PTLA - Praise The Lord Anyway

8/13/2019 PTLA - Praise The Lord Anyway

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IM SO GLAD TO BE

ALIVE!

Im so glad to know that Godcreated me in His own image, andwhile there may have been timeswhen that image really got loused up,Im so glad that He has turned forme my mourning into dancing.. . andgirded me with gladness. . .

God means love, and Gods

love means thankfulness onrocky places and smooth.during good times and bad,morning and night.Mrs. Hunter knows and

here proves that there is nooccasion, no matter howtrivial, no matter how bad,that does not serve somepurpose in Gods plan. nd

she knows that, no matterwhat happens. it is alwaysright, always redeeming, tosay!


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PRAISE THE LORD

ANYWAY!


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P.T.L.A.

"raise #he $ord

nyway%

Frances Hunter


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Contents

&hapter ' ".#.$. and ".#.$.. (

&hapter ) "raise the $ord for *+o '-

&hapter "raise the $ord for /ootball,

#oo%.. )-

&hapter 0 "raise the $ord /or 1elays 0(

&hapter ( ".#.$..23ven 4hen &hurch Is 5ver6

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&hapter 7 ".#.$.. for 8our5pportunities

7-

9 In a /actory 7-

9 In a /illing :tation ;7

9 t a &onvention ;>>>> right.

It Eust so happened that this wasthe day of the high schools first

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football game and they were having a

rally that day.My heart really sank as I entered

the high school, because all I couldthink of was the fact that if I were atypical high9school student, and this

was the day of my high schools firstfootball game, I sure wouldnt wantto have to listen to some old lady talkabout a very old9fashioned subEectlike religion. #hey were screaming

madly all over the place with the pepclub leading cheers and yells and theauditorium Eust Eumping with theecitement that only the first footballrally of the year can bring.

5ne of the things I learned earlyin my &hristian life was a totaldependence on God. I guess I learnedthe hard way that I can really messthings up, but if I Eust let God do it, itwould come out Eust great. s I wasintroduced, I said the words that Ialways say Eust before I speak, *$ord,8oure on and then I added,*8oud better be clever today, or Ihave a feeling theyre not going to

like us%

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Gods Holy :pirit nudged me,

reminding me that it was mydaughters high schools first footballgame of the season as well as#ulsas, so I asked them if theywould mind giving a cheer for my

high school, Eust to keep me fromfeeling lonesome since I couldnt bethere. #hey were so worked up theywould have yelled for anything, sothey gave a real big cheer *8eah,

Miami9Cillian High :chool.I never waste time when it comes

to talking about Fesus &hrist, and Inever beat around the bush, so Ididnt that day either, but came right

back after the big cheer with, *Ifyoud yell that loud for the cause ofFesus &hrist, youd turn the worldupside down% #hen I spoke for awhile, relating some of the realeciting stories that I reserve foryoung people, and all of a sudden Ilooked at the football team sittingthere on the front row.

1id you ever really look at thefootball team during a rallyD #hey all

sit there like a bunch of bumps on a

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log, arms folded shoulder pads

protruding all the way across fromseat to seat, and Eust generallylooking real important.

I have never understood why thefootball team doesnt do something

at a rally ecept Eust sit there, so allof a sudden I looked at them becauseeveryone else had been so wound upabout everything, so I said, *:tandup%. . . nd you know 4hat

happenedD... they all stood up. 2Itsamaing what happens when you goin the power of God.6 I said, *I dontknow what you yell when you makea touchdown, but tonight when you

make your first touchdown, will youyell ".#.$.D "raise the $ordD nddo you know what they saidD #heysaid *8es% 2I think they werestunned.6 :o I said, *5.C., sit down%nd so they sat down.

#he principal of the high schoolran up on the stage and said, *I movewe make /rances an honorarymember of the football team becauseshes the only woman in history who

ever got a football team on their feet

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during a rally, and since they

unanimously voted, I was made anhonorary member of the :andites/ootball #eam of :and :prings,5klahoma.

+ow it isnt every day that an old

gal like me gets made an honoraryfootball player, so I was reallythrilled, but that was nothing incomparison with what followed.Immediately after the rally the

sponsor of the pep club came up andasked me to come to the footballgame after the church service thatnight and to sit with the threehundred or four hundred girls in the

pep club. I replied that I would bedelighted to, so after the churchservice, the pastors and severalmembers of the congregation and Iwent to the football game.

#hey led us onto the field, and aswe walked down the field thestadium rocked with a cheer! *Giveher a K" 2clap6, KB 2clap6, K$ 2clap6 "raise the $ord. I was so stunned Icouldnt believe my ears, so I turned

to the pastor, and it was mass

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confusion as both of us said, *1id

you hear what I heardD nd he said,*It sounded to me like ".#.$. andI said, *It sounded to me like K"raisethe $ord. I guess they saw we wereso confused over what we heard that

they gave the cheer again and weknew then that somehow or otherGod is at work with young peopletoday because He must havecommunicated that morning at the

assembly.If that doesnt give you spiritual

goose pimples, the sponsor of the pepclub ran out to meet us and put a pairof binoculars in my hand and said,

*$ook at the football team look atthe football team% I looked throughthe binoculars and on the helmet ofevery football player in :and:prings, 5klahoma, were printedthree letters. 4ould you like to guesswhat they wereD

8oure right .. . ".#.$.

CHAPTER 4

Praise the Lord For

Delays

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G51 GIB3: @: opportunityafter opportunity to discover that ifwe praise the $ord In allcircumstances it will turn out to be ablessing. 5n a tour which was

completed Eust before the &hristmasholidays, a tremendous snow stormand fog came up during the night,and when F called the airport in themorning to make sure my plane was

on schedule, I discovered they hadcanceled all the flights. It was prettydifficult to say "raise the $ord at thatmoment because I had been awayfrom my family for ten days, and I

was anious to get home, butnevertheless I said, *"raise the$ord, remembering what the Aiblesays.

#he airport called me back andtold me that even though the airportat Aloomington, Illinois, was closed,the one at "eoria, Illinois, was openif I could get someone to drive methe fifty miles over there. s always,the $ord came through, and a

fabulous &hristian lady drove me

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over to the "eoria airport. My plane

there was right on time, and I wasthrilled as we flew into the &hicagoairport, where I was to make aconnection to bring me home toHouston.

I checked in as uickly as I could,and sat down to await the arrival ofthe plane which was coming from"ortland, 5regon. I opened my Aibleand began reading, saying, *#hank

8ou, $ord, for getting me to the&hicago airport and for giving metime to really refuel after all thegiving out Ive been doing in the lastten days. I was perfectly content Eust

drinking in Gods word, but all of asudden I became aware of the fact itwas longer than it should have beenbefore boarding the plane, so I wentup to the desk and asked the youngman when we would be boarding.

He smiled very apologeticallyand told me that the plane wascoming from "ortland, 5regon, andhad been grounded because of a badsnowstorm there, so it would be at

least one hour late arriving and thus

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we would be one hour late taking off

for Houston.I sat down and continued Eust

absorbing God through His Holy4ord, thinking it wasnt too badbecause we were going to be an hour

late, and thanking him for giving methis special time to read my Aible.#he hour passed, and I still couldntsee any plane outside the gate wherewe were scheduled to depart, so once

again I went up to the desk andinuired about the anticipated time ofdeparture. gain the young man saidapologetically that the plane washaving trouble with the storm in the

"ortland area, and it looked like itwas going to be two hours late.4ell, you guessed it, the two

hours turned into three and the threeintofour, and I was still sitting in the&hicago airport saying *#hank 8ou,$ord. +ow it was amaing what thisdid to me as a person. I wasnt theleast bit frustrated because of thedelay and yet there were lots ofreasons I could have been frustrated.

I could have been irritated because I

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had been separated from my husband

and my daughter for ten days, andnow everything *seemed to gowrong Eust to delay me and make itlonger before I could see them. Icould have been irritated because

sitting in an airport for several hourson hard plastic seats isnt the mostEoyous thing in the world, and I couldhave complained about that, butsomehow or other because I believed

that *all things work together forgood for those that love the $ord andare called according to His purpose,no irritation or annoyance crept in.

I temporarily put my Aible down

because I was aware of theconversation of other passengers. Iwish you could have heard them%:uch swearing and frustration, it wasunbelievable. 1ispositions frayed,people complaining to each other,and everyone really beginning togripe about the airlines. Instead ofthinking how many times they hadflown right on schedule, each onewas telling the other about some one

particular flight where they had been

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delayed, and it was amaing to see

how upset many of the peoplebecame. #hey paced up and down,smoking one cigarette after the other,losing their tempers, and taking a lotof their resentment out on the young

man at the desk 2who really hadnothing to do with the entire situationecept to relay the right information6,and in general making themselvesmiserable.

