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Every
now and then we all run into problems in our life where we feel the only
way out is through a miracle. Life is like that! It throws you a curve
just when you least expect it and the challenge seems insurmountable.
Usually, we manage to work our way through our problems and get on with
our life. Often, however, we can’t explain just how we managed to
overcome our trials and tribulations. For some of us, the answer actually
comes in the form of the
miracle we were hoping for.
I’m
sure you will enjoy the story I found on the internet this week. It is a
classic that I am sure many of you have read before, but it is one that I
always love reading because it seems to have a lot of meaning in my life
no matter when I come across it. The story speaks of one such miracle.
Tess
was a precocious eight year old when she heard her Mom and Dad talking
about her little brother, Andrew. All she knew was that he was very sick
and they were completely our of money. They were moving to an apartment
complex next month because Daddy didn’t have the money for the doctor
bills and the house. Only a very costly surgery could save Andrew now and
it was looking like there was no-one who would loan them the money.
Tess
heard her Daddy say to her tearful mother, with whispered desperation,
“Only a miracle can save him now.”
Tess
went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in
the closet. She poured all the change out on the floor and counted it
carefully. She then placed the coins back in the jar and slipped out the
back door, making her way six blocks to the nearest drug store.
She
waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention but he was
too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise.
Nothing! She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could
muster. No good.
Finally,
she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That
did it!
“And
what do you want?” the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice.
“I’m busy talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven’t seen in
ages.”
“Well,
I want to talk to you about my brother,” Tess answered back in the same
annoyed tone. “He’s really, really sick...and I want to buy a
miracle.”
“I
beg your pardon?” said the pharmacist.
“His
name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my
Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle
cost?”
“We
don’t sell miracles here, little girl. I’m sorry I can’t help
you,” the pharmacist said, softening a little.
“Listen,
I have the money to pay for it. If it isn’t enough, I will get the rest.
Just tell me how much it costs,” pleaded Tess.
The
pharmacist’s brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked
the little girl, “What kind of a miracle does your brother need?”
“I
don’t know,” Tess replied with her eyes welling up. “I just know
he’s really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy
can’t pay for it, so I want to use my money.”
“How
much do you have?” asked the man from
Chicago
.
“One
dollar and eleven cents,” Tess answered barely audibly. “And it’s
all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to.”
“Well,
what a coincidence,” smiled the man. “A dollar and eleven cents...the
exact price of a miracle for little brothers.” He took the money in one
hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said, “Take me to
where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s
see if I have the kind of miracle you need.”
That
well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in
neuro-surgery. The operation was completed without charge and it wasn’t
long until Andrew was home again and doing well. Mom and Dad were happily
talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place.”
“That
surgery,” her Mom whispered. “Was a real miracle. I wonder how much it
would have cost?”
Tess
smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost...one dollar and eleven
cents...plus the faith of a little child.
We
all experience hardships in life. But we also experience miracles. The
trouble is that we often fail to recognize the miracles that come our way
as we focus only on our problems. If we could only have the faith of a
little child, and if we could only learn to recognize the miracles that
occur in our life. Miracles need not be major earth shattering events.
Miracles may actually be of the one dollar and eleven cent variety. But no
matter what the cost, you can rest assured that miracles do happen, and
when they come, they make a real difference in your life.
Have
a good week. |
