A Very Special Gift

by Kay Heitsch,

"Help me, Lord, I need help!" How many times have I called out to the Lord for help, and He's sent support just in time. It would be hard for me to count the times. Sometimes the Lord helps me directly with ideas, but other times He sends me gifts, special people.

One exceptional gift is my friend, Diane. Diane and I went to high school together. She was a couple of years younger than I was in school. We attended a boarding school in Michigan and lived in a dorm. I was good friends with Diane's roommate Marcia, so I would see Diane whenever I went to their room to visit. I was only at this boarding school six weeks my senior year when I was expelled.

Among the reasons for my departure, some people felt I had a "bad attitude." That's right, the woman who was given the Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking was kicked out of high school for a "bad attitude." How funny is that? I ended up going to another state and graduating from a boarding school there. I guess they didn't mind my "bad attitude" so much in Illinois.

Over the years, Diane and I lost touch with each other. I married and moved many times over the years from state to state. Now our youngest son Brandon was in high school, and we were back in Michigan.

Brandon's girlfriend at that time was Lydia. I'd given Lydia one of the Plus Magazines that had my picture on the cover. This was the magazine telling how I had won the Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking. Lydia had the magazine laying out when Diane came to visit Lydia's Mom. Diane noticed the picture on the magazine and told Lydia she thought she knew who it was. Lydia informed her that the person in the photo was her boyfriend Brandon's Mom.

I would have liked to have seen Diane's face when she introduced Diane to Brandon. Brandon got on the phone and called me. He said that there was someone over at Lydia's house who wanted to talk to me. I was surprised to hear Diane's voice. I asked if she could come over since she wasn't from Grand Blanc and was only visiting. Diane came over for a short visit. It had been a very long time since we'd seen each other.

I found out that Diane had also been expelled from the same boarding school. After talking, it was clear we both had walked many wrong roads in life and had made some bad choices, but we were both on the right road now. We exchanged email addresses, and I gave Diane the Plus magazines and the book "Have A Great Day - Everyday!" We started to email each other regularly.

For a long time, I'd known the Lord wanted me to start writing out the positive experiences I'd had on my faith journey. I enjoyed writing, but I felt I needed someone to look the stories over before doing anything with them. I called out to the Lord once again. "Lord, I think I need help. Would you please send someone?" I wrote out a story and emailed it to several friends, including Diane. I asked them if they would read it over, and if they saw anything wrong, please let me know. Diane read the story and emailed her comments. When Diane emailed me, she told me something she hadn't shared with me before. Di said to me in college; she had started as a Journalism major. She went on to tell me that she would be happy to look over any story I wanted to send. WOW, an answer to prayer, big time! I don't think Diane knew what she was getting in for when she told me she would be happy to look my stories over; I've sent her many over the years. Another gift that Diane has given to me is a "nudge from God."

There have been times when I haven't sent Diane a story for a while, and she'll send me an email reminding me to write. I've been blessed beyond measure for all of Diane's expert help and encouragement. The good Lord, once again, sent me help just when I needed it. Thank you, Lord, for the Divine connection and the extraordinary gift of Diane. Thanks, Diane, for being such a wonderful friend and answering the call for HELP.

You'll Need To Take Him

by Kay Heitsch

The phone rang, it was the school calling. "Would you please come and pick up Brandon? He seems to be sick." What could be wrong, I wondered? I drove right over to the school and picked him up. We drove home, and he went upstairs to lie down. Brandon slept for a long time but woke up very sick. It was now quite late, and nothing was open; I wasn't sure what I should do. I called Bill, and he told me I should take Brandon to the Kaiser Clinic by the mall. We had just recently moved, and I wasn't familiar with the area. We hadn't even gotten our insurance cards yet. I had a vague idea of where the mall was, but I had no idea where the clinic could be.

I headed for the mall. I could see Brandon was feeling worse and worse; I had to find this clinic fast. I found the mall, then started to drive down the side streets. There it was, the Kaiser sign! "Thank you, Lord," I whispered. We walked into the clinic. Since it was late, no one was in the waiting room, and we were taken right back to a room. The doctor examined Brandon, then looked at me and said, "You'll need to drive Brandon to the hospital yourself. He needs surgery right away. We don't have time to wait for an ambulance."

Wait a minute; I have no idea how I even found this clinic; now I was supposed to find a hospital at night when I had no idea where I was going? The nurse wrote out some directions. "I have no sense of direction, so drawing me a map is useless," I frantically tried to explain to the nurse, but all she said was, "You can do it; there's no time to waste."

I started not knowing where I was going. While Brandon was moaning and trusting me to get him to the hospital, I told him that we needed to pray. As I drove in what I thought was the right direction but feeling lost, I prayed, "Please, Lord, help us find this hospital. We need someone to show us the way."

