Here you go. I have been holding onto this for you. And I am holding onto you. I see you, Christine, and I am for you.”
Christine Bradford
Sarasota
During one of her first few weeks home, while I was feeding her, I accidentally scratched her with the marquis diamond of my engagement ring. It broke my heart to hurt my teeny girl. I took the ring off and decided to keep it off until after she was weaned.
A few weeks later, however, John and I were getting dressed up for a date night out without the children. I wanted to put my ring back on, but sadly, I could not find it. I grumbled about it throughout the night, but John, the eternal optimist, assured me we would find it. For days we looked, but we never discovered it. I tried to remind myself that it was a material posession and that I should continue to be thankful that the amazing man who gave me the ring, loved me with an undying love. The ring was gone, but our love and marriage endured.
Several months later we moved from our country home and were heading to the suburbs. Friends from everywhere came to help us. I rallied the team that was working in the master bedroom suite. I told them my story about the ring and asked everyone to look for the ring as they packed and moved and cleaned. The truck was packed,the vacuuming finished, and the door closed. The ring had not been found.
The next day John and I returned to the house for a final walk through. I returned to the master bedroom suite, opened the door, and there in the middle of the floor of the library, on the top of the variegated plush carpeting was my ring. I squealed, I leapt, I cried. I was so thankful to find it. I really had missed the ring. John came running and he rejoiced with me. We prayed and thanked God. When I saw the ring it was if God were saying, “Here you go. I have been holding onto this for you. And I am holding onto you as you make this move. Christine, I know you were unsure about this move, but I am with you and I bless you on this new season of your family’s adventure.”
If that wasn’t amazing enough, God used this ring to remind me of his tender mercy toward me again, about four years later. We were in the middle of what I believed to be one of the most difficult seasons of our lives. We had pursued a dream of owning our own business. We owned and operated three coffee shops in Western New York. Financial pressure caused us to close one shop and then a second. The flagship store remained open, but seemingly by a thread. The potential financial hardship seemed unbearable to me.
God brought a new friend into my life during this time. This friend regularly spoke truthfully to me. Granted, her words were not always very comforting, but they were true. She quoted Bible verses such as, “You are pressed down, but not crushed.” I believe God and I believed God’s word so I had to concede that this was true. But I whined and argued that whatever the single last increment there was in the range of pressed down before you get to crushed, whatever that last increment was, that is where I felt I was.
I began to see a pattern in our conversations. My friend did not seem particularly interested in hearing all of the specific details of my circumstances. She was gracious of course, but she always wanted to talk about God and God’s work in my life. She wanted to discuss the truths about who God is and how He acts. She pointed to the truth of scripture which showed that God does not always rescue us from painful experiences. She would even point me to the martyrs. She repeatedly reminded me that, “God sees you” and “God is for you.”
I would get off of the phone after talking with this friend and mutter, “If God sees me why doesn’t he fix things? He could bring more customers into our shop in spite of our limited advertising budget. He has the power to bless this effort supernaturally in spite of our inadequacies and mistakes. He sees me, indeed.” But I knew it was true.
One afternoon my friend and I sat quietly for a few minutes, then she asked, “Can you tell me about your engagement ring?” I wasn’t quite sure why she asked or what I was supposed to say. I told her our engagement story and how I was surprised to find the ring in my dessert at the close of a fancy dinner out with John.
And then it hit me, my ring! Oh, my, the ring! I quickly retold the story of my ring and the old country farm house. And I wept. This friend had only known me a short time. She had no way of knowing about the ring story. She believed that it was God who prompted her to ask me about the ring. God sees me. He saw me in my pain and spoke to my friend and He reached down and reminded me once again that He sees me, He loves me. He has not lost track of me or my family. God comforted me.
The last shop closed in 2004 and it was a sad, painful time. We continue to recover from the financial impact of that journey. But God sees me and our family together, still seeking and serving our Savior. And any time I need a reminder that “God sees me” and that “God is on my side,” I put on my engagement ring and wear it without the wedding band for a day. It sets up there on my finger as a reminder of how God set it up on top of that rug and said, “Here you go. I have been holding onto this for you. And I am holding onto you. I see you, Christine, and I am for you.”
