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27 January 2013

Jeanette Windle Interviewed by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Jeanette Windle

Jeanette Windle is the author of Congo Dawn along with ECPA Christian Book Award finalists Veiled Freedom and Freedom's Stand and a dozen other international intrigue releases for both adults and children. I was fortunate to meet with her in Philadelphia last summer. She is a woman who is passionate about her writing and about the issues she addresses.

Jeanette, welcome to Overcoming With God.  We appreciate your willingness to share your testimony of overcoming with our readers.  Would you tell us about the most difficult thing in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help?
I can say honestly there are simply too many to narrow down the most difficult, some that remain too painful to share in public forum (if readers really want to glimpse the most private and profound of God's mercies and overcoming in my life, read my fiction, because my protagonists invariably walk through storms and struggles that God has walked me through). However I would like to share one of the more difficult chapters in my life because it is also one of my greatest stories of God's grace and love.
My husband and I had been serving as missionaries for many years in the Andean highlands of Bolivia, South America, when we began praying for a daughter. We had three sons, our oldest Mike, our adopted son Josh who had come into our lives after many years of not being able to conceive, then our miracle son born just ten months after Josh, Stephen. With all three sons now school age, we began praying for open doors to adopt a baby girl. In the fall of 1990, God gave us a beautiful two-month-old daughter we named Tanya Elizabeth. My sons were ecstatic with their baby sister. We had a wonderful first Christmas with her. But that very Christmas night we woke up about 3AM wondering why Tanya had never cried for her feeding. That was when we discovered that somewhere in the night Tanya had died of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
I had always considered myself a strong person. There had been hardships before in my life. Growing up as a daughter of American missionaries in the guerrilla zones of Colombia/Venezuela, I'd encountered bandits, riots, political and physical threat.  As an adult, I'd endured a knife at my oldest son's throat, muggings, robberies, personal assault, more riots and unrest.
Though I'd known fear, I'd always come through, put the past behind me. I had always known God was there, recognized God's control in every situation. I was a survivor.
Then came Tanya's loss. I had no idea bottom could be so far down. It wasn't just the loss of our daughter, but of the hope of ever having another child ever. We could not have any more children. When our hearts healed enough some months later to submit our names again for adoption, a corrupt local welfare administration informed us bluntly our last attempt had made clear our missionary salary could not compete with what had become a booming black-market for international adoptions.
As the months went by, I could not push the memory and loss of my beautiful baby girl from my mind as I'd managed with every other bad happening in my life. I couldn't bear to look at little girl's dresses and dolls and hair ribbons in the open air market. I remember breaking down in tears after delivering a gift to a dear friend who after two boys had just delivered a baby girl.
What I never asked was why.' After all, why not? In the Bolivian highlands, I lived surrounded by misery. Children starved in the streets. I knew women who'd lost their entire family to disease and malnutrition. National ministry leaders who'd lost loved ones because they had no access to the medical care available to my family.
Logically I knew millions were far worse off than I. I still had a husband, three adorable sons, a roof over my head and food to eat. Like Job, I never questioned that this was God's doing, not Satan or man or just the way the world was. God was in total control, and He alone had chosen to allow this in my life. So I bowed my head and submitted, but the pain was still there and deep.
I still remember vividly the night before American Thanksgiving, 1991, when our middle adopted son Josh, who was five at the time, called me into his bedroom after lights out. The next day I'd be hosting the entire expatriate missionary community for Thanksgiving. But the day had another significance. Because of odd Bolivian laws as to age of adoptive parents, the time needed for processing adoptions, our own upcoming furlough back to the US, the next day was the absolute final deadline for our adoption of a child in Bolivia--ever! With no such possibility in sight, I had just that day laid aside my last hope that we might have a daughter .
Leaning out of his upper bunk, Josh demanded anxiously, "Mom, does God really answer prayer?"
"Why do you ask that?" I asked him.
"Because we have been praying so long for another baby sister, and we still don't have one."
What could I say? I knew the Biblical answers, and I'm sure I gave some correct parental theological response. But I wasn't so sure I believed it myself. All I knew was that God knew exactly what He was doing with my world. And that I was still hurting.
One passage to which I was drawn repeatedly at the time was Lamentations 3:19-26).  "I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (NIV)
In those words was the hope I could cling to in life's storms. Not looking back to the affliction and wandering, bitterness and gall, but forward to the love, compassion, faithfulness of our Lord, new every morning.
Is God's compassion and love for real? You bet they are! I remember vividly as I woke up the next moment thinking, "Okay, this is the day. Don't think about it. Focus on getting ready for company."
I'd taken my three sons to a neighbor for a birthday party and was stuffing chickens (no turkey!) when the phone rang. On the phone was the social worker who'd processed our first adoption.
"Do you still want a daughter?" she asked. "Because I have a baby girl here abandoned on the farm where my brother works. If you want her, you can take her directly home, and I will personally do your family court paperwork so she doesn't go into the system to be sold to the highest bidder."
When the neighbor brought my sons back from that party, their baby sister was sitting in a stroller in the front room. To this day our daughter Ellie reminds her big brothers that she is God's answer to their prayers (and sometimes they kid that they wish they hadn't prayed so hard!)
Did God have to answer my prayer?  (though, in fact, I had already given up on praying) No, He didn't. There have been times before and since then when His answer has just been 'No'. That I've simply had to endure, grieve, come through loss. But that moment when the phone rang was like God reaching down from heaven to say: "Jeanette, here's just a little something to say I love you. I have always loved you, I will always love you."
Trouble has come into my life often enough since then. It will in the future too, I know. The son who asked that question about prayer has taught me that a child wandering from God can be a worse grief than a child's death. And has taught me as well how much God loves us even when we fail because I know how deeply I love my son and how much greater God's love is than mine.
As for me, in everything that has ever come into my life since that day, one thing I have never doubted for a moment is God's all-encompassing love and compassion for me. I have always been able to look back, point at that moment, and say, "He did that just because He loved me;. If I've let Him down often enough, He has never let me down. And He won't let me down now."
Our heavenly Father's compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.


