Truely Touching!! Has Anyone Felt Like This Before?

[mamadude]

~~ The Mitten ~~
It was not uncommon for her to be shut out of the warmth of her family. On this particular day, in the twilight of the eve, with large snowflakes dancing and falling around her, she searched the cold, soft, blanket of snow beneath her boots for her mitten.

Traces of tears welled up in her eyes, softly spilling over long lashes and trickling down her little face, making it even harder to focus on her desperate search. She was 10 years old and had lost her mitten and could not come into the house until she found it. The crisp biting wind and cold caused her to shiver through her thin jacket. Never had she ever felt more abandoned or alone and as the sad tears streamed rivers down her face she searched and searched. But the mitten could not be found.

With little hope and no one's help she knelt in the halo of a street lamp. And on her knees she cried out to the one person she had heard truly loved her. Her simple prayer "Jesus I cannot find my mitten. I cannot go in without it. If You love me, please help me find it...please" must have melted the Father's heart of God. But for her, it seemed even He was silent, no one cared, and she had been cast aside once again.

In the hush of the moment, she began to rise...now embraced by a cloak of darkness with the exception of large flakes of snow swirling around her. Illuminated by the glow of the lamplight, she heard no answer and felt so alone.

But wait. As she went to brush the clumps of snow off her knees, time held its breath, and she in her amazement gasped. For there on one knee, stuck to the snow, was her one gray mitten she had lost.

How could this be?

But it was!

Did God move the mitten so she could find it? Did He direct her to the spot so it could be found? Only He knows the answer. But to this little girl all she knew was that for the first time in her young life, she actually felt like she was loved; loved by the One who promised to love her and be with her always and be her friend, Jesus whom she had asked into her life maybe 6 months before.

I cannot describe to you the gentle joy, the stillness and warmth, and peace in the heart of this little girl as she knocked on the door of her home and asked to be let in, knowing she had her mitten in one hand, and an extraordinary experience from God in her heart; a gift from Him that would be a light to her for the rest of her life.

How do I know this to be true? I know because I am the little girl, now grown up with children of my own. It is still the gift I hang onto today, having seen more grief in my lifetime than I care to dwell on. Looking back and reflecting I remember this one special moment, and all the other times since, that He has been with me and shown me that He cares. He sees the sparrow fall, and mittens too.

Thank you Jesus.

[GulfBreezer]

That was beautiful! Yes, I have had that feeling! Isn't Jesus AWESOME??!!!!

[Stormsfury]

I have to post something here.

My father's ordeal with what was supposed to be a simple procedure that went wrong with complications, not to mention an incompetent doctor who performed an outdated procedure ... nearly claimed the live of my father ...

That Wednesday morning, 3 weeks ago when I rushed him to the ER with him barely able to get air through only 2MM worth of breathing capability in his upper respiratory tract ... the swelling was that bad ...

That following Sunday and Monday, he was not alert and looked very, very comatose, in fact and he wasn't on medication that would cause this effect ... On Tuesday, he came back to, and when I got off work and went to the COU (Close Observation Unit) to visit, he wrote down "Jesus".

My stepmother and myself could not figure out what he was saying.
Then he continued ... "Jesus does not want me yet." ...
I asked him, "Did you meet Jesus?" ...
He nodded yes.

Can you imagine the chills that I got that night?
But also at the same time, can you imagine the affirmation that I knew that he was going to make it through this because of those very words he wrote down ... knowing his faith and beliefs ... in his NDE (Near Death Experience) that it wasn't his time yet ... when all around him here need him the most right now ... So to say that myself whom has always believed that Jesus existed, but really had my doubts about some other issues got the message that day ... that He does interact with us everyday, but most of the time, it goes unnoticed ... Well, it didn't on that fateful day ...

I thought I needed to share this.

[azsnowman]

Mamadude, THANKS for sharing that, I've got a lump the size of Texas in my throat, SF.........what a GLORIOUS testimony, Thank You for sharing that, YES.......Jesus DOES love us and he is there with us every single step of the way IF we just listen and look with our hearts and not our eyes, "Be Still and know that I am the Lord and I am with you always!"

Dennis

[streetsoldier]

Not yet....I find it so very strange that it is easy for me to see His Light in others (and few they are), but none within myself. Perhaps I still have too much emotional "armor" to remove...we will see.