Christine Bradford
Sarasota
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Sherry's Wheelchair Story
Here is the true story...
On a Monday at Noon on my lunch hour, I had an appointment to see a doctor at the hospital. I was bleeding and worried. All alone and trying to be strong, I ventured to the hospital and before I entered I picked up my bible that I always carry in the car and read a scripture.
Upon walking to the hospital I heard God say to me "Go speak to that man, He is an Angel."
I looked up and saw a man sitting in a wheelchair. His arm was propped up in a brace, and his leg was emaciated but stabilized with a series of halos around it. A I approached him.
His kind eyes looked into my soul, and they took me backwards as he really saw into me. I said hello and he replied hello. I asked if he would walk again and he said yes. Then I asked if he knew that JESUS could heal him. He enthusiastically said YES as if letting me know that I understood and was good to point that out. So I said my name is Sherry while reaching out to shake his hand, to which he paused and shook my hand and said, "I am Angel." I said really? Yes he said.
Then I went upstairs to my doctor and learned all would be OK. When I was walking out I noticed Angel was still there. I went back and let him know that God told me to talk to him, and that he was an Angel. All he said was, "oh," yet never denied it. Then curiosity got me and I asked how this happened, to which he responded, "an accident." Well I said nice to meet you and God bless you Angel.
The footnote to this story is years later I was meeting with the Hospital Administrator on business and told him the story. He said it was peculiar, as the entrance where he sat was an outpatient entrance, and they never let anyone sit there for long. He had been there for over a half hour.
Sherry Sargent
Lido Key Fl.
On a Monday at Noon on my lunch hour, I had an appointment to see a doctor at the hospital. I was bleeding and worried. All alone and trying to be strong, I ventured to the hospital and before I entered I picked up my bible that I always carry in the car and read a scripture.
Upon walking to the hospital I heard God say to me "Go speak to that man, He is an Angel."
I looked up and saw a man sitting in a wheelchair. His arm was propped up in a brace, and his leg was emaciated but stabilized with a series of halos around it. A I approached him.
His kind eyes looked into my soul, and they took me backwards as he really saw into me. I said hello and he replied hello. I asked if he would walk again and he said yes. Then I asked if he knew that JESUS could heal him. He enthusiastically said YES as if letting me know that I understood and was good to point that out. So I said my name is Sherry while reaching out to shake his hand, to which he paused and shook my hand and said, "I am Angel." I said really? Yes he said.
Then I went upstairs to my doctor and learned all would be OK. When I was walking out I noticed Angel was still there. I went back and let him know that God told me to talk to him, and that he was an Angel. All he said was, "oh," yet never denied it. Then curiosity got me and I asked how this happened, to which he responded, "an accident." Well I said nice to meet you and God bless you Angel.
The footnote to this story is years later I was meeting with the Hospital Administrator on business and told him the story. He said it was peculiar, as the entrance where he sat was an outpatient entrance, and they never let anyone sit there for long. He had been there for over a half hour.
Sherry Sargent
Lido Key Fl.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
911 Call to God
"call upon me in your day of trouble, I will deliver you.."(Psalm 50:15)
As a child, when I awoke in the middle of the night sick or scared, I'd call out to my parents. It wasn't an eloquent call, praising them or specifically requesting something of them. It was a demanding call of one word, loudly and drawn out. I simply called out, "MOOOMM or DAAAD!"
That was all I needed to say to get them to my bedside in a hurry. Once there, they would quickly assess the situation, chase the boogey man out from under my bed or give me an aspirin or cough medicine and soon I would be sleeping peacefully.
I called out to God that way...the way He directs us to call to Him in Psalm 50:15. My fears and confusion were so overwhelming that all I could do was cry out to God like a child waking from a nighmare calls a parent. I simply cried out.."G000D!"