I used all the available time tocram on the word of God, and themore I read the more peaceful Ibecame.

/inally the clerk announced that

there was a flight for 1allas boardingand if we would hurry some of usmight be able to get on it, and fromthere we could catch a plane toHouston. I thought, *Great, anythingto get out of this snowy country toany town where I can catch a plane toHouston, so along with the scowlingmob I went over to try and get on the1allas plane. #he $ord really blessedand I was one of the stand9bys who

made it on the plane. :o I looked

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around and said, *4ell, $ord, is there

someone on this plane 8ou want meto talk toD Is this the reason for allthe delay in &hicagoD Aut as Idiscovered my seat number, I foundout the woman sitting net to me

couldnt speak 3nglish. and Icouldnt speak whatever was hernative language, and sitting net toher was her little boy, so that wipedout sharing &hrist with them.

4e got to 1allas and I prayed the$ord would give me time enough tocall my. husband again and let himknow what flight I was on, and sureenough, as we were running between

the two planes, I spied a phonebooth, made a call, and went rightthrough to him, advising him that Iwas in 1allas and on the way home.

4e boarded the plane at 1allasand as soon as it was filled, westarted to take off, and one engine*froe. I said, *4ell, thank 8ou,$ord, again. I dont know why theetra delay, but Im sure theres agood reason for it. gain, you could

hear the others in the plane beginning

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to grumble about the additional

delay. bout this time the stewardesscame through and announced thateveryone would receive a freecocktail because of the delay.

/unny how people think this will

relieve the tension of a situationwhen only &hrist can really do agood Eob. s she asked the two otherpeople sitting with me, the womansaid, *Ill have a Manhattan, and

nothing happened, but the man whowas right net to me said, *Makemine a martini. nd as he said thosewords, I knew why God had put meon this particular plane. #he minute

he had uttered the word *martini Iremembered all the martinis I haddrunk in my life before I became a&hristian, and said *#hank 8ou,$ord, and opened the conversationby saying, *I used to be a martinidrinker, but not any more. #heyoung man said, *5h, noD HowcomeD /abulous opportunity forwitnessing, so I began to share withhim how I had found the answer to

life to be in a man named Fesus

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&hrist and not in a martini glass or

anything else of the world. I Eustshared with him briefly how I hadbecome a &hristian at the age offorty9nine and how Fesus &hrist hadcompletely transformed my very

being and then I asked him if he hadever heard of the 0 :piritual $aws,the little tool I use to present &hristto people.

:ince he had never heard of

them, I began to read out of thebooklet, and when I finished I askedhim if he would like to become a&hristian, and his answer gave methe positive assurance that God had

arranged the entire thing because hesaid, *#hree years ago I heard Aobby=ichardson talk and I saw that he hada special something in his life that Ididnt have, and ever since then Ivebeen wanting the same thing, andwhen you started to talk to me, Irealied instantly you had the samething. 8es, I do want to become a&hristian, but I Eust never knewhow.

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Isnt it amaing what God can do

with a situation if we will Eust say".#.$.. 2and mean it6 and wait tosee what Gods got planned. God hadprepared the heart of someone veryspecial who was searching for

someone to tell him the answer to theGod9shaped vacuum in his life.

Isnt it beautiful Eust to know that$$ things do work together forgood for those that love the $ord and

are called according to His purposeD4hen we let our own ego get in theway, and we get back on the throneof our life and forget the promisesthat God has for us, we pass up the

opportunities He gives us, becausewe are not in the proper relationshipto Him to be able to see and make themost of the fabulous things He does.

CHAPTER 5P.T.L.A.

(Even When Church Is Over)

I $48: H#3 to see a

church service come to a close.

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:omehow or other, weve all put

aside the cares and problems of theworld and have given all of ourattention to the things of God, andmany people dont do this all weeklong ecept for a short time on

:unday, so I always hate to see itover, because Im concerned aboutthose who might not even think aboutGod again until the net :undaymorning.

Im a great one for feeling thatyou ought to come out of church highon a mountain9top I think everychurch service should make you feelthat you want to stop everyone on the

highway on the way home and tellthem about Fesus &hrist and what Hecan do for a life. I Eust feel soeffervescent upon leaving church, itshard for me to contain my Eoy, andmany times people have beendisappointed because someone hasntmade a public commitment of theirlife by going to an altar during theinvitation, but Ive found that thesesituations many times can be a

".#.$.. 2"raise the $ord nyway6.

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Im Eust going to share a few of

these stories with you and show youwhat happens to turn a ".#.$.. intoa ".#.$ if we Eust keep our eyesopen.

#he church service was over,

people were making their way to theback of the church to shake handswith the pastor and hurry home todinner after an eciting service. #heorganist had left, the pianist was

gone, and the church was almostempty, when I saw her. :he was ayoung girl, probably eighteen ornineteen years old, who had satthrough the service but had not

responded to the invitation given atthe end of the sermon. 8et as Ilooked at her, and saw the tearsstreaming down her face, I knew thatGod had spoken to her during theservice.

My heart was so full of love itEust spilled over I couldnt help it,and softly I said, *1id God talk toyou this morningD #he tear9stainedface turned toward me and said, *5h,

yes, He really did% #hen I said

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love and warmth were almost

unbelievable as we spent a :aturdayevening and :unday with them.

4e started our services on:aturday night in this little churchand one old man sat there listening

intently to the entire service, butwhen the invitation to come forwardwas given he didnt respond in anyway, but he had been so intent I felthe must be a &hristian.

5n the way out, as I shook handswith him, I said, *I have a feelingyouve been a &hristian a long time.He looked at me rather uiically,and then to continue the

conversation, I said, *How long haveyou been a &hristianD He lookedback at me in wonderment as he said,*I dont even know if I am a&hristian% My heart nearly poundedright out of me, because I knew hehad to be close to ninety years of age,and I said, *8ou dont know if yourea &hristianD ll I can say is youregetting up in years, and youd bettermake sure that you C+54 youre a

&hristian before anything happens to

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you. I was so concerned because of

his advanced age, and I didnt wanthim to leave that building withoutknowing that he was a &hristian.

My husband immediatelyfollowed this old gentleman out of

the church and eplained to him thathis years of churchgoing were to noavail until he actually was *bornagain, and so in the darkness outsidethe church, he prayed and asked God

to forgive him of a lifetime of sins,and then he asked &hrist to come intohis heart.

He came to each of the remainingservices while we were there, and

listened intently to each one, and thatmight have been the end of the storyecept for a letter we got from one ofthe members of the congregation amonth or so later.

It said *8ou remember, &harles,the --9year9old man you talked toafter the service :aturday nightD 4ehad a time of sharing Eust what yourmeetings had meant to each of us on:unday night. #he pastor asked this

man for his testimony. He said, KI

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Eust dont understand it at all and I

will never say I C+54 I will go toheaven. Maybe some day I willunderstand. #he :unday before weleft for /lorida this man came to thealtar and wept and really came

through and now he can say he is:@=3 where he will spend eternity."=I:3 G51%

fter the church service was overin a huge church in a metropolitan

area, a little girl of si or seven yearsran up to me, put a note into myhand, and then ran of% to get in thecar with her parents. fter the churchhad emptied, I opened the little note,

which said! *I love your sermons, Iunderstand you. 4ill you go to thealtar with me tonightD I will pray foryou as you are going back home. Iwill miss you. nd I love your storiestoo. nd remember, have faith, and"=I:3 #H3 $5=1%

s soon as I read the note, I ranto see if I could find her, feeling thetime to pray was =IGH# +54, but Icouldnt find her, so I aniously

awaited the evening service, and sure

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enough, she was right there, sitting

on the front row My heart EustEumped with Eoy when I saw her, andbefore we ever started singing theinvitation song, she was right at thealtar, crooked her little finger at me,

and as I went down to the altar andbent over her, she said, *1id youread my note after churchD #hrillingto know that God speaks even tosmall children in unforgettable ways.

I had been speaking to a youngpeoples group on witnessing andhow to share your faith, and Godcommunicated that we should giveeveryone there an opportunity to pray

to receive &hrist, because witnessingcertainly cant be successful if yourenot a &hristian yourself, so I did, butI still felt God speaking about acertain young man. s soon as theservice was over, I stepped over towhere this young man was standing,and with great love which God wasgiving me, I simply asked him if hewas a &hristian.

