My Prayer Child

  My elder daughter Chené has a very special spiritual gift and even as young as 6, she’s realizing the power behind it.  When she prays – THINGS HAPPEN!  I (of little faith) am amazed every time it does and I don’t know if her prayers are heard purely because of her faith in the fact that she asked God, so now whatever we prayed for will happen, or because of the fact that she is in awe of her gift.

My little prayer child was not planned, she was sent by God at a time when her parents needed her.  I always tell her that she was the best present I ever received from God.  I remember that when she was born, I didn’t sleep for 36 hours because the adrenaline was pumping and I couldn’t stop looking at and touching her.  Now she’s growing into a tall, lithely little girl with a colourful imagination (mmmm, a bit of Mommy there!) and a kind heart to all around her.

We constantly teach her about God and because we belong to a charismatic church, she also learns about the anointing of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, with prayer being one of them.  She’s taken to her gift with an eagerness that is beyond her years.  I can’t really pinpoint when we noticed her gift, though I do remember one specific case where we needed a breakthrough for our business.  She prayed for us, in her childlike words and manner, and God heard her.  The breakthrough came!  Hubby Herman did that typical movie moment of – look at each other - ‘do you think…? No, it can’t be, she’s too young! But what if…’  and we started taking note.  More and more often things would fall into place when Chené prayed, to the point that, when we told her that she has a really special gift, she has been praying for anyone in need without being asked to do so.  She even prays for her little sister when she’s sick (all on her own) and lays hands on her father’s knee whenever his pain gets too bad. 

Two weeks ago I lost my purse – I looked EVERYWHERE, it was just nowhere to be found.  By last week I was almost crying, frustrated at not finding it and more frustrated with having to have my drivers licence and cards replaced at this time of year.  Last week Wednesday I dropped my kids with my mom, who would watch them while we had to work.  Mom knew about my purse, so she and Chené prayed.  That same afternoon, after I picked them up from Grandma, Chené tapped me on the shoulder in the car and handed me my purse!  She found it under a crate that was holding my seat in position (the nuts broke).  When I exclaimed my joy, she just stated that she and Grandma prayed about the purse, that’s why she found it.  Matter-of-factly… :-)  Two nights ago we had another issue with our business which needed an answer and she sat next to me while listening to daddy and my conversation.  “Mommy, must I pray for it?” she asked.  I almost started crying, but just hugged her instead.  Her faith was bigger than mine.

She recently asked me if she MUST have her eyes closed when she prays.  I explained that I love to pray to God while driving and that it would be a bit difficult to close my eyes then!  On her question of how I could pray WITHOUT my eyes closed, I explained that it’s a matter of focus – I focus on God during my driving and speak to Him loudly, as if He’s sitting next to me.  It’s the only time I have that’s quiet enough and leaves me with at least 15 minutes of prayer time, so why not use it!  I could see her little  mind racing to digest all that I had explained – now to see what she does with it!

I hope that God will always bless my little prayer child’s prayers as it comes from her heart.  She’s an inspiration to me and has given me a new lease on praying! 

Be Blessed in this Christ-Season!!

The very special pearls…

We had an interesting and uplifting message in church this past Sunday, both morning and evening, which made me think of this story that I had.  The message is basically the same as what is told here, so here goes:

The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five.  Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box. "Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please! , Mommy, please?" Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face. A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbour and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up.  She wore them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath.  Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story.  One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"  “Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you."  “Then give me your pearls."  "Oh, daddy, not my pearls.  But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail.  Remember, daddy?  The one you gave me.  She's my very favourite."  "That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"  “Daddy, you know I love you."  “Then give me your pearls."   "Oh Daddy, not my pearls.  But you can have my baby doll.  The brand new one I got for my birthday.  She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."  “That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you."  And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian style.  As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.  “What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"  Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy.  And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace.  With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, daddy; this is for you."  With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny.

Wow! The father had the real pearls all the time. He was just waiting for Jenny to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure.  So it is with our Heavenly Father.  He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures.  God will never take away something without giving you something better in its place.  The preacher explained it so well on Sunday, using short to tall men as degrees of comparison...  Every time God blesses us, the blessing will be bigger and better than the last blessing!  Even though we feel most like crying when we get to the big blessings, it is so worth it to just break through… so we can receive God’s grace in our lives!

May you BE BLESSED this week!

C.

Being a Christian…

Several years ago, a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to a church in Houston, Texas.  Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area.  When he sate down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change…

As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, ‘You’d better give the quarter back.  It would be wrong to keep it.’  Then he thought, ‘Oh, forget it, it’s only a quarter.  Who would worry about this little amount?  Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it.  Accept it as a ‘gift from God’ and keep quiet.’

When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, ‘Here, you gave me too much change…’

The driver, with a smile, replied, ‘ Aren’t you the new preacher in town?’

'Yes' he replied.
'Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I'll see you at church on Sunday.'

When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, 'Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter.'

Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is a really scary example of how much people watch us as Christians, and will put us to the test! Always be on guard -- and remember -- You carry the name of Christ on your shoulders when you call yourself 'Christian.'

Watch your thoughts ; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits..
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

I'm glad a friend forwarded this to me as a reminder... :-)

Be Blessed!

My Prayer Tree

 

I have a very special tree in my back yard that I call my “prayer tree”.  According to my hubby Herman, it’s actually a weed and not a real tree, but I don’t care.  (Don’t some of us start out as weeds and end up being seen as trees, anyway?)  I love to get up earlier on summer mornings to hang up my

washing, so I can smell the sent of the wonderful, tiny little flowers that the tree has.  The flowers has the effect of making me close my eyes and draw in their sent to the point where my head is rolled back and my face is turned toward the sky… which in turn makes me look at Heaven when I open my eyes again… so I begin to pray and thank God for everything in my life.  This is a wonderful way to begin my mornings!

