One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter.  We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator.  (We had no electricity to run an incubator.)  We also had no special feeding facilities.

Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts.  One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool the baby would be wrapped in.  Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle.

She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst.  Rubber perishes easily in tropical climates.  "And it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed.

As in the West it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles.  They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

"All right," I said.  "Put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts.  Your job is to keep the baby warm."

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me.  I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby.  I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle.  The baby could so easily die if it got chills.

I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.  During the prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children, "Please, God," she prayed, "send us a water bottle.  It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon."

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added by way of a corollary, "And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?"

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot.  Could I honestly say, Amen?"  I just did not believe that God could do this.  Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything.  The Bible says so.  But there are limits, aren't there?  The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland.  I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home.  Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle?  I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door.  By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the verandah, was a large twenty-two pound parcel.  I felt tears pricking my eyes.  I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children.

Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot.  We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly.

Excitement was mounting.  Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box.  From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys.  Eyes sparkled as I gave them out.  Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored.  Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas-that would make a nice batch of buns for the weekend.

Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the.....could it really be?  I grasped it and pulled it out - yes, a brand-new, rubber hot water bottle!

I cried.  I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.

Ruth was in the front row of the children.  She rushed forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!"  Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly.  Her eyes shone!  She had never doubted.

Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you, Mummy, and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months.  Packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator.  And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child, five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "that afternoon."

"Before they call, I will answer!" (Isaiah 65:24)"

Our God really IS . . AN AWESOME GOD.

Author Unknown

Which book has "To every thing there is a season"?

Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes

Answer

Which book has "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler" / "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging"?

Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes

Answer

Which book has "Remember now your creator in the days of your youth"?

Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes

Answer

Which book has "Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments"?

Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon

Answer

Which book has "Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity"?

Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon

Answer

Which book has "A soft answer turns away wrath"?

Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon

Answer

Which book has "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"?

Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon

Answer

Which book has "As he thinks in his heart, so is he"?

Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon

Answer

Which book has "My beloved is mine and I am his"?

Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon

Answer

Which book has "Let the day perish wherein I was born"?

Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes

Answer

A few years ago 33-year-old truck driver Larry Walters made national news. Larry had a habit of spending his weekends in his Los Angeles backyard, just south of L.A. International Airport, drinking... Pepsi... and eating peanut butter sandwiches. He would sit in his favorite lawn chair staring at the houses around him in the subdivision where he lived. Not a real exciting life.

One day abject boredom prompted Larry Walters to buy some balloons and a tank of helium. He figured on tying the balloons to his lawn chair, filling them with helium, and floating up for an aerial view of the neighborhood. He judged he'd get no higher than 100 feet, but just in case, he got out his BB gun and loaded it. He planned to regulate his altitude by shooting out a couple of balloons. I'm not sure how many six-packs of...Pepsi...he had consumed when he came to that idea, but he decided it was worth a try.

So Larry Walters of Los Angeles went out and bought 45 big weather balloons, a huge tank of helium, and some rope. First he secured his lawn chair to the ground, then he filled the balloons with helium. One by one he tied them to his lawn chair. Before liftoff he went in the house and got another six-pack of...Pepsi, a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and his BB gun. Then he went out and sat in his lawn chair. He had instructed his neighbors to cut the ropes securing the chair when he was ready. "Let's go!" he yelled, and the ropes were cut.

But he didn't go 100 feet. He went up 11,000 feet! Shot straight up in the air! And the BB gun? It was useless since he was using both hands to hang on to the chair for dear life.

He zoomed straight up into the landing pattern at L.A. Airport. The pilot of an approaching Continental DC 10 reported that he had just passed a man in a lawn chair, and the control tower told him to report in immediately upon landing. They thought the pilot may have been drinking a little too much...Pepsi. Can you imagine being a passenger in that plane? "Look, mom, out the window! There's a man in a lawn chair!"

Eventually they sent up helicopters to rescue Larry Walters. They closed the airport and diverted all landings and takeoffs at LAX while they played tag with this fellow in his lawn chair at 11,000 feet. When they finally got him down, he was surrounded by TV crews, the police, fire and rescue squads, and plenty of curious people. It was a major event.

"Were you scared?" asked one of the TV reporters, thrusting a mic in his face.

"No, not really" said Larry.

"Are you going to do it again?" asked another reporter.

"No," said Larry.

"What in the world made you do it the first time?"

Larry Walters thought about it for a moment and said, "Well, you can't just sit there."

Larry Walters is right. You can't just sit there. God has something exciting for you to do. Don't be content to just sit there wasting time, doing nothing. Don't go through life watching from the sidelines while everyone else plays the game. God wants you to be a participant!

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10).

Wayne Rice

Background Set by
Moon and Back Graphics