I knew that God had been

speaking to him and yet somehow or

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other I felt he had not prayed the

sinners prayer with the rest of theyoung people. He was honest andsaid, *+o, maam, Im not a&hristian. He was rebellions probably fifteen years of age long

curly hair and a real defiant look. Isaid, *How come I think anyones areal nut whos not a &hristian,because what God can do in a life isfantastic% #hen I added, *Ill bet you

think you have to give up doingeverything you think is fun, dontyouD Ill bet you think your life willbe miserable from then on, dontyouD He sheepishly admitted this

was true.I talked to him a little bit longer,and then asked him if he wouldntlike to pray right there, and God hadso enveloped him with His love, hebegan to sob, and prayed right on thespot.

#he morning service whichfollowed the youth service was mostinteresting, because the evangelistpreached on the story of "hilip and

the eunuch, and how "hilip had been

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obedient to God when He told him to

go down to the desert of Gaa. "hilipdidnt argue and tell God that theclimate and everything was muchnicer where he was than it was inGaa, but down to Gaa he went. #he

church service was over, and theeunuch was riding along in hischariot reading from the book of theprophet Isaiah. #hen the Holy :piritsaid to "hilip, *Go over and walk

along beside the chariot, so "hilipran over and heard what the eunuchwas reading and asked him if heunderstood it.

&hurch was over he had been to

Ferusalem to worship at the templeand his answer was like the boysthat day, *5f course not% nd thenhe told "hilip he couldnt understandit and asked him to come and sit inthe chariot with him. :o "hilip 2afterthe church service was over6 turned a".#.$. into a ".#.$ by telling theeunuch about Fesus, and the eunuchwas converted on the spot.

"hilip changed the negative

minus to the plus or cross of Fesus

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&hrist. It was hard to believe that we

had Eust been through an eactparallel in '. &ompare the twostories and see how identical they arein purpose, pattern and follow9up%Isnt it fabulous to know that the

same things happen today eactly asthey did when the Aible was writtenD

t a convention recently, theservice ended, and suddenly peopleswarmed up to the microphone to

testify what &hrist had done forthem, or to lay a special reuestbefore the congregation. 5ne womanwho came up to the microphone haddriven ',)>> miles because she was

concerned about a drunken brother9in9law and an alcoholic sister.:he asked the entire congregation

at the camp meeting to pray that Godwould give her the courage to driveover to a town some fifty miles awayand get her sister and brother9in9lawand bring them back to the campmeeting. I immediately took themicrophone back again and asked theentire congregation to pray

I+:#+#$8 that this woman would

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think I prayed for love for her more

than anything else.Had I not been a &hristian, I

would have certainly left hercompany, feeling that no one had toput up with that kind of filthy talk,

but its an amaing thing what Godslove can do I felt great compassionfor this pathetic woman, and Godtold us to love the unlovely. I tried tocommunicate with her, but in her

drunken stupor I could notcommunicate at all, when all of asudden Gods Holy :pirit indicatedthat the husband was the one whoseheart had been prepared.

I started talking to him, and thewoman really cursed me in a tiradethat made my hair stand on end, but Ikept sending *love thoughts to herwhile talking to her husband. /inally,the woman began to get sick and the$ord sent someone over who tookher out of the car and helped her to arest room.

Gods Holy :pirit simplyenveloped the entire car, and all of a

sudden the man confessed that he had

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been thinking that he had better *get

right with the $ord because recentlyhe had realied that he was gettingolder and the prospect of hell madehim realie the necessity of findingGod.

It was so thrilling to sit in the carand listen to him pray, asking God toforgive him of his sins, and thenasking &hrist to come into his heart.He then asked God to use him to win

others to &hrist. He then put his*booe and cigarettes on the altarand asked God to remove them.

I always feel if a person is trulyconverted, the first thing they will

want to do is to share the G551+34: with someone else, and thefirst thing this man said was, *Giveme another one of those 0 :piritual$aw booklets and dont worryabout my wife Ill convert her%

#he thing that amaed me themost about the entire situation wasthe fact that because of Gods love Icould keep on loving this mostunlovely woman. I have never seen

such hate as she had, nor such a

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vicious tongue, and yet God

protected me with an invisible shield.I wonder how many times we fail

to be a Good :amaritan because ofour own human nature being repelledby some very unlovely person, and

yet if we surrender all to God, He,and He alone, can give us the powerto love.

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CHAPTER 6

P.T.L.A. for Your

Opportunities

In a Factory

I H1 F@:# finished speaking at awomans luncheon and had to reallymove to be able to make it to aneighboring town some forty milesaway where I was scheduled to speakthat same night. #he pastor of the

church where the luncheon was heldhad asked one of the guests, whoworked in a town beyond where Iwas going for the night, if she wouldtake me to my net stop. :he agreed,

saying if I didnt mind driving out toher farm with her so she couldchange clothes, since she worked in afactory.

I went along, but when we got to

the town where ' was to speak forthe night, she was horrified todiscover that she had left the key tothe trunk of her car in the coat whichshe had changed at home to get into

her factory clothes.

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s I always do in times of crisis,

I said, *"raise the $ord, give thanksfor all things, because all things worktogether for good for those who lovethe $ord. #he poor girl looked at melike I was a real nut, because she

couldnt take me back home, sinceshe had to get to her Eob at thefactory, so I assured her that sheshouldnt worry, because the pastorwould be glad to take me back, and

anyway I knew that God wouldperform a miracle out of this.

fter locating the minister I toldher that after we had gone out to herhome and gotten the key, we would

go to the factory, pick up myluggage, then we would return thekey to her. #his entailed driving uitea few miles, but we made it in goodtime and all the while I waswondering how the $ord was goingto use this for a miracle, but I wasconfident that somehow God wouldbe glorified through all thisconfusion and etra mileage.

4hen we drove into the factory

parking lot, we spotted the womans

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car, and as we drove up close to it I

could see a little note :cotch9tapedonto the back of it. I ecitedlysuealed! *Heres the miracle, heresthe miracle% 4e Eumped out of thecar and the note said, *Aring the key

in through the double door. I startedup the ramp into the factory, throughthe double doors which were open,and then through another little doorwhich led right into the factory. It

was a factory which made timers forwashing machines, and I wasintrigued as I stood there for amoment watching the conveyor belts,and the lights flashing, etc. I finally

spotted the woman who had drivenme and I ran down to give her thekey to her trunk.

#o show you how God wasworking in this situation, at thisparticular moment, an emergencymeeting of all the supervisorypersonnel of the factory had beencalled, and there was not onesupervisor on the floor% I was ecitedbecause as I looked at the girls 5n

the production line I wondered which

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one God had chosen for His kingdom

that very day. I returned the keys,then backed up on the production lineand asked the net employee whather particular Eob was, but I got nogreen light from God, so I went on to

the net employee and got nothing. Iwent to the third, then the fourth,then the fifth, and still nothing, but Iwas still confident that God had amiracle waiting for me in that factory

somewhere.I had been carrying a copy of my

book God is /abulous with the nameside out, and as I started for the sithgirl, the girl across the conveyor belt

said to me, *#hats a pretty bookyouve got there. 1id you write itDInstantly the green light flashed, andI said, *8es, but the story inside ismuch prettier than the cover. 4ouldyou like to read itD :he said shewould, so I leaned all across theconveyor belt and gave it to her, thenI stepped back and said, *Its notautographed Ill come over thereand autograph it for you. /eeling

that a point of contact was necessary,

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I had used this as an ecuse to get

over to her side of the conveyor belt.I ran all the way down to the end

of the factory, and then ran back upto where she was, and while I amnormally more subtle, this time I

simply said, *#his tells the story ofhow I became a &hristian at the ageof forty9nine. re you a &hristianDnd she replied, *+o, Im not% INm soawful that I couldnt be a &hristian.

I told her that it didnt make anydifference how awful she was, thatGod could forgive her sins faster thanshe could snap her fingers, and afterthat she could ask &hrist to come into

her heart.It was a most unusual situation,because in a factory like this, allthese little parts come down theconveyor belt, and the girls pick oneup, put it on the tester, and, if it tests5.C., put it back on a conveyor beltand reach for the net one. Ifhowever, it should be defective, redlights flash on, a pencil must bepicked up, and they write a *' down

to indicate a defective item, then

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remove the timer from the tester and

put it over into a bo on the otherside. #his really reuiresconcentration to make sure youremember what youre doing, and allthe time I was talking to the girl I

asked her if I was bothering her andkeeping her from her work, because Iwas very worried that I would holdup production, but she wasnt gettingbehind on the timers, and seemed to

be doing her Eob, so I kept right ontalking, telling her what &hrist coulddo in her life if she would be willingto surrender and let him take over.

