Inspiration Avenue Challege: The World of Fantasy

☺ Here comes the Tooth Gorilla! ☺

Many years ago, ( I am now old enough to say,'many years ago!') wben my children were very little, I came up with a way to celebrate joyous occasions in our house without leading them to misconceptions about truth and stories.

The tooth fairy, Cupid, the Easter Bunny and Santa were concepts I chose not to teach my children. I wanted them to be very certain of the difference between truth and make believe. But I still wanted them to be able to join in the fun related to the occasions surrounding these special events.

Thus was born the "Tooth Gorilla"! When you lose a tooth you put it under your pillow and the tooth gorilla will come while you are asleep and leave you a crumpled up dollar bill. (Gorillas are not real careful with money and often carry it in their tight fisted hands.)

Next came the Easter Gorilla, who hides your easter eggs. You will be certain to find a few cracked ones. (Gorillas don't have very good small motor skills, so they often drop the eggs while hiding them.) Sometimes he comes the night before and sometimes he comes while we are in church, remembering with joy how Jesus rose from the dead.

And, of course, there is the Valentine Gorilla who will show up sometime when no one is looking and leave a battered valentine and a box of chocolates. (One or two candies are sure to be missing, since the valentine gorilla has a sweet tooth and can not help himself!)

Odd? Quirky? Effective? For us, yes!

Next, I am working on Santa's Helper. He will be the focal point of my Christmas Card this year.

What do you think? Should I do a series of greeting cards along this line?

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

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The Miracle of Nine

Last summer my Godmother became critically ill and nearly entered Heaven's gates when she was rushed to the hospital with massive internal bleeding. For 11 days her bleeding went uncontrolled. And during that time, she had been told, she received eight units of blood. Eventually the source of the bleeding was found and repaired and she was able to return home. Her convalescence was complicated by chemo therapy, but she did get better and is grateful to God for seeing her through this and showing her with such assurance, that He intends for her to be well and to continue the work He has placed in front of her.

While worshipping in church, several months after her hospital stay, she was filled with gratitude for those anonymous people who had donated their blood, making her recovery possible. And she prayed for them. " Oh Lord", she prayed. "Please send a special blessing to those eight people who donated their blood so that I could live." And in the small still voice that she recognised as God's, she heard, "Nine." Well, she was confused by that, and she said, "But Lord, my husband told me there were eight people who gave their blood." And the Lord spoke back, "Mine!"

And it is so true that God hears everything we say to Him! Whether it's praise or prayer, worship or petition, He hears it and He acts upon it, for our benefit and His glory!

But here's the rest of the story; When she was told that there was a chance she might have cancer cells floating around in her, her doctor ordered a blood test to measure a certain protein, CA125, in her blood, that is an indicator of cancer. The count was 257. The optimal number would be under 50. A few months later it was suggested that she discontinue the chemo, due to certain side effects that occured, and she was glad to agree. The CA125 blood test was run again and the count was............................nine!

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