A Miracle

Several weeks ago, I was asked to help with an activity at the church that involved girls ages 8-12 years. I was assigned to help the girls decorate notebooks for children in Africa.

A woman in our congregation, Chris Troger, started a foundation in honor of her mother who lived in Africa for over thirty years and helped build schools and bring in much needed supplies to people for many years.

After Chris would share her presentation and show the girls pictures of the children they would send their notebooks to, I would pass out the notebooks and then encourage them to decorate them in various ways so both boys and girls could enjoy them.

Having served my mission in Ecuador, I knew how much these notebooks would mean to these children. The poverty of third world countries is so prevalent. I let the girls know that these notebooks would be treasured forever. For some, this would be the first time they would have paper to write on. We encouraged them to write a note and possibly, they might get back a note someday from one of these children.

There were four classes. During the last class, I was preparing to pass out the notebooks and realized that I was one notebook short. Only one. I ran into the gym where the leaders were and told them that I needed one more notebook. They didn't have any more. I went to the library, hoping to find a discarded notebook of some kind, but came up with nothing.

I said a silent prayer to Heavenly Father asking him to help me know what to do. I went back to the leaders and told them I would have to ask two girls to share a notebook. They agreed that that was the best we could do. I knew I only had about 45 more seconds until the power point presentation was over. I went back into the room to figure out which girls could share. There, sitting on one of the tables, was a notebook. I looked around, but everyone was watching the presentation. I ran back into the gym and thanked the leaders for finding me a notebook. They did not know what I was talking about.

As I walked back into the room, I had an overwhelming feeling that this was a miracle....that Heavenly Father wanted each one of those girls to make a notebook. I also received a witness that there was a child in Africa that was supposed to receive that particular notebook. It is hard to describe what actually took place in my heart, but I was overwhelmed with the renewed knowledge that our Heavenly Father knows each on of those girls and he knows each one of those children that would get those notebooks.

My heart was bursting as I felt the love that Heavenly Father has for each of us. That he knows us. Each and every one of us is important. I told the girls the story and let them know that each one of them would be making a notebook and that every child that was supposed to receive a notebook would. I told the girls that the pictures they saw were not just faces, but actual human beings, like themselves, that had feelings and desires and dreams, just like them.

Everyone I talked to had nothing to do with putting that notebook on the table. It just appeared. It was just a notebook, but it was a miracle. The feelings I had were so strong. The spirit bore witness to me of the individual worth of each person. I cannot deny those feelings.

I am grateful for miracles like this one that remind me of how amazing my the Lord is and how he uses small and simple ways to remind us of the great lessons in life.