Monday, January 18, 2010

IOW Tuesday - Messages from God


A long time ago, before I was even a believer, I was browsing an "Elf Help" book. One of the pages showed an elf trying to get out a door with a HUGE stack of presents, and another elf was holding the door for him. The caption said: Be aware of the coincidences in your life; they may be small miracles. I have adopted that as a bit of a life philosophy, choosing to believe more in "God-incidences" then coincidences. And that's a big part of why I picked the quote for this week:

“Every happening, great or small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message.”

Malcolm Muggeridge


I have experienced this in my every day life, in big and small things. When Seth was in the hospital the first time, I frequently visited the vending machine down the hall. Many days the Reeses peanut butter cups were what kept me going. One particular day, we'd had a rough day. I don't' remember the details of that but most likely Seth had been re-intubated. I remember dumping out my wallet, I had the right amount of change but a portion of it was pennies and I was fairly sure the vending machine didn't take pennies. I had to try anyway. I put a penny in first and heard it clink clunk all the way to the bottom. Sadly, I reached my fingers in to pull out my penny. And I found a QUARTER! I literally burst into tears, thanking God. All I needed was 10 cents and He gave me 15 cents to spare! Some people would call that a coincidence. I call it a small miracle.

After Seth passed away, I was at a conference at our church. A woman came up to me, who I didn't recognize and introduced herself. She was a night-shift labor & delivery nurse at the hospital Seth where I delivered Seth. She wanted me to know that when Seth was in the hospital, she had gone over to PICU and prayed over him at night. Coincidence or miracle?
I know that I'm still missing out on some of the messages God has to give me. I"m fully aware that I do not know it all and I have a long way to go. But here's one thing I HAVE learned. God loves me. ME. I have a friend who says "I"m God's favorite.. and so are you." THAT is a lesson I have finally learned. I've learned it because God speaks to me, in the big and small happenings in my life.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son. That whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16


Please share what the quote above means to you and link up below!


8 comments:

Tracy Berta-daughter to the King, wife, mother, speaker, writer said...

Kathryn- I LOVE this quote you chose this week. Thanks, too, for sharing such beautiful stories of "little" miracles. Bless you, sweet Sister!

Karen said...

Thanks Kathryn for sharing your story today, that had to be a very difficult time. We've probably all missed several messages God has for us but we often find them later. Too many times I was to busy looking at Karen and her situations to catch any message God had for me. I'm glad He has allowed me to look back and see the note He left for me to read.

Aunt Angie said...

This blessed my heart so much! Thank you!!

Miriam Pauline said...

I'm a strong believer in Godincidences. These were such sweet stories of God holding one of his daughters close. Bless you for sharing.

Claudia said...

If we can just remember that God loves us, how much easier it would be to accept the messages he gives us each and every day.

Esthermay Bentley-Goossen said...

Wonderful quote today and I'm so torn as to how to cover it myself in light of the earthquake in Haiti and the messages there.... It may take me a week to fully develop my thoughts to even participate in this week's IOW :)

...nonetheless, I so appreciate your story here. While the well-know theologians of our day are arguing about the "message" of certain news-events, I think they -- and therefore many of us who listen to them -- fail to see the message in the little things! And we therefore also miss MIRACLES! Your post brings this to life.

Thank you for sharing your very personal and difficult story.

I may be back later today to leave my link . . .

~es.

Tami said...

God takes good care of us, doesn't He? Thanks for this quote. It's been a favorite of mine for years.

Holly said...

I love it when God reveals Himself in ways like this!