I (Pat) hope this might help someone out there who has a similar problem. Our little grandaughter in Israel had a speech problem. She couldn't pronounce 'sh' - and here is how the Lord helped her get it in just a few minutes.
On our recent trip to see the family, one day we were all walking to the shops, and little Rachel (4) and I were hand in hand, when she started saying: 'Grandma has a fadow; Rachel has a fadow.' I turned to my daughter and said, 'What is a fadow?' Annie said: 'She means shadow - she pronounces sh as f.'
So, with our shadows in front of us, we told Rachel, 'Come on, you can say it.' I knew the Lord could do this little thing! So as we walked, in time with every step we started saying: 'Shuh, shuh, shadow; shuh, shuh, shadow; come on, you can say it...'
At first she said: 'Fuh, Fuh, fadow,' but as we walked along, it started sounding more like 'sh' and we all kept encouraging her and just kept it going. We were walking fast and laughing and it just amazes me what the Lord did for her in a few minutes.
When 'shadow' got boring, we changed to 'Shuh, shuh, shoe; shuh, shuh shoe.' Then we went on to 'sh, sh, shalom'. By the time we had gone about three blocks and got to the shops, she was pronouncing it just fine! And we were thanking and praising the Lord.
The amazing grace of God! This was one of those wonderful little minor miracles that He does for His children once in a while when we least expect it. Ok, maybe not a miracle, maybe a little divine nudge, an answer to the prayers of God's people who had been praying for this sweet little girl. Miracle, intervention, whatever it was - I love it! What a happy day that was. What a loving Father we have!
* Is He your loving Father? He wasn't always my Father. I didn't know Him until 1981 when I was 36 years old. That was the year I started reading the gospels and saw that I was really a sinner and there was nothing I could do about it. What I did was get on my knees and confess my sins to Jesus. I told Him I believed in Him and believed everything the Bible said about Him. I begged Him to forgive me and make me one of His people.
That prayer, prayed all alone in our house, changed my life and my eternal destination. Jesus said that no one could come to the Father except through Him. I didn't even know that then, but somehow He enabled me to get it right!
Now, if you have read this far, I know He is also wanting you. God loves you! He wants you to let Him into your life! He is not going to be mean and nasty to you and force you to do things you don't want to do. He is a loving heavenly Father!
You could pray as I did, or pray as you feel led. No one is too bad to become one of God's people - no one. The blood of Jesus was shed to cleanse us from all sin, ALL sin. If you are reading this, you are NOT beyond salvation. It is NOT too late for you.
And please do not think you are so good that you don't need to ask God's mercy and forgiveness. It was the self-righteous people who got the sharp edge of the Lord's tongue when He was on the earth. He was gentle as a lamb with sinners who knew they needed mercy.
Please consider this today and make sure you get right with God today. There might not be a tomorrow for you or me, but there will certainly be an eternal destiny. Make sure you know where you're headed! Pray for forgiveness and help today and get on that right path, that narrow path that leads to glory. Get off that wide path which Jesus said leads to destruction! It is your choice! Come on! You can do it! Just like our little Rachel, marching along, trying to pronounce her 'sh'. She got there in the end and it really wasn't hard. You can get square with God today, this very day!
How I hope to meet people in Heaven who took this to heart and got on their knees.
