Peace




	WRITE 2 THE HEART Stories that are aimed "Write 2 the Heart" January 16, 2002 Issue 011602 Cheryl Speir, Editor, moderator@write2theheart.com -------------------------------------------------------- By subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of "WRITE 2 THE HEART" You are receiving this FREE newsletter because you requested a subscription or a friend generously forwarded their copy to you. ------------------------------------------------------- There are times when you know without a doubt that God stepped in and saved you. This was such a time for my two oldest sons and me. ------------------------------------------------------- Peace, Be Still By: Cheryl Speir --------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- We bought property in the country, and had moved an old trailer on it to live in until we could build a house. There was so much to be done that David worked nights so he could have the daylight hours to do the many things that needed doing. Our two small sons were always right there to help. The dirtier the job the more willing they were to help. At the end of the day they would be so dirty that they were almost unrecognizable. One night I gave each a good scrubbing to remove the traces of their active day. I then pulled each boy out of the tub to be towel dried. You can’t help but give clean little boys a big hug and breath deeply. “There is nothing like the smell of little boys fresh out of the tub”, I thought to myself. Dressing them in their nightclothes, I began the rituals of bedtime. We read a story, said prayers and I tucked each one in telling them with a smile and a kiss, “Sweet dreams, I’ll see you in the morning“. With the boys settled, I began my own nightly preparations for bed. It had been a long day as had most since we bought our property. Each night I collapsed into bed, sleeping soundly unless I heard a cry from Chris or Aaron. As I pulled the cover over me, I turned onto my side and went almost immediately to sleep. Suddenly I jerked awake. The bedside clock said it was nearly three in the morning. What caused me to wake up? I listened for the boys, but didn’t hear anything from their room. Then I heard a crash of thunder. “Oh, it’s just a storm”, I thought and snuggled back down to return to sleep. I thought the wind sounded odd. I decided it was just the way the sound was bouncing off the sloping hills. The wind picked up and I heard what sounded like snapping limbs in the distance. I sat up in my bed as a gust of wind hit the trailer causing it to vibrate. The wind grew louder and the trailer started shaking. It started shaking so badly, that I was reminded of a boat rocking in a storm. I thought with dismay of the tie downs sitting under the trailer waiting for the weekend to be installed. The noise outside the trailer was at a roaring pitch. The trailer was rocking from side to side so hard I knew without a doubt that it was going to turn over. “My children”, I thought with my heart in my throat. I swung out of the bed and tried to stand but had to hold onto the wall to keep from falling. Their room was in the lower level of our split- level trailer. The only thing I could think of was to get to my boys. I had to hold the walls on either side of me as I went down the few steps. The whole time the trailer kept rocking harder and harder making my progress difficult. The eerie sounds the wind made got louder and louder keeping me from hearing the frightened cries I was sure would be coming from the boys’ room. As I walked into their room, I heard them crying and calling out to me, “Momma, what is happening, what are we going to do”? I had to let go of the wall to walk towards their beds, but the force of the rocking threw me onto Chris’ bed. When Aaron saw where I was, he leaped across the space between the beds landing in my lap. “What are we going to do” they kept repeating. Both little faces were looking to me for answers. I had none. I felt so helpless knowing there was no place to hide. I opened my mouth to offer comfort and heard myself saying, “We are going to pray, that is what we are going to do. Remember when Jesus spoke to the storm? We are going to do the same thing”. Comfort and peace came into my heart with those words. A calm came over them as they bowed their little heads beside me. Out loud I prayed reminding God of how Jesus spoke to a storm long ago. Then I said “now, in the name of Jesus we speak to this storm and say peace be still”. Immediately with those words the wind stopped. The trailer stopped rocking and there was no sound coming from outside. The silence was shocking coming as it did so quickly on the heals of the deafening noise we had just experienced. Together we three rejoiced in what we knew to be our divine rescue. Aaron asked for permission to sleep with his brother, which Chris gladly granted. With a joyful heart, I settled them into bed once more. I walked through the trailer and was amazed to find no damage. Some things were knocked over and scattered, but not a lot was broken. I tried to look outside to see if there was any damage but it was too dark to see anything. Early in the morning I got up to check outside. What I saw reinforced the knowledge that God’s mighty hand had indeed been upon my household. Behind the trailer, we had two livestock gates that David had propped up and set an old car hood on to use as a makeshift shed for his tools until he installed the gates. The hood had been lifted up high by the wind and tossed fifty feet cutting a path through the tops of trees like a giant saw blade before landing on the ground. In front of the trailer David’s sixteen-foot aluminum boat had been lifted up from the ground and thrown the same distance. It landed on a pen we were building for the chicks that we were expecting, smashing it beyond repair. On both sides there were downed trees and debris laying everywhere. In the middle of all this destruction, there stood the seemingly untouched trailer, not even a window broken. Hearing a car approaching, I turned and watched David drive down our long driveway toward home. I couldn’t wait to tell him, “Guess what the Lord did for us this day”! Cheryl Speir moderator@write2theheart.com -------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- FROM OUR READERS Pat Lowe has been a great encourager for me and many others on this list. When I received this email from her, I knew I had to share with those of you who will pray for her and her husband. Dear Cheryl, We could use some prayers. We had a fire Mon. afternoon that gutted one room of our house completely, thanks to God, our beloved cat, BJ, was in the livingroom. He spent a lot of time in that room looking out window, and by the grace of God, he was in with us when the fire broke out. Also, we were lucky that I was sitting here at my computer when it happened. I sit in front of the door to the room where the fire broke out, so I was aware of it immediately, called 911...Willie tried to put out the fire with the fire extinguisher, but it didn't work. We have the cat in the house by himself, and hubby and I are staying in a motel, probably for three weeks, while the house is cleaned. It filled with smoke. Fine residue everywhere. Smells like a BBQ. Willie lost almost all of his expensive fishing rods, reels, and tackle. He's pretty about that. I've not slept well, and my stomach is upset. I need to get my appetite back so I won't get sick. Well, I need to go back down to the motel. I won't be spending much time on the computer for awhile. Love, Pat -------------------------------------------------------- <>< Prayer Request For Those In Service To Our Country <>< As you read over this list of names, take the time to pray for each one and their families. If you have a request to add, hit reply and send me their name. Trey, Emmett Summers, and Eloise asks for prayer for her family members in the Armed Forces and her extended family. --------------------------------------------------------- Cheryl's Corner After many phone calls and emails on my part, I finally received two emails telling me my domain name was renewed for another year. I never could convince anyone to take my money. This is laughable when you know you owe something and no one will let you pay your bill! I really expected to see my site shut down. As you can see I am still up and running. Write 2 the Heart will be one year old Saturday! The very first issue, "Inlaws and Outlaws" went out to a small handful of relatives and friends. I have made many new and wonderful cyber- friends. Thank you one and all for your encouragement and friendship. Thank you for being so forgiving when I made silly mistakes. A big thanks to those of you who share your heart with us through your stories and poems. May God bless each of you! Cheryl --------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- © 2002 Write 2 the Heart Nothing may be reproduced or published without the written permission of the individual author or copyright owner.