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Welcome To Jerry's Haven &Tell Talks. We are
so happy you have joined us. We will be sending out a
newsletter once a week and touch on different subjects as well
as including some links, poetry, and all around Christian Fun.
If there is anything that you would like to see please do
let us know. We welcome any and all comments.
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My niece Maureen was a nervous child almost from
the moment she was born. She was lovely, in a doll-like
way: long, curly, fair hair and a delicate stature. When
she was little, her shyness and wide-eyed alarm at
strange things was endearing, but as she grew up it
began to hold her back. In her teens, she remained shy
and fearful; at college, mixing tentatively with kids
was initially an ordeal.
She came to me in tears
the night before her first job. “Oh Joyce, I am so
scared I won’t be able to do what I’m expected to and
that I will let people down!”
Fortunately,
Maureen was clever and bright, and so she settled in
just fine. It was clear to us all that once Maureen
found a job where she felt comfortable, it would take
heaven and earth to move her out of it, and we were
right! She did make a few friends there and that made
her mum and me happy.
One day Maureen met Douglas
and he took to her straight away. He was a gentle lad,
and she gradually got over her shyness and they started
dating. In a year they were engaged. She was so happy,
but very nervous about her wedding, even if it was a
couple of years away. That was Maureen.
One
morning, she looked in the mirror and noticed a lump on
her breast. She told her mum and off they went to the
doctor.
He said reassuringly, “We’ll take a
biopsy, of course, but most lumps of this kind are
nothing to worry about.” Of course, Maureen worried.
When the results came back, they showed the lump
was cancerous. Maureen would need to have a
breast removed.
No one could describe what this
did to Maureen; she was so filled with fears already
that she had no reserve of courage on which to draw. She
was convinced she would die during the operation, or—if
she managed by some miracle to survive—that it would not
be successful, and she would die a little later. After
she survived the operation, she was terrified of the
treatment, ill quite a lot and still convinced she was
going to die. I knew one of Maureen’s doctors, and he
took me aside as I left her one afternoon.
“I
fear for your niece, not physically, since her treatment
is going really well. We caught her cancer early and
there is every hope she will go on and live a normal,
healthy life. I worry for her mentally: She is giving up
hope and reacting very badly to the treatment because
she thinks it will kill her. As a doctor, I cannot
ignore the power of the will to live, and Maureen almost
has a will to die.”
I spent most of that night
praying for my niece. I asked the Lord to give her
strength to overcome this, give her faith and send
someone to help her.
Typing manuscripts for
authors left me lots of free time to be with her, and I
was in her house, next door to mine, when the bell rang.
I opened the door and Robert Adam stood there, his big
burly frame almost filling the doorway. “Sorry to bother
you, I guessed you might be here.”
“Come in,” I
ushered him in, and Maureen stared in alarm as he walked
into her living room. Robert is in his fifties, an
imposing man, 6 feet, 2 inches tall, and broadly built.
He smiled at her and in his deep, lovely voice asked,
“How are you today?”
“Not too well,” she said in
a voice he could barely hear.
“Sorry, Maureen,
this is Dr. Robert Adam,” I said.
She looked up
at him, “You’re a doctor?”
“Oh yes, so come tell
me what you mean when you say you don’t feel too well,”
he said.
He sat down beside her and took one of
her tiny pale hands into both his big hands as she
spoke. She told him how sick her treatment made her and
to her surprise he nodded. “Good, good!” he said. She
talked about how weak she felt, and again he nodded and
smiled, like it was a good thing.
Finally she ran
out of words and he said, “Well that all sounds pretty
good to me, young lady. There is every indication in the
world you’re going to make a complete recovery—well,
almost complete.”
My heart dropped at that
comment, and Maureen’s face fell as she repeated,
“Almost complete recovery?”
“Well, I would have
been happier if you felt a bit dizzy now and then,
almost as if sometimes you were in the room only in
spirit, not really a part of life itself.”
“Oh,
but I do feel that!” she protested. “I feel that quite a
lot of the time.”
“You do? Oh good, then I can’t
see that you have any problems,” Robert Adam told her.
“Day by day, every one of your systems will ease a
little, not sick so often, not dizzy so much, and your
appetite will come back a little at a time. Finally, one
day you’ll look in the mirror and say: ‘That’s it, I’m
back. Now I can tackle the world!’”
Maureen
laughed up at this big man smiling down at
her.
He began to call on her a couple of times a
week. Just like he said, Maureen began to pick up,
little by little. Everything he said to her came true,
simply because Maureen believed in him. Her mind
believed him, and her body followed right behind
it.
I thanked God for pointing me in the right
direction. I also asked his forgiveness for deceiving
Maureen as well. Although Robert Adam was indeed a
doctor, I hadn’t told her he was a Doctor of Divinity
and not a medical doctor!
Two years down the road
Maureen is fine, married to Douglas and expecting her
first baby. Robert Adam has already been asked to be
godfather to the newborn. When he finally said to
Maureen that he was not a medical doctor but a man of
God, she just hugged him and said, “Well. You’re God’s
doctor, so no wonder I got better once I met
you!”
Joyce Stark (c) 2002
from Chicken Soup to Inspire the Body and
Soul |
Do you have a favorite link you would like to
share? Email Us and let us know.
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Driving
One day a boy came home from
school who had just gotten his learners permit. He said
to his dad, who was a minister, "Dad, I'd like to
discuss the use of the car."
His father said, "Well son,
I'll make a deal with you. You bring your grades up,
study your bible, and get a haircut, and then we will
discuss the use of the car.
The boy said, "Okay." A
month later the boy came back and siad to his father,
"Dad, I'd like to discuss the use of the car."
His father said, "Well son, I'm
really proud of you. You've brought your grades up.
You've studied your bible diligently. But you haven't
gotten a haircut.
The boy paused a moment. And then
said, "Well Dad, I've been thinking
about that. Sampson had long hair, Noah had long hair,
Moses had long hair, and even Jesus had long hair."
And his father said, "Yea, and
they WALKED every where they
went!" |
TROPICAL BREEZE SALAD
25 - 30 nilla
wafers
4 ripe sliced bananas
1 can dole tropical
fruit
1 small can diced pears
1 (8oz) cream cheese
(softened)
1 box instant banana pudding
1 cup of
regular cool whip (thawed)
1 container strawberry
cool whip (thawed)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups
cold milk
In a 9x9 square pan cover the
bottom with the Nilla Wafers. Overlap the wafers with
the sliced bananas. In a medium size bowl, beat the
softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1 cup regular
Cool Whip together. Layer and spread this mixture over
the bananas.
In a separate
bowl, whisk the instant pudding mix and 1 1/2 cups cold
milk together. Spoon the pudding mixture over the cream
cheese layer. Drain the Tropical fruit and diced pears
and evenly distribute over the pudding.
Finally, top
with the Strawberry Cool Whip. Garnish with any leftover
fruit or Nilla Wafer crumbs. Refrigerate.
Enjoy!
This recipe
can be prepared in a 9x13 pan or a trifle dish. Just
double the ingredients for the larger
container. |
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