Some stories from the week
03 June 2012
Here are some stories from the week that was
“Today in town I was siting outside a coffee shop having coffee and a group of 3 girls were sitting beside me when one of them spilt their coffee off the table and all over my leg. After some fussing I offered to buy the girl another coffee, she was shocked and didn’t understand why I would do this when it was me who spilt it.
I got talking to the three of them and found out two of them where 16 and one girl was 15, the 15yr old was very quiet and I noticed she was wearing a big wolly jumper an when she rolled her sleeve up she had a bandage on her arm. I made conversation about how she must be to warm with all that in in this heat, she got really embarrassed and said she felt ugly showing her arms. I asked how she hurt her arm because of the bandage; without saying anything she removed the bandage revealing a group of red swollen scars. Her friends didn’t look surprised and said they new about her self harming.
The 15yr old then went on to tell me how she is bulled in school for being ‘fat and ugly’ and how self harming was the only she could cope. I got so angry and shared a little of my story with her, showing her pictures on my phone of how last yer I had my scars prayed for and healed. She looked confused and went quiet but I new that God and brought me there to pray for her I asked if I could and she said yes.
She allowed me to take a picture of her arm before I prayed and then afterwards when it was almost completely healed – there were only a couple of lines that weren’t swollen and the redness was fading as we spoke afterwards! She said her arm felt like it was on fire and she couldn’t stop crying. I then got to pray for her and her friends at the end before they left to ring her mum, the girls returned 15mins later with a thank you card they had bought and a chocolate cookie! God is so good and I am just amazed today with how much he is moving!!"
After hearing this story another girl in our church then text one of her friends who struggles with self harm to tell her about this story and asked if she would text her scars. The girl replied with the amazing news that they were indeed gone!!!
And finally we had a lady send this story in to our “Just Because” team.
2Hi, I’m a single mum of two boys, one 3 years old and the other 4 and a half years old.
I came down from Belfast for the NW200 with my boys and was getting very upset and panicked as there were too many people and I often suffer from anxiety attacks. My boys were getting restless, If you have young boys or know anyone who does you’ll know what a handful they can be, they where throwing their new balls that I had just bought them and they where blowing away. They were screaming so loud that I was going to have to run after them but couldn’t leave the buggies. At this stage I started to fell my chest tighten and my body go stiff as I started to panic. This is when the two girls from your organization came running over and grabbed the balls bringing them to me. One was a girl with medium length blonde hair and the other girl was foreign. They gave us the balls back and then offered my boys and I free lollies and sweets. At first I was very taken back as I didn’t know what was happening and I was trying my best to control my breathing and hold back the tears. The girls asked me where I was from and if I was enjoying the races. I simple said yes and let them get on their way. As I helped the boys unwrap their sweets the two girls then returned to me.
The blonde hair girl said that this might sound strange but that they would love to pray for me and was there anything I needed prayer for. If I new then what I know now about how prayer works I would have asked for prayer for a lot more things. But I asked if they could just pray I could make it to the end of the day alive. I was unsure of what to do and asked the blonde haired girl if I needed to close my eyes or what I was meant to do as I’ve never been to church or prayed before. She told me just to do whatever made me feel comfortable but asked if she could place a hand on my shoulder. I didn’t want to be rude so said yes.
As soon as she laid her hand on my there was an instant coolness. She just prayed that I would have a good day like I had asked, but she then went on to pray that I would experience peace and this would be a panic free day. I hadn’t mentioned my panic attacks at all to either of these girls. I was in such shock. I said goodbye to the girls and went on my way.
I’ve only just found the stick of the lolly, stuck to the inside of one of my boys coats and saw the QR code and I new it was important that I came on to tell you what an amazing thing this is that you are doing. Since that day, and including that day that girl prayed for me I have not experienced at sense of panic or anxiety never mind an attack. I really can’t put into words how this changes my life as I was having them everyday, was on medication and it affected my relationship with my children. I am in tears as I write this because I still can’t make sense of it in my head. But I know I can’t deny it is nothing short of a miracle!
Please can you pass on my thanks to the girl in your team who prayed for me, as I owe her so much for her bravery and her faith."
Amen