Shortly after calling out to God my phone rang. It was a dear sister in the Lord calling to see how I was doing. She was out of town but had been thinking of me all day she said. In the middle of a visit with friends, she could no longer resist God's prompting in her heart and she excused herself to call and check in on me.
We shared stories over the phone and ended our conversation praising God together for His faithfulness.
Are you overwhelmed by the boogey men in your life? Do you need special medicine?
Call out to God and don't worry about being eloquent or proper, just call out like you did as a child. Your Heavenly Father will send just the help you need. And he will deliver you.
Sherry Motola
(Reprinted with permission from Anchor Your Life.com)
As a child, when I awoke in the middle of the night sick or scared, I'd call out to my parents. It wasn't an eloquent call, praising them or specifically requesting something of them. It was a demanding call of one word, loudly and drawn out. I simply called out, "MOOOMM or DAAAD!"
That was all I needed to say to get them to my bedside in a hurry. Once there, they would quickly assess the situation, chase the boogey man out from under my bed or give me an aspirin or cough medicine and soon I would be sleeping peacefully.
I called out to God that way...the way He directs us to call to Him in Psalm 50:15. My fears and confusion were so overwhelming that all I could do was cry out to God like a child waking from a nighmare calls a parent. I simply cried out.."G000D!"
Shortly after calling out to God my phone rang. It was a dear sister in the Lord calling to see how I was doing. She was out of town but had been thinking of me all day she said. In the middle of a visit with friends, she could no longer resist God's prompting in her heart and she excused herself to call and check in on me.
We shared stories over the phone and ended our conversation praising God together for His faithfulness.
Are you overwhelmed by the boogey men in your life? Do you need special medicine?
Call out to God and don't worry about being eloquent or proper, just call out like you did as a child. Your Heavenly Father will send just the help you need. And he will deliver you.
Sherry Motola
(Reprinted with permission from Anchor Your Life.com)
Friday, May 1, 2009
Answers for Becky
In 1995 I surrendered all my future dating relationships totally to God, allowing Him to bring the man into my life that He created to be my husband. Sometime later I met Greg at a singles Bible study at church. I learned in conversation that at about the same time I surrendered that part of my life to God, my future husband was also doing likewise. When we both surrendered our dating relationships to God, He brought us together to become one. God is so awesome!!!
In May 2003, I received a letter from the IRS stating that I had a tax bill overdue from a tax return filed 12 years earlier. Believing that I was not liable for this tax bill, I prayed I would be able to locate the documentation that would clear my name and social security number. About nine months later, I was searching for some unrelated paperwork in some records that were stored and I came across the documents I needed to clear my liability of the tax bill. Praise God for this answer to prayer. God is so good!
God is so faithful in answering prayers of faith.
Becky Tholken
Sarasota
In May 2003, I received a letter from the IRS stating that I had a tax bill overdue from a tax return filed 12 years earlier. Believing that I was not liable for this tax bill, I prayed I would be able to locate the documentation that would clear my name and social security number. About nine months later, I was searching for some unrelated paperwork in some records that were stored and I came across the documents I needed to clear my liability of the tax bill. Praise God for this answer to prayer. God is so good!
God is so faithful in answering prayers of faith.
Becky Tholken
Sarasota
Grandmother's Gift
My grandmother gave me a Bible when I went off to college. She said, “Read it when you feel down or need a lift.” I thanked her politely, packed it away and frankly went on with my life.
Years later, after a marriage, several children and many job changes, I found myself in a bad place. I was really down, lacking direction in my life and I was bordering on serious depression. I really needed to change.
I was rummaging through a closet, I’m not sure why now, and I moved a towel and there was the Bible my grandmother had given me when I was leaving for school.
I stiffened and I felt the hairs standup on the back of my neck. I heard the voice of that gentle sweet lady as if she was standing beside me. “Read this when you feel down or need a lift.” I took her advice right then and there.
A few days later, I was visiting my parents and I told them about finding the Bible and what grandmother had said when she gave it to me.
“What day did this happen,” my mother asked?
