I can’t thank all of you enough for surrounding me with encouraging comments over the weekend. Your words meant so much — and I have read and reread everything you wrote, wondering if God is speaking to me through any of your words. I know that He is, and I know without a doubt that’s why I’ve been blogging this year. I can’t believe you’re out there. There is no way in the world I could have written my Saturday post thinking it would disappear into a black hole. Thank you for reading my dream; your words have watered that seed a little bit, and now we’ll see what God chooses to do.

A REALLY funny thing happened only a few hours after I wrote that! You know I wrote about how my dream is to take my children through an open fruit market somewhere near the sea — in a different culture. Well, later in the afternoon, I went with my parents and daughters to a 90th birthday party of a special family friend. The party was at a gorgeous old country club, right by a lake that had one of those fountains in the middle of it. The surrounding gardens were exquisite, vibrant with tropical hues of purple, red, and gold.

Inside the club, the room was set up like a tea party, and one table was overflowing with piles of fresh fruit — slices of juicy pineapple, strawberries, and melons. There were wooden skewers, and I told my girls, “Oh, look — we can make fruit shish-kabobs.” We started putting the fruit on the skewers, and then my mom came over and noticed the CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN.

I’ve never in my life seen one of these — but you take the fruit on the skewer and dip it into this ever-flowing fountain of pure chocolate — voila. Chocolate-dipped sweetness. We had a blast with that discovery! Talk about a fresh fruit market!

One whole side of this ornately decorated room was windows, overlooking the lake and golf course. I saw a boy about my son’s age striding toward the course with a green leather bag of golf clubs slung over his shoulder. Like every other player, he was decked out in golf shoes, khaki pants, and a solid-color cotton shirt. I thought to myself, “This is so far from our lifestyle. I can’t even imagine.” Then it hit me — this was my “cross-cultural experience.” So, you see — I got to enjoy my fruit in a different culture after all.

This morning, I was able to witness another extraordinary miracle. If you get a chance to hear today’s Focus on the Family radio broadcast, I hope you can. James Dobon is interviewing Duane Miller, the pastor of the church in Houston who once lost his voice because of a virus. For three years, he couldn’t speak above a raspy whisper. He had to step down as pastor, but his Sunday school class begged him to teach. They rigged up a very sensitive microphone and attached it directly to his lips so everyone could hear his whisper. The doctors told him he would never be able to speak again, and that his raspy teaching was causing even more harm to his permanently damaged vocal chords.

He was Beth Moore’s pastor, and I’d read his story in Week 3 of the Believing God study, but I honestly couldn’t imagine it. Here’s how Beth described what happened:

One Sunday morning at our church he rasped his way through part of a lesson on the Psalms with the help of his sensitized microphone … Duane taught his class that morning that God is neither a genie in a bottle nor an apathetic bystander … By this time the pain in Duane’s throat was excruciating.

He continued the lesson with the mention of the next benefit: He redeems my life from the pit. He started to refer to his own ordeal, but the moment the word pit slipped from his mouth, whatever seemed to have choked him for more than three years suddenly released. Before the ears of his loving class and prayer warriors, God performed a miracle!

It’s true. It’s on tape, the whole thing. During the interview, James Dobson played the tape, and I got to hear this miracle take place. There’s a moment when Duane Miller pauses, as his voice suddenly booms strong … and you can hear the whole class gasp, then start laughing and clapping, and they spontaneosly sing the Doxology:

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

This radio broadcast is called “Breaking the Silence,” and you can listen to it here.

Carol of She Lives is hosting this week’s Carnival of Beauty on the topic of “The Beauty of Aging Gracefully.” Ha! Send her something by 3 pm tomorrow — I’ll be curious to see what everyone comes up with.

P.S. For the ladies in the Beth Moore LBY group — so many of you have shared over the weekend how cool it is that we’re able to write out our thoughts and read what we’re all learning. Many of us are the type who wouldn’t say a word in a group of 30 women — we’d just listen.

I encourage you to PRINT OUT your weekly blog post that goes along with the lesson, including all of the comments people send you. Put this in your notebook along with your homework. I know without a doubt we’re all going to use these notes someday for something. So far, at least two of you have used this study to give you strength to speak in front of large groups.

These notes will help us remember what we’re learning and to show others the fellowship we’ve discovered. You never know — maybe our study will be a prototype for others to follow. Just think of all the housebound people in the world, or those in hospitals, who can’t get to a group meeting. Our study group may be a solution to help these people enjoy interacting with others from their homes or hospital beds. Eight more weeks to go!