Thoughts for Life: Mysterious Ways/Somebody, please help!

"Help! Please, somebody, help!"

Julia Eie shares with us, "I looked out the window at the orchard, dark and shadowy in the pale moonlight.

It was a woman's voice. Close. But where?

My son was at a friend's house. It couldn't be him watching a scary show on TV.

I lived in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, at the time, renting a garage apartment set back from our landlord's house.

The orchard and a small creek were behind us, not much else. Maybe someone fell in the water. Or was lost.

"Help! Please, somebody, help!"

There it was again! A woman, desperate and very near.

I grabbed the phone and called the police. 'I think a woman is being attacked,' I told the dispatcher. I gave my address. 'Please hurry!"

I waited. The shouts continued. I called the police again.

'We sent an officer already,' the dispatcher said. 'He didn't find anything unusual. But I can send him back, I suppose.'

Had I imagined the voice? No. There it was again. The police should have found her by now.

I called one more time. 'Where are you?' I asked.

This time the dispatcher put me through to an officer.

'Ma'am,' he said, cutting me off, 'we went out there. There were no screams. No sign of anything. Stop calling, or we'll file a complaint against you.'

I hung up. I knew I wasn't hearing things. I need to look myself, I thought.

I got in my car and drove to the orchard, my window rolled down. Every time I thought I was close, the shouts got further away.

I passed the orchard and drove on. A quarter mile. Half a mile. A mile.

Then I saw a faint glow ahead. I drove toward it.

There, on a barren stretch of road, was a car, wedged into a steep ditch. Standing next to it was a teenage girl, crying.

'My boyfriend is stuck inside,' she said. 'Please, help us.'

I called the police and told them exactly where to go. Within minutes, two squad cars and an ambulance arrived.

I told you I heard someone shouting,' I said to one of the officers.

'So you're the one,' the officer said. 'Do you see where we are, lady? There's no way you could have heard her from inside your house. We're almost three miles away."

Julia Eie, of Yakima /Washington, tells us this in the GUIDEPOSTS December 2013 addition

God is amazing, isn't He?

(Used by permission)

Let’s pray:

Father, when we hear someone's cry for help, may we be quick to go to their aid, whether across the room, or across town.

May we become sensitive to other's needs so we can be their helper in their time of despair.

Give us sure direction for answering their plea for help. We ask this in the Name of Jesus. Amen

“Thank You for the privilege we have to serve You by serving others, Lord. Help us to be content to fill the place where you have put us, so that You might be glorified through us." Our Daily Bread 6/21/13

Today’s Bible verse: Eph. 3:20 "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."

Today’s quote: Mary Southerland - "Ask a trusted friend to hold you accountable in each area where you want to improve, grow, or achieve. Choose a friend from whom you can easily take criticism – a friend who will lovingly push you a little when you aren't following through on your goals.

When we involve others, we tend to feel a greater sense of responsibility and accountability. Run your plans and goals past other people. You don't want to do this with every goal or at every step along the way, but involving others with big and important plans is a great idea, especially if those plans impact other people."

Some thoughts today: Offer your services, but don't question why you're not used in that particular ministry. Your ability may be more useful in another one.

- God is God. We have to trust His judgment in what we get to do for Him.

- We have the responsibility for ourselves, what makes us happy. Our willingness to guard what we see, hear, and where we go, will make a large difference in our "happiness".

26th- Sunday’s post: God is in the Crisis Max Lucado

Sunday evening's post: Grace and Peace Apostle Peter

28th- Tuesday's post: #57 How Moody Learned the Lesson C. Peter Wagner

30th- Thursday's post: #58 Undue Humility C. Peter Wagner

A popular post: Light Overcomes Darkness Dutch Sheets "I imagine Satan’s horror when the light of God flashed forth at the Cross, the same light that had expelled him from heaven.”