When I told her my mother nodded slowly and this knowing smile came over her face.
“That is the anniversary of when you grandmother died,” she said.
I can say the advice my grandmother gave me did a lot more than give me a lift, it has changed my life forever.
James Cooper
Sarasota
Years later, after a marriage, several children and many job changes, I found myself in a bad place. I was really down, lacking direction in my life and I was bordering on serious depression. I really needed to change.
I was rummaging through a closet, I’m not sure why now, and I moved a towel and there was the Bible my grandmother had given me when I was leaving for school.
I stiffened and I felt the hairs standup on the back of my neck. I heard the voice of that gentle sweet lady as if she was standing beside me. “Read this when you feel down or need a lift.” I took her advice right then and there.
A few days later, I was visiting my parents and I told them about finding the Bible and what grandmother had said when she gave it to me.
“What day did this happen,” my mother asked?
When I told her my mother nodded slowly and this knowing smile came over her face.
“That is the anniversary of when you grandmother died,” she said.
I can say the advice my grandmother gave me did a lot more than give me a lift, it has changed my life forever.
James Cooper
Sarasota
Jenelle's Neighbor
The economy was collapsing, I had lost my job and my previous employer was laying people off. I applied for a job with the Census Bureau.
In the spring I was trained and sent out as a per-census canvasser. I was working a familiar neighborhood in Venice Gardens when Lois, a former acquaintance, came out of her house to say hello. She walked with me as I made my way around the block. She told me she had lost her husband in November and felt lonely and lost. Its hard for her to get around and she has to take the bus if she has to get anywhere. She didn’t have a car and she doesn’t drive.
I asked why didn’t you call me and she said she didn’t want to bother people.
I said, “Don’t feel bad asking for help. That’s why God put us on earth to help one another. He would have stopped at one if he didn’t mean for us to take care of each other. Besides, when you ask someone for help you are actually doing them a favor because it makes them feel needed and wanted. It gives them a purpose.”
When we came to the end of Sheridan Drive, Lois returned to her house and I continued my work. I gave her my number and figured I was on her call list.
The very next day I was canvassing the opposite side of Sheridan Dr. I parked in a driveway of a house I new to be empty and proceeded to walk the block.
Someone drives up in a van with Lois in it. She flagged me down and said she was on her way to the emergency room, she said she had chest pains. The man driving the van was with Jehovah Witness who said “he felt the need” to stop by her house that day. He didn’t know why he just knew he had to drop by. He walked in the door and took one look at her and asked what’s wrong. He had taken her to a walk in clinic and the people there said to take her to the emergency room. He said he had other engagements and couldn’t stay with her, and asked if I could.
I said I would finish this block and meet them in the ER. When I arrived she was sitting there alone, feeling anxious with pains both in her chest and back. I became her hand-holder. We chatted and I learned her family lived mostly in Minnesota. I said once she was admitted I would call them and let them know her situation. She called a friend, who was like an adopted daughter, and asked if she would come down.
The doctors came by and said her EKG and other tests were normal and they felt it wasn’t a heart attack and that made her feel better.
When her friend arrived she seemed agitated and more upset than the situation called for and I didn’t understand why. By this time it was nearly 7 P.M. and Lois was getting hungry so I left her with her friend and went out to get some food.
I found her some chicken soup and a turkey sandwich which seemed to hit the spot. When they finally found her a bed the friend and I accompanied her to her room.
Later when the medical staff came in for a test the friend and I waited out in the hall. It was the first time we were together without Lois.
It was then that the friend told me Lois’s adult son passed away in Minnesota that afternoon. When the family couldn't reach Lois they had called her. The death was out of the blue. He had had a ski mobile accident months before and had been in rehab and seemed to be healing. Apparently a blood clot broke loose from somewhere and lodged in his heart.
We told the doctors who agreed not to tell her that night, but to wait until the next day when all the tests would be back.
When I arrived home that night I found in my mail a card my sister sent me.On the cover was a picture of a steaming cup of coffee.
