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My StoryThis is something new that we hope you like. This is a place to share stories of answered prayer or how God is working in your life. If you would like to share something here, please submit it to the church office. It helps everyone to hear about how God is working in your life, so please use this space to share with others what God means to you or what God has done for you.  Ice Storm LessonTuesday, February 24, 2009 On January 27 we had snow and ice. The ice took down many trees and branches as well as our phone lines and electric power lines. We live in a cell phone dead zone so our cell phones only work occasionally. How isolated we felt! It took most of one day for our grandsons to dig down the drive way so we could go to town for gas to run our generator. Unfortunately we only have enough gas cans to run the generator during the day till around 9:00PM. Then we just went to bed and covered up saving the last can for morning. Our power was restored at the end of the 9th day.
Sometimes the generator would just quit for no particular reason. We learned to always have a small flash light in our pocket. We also had matches and candles out and easy to find. We learned you can make coffee by heating water on the gas stove and pouring it through a drip coffee pot. You can get along without a phone, TV, computer and hot showers if you have to. Reading in bed under the covers is just like going to camp when you were a kid. Going to the bathroom during the night reminded me of visiting my grandparents when I was small and the bathroom was in a little building out back.
Sometimes life gives us lessons and we have to recognize them for how they help us. We found we didn’t like being without power. Flipping a switch or pushing a button gives us lights, heat, refreshments and entertainment on command. We can live without it if we have to, but life is so much easier with it.
Isn’t it just like trying to live our lives without God? We can do it, but it is much easier when we have Him to give us strength and comfort. How helpless and insignificant we are without Him. This is one of those lessons to remind us to keep our faith in the Power that is always there and never fails. The storms of life may blow us around but the Power of God never fails. It is up to us to keep that Power line connected.
Loretta White Hospital MinistryTuesday, February 17, 2009 I want the credit for the results of this incident to be directed to the source from which it came, the Lord Jesus.
On November 2002 I was recovering from Aorta replacement surgery in Jewish Hospital here in Louisville . I was the sole occupant in a double room until about 11 pm. I was awakened by a number of voices in the other half of the room. From the conversation I learned that my roommate was a young man about 35 years old. The surgeon was explaining to his family, numbering about 8 or 10 members, that his heart condition was beyond medical care, other than a transplant. Therefore he could do nothing more at the present. He would be discharged in the morning and they could take him home and await a donor replacement.
After the surgeon left, there was anger and condemnation expressed by the family that this could happen. The language was obscene. After the members left I lay there wondering if I should say anything. My decision was to let it alone. But, at the same time I could hear his restlessness. I tried to go back to sleep. Something happened to me, like talk to this man. I attempted to ignore the urge, it was more like a voice, so I dozed off. Once again this sensation came to me, talk to this man. I did ignore this call and dozed off. This time the urge was more like a punch. I sat straight up.
Okay Lord but what shall I say. The "voice" said, "You start and I will put the words in your mouth". I said,"Hi neighbor, my name is Orval. I am a Christian, would you like to pray with me?" He said that would be alright. Just as promised the words came. I do not remember the words per se but this was the content. Jesus loves you and I very much, to the extent he died for you and I that we will have our sins forgiven when we confess them. He helps us when we are hurting. When you and I believe these promises we are Christians. He repeated “Amen” after me and went to sleep. His restlessness was gone!
In the morning his family returned for him. They were still mourning the dismal prognosis. But the roommate was upbeat and cheerful. Before he left the room he came to my bed and said, "If they knew what you and I know they would not be so sad"!
After I got home from the hospital I called him two times. He said he was quitting smoking and was feeling okay. The third time, his phone was disconnected. My prayer- he had been notified his donor heart had arrived.
Orval Thrush FriendsTuesday, February 10, 2009 God has always been especially close to me through friends I have. I experienced that again this past week as I have had my surgery. Even though it was elective and minor in scope, so many of you have been supportive and helpful in so many ways. And that’s just one example.
One of my very best friends for the past 25 years is someone that God just dropped into my life. We did not have a lot in common as far as interests and hobbies, and we even laugh about how different we are. We would never have hooked up in social circles, but he showed up in my church social hall one day for a district meeting and we became fast friends. I proceeded to have one of the worst years of my life. This friend counseled me and helped me and kept me afloat in so many ways. I just can’t help but believe God brought him to me to make sure I was ready for all God knew already would happen that year.
So many times when something unpleasant or even tragic has happened in my life, God has sent a friend to cushion the blow or help me through. I could not do my job without good friends to help and support me. God has always blessed me and directed me and spoken to me through friends.
Mark Shepherd AdoptionTuesday, February 03, 2009
My husband and I had been talking about adoption for quite some time. I had been thinking about the subject even as a young girl. After marriage, we talked about having children. We initially talked about having biological children, but my health problems made the subject a little scary for me. When we started talking to others who had adopted, it seemed that their situations were always about how desperate they were to give both to their own children, and when that failed, they turned to adoption. I always felt differently. I felt I was led to adopt, whether able to conceive a child or not. After much discussion of which country to choose, we started the long, daunting process of international adoption through Guatemala. Nothing seemed to be falling into place. We were told the process was long, and we would just have to be patient. We had also heard from others who had adopted that kids were simply not available in the US and as hard as it was to adopt internationally, it was next to impossible to adopt domestically. After submitting all the paperwork for Guatemalan adoption, we were given the news that the program was shut down indefinitely and our application would be put on hold. It was devastating to us. We had been praying and praying all along and thought this was the direction we were to go. One late night a the hospital where I worked, I was voicing my frustration to a social worker there. A nurse I had never met overheard our conversation and explained her sister had just left for California to complete an adoption of a baby girl. Over the next few days, I though a lot about this nurse’s sister and domestic adoption in general. After talking to my husband about it, we decided we didn’t have anything to lose by submitting an application. I got the contact info for the attorney, and we did a conference call. A week after submitting our initial paperwork, we got the news that a birth mother had read the preliminary info about us and wanted to schedule a conference call. The first question she asked us is if we went to church. That statement hit me like a bolt of lightening because I knew our prayers had been answered. After being at the birth of our daughter, we said our goodbyes to the birth mother and her family and we went our separate ways. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t thank God that this birth mother came into our lives to give us our little miracle.
Emily Faulhaber
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