[weatherlover427]

Wow SF, what a chilling story. And thamks Brenda for sharing this.

[JetMaxx]

Thanks so much Brenda...I've felt like that on several occasions, including just this past week....after losing my religion in a doctors office parking lot -- with an impossible young woman that became very disrespectful and hateful to my elderly grandmother.

She accused my granny of bumping her car when she opened the car door. After threatening to sue (I'm still not convinced our car door bumped her car...heard no bump, granny denied it, and doesn't lie!), I tried to explain my grandmother was nearly 90 and almost blind; which only seemed to make the woman more hateful ("if the stupid old bat can't see, you should leave her at home" -- and it was an EYE doctor's office) .

Mega-stressed, anger rising into a boil, and in the defense of my grandmother, I used language (screamed at her very loudly) to that young woman I've never used to a woman (and rarely men)...in my entire life.
Even though a Vietnam veteran that witnessed the exchange applauded me...I felt (and still feel) very ashamed

I've felt very shaken in my faith for three days now...finding it more difficult to pray, and feel depressed again.

Your story from childhood has made my day brighter, and given me needed encouragement...and I appreciate it

Thank you Brenda...God bless you!

Perry

[azsnowman]

Bill, you don't know it but.........your light DOES shine through, trust me, it DOES very well, you just don't see it. People continue to say this about me and yet, I don't see it either, maybe we're not suppose to, who knows.

Jetmaxx, God forgives AND most importantly, FORGIVES........I see no reason for your loss of faith, we ALL loss our temper, Jesus himself, countless times over his short life before he became filled with the Holy Spirit, lost his temper, did this make less of the Man He is? No....I know it's hard at times to keep focused on what's right and what's Holy, we stumble, we fall, we fall short of the Glory Of God but you know what, we're only human and someday, some Glorious Day, we too will be perfect until then............

Dennis

[weatherlover427]

There are some very bright people on this board - those who have a gift with words. They should know who I am referring to.

[JetMaxx]

Thanks Dennis!!
I don't know what in the world that young woman was thinking...just looking for trouble I guess. I'm 41 years old and have never had that happen before.

In all honesty, I could have cared less if she cussed me out....I'd just have apologized (whether I bumped her car or not); but when she became so irate and nasty to my grandmother...belittling her like a child, then calling her "stupid old bat" something in me just snapped. There was absolutely no cause to be so hateful or disrespectful to an 89 year old woman (Granny was trying to be polite but the hateful little twit just wouldn't shut up)

Who knows? Maybe she was intoxicated or high on drugs (she was wearing shades...I couldn't see her eyes). One thing is for sure...when I screamed loudly at her, she shut her mouth and kept it shut.

I prayed to God for forgiveness...and prayed he'd forgive the hateful young woman.

Perry

[coriolis]

Thanks for sharing that mamadude.

Bill and Dennis, lump me in that category too. I see my own shortcomings, some that others can't see, and think "I'm a mess, how could he love a wretch like me?" But of course his love is greater than our messes.

[azsnowman]

Ain't that the truth Ed? No matter how bad we mess up, He's always there with that unconditional love!

Dennis

[azskyman]

Anger steals so much from us if we let it.

There are gifts that come into our lives every day...EVERY day. We need to recognize them and be proactive with that energy.

Perry...sometimes our anger manifests itself in unusual ways. We may be upset about those things going on in our lives, and then something else triggers that burst of anger. Something totally unrelated.

I have come to find His gifts in something as simple as the hot air balloons that float above our plant each morning or the surprise arrival of an unexpected message from an online acquaintance.

Those are the things from which something new might begin...a conversation or a reminder of something that needs to be done, or whatever it might be.

In our desperation to find answers to bigger questions, we sometimes lose sight of the smaller opportunities.

Like the chance to share a couple thoughts with some friends while drinking the first cup of coffee of the morning.

Steve (azskyman)

[bfez1]

Very inspiring story---thanks for sharing it w/us.

[Amanzi]

Thank you all for sharing your personal accounts! I think lumpy throat syndrome is going to spread with this thread

The Lords grace and mercy never ceases to amaze me. Daily he lifts me up, and daily he shows me unconditional love. Our God truly is an Awsome God.