The card read: “Good morning this is God. I will be handling all your problems today, I will not need your help…so have a good day. Love God.”
The next morning I took this card and some flowers to Lois. She hadn’t been told yet. Later on, when all her tests came back ok , they told her.
I believe God wanted her to be somewhere safe before she received the news.
How else do you explain my reconnecting with Lois when I did, The Jehovah Witness
man being urged to call on Lois, the mysterious pains that coincited with the son's death, the card with those uncanny words "from God."
God did take care of her that day and has since. As I share this Lois is visiting her family in Minnessota and when she returns I will pick her up at the airport.
Jenelle Pullin
Venice
In the spring I was trained and sent out as a per-census canvasser. I was working a familiar neighborhood in Venice Gardens when Lois, a former acquaintance, came out of her house to say hello. She walked with me as I made my way around the block. She told me she had lost her husband in November and felt lonely and lost. Its hard for her to get around and she has to take the bus if she has to get anywhere. She didn’t have a car and she doesn’t drive.
I asked why didn’t you call me and she said she didn’t want to bother people.
I said, “Don’t feel bad asking for help. That’s why God put us on earth to help one another. He would have stopped at one if he didn’t mean for us to take care of each other. Besides, when you ask someone for help you are actually doing them a favor because it makes them feel needed and wanted. It gives them a purpose.”
When we came to the end of Sheridan Drive, Lois returned to her house and I continued my work. I gave her my number and figured I was on her call list.
The very next day I was canvassing the opposite side of Sheridan Dr. I parked in a driveway of a house I new to be empty and proceeded to walk the block.
Someone drives up in a van with Lois in it. She flagged me down and said she was on her way to the emergency room, she said she had chest pains. The man driving the van was with Jehovah Witness who said “he felt the need” to stop by her house that day. He didn’t know why he just knew he had to drop by. He walked in the door and took one look at her and asked what’s wrong. He had taken her to a walk in clinic and the people there said to take her to the emergency room. He said he had other engagements and couldn’t stay with her, and asked if I could.
I said I would finish this block and meet them in the ER. When I arrived she was sitting there alone, feeling anxious with pains both in her chest and back. I became her hand-holder. We chatted and I learned her family lived mostly in Minnesota. I said once she was admitted I would call them and let them know her situation. She called a friend, who was like an adopted daughter, and asked if she would come down.
The doctors came by and said her EKG and other tests were normal and they felt it wasn’t a heart attack and that made her feel better.
When her friend arrived she seemed agitated and more upset than the situation called for and I didn’t understand why. By this time it was nearly 7 P.M. and Lois was getting hungry so I left her with her friend and went out to get some food.
I found her some chicken soup and a turkey sandwich which seemed to hit the spot. When they finally found her a bed the friend and I accompanied her to her room.
Later when the medical staff came in for a test the friend and I waited out in the hall. It was the first time we were together without Lois.
It was then that the friend told me Lois’s adult son passed away in Minnesota that afternoon. When the family couldn't reach Lois they had called her. The death was out of the blue. He had had a ski mobile accident months before and had been in rehab and seemed to be healing. Apparently a blood clot broke loose from somewhere and lodged in his heart.
We told the doctors who agreed not to tell her that night, but to wait until the next day when all the tests would be back.
When I arrived home that night I found in my mail a card my sister sent me.On the cover was a picture of a steaming cup of coffee.
The card read: “Good morning this is God. I will be handling all your problems today, I will not need your help…so have a good day. Love God.”
The next morning I took this card and some flowers to Lois. She hadn’t been told yet. Later on, when all her tests came back ok , they told her.
I believe God wanted her to be somewhere safe before she received the news.
How else do you explain my reconnecting with Lois when I did, The Jehovah Witness
man being urged to call on Lois, the mysterious pains that coincited with the son's death, the card with those uncanny words "from God."
God did take care of her that day and has since. As I share this Lois is visiting her family in Minnessota and when she returns I will pick her up at the airport.
Jenelle Pullin
Venice
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