I read the 0 :piritual $aws to her

and at the end asked her if she wouldlike to pray the prayer, and she said*8es, so with the red and greenlights flashing, she prayed and askedGod to forgive her of her sins, andthen asked &hrist to come into herlife.

I continued talking to her for alittle while, telling her of thenecessity of digging into the:criptures and also of getting herself

into a good church, and all of a

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sudden I felt a huge hand on my

back. Gods Holy :pirit had soengulfed us that all I could think ofwas, *4hos this barging into myspiritual world but before I couldeven turn around a gruff voice said,

*4hat do you think youre doinghere% I guess rye never had time tolearn to pray formally because INmalways getting myself into spotswhere I have to really scream for

God, so while I silently screamed forGod to tell me what to say I mentallyhad a picture of me in Eail with "auland :ilas.

Aut instead of panicking, I turned

around very uietly and said the onlything Gods Holy :pirit had plantedin my mind, *Im sorry% Im a&hristian, and I wouldnt everdeliberately do anything wrong. Ihope I havent hurt 1ebbies Eob. Ieplained that I was autographing abook I had written, and then I askedhim if he would like to have a copyand he said he would love to. GodsHoly :pirit melted the superintendent

down and he said, *5h, thats all

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right honey, I uickly finished

autographing the book, bid 1ebbie afond farewell and left.

I ran out to the car for anothercopy of my book to autograph for theplant superintendent and when I

came back in I realied that I hadforgotten his name, so I asked one ofthe employees standing there whatthe plant superintendents name was,and as I bent down to personally

autograph the book for him anotherhand hit me across the back saying,*1ont you know its against the lawto be in a factory with moving partsD4hat are you doing here%

I nearly dropped right in mytracks, and this time I knew beyond ashadow of doubt I would probablyend up in Eail, but it seemed all Godtold me to do was to say, *Imautographing a book for the plantsuperintendent, would you please tellme how to spell his nameD ll of hisgruffness left as he bent over me andspelled out the superintendentsname. I thanked him profusely and

told him to be sure and read the book

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after the superintendent had finished

it, and he said he would love to.I Eust say *"=I:3 #H3 $5=1

for a situation which permits the:pirit of God to move even in afactory so that people can be made

aware of their needs. nd Eust as anafterthought you might be interestedin knowing these girls are nowhaving Aible9study groups meetingweekly, and the plant superintendent

has asked me to come back and share&hrist with all the employees thenet time I am in the area.

In a Filling Station

"raise the $ord God never lets usdown. My husband and I had beenconducting a seminar on witnessingin a small eastern town, and everyonehad been given cards prepared by thepastor, and we were making calls toshare &hrist with individuals. 4e hadgone together because there was adivorced woman the pastor wantedus specifically to talk to, so we senteveryone off on their calls, and we

started out.

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He felt this would be a real

productive call because the womanhad indicated a real need and a realsearching, so we ecitedly locatedthe house and went and knocked onthe door. 4e had seen a sign on the

fence which said *Aeware of dogand we Eust prayed a uickie prayerasking God to watch over usconcerning the dog.

4hen we rang the doorbell we

were floored to see a man come tothe door, so we asked for the womanby name, and he said she was out, butthat he was her husband. 4e talkedfor a few moments, and then decided

to talk to him about &hrist, andbefore we had gone very far we got avery emphatic *INm not the least bitinterested% and then an abruptindication that we should leave rightthen and there. 4e looked at the dog,noted that the man had been drinkingheavily, and agreed with the man thatwe should leave right then and there.

4e got in the car, and I looked atmy husband and simultaneously we

said, *"=I:3 #H3 $5=1

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+848. #hen we laughed and

said, *"raise the $ord the dog didntbite us. 4e were disappointed,though, because we had only beengiven two cards because of theshortness of time and the fact that we

were in a strange town, and wewanted to be able to go back andshare some ecitement of what canhappen when youre willing to go outfor Fesus &hrist.

s we drove away we noticed thecar which had been loaned to us waslow on gasoline, so we decided to putsome gas in while I looked at themap to see if I could find the location

of the net house we were to call on.#ry as I might, I couldnt find thestreet anywhere on the map, and eventhough I might have beendisappointed, I said, *4ell, ".#.$.. guess 8ou didnt want us to makeany calls today, did 8ou, $ordD Iwas sitting in the front seat of the carand all of a sudden I heard someonesay, *1id you know that God lovesyou and has a wonderful plan for

your lifeD I couldnt believe my ears

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2and yet I should have, knowing my

husband6, because it was myhusbands voice and he wasobviously reading The - piritualawsto the filling station attendant.

I really began praying that God

would keep any customers out of thefilling station until after &harles hadfinished, and before long I heard theyoung man praying right on the spotasking &hrist to come into his heart.

4hen my husband got back inthe car we really reEoiced because wehad kept on praising God foreverything, even though for themoment it didnt look like we had

much to praise, but believing thisreally turned the afternoon into a real"=I:3 #H3 $5=1%

At a Convention

I often think of how we asparents often play little Eokes on ourchildren somehow or other to letthem know we have a real speciallove for them. I think of our teen9agedaughter and the very special little

Eokes we have Eust between mother

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and daughter and the very special

little teasing she has with her dad,and sometimes I wonder if Goddoesnt do the same things for us.

ugust of ' was to be a realeciting month for me, because I had

been selected to be the pace9setterspeaker for the &hristian Aooksellers&onvention. ny author knows thisis a tremendous privilege to be ableto share in person with the people

who are responsible for your booksgetting into the hands of the readingpublic.

Many an unknown author hasbeen *made by such an opportunity

as this. I had been advised early inthe year of my selection, and I wasthrilled to death as a comparativelynew author 2three books to my credit,but less than two years of writing6 soI bought the outfit I was going towear months in advance and couldhardly wait for the ecitingopportunity.

I had been at two differentchurches the day before, and had

rushed into the hotel late in the

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evening, and after a good nights

sleep, the net morning was all of asudden here, and the ecitingmoment I had waited for was not inthe future, but in the +54% Imounted the platform, uickly said

those fabulous words I always dobefore I start, *$ord, 8oure on, andI began speaking.

+ow Im not going to share withyou what I said, because for this

book thats not important, but afterthe meeting had been dismissed,many of the booksellers came up onthe platform to shake my hand, andall of a sudden, it seemed like the

whole world began to fail apart. #heplatform very slowly, but oh so verysurely, began to collapse%

#he platform had been made outof folding tables, and my husband,who was standing with me, happenedto be standing on another table, andso he didnt follow my downwardtrend. It all happened very slowly butit seemed like an eternity to me. llof a sudden, where I was standing

looked like a slide, and I was on the

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bottom of the slide going down even

further, and a woman came slidingdown the incline right on top of me.

I dont really know eactly howeverything happened nor do Iremember what hit what, but I do

know, before it was all over, here Iwas, on the day of my G=3#opportunity, on the bottom of thepile% My wig flew off% My glassesflew off. nd I was all of a sudden in

a most undignified, unladylikeposition.

I grabbed for my wig 2because ifyouve ever worn a wig, you knowhow grubby you look underneath

without it6, got it on somehow orother, but in the rush, a hunk of myown hair was hanging right down themiddle of my face, and the wig wason sideways, because the bangs wereover on the side.

+ow Im going to give you thesame opportunity I had. 4hat wouldyou have said under thecircumstancesD $et me assure youright now that I wasnt hurt, although

for that hectic moment I didnt have

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any idea whether I was hurt or not,

but somehow or other, I rememberedthat God loved me, and that in spiteof all the happenings in the last fewseconds, He still loved me, so I Eustshouted, *4ell, "raise the $ord

+848%ll I could think of was to give

thanks for all things, because I firmlyand fervently believe that $$ thingshappen for good for those who love

the $ord% #he first words I heardwere these! *:he really $IB3: it%1id you hear what she saidD :hesaid, K"=I:3 #H3 $5=1+848%

:omehow in a way Ill neverunderstand, God had given me anopportunity to prove to the world thateven under the most undesirablecircumstances we can still say,*"=I:3 #H3 $5=1%

CHAPTER 7

Praise the Lord

For Situations

That Are Different!

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#HI: I: #H3 story of Foey, andhow God took a series ofcircumstances and transformed themalong with a lot of lives.

I had been called into a high

school where dope was a realproblem, and rebelliousness andresentment were running high. #heracial problem was also critical andwhen I walked into the school where

I had been given forty9five minutesto speak of what the love of Godcould do in their lives, I felt like allthe dynamite in the world was piledup in this one school. #he

undercurrent could be felt in atremendous way and it looked like itwould take only one tiny little sparkto set the whole thing off.

