--Yes, Miracles Still Happen! ~~

--THE LOCKET~~ DIVINE TOUCH~
-[It went missing when Mom died]

--BOTH my parents had died in the Autumn, and every Fall I felt melancholy. This day--one week after the anniversary of my mom's death, 11 years earlier--I sat on the porch, missing her even more than usual.

~~A widow for two decades, Mom devoted herself to her family--my younger brother, Bill, her three grandchildren and me. We saw each other every day and enjoyed going to flea markets together. "I'm praying for you," Mom would say. "I'm asking God to watch over you."

One Christmas, my brother bought her a gold-tone locket. He had her initials engraved on the outside, HRS for Helen Ruth Summers. We tucked photos of the grandkinds inside: Bill's sons on the left, my daughter on the right. Mom loved that locket. But after she died, we couldn't find it anywhere. I came to accept that somehow it had been lost.

I heard footsteps. It was my brother. "I was just at a flea market," he said. "I got you a gift." He handed me a small box.

Bill owned a space at an antique mart and was always on the lookout for a bargain. For me, shopping wasn't the same without Mom. I hadn't been to a flea market since she died.

I opened the box. Inside was a locket, its gold color faded. The initials HRS were engraved on the front. "Mom's locket! How on earth did you find it?"

"I was sifting through one seller's items when the light reflected off something shiny," Bill said. "It was the locket with Mom's monogram. I opened it and there were the photos of our kids, still in there. When I told the guy it had been Mom's he gave it to me, free of charge."

I lifted the locket out of the box, marveling at how many hands it must have passed through over the past 11 years. God had kept watch over it as carefully as He watched over us, just the way Mom asked Him to. ~
--GUIDEPOSTS~/BR

~Yes, "With God all things are possible" --[Matthew 19:26].--"Miracles" [lyric video]//Colton Dixon<https://youtu.be/Uhc2YdCzXtE>
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--Yes! Miracles Still Happen~~

--CALM AFTER THE STORM~~

--Single whippoorwill call signals all-clear ~~
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---Our windows stayed open at night in the Spring and Summer because we didn't have fans or an air conditioner, and we could hear the whippoorwills. The area around Tulip, Arkansas, where we lived was heavily wooded, a natural habitat for whippoorwills, which nest on the ground. Their calls would sing us to sleep.

During the late 30's, our family didn't have radar or a radio to tell us what weather was coming, but my mother, Mary, was quite savvy about storms because they made her nervous. On this night, she had been keeping her eye on an approaching thunderstorm, and finally she gathered me and my siblings to take shelter in the storm cellar out in the yard. Mom was praying to herself and the Lord.

From inside the cellar, we could hear the storm. After a while, the thunder and wind quieted down, and we decided it was OK to come out. As we made our way to the house, a whippoorwill from the adjacent woods gave a single call. I've heard hundreds of whippoorwill calls, which can be repeated for hours on end, but this particular call was hopeful, tranquil and matter-of-fact. I felt relieved that we didn't have to worry anymore.

The next morning we saw the large hickory tree in our front yard was flat on the ground, its roots sticking up in the air. We guessed the wind had gusted 70 or 80 miles per hour to blow this tree over.

The memory of the bird's solitary call is special. Although the words I use to describe it now are not those of a 6-year-old, the feelings are the same. I think the whippoorwill wanted to tell us he was OK, and since we were nearby, we were OK, too. Mom's prayers were answered. ~~
--REMINISCE~/OP~

--"Great Is thy Faithfulness" / Worship Circle/ w Christy Nockles [**the song comes in a few seconds late.] //<https://youtu.be/ZlsVMxAWJu0>
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---LETTING GO ~~

--"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants."
---(Psalm 116:15)--

--"Your father is actively dying," said the hospice nurse. "Actively dying" refers to the final phase of dying process and was a new term to me, one that felt strangely like traveling down a lonely one-way street. On my dad's last day, not knowing if he could still hear us, my sister and I sat by his bed. We kissed the top of his beautiful bald head. We whispered God's promises to him. We sang "Great Is They Faithfulness" and quoted the 23rd Psalm. We told him we loved him and thanked him for being our dad. We knew his heart longed to be with Jesus, and we told him he could go. Speaking those words was the first painful step in letting go. A few minutes later, our dad was joyously welcomed into his eternal home.

The final release of a loved one is painful. Even Jesus' tears flowed when His good friend Lazarus died (John 11:35). But because of God's promises, we have hope beyond physical death. Psalm 116:15 says that God's "faithful servants" --those who belong to Him--are "precious" to Him. Though they die, they'll be alive again.

