Experiencing God of the Miraculous

A Christmas Miracle of Praise - Tehila

It was Christmas Eve, 1987, and I had no idea I was about to lose my six-year old daughter in one of the busiest cities in the world. We were staying at Mr. Anthony's Guest House up on the tenth floor of a two star hotel in the middle of the busy Kowloon district of Hong Kong. We had met Mr. Anthony at the airport in November on the first evening of our prior arrival when we had flown in from Bangkok, Thailand on the second month of our twelve-month trip around the world.

It was good to be back in civilization after traveling around the length and breadth of Mainland China. We had been away from the major cities since our weeklong trip down the Yangtze River from Shanghai to Chunking. Hong Kong was so modern in comparison, and the Hong Kong Chinese, although non-Christians celebrated Christmas with a passion like nowhere else in the world. Everything was excessively decorated with Christmas lights. The tallest skyscrapers had Santa and his reindeer lighting the night sky. We were all tired of eating rice and exhausted from the primitive conditions we had been enduring since we had left Hong Kong a month earlier.

I was grateful to have returned at our own little guesthouse. We wedged through the rather small door into a narrow hallway that lead to a metal caged elevator. I never noticed any sign that would indicate there was a Guest House through this doorway. It was a hold-your-breath ride to the tenth floor. Mr. Anthony and his family operated this very cramped Guest House, though it was somehow sweet, friendly and very modest. He had turned out to be most helpful arranging to change money for us, get the visa's we needed to enter into mainland China, and even doing our laundry.

We carried with us only the most necessary items in our eight backpacks. Our youngest son, Israel, now four-and-a-half years old, was delegated the job of carrying the toilet paper and cookie container in his backpack. He enjoyed his important responsibility to pass out treats at snack time.

We had planned a big spending spree here in the 'shopping Mecca of the world', knowing there would be bargains for purchasing a much wanted video camera and other needed items. Each of the children had already picked out their own hand-held electronic video game. With the most important items already taken care of, we could now enjoy the children. First, I would take the girls to the mall shopping (I was familiar with how to get there without getting lost) and when we would return, Greg would take the boys. We would shop for a few small gifts for one another and then meet back at the Guest House before going out to dinner. Reviewing our drill was important - If anyone is separated, do not move. Just stay put and blow your whistle loudly every ten seconds. Do not give your name to anyone unless it is a policeman. Most importantly, pray.

According to plan, I set out with Ahava, Kezia, and Tehila down the rickety elevator onto the crowded street. I had never walked on such crowded streets before. It would be impossible for us to walk side by side, so we held hands tightly with me in the lead and Ahava, the oldest (nine-years old) and tallest, in the back. The street crowd could rather push you along and, since we were "sardined" in the crowds on the sidewalk, it was important that I pay close attention to our location. I was able to look over the heads of most of the short Chinese crowd, but the girls couldn't see anything but the close encounter they were having with the public. For a moment, I wondered if this was a safe thing to be doing and quickly remembered that I had committed all of our ways unto the Lord this morning and I knew to overcome fear immediately with praise.

After walking for what seemed like forever and ever, I spotted our street crossing. We wedged our way through the oncoming pedestrians to a small fenced-in waiting station where, when the traffic light turned green, we would cross the noisy and traffic jammed dual highway. On the other side we would be just minutes away from the gigantic mall. I took the first side entrance to avoid any further push from the hordes of people heading to the main entrance.

Once inside the mall we relaxed and started window-shopping. The girls were delighted. We would hunt for a toy store first. It was not until we had meandered up to the eighth floor of this very extravagant and overly decorated mall that we found the perfect shop. I located the card racks and adjacent from the cards were rows of small toys and souvenirs. The girls were engrossed in discovering the appropriate gifts.

A moment later, Ahava approached me and inquired, "Mommy, where is Tehila? Kezia and I don't see her." I quickly spanned the area and began searching the adjacent aisles. With no sign of her, I called Ahava and Kezia and positioned them to stand on either side of the only entrance to the shop. I then went to the cashier and asked her if she could use the public address system to call for Tehila. There was no PA system. That is when I make use of my God-given PA. Immediately everyone in the store began to look for her. Realizing that she could have left the store put me into panic mode. I looked out into the crowd on the eighth floor and knew that I needed to stay focused. "Lord, what do I do?" I considered how Mary and Joseph must have felt when they discovered that Jesus was not with them on their journey to Nazareth from Jerusalem.

