Devotionals for the Heart: A story about a mother's prayer and a miracle!

A Mother’s Prayer
A devotional by Heather Martin

“And this is the confidence we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” –1 John 5:14 (NIV)

“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them.”

 –Psalm 34:7 (NIV)

Seems like I have heard this story my entire life, on several occasions, but somehow, I never get tired of hearing her tell it, so I’ll share it with you.

It was 1960. She was 18 years old and newly married. She didn’t belong to any church and wasn’t super religious, but she knew how to pray.

She gave birth to her first child, a son, and she fell in love with this chubby little boy instantly. With a fat face, red cheeks, and sandy hair, he was perfect!

At around six months old, she noticed he wasn’t feeling very well. He had a fever. After doing all she could to help him get better, she decided it was best to take him to the hospital.

When she arrived at the hospital, they ran tests and decided to rush him to an isolation unit because he was contagious with something called spinal meningitis. Spinal meningitis is an infection of the fluid and membranes around the brain and spinal cord. Once infection starts it can spread rapidly throughout the body. If untreated, it can cause brain damage in a matter of hours and can be fatal within 24 hours.

Although she didn’t understand it all fully and had never heard of this disease, she felt in her heart that he would get better. However, as the weeks in the hospital passed, she began to lose hope. Would he ever get well? She was exhausted, barely sleeping, and never wanting to leave her baby at the hospital alone.

One day a nurse convinced her that everything would be okay and to just go home to take a shower. So she did, and no sooner than she stepped out of the tub, the phone was ringing. It was the doctor on the other line telling her that if she wanted to say goodbye to her baby, she’d better hurry back to the hospital.

Her in-laws drove her to the hospital, and when they arrived the doctors began to ask if there was a family plot and where her baby would be buried. He was hardly breathing, couldn’t move, couldn’t cry, so sick and he seemed as if he was about to take his last breath.

They removed all the IVs and his little body looked so limp and lifeless. They rolled his bed out into the hallway and she followed, leaving the doctors and her in-laws in the room to talk about the funeral.

While in the hallway, the only prayer she remember saying was “Lord don’t let my baby die.” Before she finished this prayer, she says it was like something out of the movies, a cloud of white smoke appeared and the hospital hallway doors swung open. A man she’d never seen came through doors and touched her baby then disappeared.

Her baby began to cry and scream and look up at her! He was full of life in seconds! The doctors came running out of the room to see what had happened. She was in a daze because she herself was stunned at what just happened. God had sent an angel to touch her baby and heal him.

The doctors were in disbelief, so they ran tests and told her that she could probably expect him to be mentally delayed and not live a productive life. Well, 59 years later, and my Mother still reminds my only brother George to live the right life because when she prayed, God saved him by the touch of an angel.

Maybe you’ve been praying for something to happen and given up hope today. Maybe you’ve never prayed or not sure if you believe in prayer. Maybe you pray, but you don’t really believe that anything will happen.

Whatever the circumstance, I hope this story inspires you to pray and watch God give you a testimony to tell for years to come.

~*~
Author Bio:

Heather Martin was born the last of six siblings in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was raised by an amazing single mother (Rebecca Trotter) and was taught at an early age to love God and how to sing! 

She graduated from Oakwood University with a Bachelors Degree in Language Arts Education and later received a Master’s Degree in Education from Kaplan University.

Shortly after graduating she followed God’s call to minister. She joined the Stellar, Dove, and Grammy-nominated gospel group Virtue, which was founded by her two older sisters Ebony Holland and Karima Kibble several years prior. Virtue has used their talents to spread the love of God across the world! They have recorded 7 studio albums and have been the recipients of numerous awards.

God has not only blessed Heather professionally, but personally. She met her husband, Dr. Colin Martin, and they have been married for 14 years. They have four children: Colin Jr. 11, Harper 10, Clark, 7, and Charleston 5. In 2016 Heather started an online blog and vegan and allergen-friendly cooking channel called “Chef Mommy.” Heather (Chef Mommy) has cooked with numerous celebrities and top chefs to spread the news of healthy cooking and lifestyle.

In addition to this busy schedule, Heather enjoys, running, reading, writing and spending time with her family.

~*~
Connect with Heather:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherTMartin
Instagram for Heather: https://www.instagram.com/thechefmommy/
Instagram for Virtue (Heather’s singing group): https://www.instagram.com/virtuegirls
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chefmommyhm

Devotionals for the Heart: He Laughs

The Last Laugh
A devotional by Quantrilla Ard

“But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 

~Genesis 15:2 (HCSB)

One of my dear children loves to get the last laugh when things happen in our family. 

