His Little Feet: February 2012

Monday, February 27, 2012

Children's Prayers

This is my second year on tour with His Little Feet and yet again the Lord has already blessed me beyond all that I can imagine. The children have been here for almost five months and there are so many memories and moments that have brought joy, laughter, and tears.

There are moments of growth, moments we will remember fondly, and moments when the constant leading of our Lord is evident.

Time has flown by quickly thus far but I am ever so grateful for all these dear times.

I have learned much from these treasures He has entrusted to our team for this season. The prayers of these children are so precious to witness. To see them on their faces talking to the King of Kings makes me realize these children know how to pray.

Spending a few minutes with Amelework and Gracia before bedtime each night is a joy that continually brings tears to my eyes. We love talking about Jesus in mostly English, a little Spanish, and a dash of Amharic.

Our times together at night also include a lot of charades and hand expressions, and definitely tons of giggles as the girls see their Auntie trying to explain something from the Bible. We have learned about Queen Esther, how to be a proper young lady for Jesus, and how to surrender your life to the King of Kings, among many other lessons.

The most precious part is being able to pray one by one, together, in our own languages, lifting up our prayers to the Father of All. What joy!

The LORD is far from the wicked but He hears the prayer of the righteous. Proverbs 15:29

- Auntie Brooke

Day 130: A beautiful His Little Feet cake at Spring Valley UMC in Dallas, TX. Nahagi really wanted a picture with the cake.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Rescue

The following is an excerpt from Wess Stafford’s “Just a Minute: In the Heart of a Child, One Moment…Can Last Forever.”

My sportscaster friend Jerry Schemmel, now the well-known “Voice of the Colorado Rockies,” survived the 1989 crash of United Flight 232 at Sioux City, Iowa. Miraculously he emerged safe in a cornfield, relieved and standing clear of the burning wreckage…when he heard a baby’s screams still inside that smoke-filled fuselage. He dashed back into the carnage, followed the cries through the billowing smoke, and rescued a little eleven-month-old girl named Sabrina Michaelson. His story is told in his powerful book Chosen to Live.

As Jerry sat in my office reliving that story for me, I wanted to jump up and say, “Me too! That’s what I would have done!”

But would I? Would you?

Nothing grips our hearts more on the evening news, putting a lump in our throats, than watching a firefighter rescue a shivering child from an icy lake – or a bloodied soldier hoisting his wounded friend onto his shoulder and carrying him to safety amid a hail of bullets and explosions. Such acts of selfless heroism cannot be rehearsed or anticipated. That amazing spirit either resides deep within us, or it doesn’t. The drama seizes us in an unexpected moment, and we act – or we don’t – in just a minute.

There are no second chances, no coulda-woulda-shoulda options. In the instant, heroes seldom know the full significance of what they are doing. In fact, they may never know. Is this child’s life a fair exchange for my own? If I die in the process of rescuing her, will she live to achieve more than I might have? There is no time for such thoughts.

When, in retrospect, we learn years later what that child grew up to be, we say, “Wow, thank goodness!” But when we don’t know, we should also say, “Wow, thank goodness!” A life is precious for what it is, not just for what it does. The truth is that every child is valuable. They are lovingly knit by their Creator in their mother’s womb, one at a time. They are born one at a time. They live and die one at a time. And they can be rescued one at a time, usually by selfless heroes…notice, usually not by politicians, millionaires, or celebrities, but by ordinary people with extraordinary hearts.

(“Just a Minute: In the Heart of a Child, One Moment…Can Last Forever,” by Wess Stafford. Pages 21-22)