After instructed Ahava and Kezia to remain together at the entrance of the store and just wait for me to return, I ran to the security guards near the escalators and asked if they'd seen a little blond girl about four feet high. Due to their broken English, they could not comprehend my anxious appeal. I dashed down to the next floor racing to each security guard asking the same question, "Have you seen a little blond girl�?" With no sign of her, I finally came to the side entrance where we had entered the mall from the main street below.

I stopped and cried out to God, "Lord, please put your angel with Tehila. I trust you." With that, I approached the last guard standing at the entrance. "Excuse me, have you seen a little blond girl about�. "Yes," he said, "she went that way." He pointed out into the crowd. At this point, I was pressing my way through the crowds headed back to the Guest House. I knew that I must get Greg. It seemed like the longest walk in my life. I continually had to overcome my negative thoughts and just believe that the Lord had His angel with Tehila. She was too small to see over the crowds to find her way back, and how would she know where to go even if she could see. Even if she were blowing her whistle, with all the noise from the cars honking, Christmas music, and street hubbub, how could I possibly hear her? It was even challenging for me to find the small entrance to our Guest House and once there I felt my heart pounding and I was faint as I made my way up to the 10th floor. While I knocked on our door, I was fighting back hot tears in my eyes. How could I tell Greg that Tehila was lost?

My second eldest son, Isaiah, answered the door saying, "Mommy, where have you been? Tehila came to get Abba (daddy in Hebrew) to go find you. She said you got lost." I grabbed the boys and flung them around with joy. What had just happened? How did she arrive back here to get Greg? Oh, what a happy moment to know that she was safe. I immediately returned to collect Ahava and Kezia.

Now my step was lighter. God had actually placed an angel with her. I seemed to be flying over the crowds where moments ago I had almost fainted. The girls were rejoicing with me as we all returned safely back to Mr. Anthony's. Nevertheless, where were Tehila and Greg? We waited for over two hours before we heard them noisily returning down the hallway.

Tehila's incredible story was that she had returned to get Abba to help her locate us�. for we were lost! When she directed him out onto the streets it was obvious to Greg that she had no idea where she was going. They wandered around together, never even finding the mall. When I asked Tehila what had happened she said, "Well, Mommy, you were lost so I knew to go get help." "How did you find your way back to the room?" I asked. "Oh, it was easy! I have an angel with me."

That night we ate the most wonderful Christmas dinner together at the largest McDonald's we had ever seen anywhere in the world. Although I normally do not care for this kind of food, I did enjoy eating everyone's McDonald's coleslaw. This would be one Christmas Eve together we would forever cherish. "Tehila", our daughter of "Praise!"

"For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways."
Psalm 91:11

The Shadow of Death

Only one who has walked 'through the valley of the shadow of death' and survived could write such a beautiful song as King David did in the twenty-third Psalm, beginning with the classic verse, "The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want." An intimate familiarity to death gives one an even greater appreciation for life. David had come so close to death many times at the hands of the enemies of the Lord that his love for the Living God brought him to a place in the Bible where God called him 'a man after My own heart'. That heart, which so greatly pleased God, had been formed in the crucible of trials, tribulations and much persecution.

As I lay there on a narrow ledge above the awesome and terrible 'valley of the shadow of death' that I had just hiked through, I reflected on a number of things while awaiting the first rays of morning light. If the LORD who is my Shepherd leads me out of here by His grace and mercy, then you will be reading a story of my survival against the odds. If not then possibly the tragic tale told by someone else recounting how I had died before my time out of shear ignorance, pride and stubbornness.

My first revelation this night was that you cannot break every rule of survival and expect to live to tell the tale, so if you are thinking of doing so, please take a moment to reflect on whether or not you are prepared to die prematurely. Soon, you too will be walking through a valley of the shadow of death' of ignorance, pride and stubbornness and may or may not come out on the other side alive and wiser as a result. By ignorance, I am here referring to the willful ignoring of known facts that are plainly put before you, not the more common usage of having insufficient knowledge in a certain area.

I should have heeded my own advice that I am so freely giving out here. Truly, I was acting ignorantly when I took off two days ago to hike into the wilderness between the Negev and Sinai Deserts without letting anyone know where I was going. I am not sharing my experience in order to glorify my flesh, but to serve as a warning to anyone who will listen that except for the Grace of God, we are all without hope in this life.