The words “That’s what you get, baby!” rang out loud and clear one day to my surprise as my two-year-old chided her brothers for something they had done. She is undoubtedly spirited and full of passion when identifying her brothers’ mishaps. Of course, she has a few challenges identifying her own. This, coupled with her comedic and ironic timing, makes laughter an everyday occurrence. With so many opportunities for giggles, I am reminded of the old adage, “He who laughs last, laughs best.” I’m so glad God has a sense of humor. Abraham and Sarah would probably agree.

Abraham and Sarah had waited, albeit not so patiently, for God to keep His promise to them through a son with whom He would establish His covenant. Sarah was long past childbearing age and well into her sunset years. Abraham was knocking on 100. God’s timing was then and is now often vastly different from our own.

In their story, the first laugh comes from Abraham, in his ninety-ninth year as God changes his name and again calls him to remember the promise He made years earlier as the story details in Genesis 17:17. The second laugh comes from Sarah, after a visit from three men, one of whom just happens to be God Himself (Genesis 18:12). They were hopeful yet equally despondent from the trials of waiting. One son Ishmael, through Sarah’s servant Hagar, had to be sent away because Sarah’s desperation and subsequent insecurity got the best of her. They are spent.

One question changes everything. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” God asks as He calls Sarah out for laughing. And I can imagine in my mind’s eye that God is laughing to Himself at the look on her face. Within the year, as God had promised and re-promised, Isaac was born. And guess what Isaac’s name means? Yep, you guessed it, “He laughs.”

Is there a place in your life that seems desolate and barren? A place that feels forgotten? Have you held out hope only to see another year pass without God fulfilling a promise in or to you? I know I have. I have laughed at reminders that God sent my way, thinking that my season has expired and it’s just too much to expect that things will turn out the way He said they would. And then I hear God ask me, thousands of years later just as He did Sarah, “Is there anything too hard for the Lord?”

The answer is a resounding no. I see His promises come to pass in His timing, not my own. I wait sometimes patiently, sometimes not (thankful He loves me anyway). I can rejoice in my “Isaac” circumstances, and see that God indeed gets the last laugh.

Nothing is too hard for the Lord. Absolutely nothing.

~*~
Author Bio:

Quantrilla (Quanny) Ard is a faith-based personal and spiritual development writer who lives in the D.C. Metro area with her husband and three littles. 

In addition to being a dedicated wife and mother, she is an entrepreneur, doctoral student, and curator of all things lovely.

As a woman on her own quest of shining a light on the shadowy, hidden places in her life, she writes as the PhDMamma about things she knows to be true in hopes to encourage others to do the same.

Her spiritual goals and her love for Christ propels her quest to share the journey with other women: to walk alongside them and encourage them with words, deeds, and wisdom. Quanny believes in the power that is within collective strength, community, and fellowship.

You will find her wherever people are sharing stories of triumph.

~*~
Connect with Quanny:
Website - https://www.thephdmamma.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thephdmamma
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/qyard08
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/quannyboo/

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A Thought for Thanksgiving Day

A Habit of Praise
A Thanksgiving Day thought from Savanna Kaiser

First of all, I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! I also want to thank Alexis for inviting me to stop by today. I know you’re all probably busy with family festivities, so I’ll keep this short.

I’ve been reading lately the Sermons on the Miracles by Charles Spurgeon. Every book of his I’ve ever read has blessed me in countless ways and this one is no exception.

The recent chapter I read covered the miracle of Jesus where He healed the 10 lepers and only one returned to thank and praise Him. “Where are the nine?” Jesus asked the healed and humbled one at his feet, but the Samaritan man had no answer for him. He was too busy worshiping the true Physician.

I loved the picture of this meager man made whole. His heart overflowed with gratitude and his simple actions left a legacy for all of us to mirror. If only worship – and less of the world – filled more of our hearts.

Spurgeon writes, “The Lord gives us blessings, new every morning, and fresh every evening, great is His faithfulness; and yet we let the years roll round, and seldom observe a day of praise. Sad is it to see God all goodness and man all ingratitude!”

Today is Thanksgiving and it’s a wonderful time to thank the Lord for His many mercies, but too often I’ve been guilty of letting gratitude slip away all too quickly. Jesus deserves so much more.

Spurgeon adds, “Most of us pray more than we praise…Prayer is not so heavenly an exercise as praise: prayer is for a time, but praise is for eternity.”