#he principal came running totell me he didnt think the kids wouldlisten and he was almost sorry he hadasked me to come because he wasafraid of some real uprising while Iwas speaking. I had prayed and askedGod to handle the entire situation, so

my only comment was a silent look

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to heaven with the uestion *God,

did 8ou hear what he saidD#he assembly was called, and the

students rumbled in. #hey didnt filehi, they rumbled in% 1etermined notto listen, they began scraping their

feet on the floor to drown outanything I might say. I reallyscreamed for God to take overcompletely, because I knew that I, asan individual, could really mess up

the entire situation. It was the firsttime in my life I have ever beenbooed as I was introduced, but I saidto God as I walked across the stage,*God, 8oud better really have

something to say to these kids,because theyre not kidding.Gods Holy :pirit, who can

overpower the devil any day, reallyenveloped the auditorium, and prettysoon you could hear all over theauditorium, *:hut up, I want to hearwhat shes got to say, and before toomuch time had passed, you couldhave heard a pin drop. I dont believeI ever prayed so hard in my life as I

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spoke, because I knew God had to

really do a Eob this time.5n my way to this school I had

prayed that God would reveal to me avery special scripture to use in such asituation as this, and as always, God

came through, and the followingscripture was the one I used!

*In a wealthy home there aredishes made of gold and silver aswell as some made from wood and

clay. #he epensive dishes are usedfor guests, and the cheap ones areused in the kitchen or to put garbagein. If you stay away from sin you willbe like one of these dishes made of

purest gold the very best in thehouse so that &hrist Himself canuse you for His highest purposes 2)#imothy )!)>, $+#6.

God had in a very uniue waygiven me a different way ofepressing the difference between a&hristian and a non9&hristian, and soI put the opportunity to them to eitherbe a gold plate for God or a garbagecan 2and to make it interesting, I

added *with maggots in it6. I invited

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them to a meeting on :aturday night

where Id be speaking to the youth ofthe city in a citywide crusade, and assoon as I came in on :aturday nightseveral people came running overand said, *$ay off that kid in the

front row because hes out to get you.Hes the dope pusher in the school*nd all " said was, *$ord, did 8ouhear thatD

gain I spoke to the young

people telling them of the abundantand eciting life of a real &hristian,and again challenging them at theend with the scripture uoted above,and asking them what they wanted to

be! L *a gold plate for God or agarbage can filled with maggots. Ilet them pray the little sinners prayerasking God to forgive them andasking &hrist to come into theirhearts silently, but it seems to mewhen we Eoin the royal family of Godwe ought to let the world know aboutit, so I challenged them with thestatement! *#he apostle "aul said, KIam not ashamed of the gospel of

Fesus &hrist, and if you prayed that

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prayer, you wont be ashamed of the

gospel either, and you wont beashamed to tell the world, so whichone of you has got the guts to standup and say, *I prayed that prayer.

&ould you guess who was the

first one who stood up because I hadchallenged his manhoodD Foey was%Foey, the one I had been told to layoff of because he was out to get me%My heart really Eumped with Eoy.

Many of the young people prayed toreceive &hrist that night, but asalways, there are those who prefer toremain outside the kingdom of Godbecause they think it means *giving

up so much.I happen to love teen9agers in avery special way, because I thinktheyre only searching for the answerto life, and in many ways we adultshave failed them, so theyre lookingin the wrong places for the way to fillthe God9shaped vacuum in theirlives, only because we havent shownthem the right places in the rightway.


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I talked to many of the kids who

hadnt accepted &hrist, but had aspecial burden for two of those whohad not. 5ne was a lovely little girl,fifteen years old, who had dabbled inse, dope, liuor, and cigarettes. It

was heartbreaking to imagine whatcould happen to a darling little girllike this. 4hen she started to leave, Iput my arm around her, kissed her onthe cheek, and said, *Good night, you

little garbage can. I love you anyway,but I hope you dont sleep a winkuntil you get right with God.

nd then there was a young manwhom I grabbed and hugged, and

then kissed with this good9nightremark! *Good night, 4alter, I loveyou, and hope youll be miserableuntil you get right with God.

I had asked the kids to come tochurch the net morning, but they alloffered ecuses, so I went home andreally prayed that God would dealwith them during the night and bringthem to church the net morning, andwhen I got to church, guess what I

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church were occupied by about

thirty9five of these kids, and right inthe middle of all of them was Foey% Iwinked at him to let him know that Isaw him, and he patiently sat throughthe invocation, the scripture reading,

the prayer, etc., but when I got up tospeak, he couldnt stand it anotherminute, and after I said about twosentences, he yelled out! *Hey, /ranOand he began pointingP, I want ya to

get dis one, and dis one, and dis one,and dis one, and dis one, and dis one,and dis one, as he pointed outeveryone who had not accepted&hrist. :pecial note! ll the *saints

in the church fell off their pews% Godhad truly raised up a :aul of #arsus% Isaid *5.C., Foey, Eust rela, Ill KgetKem in Eust a little while.

Invitation time came and Foeyprobably thinks that Im the onethats responsible for the conversionof all the kids, but God used Foey in abeautiful way to show these kids aliving &hrist, but 4alter was stillstanding in the pew hanging on for

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I walked to the back and was shaking

hands with the congregation when4alter came by. I grabbed him andsaid, *Get over here, you littlegarbage can, I want to talk to you.nd like a meek little lamb, he came

and stood right beside me. 2Itsamaing what you can say in thepower and love of God.6

s soon as I had finished shakinghands with everyone, I turned to

4alter and said, *4alter, dont youwant to be a &hristianD nd 4altersaid, *1o you want me to tell youwhat you did all night longD 8ouchased me. . . up one alley and down

another, up another and downanother, and finally you caught me,and threw me into a garbage can, andI dont want to be a garbage can anymore.

I really said, *"raise the $ordand asked him if he wanted to prayright there or if he wanted to go tothe altar. He said he wanted to go tothe altar where his friends hadprayed, and so we did, but as we

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aisle of the church, I heard a loud

whistle 2the kind you make with yourfingers in your mouth6, and I heardFoey say as he was triumphantlymarching down the aisle! *&ome on,fellows, 4alters gonna really get

it% #hey somehow or other formed asemi9circle around 4alter and me aswe prayed, and the minute 4alterfinished praying and I said,*4elcome into the royal family of

God, Foey ran up, put out his handand said, *Arother, put Ker there%&an you imagineD *Arother, put Kerthere% How did Foey know eceptthe :pirit of God had revealed it to

him.4e had another service the sameafternoon and Foey brought abouttwenty more kids. 4e saw kids withbrands 2freshly burned6 on the backsof their hands pray to receive &hrist,and then Foey began to talk to us aswe were leaving to go on to anothertown that night. 3citedly he askedme if he could start a Gold "late &lubin his high school because he said he


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wanted to clean out all the garbage

cans that were there.God had really raised up a :aul

of #arsus in the midst of a realrunning battle with the devil himself.Foey said to me, *4hen you told me

last night that God had forgiven mysins, I thought that was nice, butwhen I woke up this morning andrealied that God had forgiven all mysins, I realied for the first time in

my life I was /=33, do you hear meDIm /=33, /=33, /=33. nd Irepeated that beautiful verse in theAible, *8ou shall know the truth, andthe truth shall set you free%

More People

I am convinced over and overthat God works in many mysteriousways, His wonders to perform, andGod uses all different types ofsituations and people to bring aboutHis miracles? and often times Heholds us right down to the wire tomake His answer even moremiraculous.


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&harles and I had been to an all9

day retreat high in a beautifulmountain setting. 4e had shared forabout ten hours the miracles that&hrist was doing in our life, andtrying to share with others how to

really grow in &hrist, how to learn togive *all to God to discover theabundant life that &hrist offers tothose who will believe.

5ne of our greatest Eoys is being

able to share daily miracles that Godis doing =IGH# +54 and toencourage others to find the samebeautiful, but narrow road. 4e hadbeen unusually blessed as the

presence of God enveloped the entireroom. #here were probably ')(people present and the uarters werevery cramped. 3veryone was sittingon the floor in their casual clothes,and it was a real intimate situationwhere the reality of &hrist could benot only discussed but His verypresence felt by all concerned. It wasone of the most beautiful days of mylife. It was about fifteen feet from the

room where we were sharing to the


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dining room, so there was no time for

privacy or talking to anyone alone, soeveryone shared their burdens andEoy before everyone else and it was agreat time of growing for allconcerned.