 

When I go to use the toilet, the open window lets the flowers’ wonderful smell waft in, calling me to come out and pray to say thank you for all the wonderful things in my life.  I smile when I smell it; it makes me happy.  I hate winter, mostly because it takes the joy of my prayer tree away from me and I have to struggle through the long, cold months to get to smell it again.  But oh boy!  The joy I feel when I get my first whiff of those little flowers!  I know it sounds corny that something so stupid can mean so much to me, but the time I spend hanging up my washing, smelling those flowers and TALKING TO GOD means the world to me.  It’s my personal little bit of alone time with my Father, spent surrounded by heavenly smells which I still insist He planted there years ago, knowing that it would someday become special to me. 

 

So in the same mindset, my eldest daughter Chené brought me a flower from her day mother’s garden the other day.  She explained to me that the flowers were them (Chené, little sister Mia and Herman), with me being the stem of the flower that keeps them all together… I FELT LIKE CRYING!!!  What wisdom to come from my fluttering, couldn’t-care little 5 year old!  It made me realise that in many households it is just like that – though the father is the head of the household, it’s the mother’s love and care and worry and prayers that keeps the family together!  (I know my mother did all of that and we still consider her our rock.)  But take away the stem and what happens to those flowers… sad…  I felt so honoured (as I still do) that my daughter thought of me as the stem – I just hope that I will live up to her vision of me!  I took a picture of the flower so I could tell you this story. 

 

May you too find a prayer tree in life!  And mommies – GO BE A STEM!!!

 

Be Blessed! C. 

So, it’s my birthday…

I always try to write a post for a dear friend on their birthdays, but today I am writing for me.  Selfish, yes, but I’ve been a bit down this morning, well this whole past two weeks really, and writing cheers me up, so here goes:

It always rains on my birthday – either the day before, on the day or the day after.  Yet not today… today it is 26 degrees Celsius outside and I’ve been wondering the whole morning what was going on.  You see, I’ve always considered rain on my birthday as God’s way of blessing me (abundantly), just like the song “Holy spirit rain down”.   So why not today?  Did I do something wrong???

Then I was standing by the window just now, looking out at the beautiful day outside and it dawned on me – HE WAS BLESSING ME!  As always, He knew what my spirit needed.  I don’t need rain, cold and wet.  I need SUNSHINE to brighten up my life, to shine on my face, to make me feel grateful that he cared enough about how I was doing to send me a beautiful day to bless and cheer me up on my birthday!  Thank you Father, for looking out for your daughter!

And then to top it all off, I just got a call from hubby from the road, who played me the intro of our wedding song (Shania Twain’s From This Moment, but WITH the intro), which has the most beautiful words.  I knew I felt like crying this morning, but at least I cried now for something sweet and beautiful and heartfelt!  He’s such a sweetheart!  He knew I was feeling a bit down too… sniff-sniff…

So, you see, it’s not my age that gets me down, though some things have started to SERIOUSLY go South!  I don’t mind growing older as long as I enjoy every step of the way.  It seems that since I hit my 30’s I stopped counting anyway.  I have to go back to my birth year these days just to remember how old I am!  I’m blessed in so many ways, I have a loving husband and two beautiful daughters who I adore.  My frustrations are all life related and I’m hoping that this sunshiney day will be the beginning of new things, new beliefs, new traditions… 

So as I am today – BE BLESSED!!! C.

YOU ARE A MOMMY WHEN......

 1. You trade in your little 3 door car for a mini-van.

2. Your assortment of CD's consist of Barney's greatest hits.

3. You can name all the Teletubby characters.

4. You believe that woman who had more than three babies deserve a Congressional Medal of Honour.

5. You put your good china in storage and bring out the Winnie the Pooh plate and cup set with matching  place mats.

6. Instead of carpet your floor is covered in legos, toy cars, and play dough.

7. Yogurt and cookies are on your "necessities" list when going to the grocery store.

8. You have to pack a bag with diapers, toys, crayons, cookies, juice, and spare clothes just to go to the grocery store.

9. A full nights sleep is a distant memory, and a few minutes alone in the bathroom is something you fantasize about.

10. You can't make lunch without peanut butter, jam or chocolate spread…

AND FINALLY…

Have wonderful WOMEN’s day on Monday… have a good rest!

Be Blessed! C.

 

At My Worst You Found Me…

Just a little something to inspire you:

 

I Am Learning Lord …

My life has taken many falls

And tumbles 'long the way.

The many trials have left me

In a sure state of dismay.

For with each trial, I tried alone

To tend, and soothe, and mend,

Instead of giving them to God -

And on Him just depend ....

But, I am learning, Lord…

It seems that I was determined

To carry all the load.

I longed for smoother pathways.

Yet, I walked a rocky road.

Little did I understand,

God waited patiently

To pave a new beginning

With a better life for me.

But, I am learning, Lord…

It took a real disaster

To bring me to my knees;

To finally call upon the Lord

And say, "God help me, please."

He can, with no delaying,

With strong arms that could hold -

The weight of all my burdens;

He gladly took the load.

And, I am learning, Lord…

What a needless cross I carried,

All because I could not see -

What a friend I have in Jesus,

And the love He has for me.

Peace I find when troubles hover,

Though' the outcome is unknown.

For if yet the road is rocky,

I won't walk it all alone.

For, I am learning, Lord
Author Unknown

Be Blessed! C.