Boredom is a great enemy of the Holy Spirit and the cause of many a servant's downfall. I had over time become very restless with my life to say the least, especially now that my wife was away in the United States visiting our children and grandchildren for two months. Living in Eilat, the southernmost city in Israel on the tip of the Gulf of Aqaba was generally a wonderful experience, except when the temperatures reached the 100-110 degree Fahrenheit range. During the rest of the year, this resort city is crowded with tourists and Israeli's from the north who come to enjoy the beaches, snorkeling or scuba diving among the pristine coral reefs, hiking in the Eilat Mountains, and all of the other tourist attractions that have made this one of the most popular tourist havens in the Middle East. However, in the summertime, a majority of the local residents have enough sense to head north to escape the heat and the boredom of living in a nearly deserted city wedged between two vast deserts.

Hoping to walk the six hundred mile long Israel National Trail in the fall with my wife, Beverly, I knew that I needed to get into shape. Not a bad idea really; just the wrong time of year (July) and the wrong way to go about it. I had been sitting behind a computer screen for twelve hours a day over the past year developing a unique curriculum for teaching English to Hebrew speaking Israeli children and adults. Bev had already completed her contribution to the curriculum for the beginner and intermediate levels on her Mac computer, and I was hoping to complete the advanced course on my PC before she returned in August.

All that typing, translating, and graphics work as well as the highly stimulating mental activities associated with the planning and developing this 'English For Sure' curriculum over the past year, had been at the expense of my health. I was now at least twenty or more pounds overweight and out of breathe walking up a couple of flights of stairs to our apartment. That is when I had decided to do something about it and planned a short two-day fifteen-mile hike roundtrip from Eilat to the Netafim Spring and back. The plan was to head north out of the city with a backpack, and two gallons of water, and to return by the way of Mt. Yoash, through Wadi Gishon (Gishon Valley) and up the steep Gishon Ascent at the end where I am now contemplating my fate, before hiking back into Eilat from the south. The trail was well marked as it is included within the last two sections of the Israel Nation Trail itself, which begins at the border of Lebanon in the north and ends up less than five miles south of my ledge, at the Egyptian border crossing at Taba.

The topography of my planned hike was unique to say the least. The Eilat Mountains are ruggedly spectacular and the view of the Red Sea and Sinai Desert from their ridges is beyond description. The course I took had me climbing steadily throughout the first day until my intended destination at Ein Netafim (Netafim Spring) where I had planned to camp for the night. The second day was supposed to be much easier, as it is mostly a downhill trek back to Eilat except for the Gishon Ascent at the end, which I had already climbed once in the past.

From the moment I set out, everything that could go wrong did go wrong, but that is no excuse, for with proper planning it would not have made any real difference. To begin with, I overslept and didn't get going until late in the morning, which is just about the time that the temperatures begin to soar after having dropped down by as much as forty degrees overnight. I had brought way too much equipment and clothing with me for a two-day excursion because I was trying to get used to the weight of the backpack in preparation for the upcoming Israel National Trail walk. I had put all my water bottles in the freezer the night before, and packed them in such a way in my backpack that they remained frozen and undrinkable throughout most of the first day. I did not bring a compass or one of the many Nature Reserves maps readily available as I was sure of my route and was familiar with the area. This bit of ignorance proved disastrous when later I needed to change course in an emergency. I did bring a useless cell phone, which never once worked due to lack of reception in the steep ravines and wadis that I had been hiking through. I did not bring enough food as I was trying to 'lose weight' therefore, I did not have enough energy for the strenuous part of the hike that had overcome me that afternoon. Finally, no one knew I was out here, because I had not let any of my friends know of my plans, fully aware that every one of them would have tried to talk me out of such a foolish idea.

The scriptures clearly warn us that 'pride comes before a fall' and that is what had gotten me here to the point of death. Knowing God's Word should have helped me avoid this 'adventure' altogether but I wasn't really paying attention to all the clear warnings that the Holy Spirit had been trying to give me. Even yesterday began with a 'hamseen', a vicious heat wave that comes in from the eastern Arabian deserts and can last for up to a week or more.