What is your favorite bible verse and why?
While again I have too many favorite verses (including the passage above) to choose just one, I do have what I call my "life verse", which God laid on my heart during my teen years. "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."--Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
This verse continues to mean much to me because I am so deeply conscious of how far I fall short of being like my Savior. In the midst of struggle when at times it seems that the good work God began of transforming me into the image of His Son is going backwards instead of forwards, the promise that one day God--and not I!--will bring that task to completion when I am at last in the presence of Jesus Christ is an anchor I can hold onto amidst any storm.
Congo Dawn
Disability friendliness: Is this latest release available in audio format or do you have any other works available on audio?  Do your e-books have audio capability? Do you have any in large print? 

Both Congo Dawn and my last title, Freedom's Stand, are available in audio-book. All of my titles are available in e-book and can be listened to through the audio function of the e-book, at least for the Kindle downloads.

What has been the most important thing you hope your readers will get from your books and why?

My ultimate goal in every book I write, however much a "thriller," is to share with the reader my own heartfelt conviction that, for all the turmoil and conflict and pain in our world, this universe does make sense and has both a purpose and a loving Creator. The scenarios in my books are only too real. But if a life spent in some of the planet’s more difficult corners has taught me more than I wish I knew about the depravity of which a godless mankind is capable, it has taught me far more of God’s overriding sovereignty and love. If I did not have the absolute assurance that the course of human history and current events as well as my own life lie in the hands of a loving heavenly Father, I would not have the nerve to research, much less write, the stories that I do.

As you researched your books, did you learn anything that particularly touched your heart?

One impact of writing each new book set in a different corner of the planet has been impelling me to more prayer for that part of the world and especially my brothers and sisters in Christ there. While writing my two Afghanistan titles, Veiled Freedom and Freedom's Stand, for instance, I will never forget sitting in a women's prayer time in Kabul (behind closed doors as is necessary under the current regime as much as under the Taliban). One woman prayed that God raise His hedge of protection around us against the power of the Prince of Persia. The hair stood up on my arms as it suddenly sank home that I was sitting literally in ancient Persia, territory of the same demonic prince (see Daniel 10) who was powerful enough to hold off for twenty-one days the angel sent to answer Daniel's prayer. Only when Michael the Archangel entered the fight was that angelic messenger able to break through. That experience above all motivated me to pray deeply and constantly for those serving the living God in the midst of such spiritual war zones in Afghanistan and elsewhere. 

In this latest work, do you have any topics useful for bibliotherapy, or therapeutic influence through reading about a disorder or situation?

