Childlike faith- Samuel was Healed!

Samuel was healed today! My little boy has experienced the healing touch of God before but was too young to know about it. As a baby he had significant digestive problems. We were unaware at the time that is what the problem was, but my little boy was not keeping most of his food down and was very tiny. When I look back at pictures I see a little alien with a big head and a little body. Samuel lost weight after we left the hospital, as most babies tend to do, the only difference with Samuel is that he wasn't gaining any of the wait back. It wasn't until he was 3 months old that Samuel finally reached his birth weight. We were with him at the hospital and they were doing a test to see if his intestines were tangled up and therefore not letting most of the food pass through his system, but forcing it back up. The test seemed to take forever. We know that there were many people praying for Samuel and that this test would be clean. As the liquid was highlighting Samuel's digestive process it got "stuck". We waited and waited praying that the liquid would move past the 'hump'. If it did not they told us Samuel would need surgery to re-adjust his intestines. We were all praying so desperatly and then all the sudden the liquid rushed through and finished the process and Samuel had no more problems after that. No more spitting up/throwing up 90% of what he ate and that week he finally passed his birth weight and kept growing steadily. We knew that it was a 'God-thing'!

Today... Now fast forward 3 years. This afternoon I was up stairs with Samuel in his bedroom as he was preparing to take a nap. All the sudden he says 'mama I got to potty!' So I told him to go and I would wait for him in his room. Then I hear a loud thud. Samuel say's "my head" and I could tell the screams were on there way so I ran out into the hall, picked him up and swooped him away into my bedroom so that the screams wouldn't wake up his sister who was already asleep. There was silence and then came the wails. I looked at his head and saw the dreaded news. Instead of a red mark or a bump there was a good size indent in his forehead with a red line showing where he ran into the edge of the wall. I immediately held him close and began to pray out loud over him. After about 15 seconds Samuel stopped crying and looked at me. I looked at his forehead and there was no indent, no redness, no bruise nothing! I ran my finger over where I had previously felt the indent and it was smooth. Samuel looked at me and Said "mommy its all better now" I told him "Samuel Jesus Healed you!" and his response was "yea Jesus made Samuel all better, now I get down and go potty Mama" So I let him down and he went potty, then we slowly walked back into his bedroom and Samuel laid down in his bed. We began to pray again before his nap time and we thanked Jesus for healing Samuel and Samuel thanked Jesus himself for making his head all better.

I thank God for his goodness. I have been told my kids doctor all the time "bumps and bruises are o.k. as long as there not too bad but indents are dangerous- especially when the kids are so little". I also thank God that my little boy is becoming aware of the character and goodness of God from the time he is young and I pray that we, that I, am always available to help capture those moments and step out in my Faith mixed with the faith of my little one and see God work.

Thank you God for your provision in my family, for your goodness and care for us. For your attention to the little things and for your gentle, simple reminders of your faithfulness!!!

Amen!

'd'

I work with kids. Partly because its my job and partly because I really enjoy it. Every Sunday morning I get to spend time with a group of 60+ kids and play games, talk about life and engage in some creative ways of learning more about God and experiencing Him as well. We have a very eclectic group of kids that attend; some are from the stereotypical christian middle class type of family, some are from families that look stereotypical but have a completely different reality behind closed doors, some are foster kids, some come every other week depending on if there at their Dad's or Mom's house and some come because we pick them up. One of these kids had particularly touched my heart and tried my patience every time she graces me with her presence.

Today was no different! My little friend [I won't use her name so we'll call her 'd'] often ends up sitting on my lap or trying to sneak out of the room or throw a fit... what ever can draw attention and a hug from the person of her choice. While this can be very trying, especially when you have 60 other kids to think about, I have to come to realize I learn a lot from my encounters 'd'. Today after going and getting her out of a game room and bringing her to re-join the group (which meant that she was sitting on my lap begging for a back scratch) I had to get up quickly to handle a minor computer issue. She, of course, followed my to the computer. Just then another little girl came up to me and asked "why does 'she' get to be special and sit with you all the time and come back to the computer and stuff? (apparently being allowed anywhere near an electrical appliance = awesome in a kids mind) I didn't know how to answer. Kids have this desire for everything to be fair but for them to always get their way. How does that work. If you get your way that means somebody else didn't get theirs so it's not really fair because its not fair for that person. Right?

I was torn because, in a way, 'd' is special, not in a "i love her more..." sort of way but she comes from a very different place. She is only about 8 or 9 yrs old, her mother passed away a couple of years ago while in labor. That is only a small part of the story but for privacy sake that is all that matters for now. I remember sitting in church with my mom when I was little. She would let me sit on her lap or snuggled up close beside her and she would scratch my back. My mom scratched my back a lot...any time I was sad, sick, tired, or just asked she would gently let her fingers glide across my back and I felt so safe and just like the rest of the world melted away and everything sounded muffled. 'd' has no one to do that for her anymore.

Tonight, as I was folding laundry I came across a show that I have never watched and don't even know the name of (Sally Feild was in it) but it was on one of those touching grown-up daughter-Mother scenes where the Mother was reading the dedication on the inside of her daughters new book... it was to her- Mom who taught her how to be strong, how to fight etc... I welled up with emotion and all I could think was "God, I miss my Mom!" I don't get to walk into the kitchen and tell her what I think or ask if she wants to go do something... my kids never got a chance to meet the woman who gave me life and then taught me so much of how to and not to live it.

There are so many Sunday's when 'd' walks up to me and simply says "I miss my mommy" and I just put my arms around her and tell her that I miss my mommy to and then we sit together and I scratch her back.