#he windup of the retreat was abanuet which was to be over at ;".M. I had talked so much during theten9hour retreat I was etremelysilent during the meal and was Eust

listening to those around me. boutten minutes till seven I realied thatin Eust ten minutes someone would bepicking us up to take us to our netspeaking engagement, which was

two hundred miles away, so Idecided uickly that Id better ecusemyself from the banuet and go tothe little girls room.

+ow watch what happened% /orsome reason or other 2you dont thinkit could have been God, do youD6 Iturned to a lady I had not said a wordto, and asked her, *4ill you pleasetake me to the rest roomD :he gaveme a most startled look, but

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that is unusual is the fact that Im

really a grown woman and perfectlycapable of finding a rest room bymyself, but somehow or other, Godhad led me to ask the woman sittingnet to me to take me. 4e got up and

left the banuet hail, and starteddown a long corridor which led to thedorms when she said, *"m new heremyself, and I dont know my wayaround, but Ill be glad to help you.

s we got part way down thehail, we discovered the rest room,which was occupied, and about tenladies were standing outside. +owthe normal thing to do would be to

stand in line and be number eleven,wouldnt itD Aut for some reason orother 2again you dont think it couldhave been God, do youD6 I got a realbrilliant idea and said, *@suallyplumbing runs in a straight line and Iwonder if there could be another restroom on the second floorD $ookingback, I can see it had to be Godbecause Im not smart enough toknow anything at all about plumbing.

:he said, *I dont know, but Ill go


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what makes you so emphatic about

that right at this particular moment.#he following story is what she

told me!Her husband had been killed and

her world caved in and she decided

there was no hope where she wasconcerned, so she put her children tobed and told them good9bye anddrove up on the top of a mountain, todie. #he woods were shut down

because of the forest fire, so therewouldnt be any workers up there.:he was crying, cursing, saying,*5.C., God, where are 8ouD If 8oucare so much, where are 8ouD

:he said she had believed therewas a God ever since she first heardof Him, but had seen more of thedevils works since then and alwaysfelt she had to fight her own battlesin the way she was raised. #hroughstubbornness not giving in, notuitting. Aut she was uitting whenshe went up on the mountain. :hesaid, *If God had a plan for me Hewas going to have to get me off the

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mountain and make me know what

the plan was.fter sitting in her car, which had

run out of gas, in the sub9eroweather for seventeen hours,normally she would have been dead,

but somehow God in His loveshielded her from the cold and eventhough she was in an area where noone could have been epected to be,the net morning a car drove up the

deserted road, saw her car coveredwith snow, got out, discovered thepartly froen body of a woman, andtook her down to the hospital in thevalley, where she recovered from the

effects of the cold. God wouldnteven let her die%:omehow or other in a way she

doesnt really know, God sentsomeone to invite her to a retreat 2theone where I was to speak6 and eventhough she didnt want to go, shewent. s &harles and I came in withour ecitement about Fesus &hrist,Im sure we must have turned her offcompletely, talking about Gods love

and what He wanted to do in the life

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of every person there, and as she

studied us, she threw out a fleece.:he had sied up the situation andrealied it was an impossibility to beable to talk to either of us alone, soshe really put God to the test by

saying, *5.C. God, if 8oure real, letme have a chance to talk to thatwoman $5+3 before the retreat isover. nd God had taken her all theway down to the wire, because in

five more minutes we would havebeen gone forever out of her life, butthere9 she was, and there I was, andwe were alone on the second floor ofa retreat house.

bout this time I heard the noiseof the banuet breaking up, and Iremembered her fleece to God about

talking to me $5+3, : Ihurriedly glanced around, saw abroom closet at one side of the hail,grabbed her by the arm and said,*Get into the broom closet so we canpray% 2fter all, the Aible does saygo into the closet and pray, doesntitD6

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#here, amidst brooms and mops

and buckets and pails, the tears of Eoyflooded her soul because she realiedthat God had answered her prayer,and she prayed and asked God toforgive her of her unbelief and she

asked Fesus &hrist to come into herheart. My tears really Eoined hers asboth of us realied the awesomeability of God to whom *all thingsare possible.

:he wrote me a beautiful letterafter this happened, and I want touote Eust a little part of it to you!

*4hen I threw out my fleece andwent up on the mountain I didnt

want to die I Eust didnt want to livethe way I have for the past threeyears in limbo. I felt like a big toad doing nothing but sitting on a rock,and I was real ripe for the devilstemptations.

* year ago I took him up onthem. #o uote you, KI was sinningand loving every minute of it. Ididnt have anything else to do. I feltlike I was losing my soul, because no

matter what ecuses I made up, I

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knew God did not approve of what I

was doing, so I went up on themountain, way up, as far as I couldgo with the little gas there was in thecar. 4ell, God got me off themountain. 4hen I met you ten days

later I felt like I got a little piece ofmy soul back.

*#he net day I went over my listof sins and since I had decided myworst sin was cussing, I was standing

in the shower that morning, and I didlike you said, took all my nastywords, raised them up to God,opened my hand, turned it over andwatched them all run down the drain

2so I thought6. /or twenty9four wholehours not even one little cuss wordslipped out.

*I really felt big. #hought I hadthe answer to all my problems raisethem up, turn them over, and watchthem run down the drain. @ntil thenet day a little word slipped out.Fust a little one, didnt think Godwould notice. #hen it got to be acouple a day. I really got disgusted

with myself and figured even God

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I want to share it with a lot of people.

:uch is this letter, which is sharedwith the permission of the personwho sent it to me. $isten to bow sherefused to hear when God called her,how she fought it, then how she

finally gave in, and look whathappened. Maybe this is one thatshould be under the title ".#."..2"raise the "eople nyway6 becauselook at how persistent God had to be

in calling her to be His very own.

Dear Frances,

P2*"3 TH3 425 " could

write that a million times and it

wouldnt be enough. !od isFabulous and " want to than$ Himfor using you to bring me home. 6ouhelp so many that maybe you wontremember me but " pray to !od thatyou will. " belong to the churchwhere you spo$e last 7ednesday. "was introduced to you as president ofyour area fan club.

Friday e#ening " attended yourmeeting in the ne8t town, unday

morning after you spo$e " wal$ed

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right into the arms of esus +hrist. "

want to tell you e#erything that ledup to this miraculous moment in mylife. " pray it will not ta$e too muchof your time to read. 6our time is#aluable for the ord.

" was raised in a church9denomination not important: whichto my $nowledge did not tell us theplan of sal#ation. " attendedfaithfully, so " belie#e that " would

ha#e heard it sometime.*fter marriage " /oined my

present church, which was myhusbands church. That was about

(& years ago. " heard about

sal#ation then but didnt li$e theidea.*fter really getting in#ol#ed

with church acti#ities 9of all people "was put on our +hristian 3ducation;oard, which appoints teachers anddecides on materials:, " began to feel#ery needy. omething was missing5" began to search, ma$ing the

common mista$e of loo$ing at others." thought if they were really

+hristians 9which they professed:, "

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didnt want it. " $new " should be

loo$ing up but it /ust didnt wor$ thatway.

7hen our new pastor came "started in a ;ibleT because " li$ed toread. They didnt reali?e " wasnt a+hristian. " reali?e today that !od

was desperately trying to find

4=34@3 who " belie#ed was thetype of +hristian " wanted to be. "was gi#en two more of +atherine=arshalls boo$s to read by a+hristian friend. They ga#e me Auitea boost.

4ne day " was at our boo$store. . . 9" cant remember why: buta cler$ there recommended a boo$.

!od is Fabulous by Frances!ardner 9recogni?e this:B " brought

it home and read it straight through.

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This Frances !ardner had some

thing. Then " read !o, =an, !o5*fter reading the second boo$ " wasreally thrilled. Here was a personwho really had esus +hrist as herpersonal sa#ior. " was searching for

someone who had had a +hristiane8perience and thought it was worthletting the world $now about. @ot asyou say, a ecret er#ice+hristian.% Hot ine to Hea#en

came along and with it atan tellingme that maybe this woman could /ustwrite well. atan failed. " reallybelie#ed you were sincere.

Then the boo$store owners came

home from the boo$ sellerscon#ention and told me, Frances!ardner is /ust li$e her boo$s.% "heard the tape of your speech and "/ust couldnt wait for this esus.7ell, " did wait, re#i#al meetingscame to our church, " attended threeor so. 4ne night " did get my hand upfor needing prayer.

" as$ed +hrist to come into mylife and e8pected something great.

@othing happened. " then got a copy

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of the - piritual aws which said

you didnt always ha#e a feeling tilllater and not e#eryones e8periencewas the same. " belie#e " finallyaccepted this. Then all of a suddenyou were coming to our town and

wanted to spea$ instead of /ustautographing boo$s. " belie#e thiswas an answer to prayer.