There was no one on the streets; everything looked deserted. It appeared we were at the wrong end of the city. We pulled up to a stoplight on the one-way street we were on. An old beat-up car pulled up next to us. The people inside of the vehicle looked rough. I felt uneasy at first. But then I remembered that I had prayed that the Lord would send someone to help; I had to trust Him. I looked over at Brandon and said, "I'm going to roll down the window and ask these people for help." Brandon gave me a look like he seemed to think it was a good idea. I rolled down the window. "We're lost--could you please help us find the hospital?" I said, half crying. "No problem, just follow us," was their reply. I felt I had no choice but to follow them.

However, we went up and down one street after another; I started to wonder if these were the people the Lord had sent to help us. I felt we were on a wild goose chase. After what seemed to be a long time and many turns, I could see the hospital sign. I was so relieved! I kept following this old beat-up car right to the emergency room door. With a wave of their hand out the window, they were gone, back into the dead of night.

I rushed Brandon into the emergency room. After several doctors had examined him, they agreed he needed surgery right away. Even though we didn't have our insurance cards yet, the bill was paid entirely, and Brandon came through the surgery with flying colors.

To this day, I've often wondered who those people were who came to our aid that late night years ago. To Brandon and me, they were angels that the Lord sent to help us find our way.

Fix Your Focus

by Kay Heitsch 

When I first became a Christian, I bought myself a Bible. Inside of the front cover, I wrote, "Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end." Hebrews 12:2 Of all the Bible texts I could have chosen, I chose this one. I wondered why. Over the years, I've had several experiences that have shown me why I chose this text. 

I want to share my first experience. One day while I was leaning back and relaxing, I started to see a moving picture play in my mind's eye. I'll never forget the experience. I could see a person walking down a dusty, winding road that was lined with trees. Up ahead of the person, I could see the light. The person was bent over with what appeared to be bricks piled on their back. Each brick had a negative word printed on it: fear, worry, anger, sorrow, jealousy, and hatred. 

As the person continued slowly struggling towards the light, I could see Jesus standing at the end of the road. When the person looked up and started to focus on Jesus, they began to walk in an upright position, and the bricks started to fall off. As they continued to walk towards Jesus, I could see what appeared to be butterflies coming towards the person. On each butterfly were positive words like love, joy, peace, goodness, and kindness. 

My thoughts about this scene have varied over the years. Through this experience, it was clear that people carry a lot of heavy burdens (bricks). As we walk the road of life, these burdens can be so severe that they make us feel bent over from the load. But once we look up and see the Light, which I believe is Jesus, and we keep our eyes fixed on Him, our burdens seem to fall off of our backs. In exchange, Jesus sends his Spirit (butterflies) to bring us love, joy, and peace. Like the text says, "Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus." As we keep our focus on Jesus, we will be filled with His Spirit, and the burdens of life will fall off of our backs.

The Unexpected Compliment

by Kay Heitsch

I walked up to the big white door and knocked. I heard the door unlock, and a large lady with a stern look opened the door. "Are you here to see someone?" she asked. "Hi, my name's Kay; I'm here to see everyone," I answered in a friendly voice. There was an uneasy pause as she looked me over. Then she introduced herself as Bessie* and invited me inside. To tell you the truth, I can't remember how I knew about this Girl's Group Home for troubled girls, but there I was, standing in the doorway.

Once inside, Bessie called to the girls, "Someone is here to see all of you." The girls, all teenagers, gathered in the living room. I introduced myself as Kay, and they told me their first names. I expressed to them that I would like to come over every so often to visit.

I had no idea what I'd do when I was there, but I wanted to reach out to these girls. I started to go over once a week. I'd take Brandon, who was about 4 years old at the time, with me. The girls loved it when Brandon came. They would play with him and twirl him around. Brandon loved going over to see them too.

Once a month, we would go over to the nursing home together. I could see how much the girls enjoyed visiting with these older people. I felt there was a special bond the girls had with them. Everyone accepted each other for who they were.

The girls liked to bake me goodies when I came to visit. I'm not crazy about chocolate. However, the girls loved to bake a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles. They would be so excited when I arrived and couldn't wait to show me their latest chocolate treat. Of course, they wanted me to try some. I didn't want to hurt their feelings, so I always took a piece and thanked them.

One day the girl's tutor stopped me when I came to visit and asked to talk to me. I was wondering what this could be about. After we were alone in a room, she said, "The girls came to me and said, 'You know, Ms. Kay is a Christian.' I asked what you had told them to make them think that you were a Christian. They said you hadn't told them anything. Still, they knew you were a Christian because you loved them." I was stunned! I didn't know what to say.

Over the years, I've thought about this conversation with the tutor many times. When I went over to the Group Home, I wasn't going over there to "do" witnessing. However, by loving the girls, I was "being" a witness, not even knowing it with no strings attached. How awesome is that!?

*Name has been changed.