The seeming paradox of an all-loving, all-powerful heavenly Father intersecting with ultimate human suffering is a strong theme in Congo Dawn, especially related to violence against women, children at risk, human trafficking. My last two Afghanistan titles, Veiled Freedom and Freedom's Stand, deal strongly with freedom of faith issues.

Thank you, Jeanette, for agreeing to answer these questions. Your testimony is one of the most powerful I have seen here on OWG!

Jeanette's books are available for purchase online and in bookstores. (Click here.)
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GIVEAWAY: Jeanette has generously offered an autographed copy of Congo Dawn to one of our readers (within North America.) 

Share the following TO ENTER: What is one of the prayers God answered for you? Leave your email address if we don't already know you well. 



46 comments:

  1. Jeanette, thank you so much for sharing this beautiful story of your life, troubles, times, and miracles.
    Years ago, God answered a prayer I didn't even know I asked. I drove around a corner of the lot at a daycare where my son stayed while I taught. As I rounded the corner, I felt an increasing urgency to stop the car and get out. I pulled over, not in my usual place, and when I did, I saw a toddler standing in the middle of the driveway, a car headed right for her.
    Through God's grace, I was able to get her out of the way just in time before the car struck her.
    I don't know how it happened, and I can explain it only as a miracle. That child is in her 20s now...alive and well and a true gift of God's grace.

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    1. Above response from Joy Ross Davis

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    2. JOY, The Holy Spirit intervenes for us and prays. And what a miracle! I think I shared with you before that my mom got me out of the highway in time to keep me from being run over. She had a scar on her arm, even when I was a young girl, that she'd show me.

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  2. This interview totally touched my heart so much! Thank you very much for being with us this week on OWG, JEANETTE, and for your transparency in sharing this terribly traumatic experience in your life.

    I had a daughter that was six yrs. old and wanted a little boy desperately. After many tests the fertility dr. said I couldn't have any more children. I wept bitterly and prayed to the Lord and asked Him for a son. After not being able to conceive for 6 yrs and being told I couldn't have any more children -- within 6 weeks I was expecting my miracle. I had my blonde haired, blue eyed little boy who has never ceased to be a blessing to me. God answers prayer and still performs miracles!

    I am looking forward to discussing your books this week, JEANETTE!

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    1. Dearest Diana: Thank you for sharing that story with us. God truly is good! Blessings, Jeanette

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    2. And I remember well, as I was there with you and we were both praying for a 2nd child--I got PG around the same time, & miscarried, only to get PG again and have my 1st daughter a couple months after Diane's son, and less than 2 years later my 2nd daughter! At that point we thought we were finished and then 4.5 years later we added another daughter and less than 2 years later our 2nd son--yes, we now have 5 children, all grown now! God is so GREAT & He knows and understands our longings as mothers. Diana & I have also experienced the heartache of a wayward teen child & understand how difficult that is for a family to experience.

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  3. What a beautiful witness of God's goodness. Thanks for sharing that. :)

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  4. JEANETTE welcome to OWG, thank you so much for sharing your magnificent story of our all powerful God. I was so blessed by it.

    God is so good and through the years He has answered many of my prayers. He healed me of asthma a few years ago.

    I haven't had the pleasure of reading your books yet but I am putting them on my TBR list! :)

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    1. Glad to hear of God's answered prayer. Will be delighted to hear your feedback once you've read a title or two. :)

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  5. I read your story with tears. Waiting on the Lord to answer what we think the answer should be is hard. But we have to move ourselves out of the picture and let God have the control He knows what is best. I'm so glad yours turned out happy. My biggest prayers turned out not in my will but God's I loss my Dad and brother to cancers. But my will would of been selfish to keep them here for my sake when they was so sic and in pain. I learned my lesson the hard way going through depression. But i did get my joy back (God). He has healed me and I now they are waiting to be with me again someday. Thanks for your story.
    Would love a chance to win your book.
    Blessings
    joeym11@frontier.com

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  6. He's helping me be patient with my health problems and keep a good attitude! Your books sound amazing! shopgirl152nykiki(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  7. Thank you for sharing your testimony with us, JEANETTE. It really brought me to tears. God is always on time when He answers prayers - most of the time when we think it is impossible. Then we can only give Him the glory!

