The first time I heard the following story I was at a home school convention. It is a story I have always remembered. May all of your children proudly display the scars on their arms where you held onto them during those "difficult years" and refused to let go.
Some years ago, on a hot summer day in south Florida , a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and his shirt
He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.
His mother working in the yard saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. It was too late. Just as he reached his mother, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war
between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator.
Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother's fingernails dug into his flesh in his effort to hang on to the son she loved.
The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Mom wouldn't let go."
Webster’s dictionary defines faith as a, “firm belief in something for which there is no proof.” Hmm, I have to disagree on that. I believe there is a God and I have total faith in him. Beyond a shadow of a doubt I know there is a God. I have seen the PROOF.
Tonight on the way to school I remembered something that happened about 18 years ago but had forgotten about it until today. I am writing these things down so that my children can tell their children the miracles God preformed in our lives.
26 years ago God blessed us with a vehicle that lasted 15 years and had over three hundred thousand miles before it finally threw a rod and we bought another. We had some work done on it, can't remember what it was but the mechanic forgot to put some type of shield back on it. The day after picking it up I noticed that the passenger floor board was extremely hot. Actually, it was so hot you could not put your feet down on the floor. But because of my schedule I was going to have to wait 3 days to take it back to the shop. At the time I was traveling 2 hours doing home shows in the evening and homeschooling the boys in the day time. My concern was that the floor board would catch fire from the heat as I was traveling down the highway. So, each evening I prayed that “God would provide angels with buckets of water” to protect the car. Always be specific in what you pray! So here's what happened - I took the car into the repair shop the morning after my last home show that week. The mechanic put the panel back on. We didn't know until then that the missing panel was the problem. When I went the next day to pick up the car the owner told me - that must have been a REALLY big class of water you spilled! At first I had no idea what he was talking about. He told me that when they pulled back the flooring it was filled with water and that there was no way the water had come from any other part of the vehicle. Well you KNOW I had to tell him my prayer! God once AGAIN was faithful. He DID send angels with buckets of water and he left the PROOF!!!
