I have had many people ask me over the years “ Donna why do you believe in God?” The first reason is because of the resting peace He gives me regardless of what is going on and the wisdom He offers me. He also provides me with His love to share with others when mine has run dry. And then … there are all the cool things I have seen him do.
I want to take the next few weeks or months and simply tell you some of the great things He has done. Some might say that is just a happy coincidence, I call them all answers to prayer. I think that during uncertain times it is nice to know that prayer is still powerful and God is still in the business of answering prayers. He does not always answer the way I have been hoping, sometimes He says “No” sometimes it is “ not right now, you have to wait” and then there are times when it is amazing. I want to talk about the amazing today. Here is this week’s story.
One of the greatest fears as a parent is when your child becomes lost. When we lived in Fort St. John my husband was the Youth Pastor. We were doing some kind of a youth event at this park. There was a large open field in the middle with a road on one side and a forest on the other. It was about 4 kilometers across ( I am just guessing) if you walked straight through you would hit another park road BUT if you turned and walked to the right- the forest does not end. If you have seen the virgin forests of Northern B.C. you know what I mean by a dense forest. That was where the problem began.
I was watching the teens as they were playing soccer. I was sitting at a picnic table rather than playing as I was keeping an eye on 3-year-old Martin. I noticed that my daughter Lisa was nowhere in sight. She was with her dad the last time I looked. She was about 4 or 5 at the time. I asked Bill” where is Lisa?”. He told me she was with some girls who were from about Grade 3 and they wanted to show her a hut they had built in the forest. It was just barely in the forest. I was alarmed, to say the least. I asked Bill how long ago was this? He said ‘maybe 20 minutes ago”. I told Bill you better start looking, He did. He went in the direction he had seen the girls go and there was no sign of them anywhere.
I was in my first trimester with our 3rd child and not feeling well. I panic I felt was great indeed and the prayers that followed were fervent, to say the least. Bill and the youth leaders all split off and were off running and calling for the girls. Bill ran around to the other side of the forest along the road, and prayed, “ Father my little girl is in there somewhere, please help me find her”.
In a moment, Bill said it was like someone shone a flashlight into the depths of the forest and he followed it. After about 15-20 minutes of walking, Bill could hear little girls singing a song they had learned in Sunday school. They stood in a circle holding hands and were singing and crying.
I know that it does not always work out this neat and tidy, but this time it did! I thank God for how He helped Bill to find our little girl and her friends.
Psalm 77: 2-4 “ I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, from of old, what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide from our children; the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His powers and wonders He has done.”