I’m so thankful Jesus invites us to come to Him at all times. After studying this miracle in Luke 17, I realized just how important it is for me to come to Him, not just in times of need, but in times of praise. I want it to be a habit of my life. He deserves more praise than I could ever give, but I want to chase after it all the same.

Spurgeon continues, “From the healed leper, we see his humility. “This man fell down at Jesus’ feet; he did not feel perfectly in his place until he was lying there. ‘I am nobody, Lord,’ he seemed to say, and therefore he fell on his face… There is no place so honorable as down at the feet of Jesus. Ah, to lie there always, and just love him wholly, and let self die out! Oh, to have Christ standing over you as the one figure overshadowing your life henceforth and for ever! True thankfulness lies low before the Lord. Added to this there was worship. He fell down at Jesus’ feet, glorifying God, and giving thanks unto him. Let us worship our Savior. We shall never cease to adore him who has delivered us from the leprosy of sin.”

That’s what I want my life to be about. Something my Mom and I do to seek this continual spirit of thankfulness is by writing down notes of blessing throughout the year. We get together close to Thanksgiving Day and read our notes aloud. We’re blessed all over again to see the Lord’s hand in every area of our lives. Memories we cherished and moments we forgot are all recorded on sticky notes. Laughter and tears usually follow.

We look forward to this every year. It never ceases to amaze me of the variety and creativity of answered prayers and God’s many surprises. I encourage you today – and every day – to watch for God’s delights and tokens of His grace. Praying He opens our eyes to see more of Jesus at work in our lives. He’s always there, friends. Sovereign and strong.

Allow me to conclude my thoughts with this quote from the great Charles Spurgeon:

“Let us learn from all this to put praise in a high place. 
Let us hold praise-meetings…Let us pay our praise to Christ himself. 
Personal praise to a personal Savior must be our life’s object.”

Wishing you all a life of Thanksgiving!

~*~
Author bio: 

Savanna Kaiser is a freelance writer of over 50 magazine articles, web designer, blogger, and gardener from the Missouri Ozarks. 

She also serves as the president for her local ACFW group. 

When she and her husband aren't chasing their one-year-old daughter around, they love to hike, kayak, and explore Civil War battlefields. 

Connect with Savanna:
Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram

Words of Faith: Erin's story on sharing love and Jesus Christ with children

Train A Child, Win A Soul
A Words of Faith story by Erin Unger

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” 
~ Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)

‘Growing up with my kids’ sounds like a cliché, but it was the truth for me. My husband and I started our family very young. Being a stay-at-home mom to five children born in a 6 ½ year period does something to you. Back in the day, when I had a gaggle of kids surrounding me, I was tired and overworked. And my husband worked long hours. That meant I was home alone a lot with the ‘crowd’. Oh boy, did I struggle some days. But God compelled me to not only love my own children but to reach out to others. Even with the long days of diapers and feedings, I couldn’t have too many kids with me. They needed love and Christ as much as my own.

Many a Sunday, we’d roll into church with our minivan full to the brink. Kids would pour out of it like rice out of a hole in the bag. And it didn’t end with them. We eventually did foster care for a few years, too. But there was this one year that we had a family friend who was going through a divorce. Her son was five or six at the time, and they weren’t religious. But I had this urgency to get their boy to church. I didn’t know if they’d even let him go with us, but I wasn’t going to give up. I had faith God could open doors for me, and He did just that. The parents let us take him.

It wasn’t always easy getting up even earlier, rounding up all my kids and heading to pick up more, but it was a calling. And, you don’t ignore a calling from God. I trusted my Savior to get us safely to church, and to help us with all the little ones.

A long time passed since those days of double-buckling to get to Sunday School. The busyness of life kept us moving ahead, away from the little ones so precious to us as some moved away, including that little boy. We kept tabs but we weren’t to see until years later the miracle God worked in him. That boy, now an 18-year-old young man, showed up at a family party a couple months ago.

He thanked us for caring so much for him, for bringing him to church so he could meet his Savior, one that he may have never known if we hadn’t been obedient to the calling of Christ.

I thank God for letting us see the fruit of our labor. It does a lot for your faith to see it! And I thank God that one more child is His. A life changed forever, a life that is claimed by my Savior.

Sometimes you don’t know what the end result will be. But you must answer God’s call. Who knows…you may see a miracle. Train up a child in the way he should go…

~*~
Author bio: 

Erin Unger weaves romantic suspense tales long after the midnight oil has burned out. But her natural night owl ways help her get a lot of writing done while her kids sleep. 

Her first novel, Fateful Fall (Worthington Detective Agency Book 1), released on August 2. She illustrated Memphis Learns the Hard Way by Karla Priddy Gragg in 2013. 

