Outskirts Press, INC.

EXPERIENCE THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF GOD’S LOVE

In this third and final book of the trilogy begun with Beauty for Ashes: Portraits of Faith and continued with Oil of Joy for Mourning: the Healing Touch of God, you will find another inspirational collection of personal stories sharing some of the many ways in which the transforming power of God’s love has touched and changed the lives of men and women who were living rather ordinary lives until they experienced the transforming power of God’s love. None of these men and women are famous. Their names and faces are not ones that you would recognize. Yet they will share with you some of the remarkable ways in which God’s love has found them, touched them and changed them, deepening and strengthening their faith and trust in Him. For some it was in their darkest hours. For others it was the time in which they first discovered God’s love for them. And for others it was something quite different. Allow them to share a little of their special faith journeys with you. You may be reminded of moments when you yourself have experienced the transforming power of God’s love. Or perhaps you need to know that such moments do occur and can happen when you least expect them.

He has the power to heal. We are told this from the first, whether we are small children sitting in a circle in a church basement or a seeking adult. Even those who are not seeking and would prefer to avoid any so-called “organized religion” know that this is the claim that is made. We read of the great healings of the blind and lame in the Bible and hear of deathbed miracles. Ellen was always a happy child. She smiled when she was first born. Yeah, I know you’re thinking it was just gas and babies do that, but not her; she smiled, and she is still smiling today. It is true that every child has its share of problems growing up, but there was a point in her life when I think it had become a little too much for her to handle. We have three daughters, and I’ve learned over the years that certain things matter to girls that would otherwise go unnoticed by boys, and anything that affects their physical appearance weighs heavy. During this one particular period it began to weigh heavily on me. She wasn’t desperately ill, and, in fact, was quite healthy. The problem was a terrible raised rash that she would get all over her body, face and mouth. It hurt her to play or to talk, and it hurt her to wash and to eat. She needed to wear glasses, and they wouldn’t sit comfortably whenever she was broken out. Braces had been added to the picture so that when her mouth was affected, the discomfort brought tears. She smiled through most of it and took it all in stride, but we could see that it was wearing her down. We had tried to get some medical help for her, but there just wasn’t a lot to offer in the way of making it go away, just in ways to ease things so that she could cope while it was happening. It was shortly before she entered middle school when I was on my way up the stairs to go to bed that it was revealed to me what needed to be done. I was going to pray: would it work? I had prayed many times before this night, but this night was different somehow. I had a “blessed assurance” fill me, I think. That’s the only way for me to explain how I felt. I knew in my heart that God would heal my child. I had total confidence not just that He could do it, but that He would do it, and that it would happen that night.