Dear Editor,
My roof recently leaked and my wife placed a couple of old towels, which she saves for such an occasion, on the floor to soak up the water, lest one of us slips on the wet spot and falls. The roof had been fixed by several different contractors, but did not remain fixed for long.
My four-year-old tenant, let’s call her Faye, saw the towels on the floor and wanted to know “Who made a mess in the house?” She is very good at spotting and pointing out messes. We explained to her about the leak in the roof and the reason for the towels on the floor. Two days later, the inquisitive little girl pays us another visit for the sole purpose to see if the roof was still leaking.
There are two ceramic fishes hanging on the wall on the front porch, which the child has admired from the time she was a toddler. Unfortunately, one of them had recently fallen and its tail had broken off. As soon Faye saw it, she surprised me with: “Don’t worry, Papa, I will ask God to fix it for you”.
She proceeded to place the two pieces on a porch table, closed her eyes, folded her hands and said a short and to the point prayer: “Dear God, please fix Papa’s fish”. That was four days ago. The Lord has not yet fixed the broken fish. I guess HE concluded that lazy Papa can easily fix it himself with a little bit of super glue.
This incident reminded me of how my own daughter surprised me decades ago. One evening, shortly after her mother had put her to bed, she called me into her bedroom and told me she could not sleep because she had pain in her legs. She was at the time suffering from “growing pains”. I told her not to worry, I was going to ask Jesus to heal her. Her little face lit up. I rested my hand gently on her legs, and said a short healing prayer. When I finished, she smiled at me, stuck her thumb in her mouth, turned her back to me and promptly went to sleep. I am sure it was her faith in Jesus that healed her that night.
Since I am on the topic of God and children, let me relate how God saved this same daughter’s life several decades ago. We were picnicking under a grape tree at a beach on the French side of the island with a couple of good friends and their children. It was a beautiful day and all was going well. However, while chatting with my friends I clearly heard an inner voice ask me, “Where is Dale?
I looked around the tree and did not see her. She must be somewhere close by, I thought. So, I went a little further up the beach looking for her. I saw my son playing in the water with his friends, but no sight of Dale.
I continued looking and then my heart stopped. To my horror, I saw her floating face-down in the water. I ran to her as fast as I could. Even as I ran, I kept wondering how it was possible that no one saw a child in pampers floating in the water. There were people on the beach only a short distance away and my son and his friends were in the water a short distance away from her, and yet, no one saw her?
I ran as fast as I could to where she was in the water and grabbed her. As soon as I lifted her out of the water, she immediately started crying. When I heard her crying, I instantly started thanking God for His mercy and compassion. I was puzzled that she had not inhaled or swallowed any seawater, even though she was floating face-down. Weeks afterwards I realized that the inner voice had forewarned me before she had entered the water. I believe she had gone into the water to join her brother. Our friends who were still under the tree were even more upset than I over what had taken place.
Some people later suggested that it was the air in her diaper that had kept her afloat, but I knew better. Had the air in her diaper prevented her from inhaling swallowing seawater? I have thanked God countless times over the years. Though she was too young to remember the incident, I occasionally reminded her how God saved her life on the beach that day.
Jesus once forbade a demon-possessed man from whom He had cast out a legion of unclean spirits, to follow Him. He instead told the man, “Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how He has had compassion on you.”
I am sure there are a number of people on St. Maarten for whom God has done a great thing in their lives. I invite you to tell us what God has done for you recently or in the distant past. And if you need help putting your miracle into words, get in touch with me.
Clive Hodge