Having resided in Eilat for many years, I had done numerous hikes into the interior of the Negev in the past without incident. Besides this, I had been an officer in the Israeli Defense Forces in the army reserves since 1985 and considered myself well trained in survival techniques. In short, my pride led me to believe that I was nearly invincible. In over thirty years, I had never headed out alone so unprepared or under such extreme conditions, which made this hike for all intents and purposes a suicide mission� only I didn't know it at the time.

I nearly made it to Ein Netafim that first day before sunset, but because I had missed a trail marker for the Israel National Trail, I ended up on another trail that was several times more difficult. I had to climb all afternoon straight up through the steep dry river bed over dozens of ten to twenty foot embankments leading to each successive ledge. Had I taken the correct path I could have avoided that entire section by skirting it from the ridge above. Shortly before sunset, I had to admit defeat and set up my tent. Exhausted and nearly dehydrated, I ate dinner and fell fast asleep. Again, I overslept in this morning, and woke up to find that I had rolled over onto my glasses and had broken them. I knew that now I was going to have some difficulty seeing without them. Of course, I had never thought ahead to carry my spare pair with me.

By ten o'clock in the morning, I had finally reached Netafim Spring, which was now dark green and full of minerals, and is completely undrinkable, as it is just a trickle coming out from the rocks by this time of year. In retrospect, I could have filled my empty water bottles there to use the cold liquid to cool off with, and to boil and drink in an emergency situation like the one I was currently facing but I wasn't thinking too clearly as I have already mentioned. I had believed at the time that I was just a few hours from being back home, so after a half an hour's rest, I had set off for Wadi Gishon, which should be named 'the valley of the shadow of death' for in every respect it was such this day.

If I had known what was awaiting me, I surely would have hitchhiked back from the main road after I climbed out of the canyons at Ein Netafim. Ignorance is only bliss for someone who is safe and out of harm's way, neither of which I had going for me. With great fanfare that morning, I had descended hundreds of yards straight down into the Gishon Ravine, and into the bowels of hell. The jagged black rocky cliffs were so sun scorched that it was impossible to grab hold of them for more than a second or so, and they radiated a tremendous amount of heat. I estimate that the air temperature in that dry riverbed at the bottom of that descent was over 130 degrees F. Although it was only a couple of hours walk to the Gishon Ascent that led back to Eilat, I had to stop every few minutes because of the unbearable heat and my exhausted condition. I finally reached the Gishon Ascent a couple of hours before sunset, completely out of water and food, and without an ounce of reserve energy in my body.

As I looked up at the 1500-foot ascent on that narrow serpentine trail, my heart nearly stopped. I knew I could not make it. I was having extreme difficulty even walking for more than a couple of minutes on level ground. I was in the final stages of dehydration, as my blood had already thickened to such a degree that my heart couldn't pump it easily, which was the reason that I had been tiring after just a few steps. I did not panic, for what was the use of that, but I realized that this night could well be the end of me, and I had walked right into it with my eyes wide open.

The trail zigzagged straight up in the eastern direction so there had been absolutely no shade to hide under. It would be weeks before anyone might be hiking this trail, or the army would be notified by someone to begin a search for me. In spite of it all, I was at peace, because I knew that even though I had clearly acted very ignorantly, when it was all said and done, God still loved me. I remembered that Jesus had clearly promised that He would 'never leave us or forsake us". Why He would want to be hiking with me out here in this 'valley of the shadow of death' was a mystery to me but I became very familiar with Psalm 23 that night.

I had left my backpack at the bottom of the trail with a note on it for whoever might possibly stumble across it on the trail. I wrote down my plight in general and intentions to try to make it to Eilat, which by direct hike was less than an hour away. When I wrote out my plan, by faith I had said that I would return for the backpack the next day. Normally a good twenty to thirty minute climb, I had only made it up about half-way before it started to get dark and I knew I would have to wait it out until the morning. In my weakened almost delirious condition, it was just too dangerous to try to walk that narrow trail in the dark, even if I had thought to bring a flashlight, which of course I had not.

