While all the aforementioned disability, death, pain, poverty, struggle, and sense of abandonment was going on - at the same time God was also doing some truly wonderful, amazing things in my life - that might not have happened otherwise !! This cloud really did have a "silver lining" !! In fact - several of them!!
I'm convinced that God sends some of His angels to us wearing four paws and fur coats!!
Several months before my Mom passed away - while I was still working in the public schools - I received a very precious gift that was a testimony to God's goodness in itself. I was a Teacher's Aide - also known as a "Special Education Paraprofessional" in a local elementary school (while I could still get around with a slight limp). My job was to be a full-time helper to a precious little 8-yr. old boy - who had "Autism". For those of you who are not familiar with this term, Autism is basically an extreme social/emotional/ learning type disability, which causes those who have it to completely isolate themselves "within themselves" - in other words, they have virtually no social interaction with anyone - not even with their own families. It is an extremely lonely life for them, as they have tremendous difficulty - even aversion - to communicating with others. They literally are "locked up inside themselves." They do not do any of the things we take for granted - such as smile, converse intelligibly, give gifts, show affection, receive affection from others, and they cringe when others touch them.
Such was the little guy I worked with - and came to love! I worked with him for just over a year, sitting by him in class, helping him do all his assignments, doing his prescribed physical - and as the need arose, emotional - therapy with him, and so forth. Well, even though he could not relate to people, he did have a lovely pet cat at home that he adored!! One day, his cat had a litter of kittens - and he wanted to give me two of them !! This brought tears to his Mom's eyes - and mine (!!) - when she told me about it!! Apparently, this was the first time he had ever wanted to give anyone a gift - and I have to say it was all the Lord's doing!! Somehow, God must have been using myself and the other staff at school who worked with him to bring blessing and HEALING into his little life - and we didn't even perceive it at the time!! So into my life (and home) came two little "angels in fur coats" named "Fritzi", and "Fidget" !! They were just babies you could hold in your hand at the time, but God had a very special plan for these two little furballs! Their antics kept me constantly entertained. When Mom went home to be with the Lord, and I moved back home - my Dad at first wasn't too sure he wanted cats in the house!! But, being the animal lover that he was - he decided they could stay. Long story short - they brought him a whole lot of laughter and fun in the last two years of his life!! In fact, they were even with him when he passed away in his sleep, and began meowing strangely to alert me that something had happened. In the ensuing months, literally every single time that I would start to grieve - no matter where they were in the house, or what they were doing - they would suddenly stop. It was almost as if they sent a "silent signal" to each other, saying "Oh no, she's crying again - we'd better do something silly to make her laugh!" - and that's exactly what they would do. It would suddenly become a delightful "3-Ring Circus" wherever I was, as they played the cutest tricks and did the goofiest things - and I'd start laughing in spite of myself!! I know God must have been prompting them to do that, to help me. Hey, if He could use Balaam's donkey to talk to Balaam in the Old Testament and save his life - why not??? I know I could not have made it throught the next 2 years of my life without those two little angels!!
God provided for me in many other unique ways, too - unexpected ways actually. Many times I would receive favor from a creditor - more time to pay, a lower payment amount, etc. Sometimes I would be able to sell something - and it would be enough to buy the things I needed - or pay a small bill. One of my Christian friends would often provide cat food when her kitty didn't like it (which happened a lot!!) The local Catholic church had a food program where anyone - rich or poor - could buy groceries of all kinds at a fraction of the retail price! When I had enough money, I could do this - but when I did not even have enough cash to buy from them - God always did a "Loaves & Fishes" miracle for me with the food I already had in the house! Oh, I sure didn't live on "Easy Street" - but somehow God always came through. I would pray and believe - and somehow the food would last longer and stretch farther than I could ever have imagined it would! One incident in particular will be forever etched in my heart - and I will tell you about it tomorrow!
I'm convinced that God sends some of His angels to us wearing four paws and fur coats!!
Several months before my Mom passed away - while I was still working in the public schools - I received a very precious gift that was a testimony to God's goodness in itself. I was a Teacher's Aide - also known as a "Special Education Paraprofessional" in a local elementary school (while I could still get around with a slight limp). My job was to be a full-time helper to a precious little 8-yr. old boy - who had "Autism". For those of you who are not familiar with this term, Autism is basically an extreme social/emotional/ learning type disability, which causes those who have it to completely isolate themselves "within themselves" - in other words, they have virtually no social interaction with anyone - not even with their own families. It is an extremely lonely life for them, as they have tremendous difficulty - even aversion - to communicating with others. They literally are "locked up inside themselves." They do not do any of the things we take for granted - such as smile, converse intelligibly, give gifts, show affection, receive affection from others, and they cringe when others touch them.
Such was the little guy I worked with - and came to love! I worked with him for just over a year, sitting by him in class, helping him do all his assignments, doing his prescribed physical - and as the need arose, emotional - therapy with him, and so forth. Well, even though he could not relate to people, he did have a lovely pet cat at home that he adored!! One day, his cat had a litter of kittens - and he wanted to give me two of them !! This brought tears to his Mom's eyes - and mine (!!) - when she told me about it!! Apparently, this was the first time he had ever wanted to give anyone a gift - and I have to say it was all the Lord's doing!! Somehow, God must have been using myself and the other staff at school who worked with him to bring blessing and HEALING into his little life - and we didn't even perceive it at the time!! So into my life (and home) came two little "angels in fur coats" named "Fritzi", and "Fidget" !! They were just babies you could hold in your hand at the time, but God had a very special plan for these two little furballs! Their antics kept me constantly entertained. When Mom went home to be with the Lord, and I moved back home - my Dad at first wasn't too sure he wanted cats in the house!! But, being the animal lover that he was - he decided they could stay. Long story short - they brought him a whole lot of laughter and fun in the last two years of his life!! In fact, they were even with him when he passed away in his sleep, and began meowing strangely to alert me that something had happened. In the ensuing months, literally every single time that I would start to grieve - no matter where they were in the house, or what they were doing - they would suddenly stop. It was almost as if they sent a "silent signal" to each other, saying "Oh no, she's crying again - we'd better do something silly to make her laugh!" - and that's exactly what they would do. It would suddenly become a delightful "3-Ring Circus" wherever I was, as they played the cutest tricks and did the goofiest things - and I'd start laughing in spite of myself!! I know God must have been prompting them to do that, to help me. Hey, if He could use Balaam's donkey to talk to Balaam in the Old Testament and save his life - why not??? I know I could not have made it throught the next 2 years of my life without those two little angels!!God provided for me in many other unique ways, too - unexpected ways actually. Many times I would receive favor from a creditor - more time to pay, a lower payment amount, etc. Sometimes I would be able to sell something - and it would be enough to buy the things I needed - or pay a small bill. One of my Christian friends would often provide cat food when her kitty didn't like it (which happened a lot!!) The local Catholic church had a food program where anyone - rich or poor - could buy groceries of all kinds at a fraction of the retail price! When I had enough money, I could do this - but when I did not even have enough cash to buy from them - God always did a "Loaves & Fishes" miracle for me with the food I already had in the house! Oh, I sure didn't live on "Easy Street" - but somehow God always came through. I would pray and believe - and somehow the food would last longer and stretch farther than I could ever have imagined it would! One incident in particular will be forever etched in my heart - and I will tell you about it tomorrow!
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