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  8. What a great testimony! (and interview) I enjoyed reading this. I know the book will be excellent. One prayer God has answered for me is that he has never left my side! I feel his presence at all times, even in the dark, silent times.
    susanlulu@yahoo.com

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  9. It is a delight to share in your own stories of God's grace; thank you for this wonderful opportunity to visit with you here.

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  10. This was a great interview. I loved reading about the way God worked to bring your daughter into your family. I love adoption stories. God also answered our prayers and made it possible for us to adopt twin daughters through the foster care system when they were 3 years old. They are now 25 and such a blessing in our lives. He has a special plan for them and His hand in on them both. I am looking forward to reading Jeanette's books!
    Blessings,
    Carrie - carrie (at) turansky (dot) com

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    1. How special, Carrie. I too am a twin so (as Anne of Green Gables says) have always had a soft spot for them. Which is why my juvenile international suspense series is the Parker Twins Adventures; your twins are too old for those, but maybe some grandkids one day. :)

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  11. I have a big long thing I could write up about our own miraculous answer to prayer--our son who will be eleven in April. I was 44 when he was born and we'd given up trying for the second child we felt God had promised us. But we were already pregnant! PTL!

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    1. So wonderful to hear your story, Carrie. God truly does remain faithful and loving even when we've give up hope.

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  12. Jeanette your testimony was powerful. My heart broke when I read about the loss of your little baby girl. We don't always understand Gods way when we are hurting. There are times that I need to realize that God is hurting with us while we go through trials and tribulations in this life. He has kept His promise of always being there for us.
    Many years ago I lost a husband to brain cancer and while I prayed constantly for his healing it didn't happen or so I thought. God did answer my prayers just not in the way I wanted them answered. Bob's healing came when God called him home.

    A year ago today my Mom went home to Heaven. While her death was unexpected it wasn't unexpected to God. I often wonder if Mom knew at that moment she was going home. While she ate a good lunch...eating every bite I must add, she seemed restless as she struggled with her breathing. Doctors and nurses came and went. Many tests were done but yet just five hours after finishing her lunch Mom was gone. I prayed quite frequently, in previous months, that when Mom's time came for God to take her that she would go quickly. Another prayer answered.

    Blessings!
    Judy

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    1. Yes, God's answers don't always fit our preconceptions; I've always loved Paul's response at the end of 2 Timothy when he is standing alone in trial before Ceaser; he asserts faith that God will rescue him, but rescue him into His own presence, the most wonderful answer to prayer there is. Our hope in turn is that we simply will have to wait a little longer to hug our loved ones again.

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  13. What a marvelous story of God's goodness! Those are the stories to cling to during the rough times. We, too, have a mix of bio and adopted kids. Our first was born on Christmas Eve Day after ten years of trying. We have three more adopted from Kazakhstan. When things get really chaotic and I start to get stressed, my oldest (now in college), says, "Well, you got what you wanted, then you got greedy."

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    1. Have had friends pastoring, teaching at the international school, and ministering in Kazakhstan. What an adventure your journey to a family has been. :)

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  14. Jeanette, this was a tear-jerking interview. I always think of how much danger our missionaries are in and pray GOD will keep them safe. One big answer of prayer that I was blessed with a yes, was a number of years ago when my oldest brother went to the Hosp with flu signs and after some time of treatment, went into a coma. It was finally decided to move him to a big Popular in downtown Houston. First after the doctors studied the case, they decided to first detox his body of all meds he had been given and start over from scratch. After a time, the doctors was giving the family not much hope and said if he came through, he would probably have to learn to talk and walk again, and his memory not the same. Well, after numerous prayers from our big family of several generations, and after, I had just about decided GOD's answer was to be a NO this time, he just came to when I went to visit him for the first time (I hadn't been able to visit him afert the coma) They said he hadn't even responded to his wife, but when I talked to him, he opened his eyes,turned his head and looked at me. I told him I knew he would hear my loud voice(that I'm famous for) :( After that he just amazed the doctors with the way he progressed. He could talk and also walk. And, his memory was the same. They kept him in therapy for several weeks to be sure he was ok. BUT, we knew it was another Miracle from GOD. He has given our big family so many. So many accidents that he protected us, altho, several were in comas for awhile they all finally got well. When there is trouble we get our family prayer chain going. Reaches all across America from corner to corner, in the middle, and in Germany. Of course many friends and churches also. GOD is great! We have had so many miracles in this family. But, lots of losses too! I am so glad you finally got your daughter, Jeanette, and, Carrie, your son. I would love to win this book. Maxie

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    1. What a wonderful miracle. Thank you for sharing that, Maxie.