" heard you and +harles and thenwas able to tal$ to you a few minutes

afterwards. " really belie#ed thisrelationship of yours with !od.

Friday e#ening, wanting to cometo the town where you were

spea$ing, " said, !od, if 6ou want

me to go, ha#e someone as$ me togo. " was planning to dri#e. "e8pected the telephone to ring."nstead, my twel#e


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mention it when he comes home.% He

did... another coincidenceB He said "had mentioned it in the morning butit was still an answered prayer.

7e arri#ed /ust before yourunday


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that song. 7hat a relief, but then we

had to sing another one, part of thechorus a#ior while on others thouart calling, do not pass me bye% Theold heart was pounding.

6ou said !od, let them $now if

they ta$e the first step, 6ou will ta$eall the rest of them.% =ore heartstuff5 " prayed 9by this time we werethrough with the third #erse of thissong: !od if we sing the fourth

#erse "ll go up.% 7e sang it and "didnt go5 7e sat down while youwere counseling. =y heart sloweddown. " prayed, 4h, !od if " could

be sure " was going to the altar

because of 64> and not because "admire this woman so much " wouldgo.% *s you say, 747.% " thoughtmy heart was beating hard before. "$new " was going to ha#e a heartattac$ right there if " didnt getmo#ing. " got up 9" didnt reali?euntil later " was the last one to gothat morning:. " remember standing

up and ne8t $neeling at the altar. *ll" could thin$ of was 4h !od, "

finally made it% o#er and o#er.

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Then you came to tal$ to me,

Praise the ord and pass the tissue. "dont belie#e !od wanted me to crylong then, He wanted me to hearwhat you said. 9The tears came onthe way home.: P.T. you said

7hat do you wantB% and "answered, +hrist in my life.% 6ouled me in prayer then ga#e me somead#ice.

Then you made a mo#ement

which made me loo$ full in your face9" had been loo$ing at you beforethis:. " cant really describe this, butthe lo#e of !od was shining forth

from your face and you said, *rent

you glad you#e comeB% " felt li$e!od was spea$ing. " suppose yousaid something after that. " dont$now.

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night long and Im so tired I can

hardly move. #he fish Eust arentaround tonight. Im going home andsleep and see what I can figure outmyself to catch some fish. 5r, *#hislake is all fished out, so maybe Ill

have to make my living some otherway.

#hats what so many of us do.4e dont trust the little nudgings thatGods Holy :pirit gives us, we let the

devil get in there with his negativeideas, and find ourselves defeated,because trust in the devil is alwaysdefeat% Aut think what :imon said and he said it so simply, because he

eercised his faith! *If you say so,well try again. He believed Fesus.He kept his eyes on &hrist and not onthe problem. He kept them on the onewho can solve the problem andkept them off the problem.

8esterday I saw a woman in awheelchair and I felt a tremendousurge to pray for her because I believeGods Holy :pirit spoke to me aboutthis. However, because I had never

seen her before and she was black, I

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hesitated and this is when the devil

really came in and I thought,people will think Im nuts if I go upto an utter stranger and ask her to letme pray for her, and so I didnt, butall night I couldnt get her out of my

mind because I felt that God wantedsome available person to perform amiracle through her whether it washer body, mind or soul, I do notknow, and I became unavailable

because the devil put fear in myheart, but I believe God gives usopportunities all the time formiracles, and we turn away.

I asked God to forgive me and

have prayed that I will never again beguilty of turning away from amiracle. How many miracles haveyou turned away fromD 1oes Godcontinually have to say about you*"raise the "eople nyway becauseyou ignore the opportunities He givesyou to be in the miracle business tooD

I received in the mail a letterfrom a young girl who had heard mespeak and she went back to her

pastor and told him some of the

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things I had said and some of the

miracles I had related, and he said,*+o one can be that close to God%:he wrote to me asking if I reallywas as close to God as I sounded. Iassured her that all of us could be as

close to God as we wanted to. I alsofelt that as long as her pastor had theidea he has, and doubt is in his mindabout closeness to God, he will neverbe that close to God.

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CHAPTER 9

Praise the Lord

Right Where You Are!

I F@:# A@AA$3 over with real

Eoy of knowing Fesus &hristpersonally, and Im sitting herehumming to myself *#heres F58 inthe $ord, there is Eoy in the $ord%but why is it so hard for some of usto findD 5ver and over people tell methey wish God would use them likeHe uses me, and I began to wonderwhy God doesnt use all of us to thesame degree, and a little idea beganformulating in my mini

4hen I first found &hrist, andrealied what He had saved me from,I was so ecited all I could thinkabout was sharing this with myfamily, which is eactly what God

called me to do, and I was delightedwith this fabulous opportunity Hehad given me, so, to the best of myknowledge and understanding at thattime, I shared this with those I loved

most :ome of them are &hristianstoday, some are not, but" was happy,

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because " was doing what !od called

me to do.#hen one day God opened my

eyes a little bit wider, and remindedme that the printing company which Iowned at that time was in a shopping

center, and It took me by surprisethat God was going to give me such abig area to cover, but I gulped andsaid, *ll of this, Eust for meD nd Iset about sharing &hrist with the

people in the center where I worked.#his was really a big Eob for me atthe time, and ( was happy, because "was doing what !od called me to do,and in the small little world of a

single shopping center I was obeyingGod.#hen came another day when

God opened my eyes even wider, andI saw the entire town of Cendall,/lorida, which is where I lived whenI became a &hristian, and I said,*#hank 8ou, $ord, youve reallygiven me a AIG Eob this time, havent8ouD I even told my pastor that Icould share &hrist every day of my

life as long as I lived, and never be

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#hen came a little nudge one day

which said, *How about the wholestate of /loridaD nd I said, *4ho,meD #hen I went on to say, *I cantdo that because rye got a business,etc., but nevertheless I heard the

small still voice of God whisper*8ou, so ' said, *5.C., God, ifthats what 8ou want for my life, Illdo it and so I was once again happyas new doors opened up in front of

me I had a wonderful time sharing in/lorida over the weekends, and sawmany eciting things happen, andprobably the most eciting to me wasthe miracle I saw happen as God

began to use me in bigger ways thanI had ever dreamed of, so I continuedhappy because ' was doing what Godwanted me to do.

#hen came a day I couldntbelieve% God whispered, *8ou canhave the whole @nited :tates andthis time I really couldnt believe itwas God speaking to me, so I threwout a fleece which God answered,and all of a sudden, there I was

speaking in churches, youth

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conventions, state camp meetings,

etc., all over the @nited :tates, and Iwas happy, because I was beingobedient to God. ll I could think ofwas the work God had cut out for meto do by giving me all of the @nited

:tates, and I knew Id never be ableto finish it in my lifetime, but ' washappy because to the best of myknowledge and ability I was doingwhat God, had called me to do.

#hen in His wonderful way. Godreally answered a lifelong dream ofmine. I had always wanted to visitHawaii, and came that day when Godcalled me to Hawaii. I might have

really uestioned God this time,because the invitation to visit Hawaiiwas accompanied by a letter whichsaid, *fter reading your book Hot$ine to Heaven. where you tellpeople to pray AIG, we prayed AIGand are asking God to send you toHawaii. However, we can only offeryou Q)(..>>. which is our standardspeaking fee, but would you pleasepray and see what God says to youD

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4e prayed, and God said Go%

However, God said not only that Ishould go, but that I should take myentire family on a guarantee ofQ)(.>>. but he also whispered *trustMe, and so in faith believing, we

charged almost Q','>> worth ofairline tickets and asked God for Eusttwo things, one thousand souls whilewe were there, and enoughhonorariums to pay our plane fares.

nd God honored both reuests in amost unusual way.

#hen came a call to "anama, andI might have said, *God. 8ou dontreally mean the whole world, but I

didnt uestion God, but continued todo what God called me to do in thebest way I know how, and because ofthis I was happy.

+ow why have I always beenhappyD Aecause I have been satisfieddoing what God called me to do.$ook back very carefully at thebeginning of this chapter, and seewhat I did first% I went to the firstones I thought of my family% nd

please remember that each time God

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opened a wider horion to me, I had

done the Eob He had previously givenme to do, +1 I 4: H""815I+G I#. :o many times we wantGod to *promote us in our ownthinking to binger and better Eobs, or

at least Eobs in our own mind whichare bigger and better, but whathappens so many times is that Godcant give us any bigger Eob until wehave done the first thing Hes called

us to do.#here would be far greater Eoy in

the entire &hristian world if wewould first do what God calls us todo, without being concerned about

something *bigger and *better, ifwe would Eust realie that weve gotto be obedient to the first little EobGod gives us to do. I often think ifGod had called me to spend myentire &hristian life scrubbing thefloor of a church, Id have beenhappy doing it, because I would havebeen doing what He wanted me todo, so why dont you ask yourself auestion right now! *m I happy

because Im doing what God wants

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me toD If not, why dont you and

God have a little chat and you askHim right now what your present Eobis.