Jesus promises, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die" (John 11:25-26). What comfort it brings to know we'll be in God's presence forever. ~~

--"Precious Father, thank You for the promise of eternal life in Your presence. We long for Jesus to come and take us home with You. In Jesus Name. Amen"

--ODB/CHK~
--"You'll Never Walk Alone"//David Phelps (in concert) <https://youtu.be/xSmUe4RX7xE>
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--YES! Miracles Still Happen, and Always Will With Christ ~~

~~LINCOLN'S COMPASSION~~
-['The Way to God and How to Find It'/ / By: D. L. Moody]

--I am reminded of a story from the Civil War about a young man who had been tried by court-martial and ordered to be shot. The hearts of his father and mother were broken when they heard the news. But the young man's sister had read the life story of Abraham Lincoln. She said, "If Abraham Lincoln knew how much my father and mother loved their son, he would not let my brother be shot."
She wanted her father to go to Washington to plead for his son. But the father said: "No, there is no use; the law must take its course. They have refused to pardon one or two who have been sentenced by that court-martial, and an order has gone forth that the President is not going to interfere again. If a man has been sentenced by court-martial he must suffer the consequences." That father and mother did not have faith to believe that their boy might be pardoned.

But the young lady was strong in hope. She got on the train in Vermont and started off to Washington. When she reached the White House the soldiers refused to let her in. But she told her pitiful story, and they allowed her to pass. When she got to the secretary's room, where the President's private secretary's was, he refused to allow her to enter the private office of the President. But she told her story again, and it touched the heart of the private secretary, so he passed her in. As she went into Abraham Lincoln's room, there were United States senators, generals, governors and leading politicians, who were there discussing the war. The President happened to see her standing at his door. He inquired of her what she wanted, and she went right to him and told her story in her own heart-felt words. He was a father, and great tears trickled down Abraham Lincoln's cheeks. At once, he wrote a dispatch and sent it to the army to have the young man sent to Washington at once. When he arrived, the President pardoned him, gave him thirty days furlough, and sent him home with his sister to cheer the hearts of the father and mother.

Do you want to know how to go to Christ? Go just as that young lady went to Abraham Lincoln. It may be possible that you have a dark story to tell. Tell it all out; keep nothing back. If Abraham Lincoln had compassion on that young lady, heard her petition and answered it, do you think the Lord Jesus will not hear your prayer? Do you think that Abraham Lincoln, or any man that ever lived on earth, had as much compassion as Christ? No! The heart of Christ will be touched when no one else will. He will have pity when no one else will. If you will go directly to Him, confessing your sin and your need, He will save you. Christ Jesus never turns away a sincere seeker of the Way, the Truth and the Life. Christ Jesus still performs miracles! ~

--'Moments With The Book'/ Compassion~

--MYSTERIOUS WAYS~~
--[ More Than Coincidence~ ]

--LOOK at the red strap.

~~The warning was clear, almost as if it had been spoken aloud. But what did it mean? I was cruising along the interstate in my little Kia Soul. I scanned ahead. In the middle lane was a shiny gray pickup truck. In the truck bed was a sofa, lashed down with a bright red strap, the end flapping lazily in the breeze.

My 19-year-old daughter and I had spent the afternoon at a home and garden show. My sister was the event manager. Though she hadn't had much time to chat, it had been great to see her. She'd looked so professional in her sleek black outfit and gold hoop earrings--the ones she saved for special occasions. My daughter and I had a great time browsing for a few hours before saying our goodbyes to my sister.

We'd been on the interstate for about 15 minutes when the words popped into my head: Look at the red strap.
Nothing about the strap--or the truck--seemed dangerous. The person behind the wheel was driving responsibly. The sofa, wrapped tightly in plastic, looked secure.
Still, that warning....

The pickup pulled into my lane, a few car lengths ahead. Another car had pulled into the middle lane beside me, blocking me to the left. I didn't think; I merely reacted. I eased my car to the right, onto the shoulder.

"Mom?" my daughter said. "What are you---"

Ka-THUNK ! the sofa slid from the truck bed, tumbling onto the highway. Into the right lane. At the speed we'd been going, there's no way I would have been able to brake in time. We would've crashed right into it.

"Mom, how did you know?" my daughter asked. I wasn't sure myself.
As soon as I got safely home, I called my sister, "You'll never guess what happened," I said. I told her the story.

My sister was silent. "Kathy," she finally said, "I prayed for you."
"What?"
"About 15 minutes after you left, I realized I'd lost one of my earrings," she said. "My friend was helping me look for it. I suggested we say a little prayer to find it. But then she got the strangest look on her face. My friend said no, we shouldn't pray about my earring. One of my family members was in danger, and we had to pray for them instead." She paused.

"Kathy, we were praying for you." ~~
--GUIDEPOSTS / KT~~
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