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  15. Jeanette, thank you so much for sharing. I am so sorry you lost your precious daughter to SIDS. I can't even imagine the heartbreak of losing a child. I have put your latest book on my wish list and hope to read it soon.God has answered my prayers so many times. I will just share an instance that wasn't heart-wrenching or desperate, but was somewhat astonishing. We had 3 young children, when my husband felt called to go into the ministry. He left a wonderful job, plus a successful business to go back to college. We sold our house and moved 1100 miles away for him to go to college. I went to work in a factory and he went to school full-time. It was a huge struggle. We had very little money. One month, finances were especially slim and we had no money to pay the rent. Of course, we prayed that God would provide. The last day of the month, we still had no idea where the rent money would come from, but God worked that out. On the first of the month--the very day the money was due--we received a letter from friends back home, which included a check for the exact amount of our rent. They had no way of knowing the rent amount, or that we were out of funds. It was pretty cool to have the Lord provide in that way!

    may_dayzee(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. We have an awesome God. In a lifetime of ministry, we have seen God provide so often; we've never had more than enough, but we've never had less than we need, and we've also had so many unexpected delights serving God (watching the sun come up over the Indian ocean, a herd of giraffes cross the road, the fellowship of Christian on every continent), I'd never trade it or the faith-stretching it has brought for financial stability. As I know you've discovered as well!

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  16. Wow.. thank you SO much for sharing JEANETTE. That was one incredible testimony and interview. I was so touched and blessed to read of your miracle of a little girl but as I was reading I just knew God was going to bless you with a special gift of a daughter right at the last minute. He just LOVES to bless us and answer our prayers as He loves us more than we even realize, but He does want us all to just trust Him more.

    I also got goosebumps when reading about the Prince of Persia. I often pray for the persecuted in these countries and others, and am involved with Open Doors, but reading about that has encouraged me to pray even MORE than what I do... there is a lot of spiritual warfare going on everywhere but especially in those countries. But praise God that He is greater than he that is in the world!!

    So many answers to prayer I could share but I'll share one that also shows we need to continue to trust God always, even when it's down to the wire! My sister and I had already given our notice to our landlord but nothing had worked out and 2 weeks later on the last day possible to find accommodation, we were looking in the newspaper. I knew God was going to come through, but my sister was freaking out. As I came to the last column of flat/unit rentals, I silently said to God something like, 'well I'm onto the last column now God, so you better hurry up'. Right at the bottom of the very last column was a suitable place for us!
    Isn't He wonderful?!!

    Praying for your family JEANETTE! And I will definitely be reading your book/s!

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    1. A wonderful story, and thank you for praying for the persecuted church. Being in the middle of it makes one realize how powerful prayer is, but also how powerful the body of Christ; the gates of hell shall not prevail against it is NOT a defensive stand, but an offensive one, and it is a delight to stand with the body of Christ around the world as they are kicking in the gates of Satan's domain.

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  17. Thank you for such a beautiful testimony of prayer and God's faithfulness, Jeannette.I appreciate your honesty about your struggle after the heartbreak of losing your first daughter to SIDS.

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  18. Jeanette, thank you so much for sharing your story, it truly touched my heart. It is true that watching one of your children fall away from God is heartbreaking. My son is breaking my heart right now and all I can do is pray for him. On a good note, the Lord has truly answered a prayer for me. My husband lost his job and then had a small stroke. For the past year, through hard work and a lot of prayer, he has completely recovered from the stroke and just last month, he found a job. God is good. I know that He will get my son back on track one day. Thank you for this opportunity to win your book. God bless.
    debsbunch5[at]jesusanswers[dot]com

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    1. So glad to hear your good news, Debbie. God is good.

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  19. I know that God answers prayer all the time whether we are aware of it or not.
    God answered prayer when my husband fell and broke his neck. The doctors said by all rights, he should be dead or paralyzed but he is not.
    God answered prayer when my mother who has Alzheimer's fell and broke her hip. We prayed for Divine Intervention and He answered our prayer. He took her home to be with Him.
    As we say in church, God is good all the time!
    Janet E.
    von1janet(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Yes, God is good all the time, Janet. Love your examples.