I had found an area that seemed somewhat safe on a steep ledge, and now without a sleeping bag or anything else to lay on, I was trying to rest on the hard rocky surface and get as comfortable as possible by shifting by body around and away from as many sharp stones as was possible. It had been an awesome and dreadful night, not too cold, but actually quite a refreshing respite from the unbearable heat I had endured all day. I was still extremely thirsty and dehydrated, so I focused on conserving energy as best I could. It was a long night and I did not sleep but for maybe an hour altogether. I knew that I would need every bit of energy in a few hours to make one last ditch attempt to scramble out over this impregnable canyon wall, and onto the dirt road leading to the sea. My life depended on this last ditch effort, and it took God's divine intervention for me to make it.

When I was not dozing off, I prayed and thought about my wife, children and grandchildren. I was a bit sad that I had gotten myself into such a life or death situation, and didn't have a lot of faith that God was obligated in any way to help me get out of the mess that I clearly had put myself into.

Finally, at around 5:00 AM with the first faint glimmer of light making my surrounding somewhat visible, and still a good hour before sunrise, I headed straight up the canyon wall climbing on my hands and knees without even looking for the trail or the serpentine path. I was now using every muscle and last bit of reserves to get out. What exhilaration I experienced when twenty to thirty minutes later I was standing on the top and had a breathtakingly spectacular view of the sea, and the literal hell that I had just climbed out of. My cell phone still wasn't working, but that didn't matter because I felt that now on flat surface without any pack or any extra weight whatsoever I would be able to just keep walking one step at a time until an army patrol or someone spotted me.

I avoided the temptation to take a short cut across the foothills that led directly into Eilat, which was only about a third of the distance. For once, I correctly reasoned that to collapse out there would be sure death. I had to stay on the dirt road that lead to the sea which was several miles further to the east but had the advantage of possibly a jeep or someone coming along. I was doing much better than I thought possible a few hours earlier and realized that God was definitely sparing my life for a purpose only known to Him.

An hour later, I saw a bus way up ahead in the distance, which I recognized was the type that were used to carry groups of people out into desert for day hikes. They are ruggedly built and are dependable for taking long distances excursions into the interior of the wilderness. I saw that all the passengers were off the bus and had begun to hike away from me to the south. I could not shout or even hardly whisper by this point as my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth. When I finally made it to where the bus was parked, I communicated my situation to the driver who had stayed behind with the group's supplies. He went to the back of the vehicle and got me one of their spare 2 liter bottles of water, which I drank without pause in less than a minute or two. In my whole life, that was the best drink I ever had, and one I will never forget.

Assuming that I was now safe, I thanked him and waved goodbye, as I continued walking east in the direction of the Gulf of Aqaba. I had to stop and wake up a sleeping guard at a desert camel tourist site a half-hour or so later and ask for a refill of my two liter empty water bottle. I was still too dehydrated to make it all the way home, and as a result nearly collapsed within sight of the finish line.

When I got to the sea, I waded in and floated in that refreshing salt water for more than a half hour, until my body temperature finally came down enough for me to continue walking. That early in the morning the water temperature was pleasantly cool, and I cannot remember enjoying a swim more. About nine o'clock, I finally walked back into Eilat and climbed the hill up to the apartment where I resided on the upper end of the city. Once inside, I slept quite soundly over the next twenty-four hours. The next day I rested and ate enough to get my strength back so that I could drive back to the Gishon Ascent and get my backpack that I had left there at the bottom. A day later and nearly fully recovered, it took me less than an hour to scramble down the path, throw the backpack over on my shoulders and re-climb the trail to the car.

Six weeks later, Bev and I began our eighty-six day hike across the length and breadth of Israel on the Israel National Trail. We never ran out of water once, although many times we were hiking in areas where we couldn't refill our water containers for three or four days at a time. The reason for our not running out was that I had learned my lesson, and on more than one occasion, we arrived at a designated resting place on the trail with a liter or more of water to spare. Whenever Bev would question my apparent fanaticism with carrying extra water when we were trying to get rid of every ounce of extra weight from our backpacks� I would smile knowing that she had not been there that long night on the ledge when I promised God and myself that if I lived, I would never again, by His Grace, act so foolishly.

"There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way of death."
Proverbs 14:12

Three Promises Fulfilled

As far as oxymorons go, the fact that I was born a 'poor Jew' is quite significant in that both terms, Jew and poor, shaped my life most significantly. I do not wish for you to think that I am looking for sympathy, for quite the contrary I have become rich in faith because of my humble beginnings.

Already by the age of nine I had experienced a lifetime of misery of which I will not go into detail now, because the point I'm wanting to make is that the circumstances of my childhood shaped my future more dramatically than anything else could have, and that the God of infinite wisdom knew what was best for me even before I was conceived in the womb.

