Promises-A true story shared by Dana Hills, Willow,Alaska

Promises

A true story shared by Dana Hills, Willow,Alaska



What possible impact could a child of eight have upon his tiny world? Scotty was just a normal, rambunctious boy whose eyes were taking in everything around him with curiosity and wonder. His teen aged brother, Jeff, was doing the same--but in a more mature way, being the older sibling.

One Friday night the teenagers in our church were having their youth group meeting. Relunctanly, Dana allowed Scotty to tag along with his older brother--but at the same time, was fearful he might be disruptive and would not understand any of the teaching. But Mom reminded herself of a vow she had once made twenty-five years earlier: if God would entrust her with children of her own, she would raise them to be Godly and to love the Lord with all their hearts.



Several weeks had gone by when Scotty came home from school looking a little sad. He said to his Mom:

"Mom, I have something to tell you."

"What is it, Scotty?

"Mom, today at school I got in trouble and I had to stand on the wall for 20 minutes."

"Scotty, what did you do to get in trouble?" Mom asked.

"I was talking to Brennan (another student) about God and Jesus. The teacher heard me and told me that I was not allowed to talk about God and Jesus in school and that I would have to stand on the wall."

"Scotty, were you talking while the teacher was teaching? Were you disrupting the class?"

"No, Mom. It was free time when we can choose what we want to do if our work is finished."

"Scotty, did you go stand on the wall?"

"Yes, I told the teacher that sending me to the wall was ok, because they punished Jesus too. I told her that I had made a promise to God to talk to someone about Jesus everyday, and I am going to keep that promise."

"Scotty, what do you do when you stand on the wall?"

"You just stand there until your time is up. I stood there for awhile and then another kid got sent to the wall too, and I started talking to him about God and Jesus. The teacher didn't hear us, so I didn't have to stand on the wall longer."



Tears welled up in Mom's eyes. Lately, she had been feeling the weight of so many problems; needing a job, health issues., so many struggles. But always, in the back of her mind was the promise she had made to God herself, some twenty-five years earlier--to raise her children for Him. Was she fufilling that vow?

"I really needed to be reminded that in His eyes, I was doing something very right, even though the natural world was telling me that I was doing everything wrong, I needed to feel that God cared and was happy with me. But on this day through my eight year old son, I was reminded that God truly hears us and lets us know that we have favor with him as His children. On that day, through my eight year old son, I was reminded that sometimes when the natural world has beaten us up, we forget that we have a heavenly Father who laughs with us and cries with us, and above all is always there."

"Who would have thought that God would use my little son to remind me of that promise I had made long ago. I must be willing, like Scotty, to stand up for what I believe, even though I could lose friends, be ridiculed or punished for my beliefs."

For promise is a promise...



MARY E. ADAMS

November, 2007