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    2. Wow, JANET!!! That is amazing! I love how God provides miraculous healing! Sometimes, as you point out in your second example, it is heaven that is needed.

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  20. G-d permits me to help others in unexpected ways. Sometimes just by saying the right thing at the right time - or not saying the wrong thing at the wrong time! Sometimes via action.

    He has granted my request for family and career ... it's the least I can try to do.

    KuligowskiAndrew (at) gmail (daht) com

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  21. It's such a pleasure to "meet" you here, Jeanette, and thank you soooo much for sharing your story with us. You can be sure that your testimony is a precious jewel to us and that you and your wonderful family will be added to our prayers. I praise God for you and your family, the faith and diligence you've exercised is amazing. You honor God with your testimony, your ministry, and with your books so thank you also for that :) I loved your answer to what you wish for your readers to get when they read your books; your entire response to this interview was inspiring and deeply touching. I'm sorry for your loss with your infant daughter, but I rejoice to know that you were able to adopt once again.

    It's also an added blessing for me to learn more about my OWG sisters with posts like this one :) Please don't enter me in this giveaway, I'm still rejoicing that I won Fairest Beauty! An answer to prayer for me would be the purpose and breakthrough I have found in being a book blogger. God is making my dreams come true one by one as a writer and I'm in awe by the grace and favor He bestows on me. He is a God that loves to answer prayers in a HUGE way and better than we could've imagined; He loves making our dreams come true :)

    Thank you once again for sharing your story with us, Jeanette, you blessed me with your testimony :) Looking forward to reading your books, hugs and blessings!

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    1. And thank you for blessing me with your response, Kara.

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  22. Carrie, a great interview. I'm looking forward to reading some of Jeanette's works. God has answered so many prayers. One of my favorite is sending me my soulmate. Hugs and Blessings, Susan Fryman susanngarrylee@yahoo.com

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  23. Oh Jeanette, I am so sorry about your sweet baby girl. I realize it was many years ago, but the sadness I am sure remains. It truly is the deepest depth of despair, to lose a child. The bottom never seems so low until then. Thankfully, God in his infinite mercy and grace, reaches down into that dark pit and grabs hold to lift us up into his Light once again.

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    1. Thank you, Anne. Yes, sorrow remains, but God's goodness far more so.

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    2. ANNE, you are the winner of the OWG giveaway of ANY of Jeanette's books, our second giveaway of the week, per random.org. But I don't think it is random. You and Jeanette share the loss of a daughter for which I am sad for both of you. But I know God is faithful and He has brought you both peace in your lives. Hugs!

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  24. Thinking bout getting to the point of feeling like God has forgotten us and right at that time, he answers prayer, "in His timing"! I can think of two such times in my life: 1st--many years ago when we moved to S. Cal. as we felt God calling us to further schooling for my husband at Melodyland School of the Bible, and we were having no luck with finding a job or a place to live. We stayed a week or so, with a family we didn't know who were current students at Melodyland, but they decided having a family of 3 (our oldest was about 18 mo. at the time) during finals was too tough on them, so we moved into a motel. One night we went to bed holding each other & crying to God, "Why did you bring us here? We did what we thought you wanted and now we don't have a job, a place to live or even money to get back home?" The next morning we were woken by a knock on the hotel door--one of the places he had applied wanted him to come to work! And after dropping him off to work, I stopped at an apt. building where they rented us an apt. the same day--in the same complex with Diana Flowers, where our friendship began!

    The 2nd time was years later, when my husband was working fr a company who didn't opay him and we were needing $20 to pay our new midwife (I was PG w/ our 3rd child) and while teaching SS a child asked us if God did miracles like the ones in the Bible today, & our response was, "Yes, He does, but sometimes it just sems like He doesn't do that so much anymore (we were feeling very discouraged). We came downstairs & found an envelope in our church mailbox, and inside was...$20 with a note saying there would be the same for several weeks! We took that as a little slap on the hand from God, saying, "See, I told you I would provide--in MY timing!"

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    1. Love your story; we've known a few of those in our lifetime of missions. God has always provided on time, but never more than enough so we don't have opportunity to stop trusting. :)

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