Good Morning...
I am following a "Lean" Challenge. In this program the leader sends out a recipe book with all the recipes, a new menu for each week and a shopping list. The foods are interesting and unique and at first glance it looks simple...not so when it comes to picking up groceries so varied that some have never crossed your lips (this makes a shopping trip take as much as two hours)...not so when your preparations for a meal can consume up to an hour (there is no packaged or processed foods used requiring chopping measuring and the like.) At the end of the day a person feels jazzed about the achievement and accomplishment. My prayer to God is that I will continue and that this leads to a healthier "me."
I am following a "Lean" Challenge. In this program the leader sends out a recipe book with all the recipes, a new menu for each week and a shopping list. The foods are interesting and unique and at first glance it looks simple...not so when it comes to picking up groceries so varied that some have never crossed your lips (this makes a shopping trip take as much as two hours)...not so when your preparations for a meal can consume up to an hour (there is no packaged or processed foods used requiring chopping measuring and the like.) At the end of the day a person feels jazzed about the achievement and accomplishment. My prayer to God is that I will continue and that this leads to a healthier "me."
The devotional for Sunday is called, "Move Heaven and Earth" It speaks about a day when a child was saved from drowning in a deep river pool as our author intercedes for his rescue. Read what Mary Wilkins has written about this traumatic day and the result that is due to God's answering to prayer for a favorable outcome.
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Monday Devotional
"Move Heaven and Earth."
Written by
Mary M.Wilkins
My heart racing, I usher the kids out of the shallow summer river that is lazily making its way through the forest, meandering to the ocean some 50 miles away. One of our kids is missing. I keep myself steady and lead everyone back to our van - praying non-stop in my heart and head for whatever is going on down stream.
It feels like 10 minutes have gone by: the screaming has stopped, but I cannot see where my husband and 8 year old son have gone. Interceding like I have never prayed before I lift them up and I lift up the family of five from Washington with whom we crossed paths earlier. It is very clear in my mind that I have no idea who is in harms way, and I must pray for all of them.
We are alone in a practically empty river bed that is hundreds of feet deep and many times as wide. The Washington family's van is parked further away and the scenic highway is out of view. I leave our oldest daughter in charge with precise instructions. Do not let anyone leave this vehicle.
Praying out loud now I briskly walk in the direction where they might be - begging God for His mercy and His deliverance that no life will be lost. Reaching a ledge in the dry river bed suddenly the scene of crisis is below me. Someone is in the water gasping and struggling. I recognize our son on the shore.
Relieved our boy is safe, I run the rest of the way. As I arrive the other mother looks at me in desperation and cries out, 'Does anyone have a rope?' I blink trying to take in the scene before me. The Washington father is at the water's edge, frozen in his shock and fear. Their 10 year old son is in a deep pool right before a small waterfall, he is crying - he cannot move towards the shore 30 feet away.
My husband strips off his sweatshirt and sandals and heads into the water calling to the boy to swim towards him - the water is deep and after about 15 feet of swimming a large branch the children had dragged into the water upstream is floating in front of my husband. Treading water my husband picks up the branch and throws it towards the boy and it lands within his reach.
Pulling the branch with the boy holding on to it - my husband heads back to shore. Shaking and shivering the boy climbs out of the water and his parents grab hold of him with sobs of relief.
Remembering the feelings of this day almost 18 years later - I know that even if I think I would move heaven and earth to save a loved one - how I will respond in a time of intense crisis is unknown until I am actually facing it. The parents of the 10 year old had every intention to act when required.
In my distress [when I seemed surrounded]
I called upon the Lord
I called upon the Lord
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry for help came before Him, into His very ears.
Psalm 18:6 AMP
Dear Lord, we thank You for the miracle of timing. Thank You for the flat tire followed by a super slow restaurant breakfast that put our families in a remote location at the same time. Thank You for a floating branch and for unexpected strength to throw it while treading water. Thank You for moving heaven and earth before You ever heard a prayer. May the memory of Your miracles keep our hearts tender and humble. In Jesus name, amen.
Written by Mary M. Wilkins
Promise Scripture
Let righteousness burst into blossom
and peace abound until the moon fades to nothing.
Rule from sea to sea, from the River to the Rim.
Psalm 72:8
The Message (MSG)
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The name ELOHIM meaning Creator is one of my favorites. The word is a plural word, and it indicates that the three persons of the Holy Trinity...Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...were present at the time of Creation. You can read this in the word in Genesis 1.
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Prayers are lifted up daily for
you by the Devotional Writers
and the Monthly Writing Staff
of Women's Focus Ministries.
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