1ont be surprised If the firstlittle task God gives you is to talk to

someone about their soul, becausethats the only real Eob He has evergiven us, and regardless of what Godcalls you to do, the ultimate purposebehind it is to point people to &hrist,

regardless of whether you are a:unday :chool superintendent, a:unday :chool teacher, choirdirector, or Eust a member of achurch, remember all Eobs that you

assume should point to the one mainthing the soul of man.1ont tell God you cant talk to

someone about their soul, but do it tothe best of your knowledge andunderstanding at the present time andyoull be happy because youll beoccupying the little niche that Godhas prepared Eust for you.

#hink of the story of the talentsas told in Matthew in the C&th

chapter 2$+#6. *gain, the Cingdom

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of Heaven can be illustrated by the

story of a man going into anothercountry, who called together hisservants and loaned them money toinvest for him while he was gone. Hegave Q(,>>> to one, Q),>>> to

another, and Q',>>> to the last dividing it in proportion to theirabilities and then left on his trip.

*#he man who received theD&,000began immediately to buy and

sell with it and soon earned anotherD&,000. #he man with Q),>>> wentright to work, too, and earned anotherQ),>>>. Aut the man who receivedthe Q',>>> dug a hole in the ground

and hid the money for safekeeping.*fter a long time their masterreturned from his trip and calledthem to him to account for hismoney. #he man to whom he hadentrusted the D&,000 brought himQ'>,>>>. His master praised him forgood work. K8ou have been faithfulin handling this small amount, hetold him, Kso now I will give youmany more responsibilities. A3GI+

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#H3 F585@: #:C: I HB3

::IG+31 #5 85@.*+et came the man who had

received the Q),>>>, with the report,*:ir, you gave me Q),>>> to use, andI have doubled it. KGood work, his

master said. K8ou are a good andfaithful servant. 8ou have beenfaithful over this small amount, sonow I will give you much more.

*#hen the man with the Q',>>>

came and said, K:ir, I knew you werea hard man, and I was afraid youwould rob me of what I earned, so Ihid your money in the earth and hereit is%

*Aut his master replied, K4ickedman% $ay slave% :ince you knew Iwould demand your profit, youshould at least have put my moneyinto the bank so I could have someinterest. #ake the money from thisman and give it to the man with theQ'>,>>>. /or the man who uses wellwhat he is given shall be given more,and he shall have abundance. Autfrom the man who is unfaithful, even

what little responsibility he has shall

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be taken from him. nd throw the

useless servant out into outerdarkness! there shall be weeping andgnashing of teeth.

$ook what the Aible says to thefirst man about having been faithful

in handling the small amount. Hewas given many moreresponsibilities. nd then the order to*begin the Eoyous tasks I haveassigned to you.

Aut then look what happened tothe man who was given the smallestamount, or the smallestresponsibility, and what did he dowith itD +othing L absolutely

nothing% 1id he get *promotedbecause his first task was so menialhe did nothing with itD +ope, whatlittle he had was taken away fromhim and given to the one who had themost, and reread what the netsentence says about the abundancebeing given to the one who uses wellwhat he is given, but pity the manwho is unfaithful, because even whatlittle responsibility he has shall be

taken from him.

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nd it so specifically says to

begin the *Eoyous tasks. God wantsto give each one of His abundant lifeso that we can say *"raise the $ordand even *"raise the $ord nywaywhen the going is rough, but how can

He give it to us when we are notobedient to HimD Gods love is notconditional upon our works, andtheres no uestion about that, butGods blessings and Eoy are

abundantly bestowed on those whoare obedient to Him.

4ell, is it time for anotherconference with GodD Fust askwhats the first thing He wants you to

do. nd then lets go ahead and do it,and epect all kinds of miracles tohappen because they will.

I Eust happened to look back atthe opposite page of my Aible, andcould hardly contain myself as twoverses Eumped out at me from the)0th chapter of Matthew, verses 07and 0; 2$+#6. *Alessings on you if Ireturn and find you faithfully doingyour work. I will put such faithful

ones in charge of everything I own%

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#hats Gods promise% 1o we

dare stand still Eust inside the door, ordo we hurry to find all that Hes gotfor usD Im selfish, because I wanteverything that Gods got for me, socome Kwith me, will youD $ets find

all the love and Eoy and peace andcontentment that God has for thosewho love Him.

CHAPTER 10

Praise the Lord

For His Abiding Love!

#heres always an urgency as Iwrite the last chapter of a book to besure that nothing has been left out,

and as I reread how God wants towork in and through us, Imreminded we have to believe that *Ifany man be in &hrist, he is a newcreature! old things are passed away?

behold, $$ things are becomenew. 4eve got to believe that Fesus&hrist can rid us of our hang ups, ourold nature, our old gripingdisposition? weve got to believe that

Fesus &hrist can make a totally newcreature out of us. 4eve got to

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believe that, even in the midst of the

most adverse circumstances, Godloves us, and because we are newcreatures with a new nature this ispossible.

Aut another thought Eust flashed

through my mind. Maybe right nowsome are reading these pages and notunderstanding why their life has notbeen transformed or why they are notnew creatures, in spite of having

gone to church all their lives. Is&hrist really in your heartD Have youever made a real commitment toHim, and Eust simply asked Him tocome into your heart and take over

your life and make a new creature ofyouD If not, before you read this lastchapter, why dont you do itD

bout two and a half years beforeI met my beloved husband, he wasaware that after attending church allof his life and fulfilling everyposition possible in the church, hewas still not a *new creature. Howhis life was transformed and thecircumstances which could have led

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to great defeat became victorious are

told in this chapter.&harles had a tremendous burden

to complete this before we weremarried, and he sent me one of thetwenty copies he mailed out. I want

to share it with you with a prayer thatyou will look beyond the humansorrows in this and discover howGod made a new creature out of himthrough a series of remarkable

circumstances. He has never put atitle to it, so " have very simplycalled it

A TI!"T# T$ %$&

'y Charles #. ()nter

4hat a mighty God we serve,when we really serve Him% #hiscould be a sad story with a bitterending, but because it is a relating ofa series of real, living events Goddirected in every small detail, it is astory of many thrilling and Eoyfuleperiences in the lives of two peopledeeply in love with each other, but

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more deeply in love with our $ord

Fesus &hrist and our God.Feanne and I were married Fune

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loose of himself and let God work

through him.Including time away from home

for military service, Feanne attendeda small church in Houston, #eas, forforty years of her forty9five years on

earth. My church *work also lastedabout forty years. In 5ctober '


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church met at 7!0( M. each

4ednesday for breakfast, devotion,and prayer at the church altar. #hiswas a great inspiration to me to seeabout a hundred or more menkneeling before God to start their

day. fter 3aster I found this to be aregular prayer group of eight totwelve men meeting for coffee anddoughnuts before a devotional talkrotated among the men, and then

prayer.It was in about May '


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I recall in my prayer of asking

God to take both Feannes and mylife completely 2spiritually6 and if Hewanted to take her or my life2physically6 to do that, but at any costto make us like He wanted us.

+early a year later, on a :aturdayin late March, I read the '0th chapterof $uke four times and nothingwould register. 5n :unday morning Itold myself I wouldnt attempt that

chapter again and started reading the'(th chapter, but couldnt go beyonda few lines. #he Holy :pirit seemedto say go back, so I did and althoughI had read this many times before,

this time the )(th to the (th versessaid in Gods words eactly what Heepects if we want to be His1isciples among other things itaffirmed that I must put &hrist as farabove my love for Feanne as love isabove hate.

Feannes surgery on Fune )>,' the doctorreleased her to go to Indiana with

me? to climb mountains, swim, or

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anything she felt like. /or four

wonderful months, she had apparentperfect health.

bout the middle of +ovember,Feanne started gaining weight rapidlyand +ovember )), '


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committed her fife to God. #he net

#uesday our pastor visited us andFeanne told him that she was healedspiritually and that it wasntimportant whether she was everphysically healed, although she

wanted to be. :he talked to him abouthow perfect our love had been forour twenty9seven years of marriageand that we had been abundantlyblessed, that she had received more

happiness from this than most peoplewho live many years longer.

I heard our pastor comment toothers later, that whether Feannewould ever be physically healed, she

was already spiritually healed andthis was all that really mattered.5ne night a few weeks after

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