By contrast, my mother had grown up a Jewish princess in a twenty-six room mansion, accustomed to maids, servants and country-clubs, but had become utterly destitute a couple of years before I was born as a result of my grandfather losing all his riches in a failed oil venture. Two hopeless-from-the-beginning marriages later, I the eldest of now six children would again be fatherless after the desertion of my stepfather, and was beginning to feel the strain of the many bad decisions made by my parents and grandparents.

Going back to the story of the 'three promises fulfilled'� an unexpected turn of events was to take place before my tenth birthday that would alter the course of my life. In the summer of 1963, my mother and her mother suddenly decided to take an unheard of vacation to Cedar Point, Ohio. I believe that my grandmother had come into some bonus commissions in her telephone-soliciting job. I was invited along to baby-sit for my two youngest siblings who were both under four years old. I imagine that the rest of my half-brothers were sent off to their father for the summer. As far as vacations go this was the best that I could expect and was a great relief from the stifling heat and boredom of the city of Chicago in the summer.

The island of Cedar Point, off the coast from the city of Sandusky, was a peculiar world in itself. I had already from a tender age explored all the neighborhoods around the north-eastern part of the city that I grew up in, so I had no trouble mapping out this entire vacation oasis within a couple of days. It seemed that the singular one-story hotel took up at least half of the place, with rooms that continued down long corridors without end. The long sandy beach in front of the hotel was my outdoor job-site, as I was employed full-time without pay to watch over my younger brother and sister. This rather boring stretch of coast took up maybe another third of the tiny landmass. Then there was the unreachable heavenly place just down the way, in plain sight of my longing eyes day in and day out.

The Cedar Point Amusement Park was not huge, as far as amusement parks go, but it was compact and filled with roller coasters and every imaginable exciting ride possible. Yet it might as well have been on another planet for all intents and purposes, as it stood like a giant at the end of the beach, becoming and mocking me continuously.

One day, toward the end of our stay at Cedar Point, I was playing with a bat and ball by myself outside while my brother and sister were napping, and I suddenly felt that I couldn't take it anymore. I had never spontaneously prayed from my heart before and had not felt that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was anywhere close-by the few times that I had been taken to synagogue services by my grandfather on the Jewish high holidays. Nonetheless, not having a nickel to my name and knowing full well that my mother probably didn't have much more than that to her name to spare, I decided in sheer desperation to give prayer a shot. So I prayed a simplistic and childish prayer, "God, if you will let me go to the amusement park, I will believe in you all my life."

I guess the Creator of heaven and earth was quite amused that day as he hadn't heard from me before, and I was asking a pretty small favor for such a large commitment, so He surprised me and granted my request. Out of nowhere, my mother up and invited me to come to the amusement park for the day with her and her new boyfriend. I was in such a euphoric mood that I don't remember much except that as the new boyfriend was footing the bill and the younger children were with my grandmother, I had the time of my life and rode every ride as often as I wanted. It was truly a miracle.

The next day I began to ponder the events of the previous day and it occurred to me that it might have all been a coincidence and that maybe God really hadn't answered my prayers after all. So I did the only thing that an almost ten-year-old kid could do, and struck up another bargain with God. I prayed the same prayer and made the same promise but this time with twice the earnest.

Now I'm sure that the LORD was more amused by the second prayer than the first because He answered it almost immediately. Another boyfriend mysteriously invited my mother and I to a day at the amusement park, just shortly after I finished praying. Well it turned out even better that the previous day, because I knew exactly where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do so I didn't waste any time, but got a double-portion of fun out of what I figured would be the last time in this life that I would ever visit this place.

By now you probably can see where this is going, so I'll cut to the chase. Although I knew it couldn't have been a coincidence that I had been struck by lightning twice, so to speak, each time immediately after praying, I felt that there would be no harm in asking for a third trip to the park with the exact same promise appended to the request� "God, if you will let me go one more time to the amusement park, I will really believe in you all my life."

It is now almost a half-century later, and by His grace and to the best of my ability I have been trying to keep my promise, for God looked into my heart that day and granted my third petition, knowing that it was a small price to pay for such a thing as a boy's heart.

"Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children,
you shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven."
Matthew 18:3