Splickety Magazine published her flash fiction story, An Accomplice to Love, in February 2016.

~*~

Connect with Erin:
Website - www.erinungerwrites.com
Author Page on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ErinUngerWrites/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/erinungerwrites
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/erinungerwrites/

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Words of Faith: God Restores

Lessons of Love and Faith
A Words of Faith story by Tawnia Ramirez

“We are people of faith,” was the declaration given to the doctor when he suggested removing Dorian from life support. It had been nearly a year since the motorcycle accident that taught each person gathered in the room the meaning of love, faith, and hope. The room was filled with family and friends. After giving glory to God, Dorian’s grandfather acknowledged that if doctors had had their way, “We would be observing the one-year anniversary of his death instead of celebrating his 23rd birthday."

Throughout the day I watched in awe as Dorian prayed, thanking God for his mercy while acceding to the plan he knew God had for his life. He sang spontaneously, laughed, told jokes, and culminated the day’s events by walking with assistance across the room to shouts, applause, and many tears. This day would not have been possible without the unfailing love of God, our Father and His precious Son, Jesus—Jehovah Rapha, the lord who heals you.

I thought back to the early morning call I received from my daughter. “Mommy, wake up! Dorian’s been in a motorcycle accident…,” she wailed into the phone. I listened in horror as she explained how her best friend since childhood was near death. His injuries were extensive. In addition to incurring a brain injury received on impact, he had broken his neck, arm, and leg, his lung had collapsed, and his eye socket was crushed.

After consoling my daughter with the word, I hung up and earnestly began to pray. Love compelled me to pray with an urgency and fervor I had yet to experience in my lifetime. I prayed based on God’s promises given in his word. “God loves Dorian more than any of us ever could,” I told myself. I was comforted. 3 John 1:2 (KJV) tells us, “Beloved, I wish above all things that you mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” This meant that God wanted him to live.

I have watched God’s love unfold during this process. The physical accomplishments: removal from life support, emerging from a coma, speaking again after months of silence, and eating without a feeding tube were all evidence of God’s love. His love was not only for Dorian, but for those who loved him as he assuaged each of us during moments of weakness. I watched my daughter’s faith expand as she trusted and relied on God’s Word. From going out of town in weekly increments to be by his bedside to posting scriptures on his hospital walls; she continued to encourage Dorian and show him the love of God through her actions. Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV) became our battle cry when faced with setbacks and doubts. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

The most incredible act of love was watching Dorian, who in spite of his own circumstances, reassure a new patient that brighter days were ahead. There were similarities with their lives and injuries. The young soldier, like Dorian, had served his country; he was in the Army and Dorian was in the Navy. He sat in a wheelchair as his body appeared painfully contorted. Without the ability to speak, his hopelessness and sadness spoke volumes through his eyes. “I was just like you,” Dorian said from his own wheelchair. “You are going to walk again. I know you can do it.” I watched as he stuck out his fist and patiently waited for the young serviceman to touch it with his own.

After attending church with him the next day, my family and I began the trip from North Carolina back to Virginia. I rode home with my heart so full of God’s overwhelming love. I know we went to celebrate Dorian’s birthday but I felt that I was the one who received the gift. There is still an uphill climb towards total restoration. But I know he will reach his goal of walking completely on his own and not needing a wheelchair by his 24th birthday. Knowing God has an expected end for Dorian produces the hope needed to fuel our faith during this journey.

~*~
Author bio: 

Tawnia L. Ramirez was born in Brooklyn, New York. She spent her formative years between homes in Roanoke, Va. and Brooklyn. She earned a B.A. in Political Science from Saint Paul’s College in Lawrenceville, Virginia.

Ramirez is a contemporary Christian fiction author who believes that reading should be an unforgettable encounter. Having shared some of the experiences some of her characters have encountered, she has the innate ability to reach people on a personal level by transforming her readers so that her characters’ experiences become their own.

It is her goal to share the Word one story at a time; specifically as it relates to women and the issues they face by creating real stories that every reader can identify with during each stage of their lives. In her debut novel, she skillfully takes her readers on Janaye’s tumultuous journey to find Something More Than This.

Tawnia has been a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) since 2008. She was named Best New Christian Author in 2009 by Christian Storyteller. Tawnia and her husband currently reside in Virginia with their three daughters. She is currently working on her second novel. To schedule Tawnia for a book club meeting, interview, reading, book signing, or other appearance, e-mail her at this address, contacts@tawniaramirez.com.

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