When my second child went to
school, I was so lonely that I went with her and took my younger son along with
me. I served in her classroom as a parent volunteer, and the teacher was so
grateful to get my help in her overly crowded classroom.
The next year, my youngest
started school, and he was already used to it - had the same teacher and went
to the same classroom. I was able to just keep on serving as a parent volunteer
that second year too.
The next year, my baby went to
first grade, so I volunteered as an art teacher for the local alternative
school for miscreant teens. I did that for one year and the principle hired me
without a degree as a teacher in math and history for the next three years.
I quit teaching these core
subjects the next year and went back to volunteering as an art teacher...that
was my passion and they had no money for an arts program. I was able to
influence so many kids for Christ during those years.
My family also joined me in this
ministry when we had the students over one or two each week for supper at our
home. A few students without a family even lived with us from time to time for
brief intervals.
God had a plan for this time as
well. Several of the students were blown away by the unity and love in our
family. They never experienced that, family dinners or joining hands and
praying before the meal.
A few even accepted Christ during
their visits in our home. One particular student stayed with us for a few
weeks, then left our home and went to a rehab school to learn a trade. During
his time there, they discovered that he had heart issues.
My husband happened to have an
insurance exam in Little Rock at the same time that Anthony was hospitalized
there for his heart. I went to spend the day with my former student while my
husband took his test.
Anthony and I chatted, prayed,
did a Bible study, played games and passed the time in companionship until he
started having chest pains and his machines gave off loud alarms.
The hospital staff asked me to
wait outside of the room, which was simply a glass enclosure in the middle of
ICU. Anthony followed me with his eyes as I left the little glass room, and
they never left my face - our eyes riveted on one another as the doctors and
nurses gave him medical attention.
I stood out there crying and
praying for this dear young man, even after the life left his body and the
medical team tried shocking his heart, doing CPR and squeezing bags of air into
him to fill his lungs with oxygen.
His eyes remained opened the
whole time, and his face was still turned in my direction as he stared at me. So,
I expected God to bring him back to life as I prayed and waited on Him to
perform a miracle.
The miracle that day was that
Anthony went to live with our God and Savior Jesus Christ. I remained on this
side of glory, with my three children; but I was profoundly changed on that
day.
I was the last person Anthony saw
before God's angels came to escort him to heaven. I will never stop praising
God for using me in this way to bring comfort to this dear boy who lived
through so much pain and disappointment throughout his short 19 years of life.
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for using
us in Your way and timing in such a perfect manner in Your divine appointments.
Keep us ever mindful that You have a multitude of mundane and miraculous tasks
for us to perform for You throughout our lifetime.
You already planned them before
we were ever born (Ephesians 2:10), and it is up to us to follow the leading of
Your Holy Spirit to put us in the right place at the right time to do Your will
for us. We cannot thank You enough for including us in Your plans for the lives
of others and for using us to further Your Kingdom in the earth.
Thought for the Day:
No activity is random and frivolous and mundane when it is created for us by God to allow His Son, Jesus, to work through us and to use us for His ultimate glory.
No activity is random and frivolous and mundane when it is created for us by God to allow His Son, Jesus, to work through us and to use us for His ultimate glory.
