Once there was a little girl

 That Jesus specially made

He formed her like Himself

 So she could make the grade.

Her life became a struggle and 

Several wrong turns she did take

But throughout every bit of it

  He watched her for His sake.

He chose to die on Calvary 

  In this child’s place

And paid for every sin she did

  So she could see His face.

So now His grace abounds

  In every place she goes

She only has to call His name

  For heaven already knows.

THE APPLE

God is smiling on you

He is approving you

You are His beloved

You are His favorite

You are His selected & elected

You are His creation

You are His delight

You are His pearl

You are His prized, precious possession

You are His handiwork

You are His workmanship

You are His masterpiece

You are His cherished jewel

You are His valued treasure

His seeds of greatness have been deposited into you

His fingerprints are all around you

His DNA is in you

You are the Apple of His Eye

Dr. Cat had been our pediatrician since forever.  All my kids, and even my sister Gini’s son, went to see him.  When David was born I remember Dr. Cat carrying him to be weighed, when he tenderly held him up to his face and gently kissed him.  He was a special doctor and had to hear special things to keep his hopes up and know there is a God and Jesus is our Healer!

The nurses thought it was an emergency because I was so excited and they let us in right away.  When I told Dr. Cat what happened and he saw David’s mouth, he looked at him in astonishment. He then looked at Joe and I, and since he knew us so well he believed we were telling the truth.

He said, “I’ve never seen anything like this, it’s as though you had a specialist do surgery on David’s face because it is total perfection. Tell me again what happened.”

He couldn’t get over that not only was his face totally and perfectly put back in place, but there wasn’t swelling inside or outside of his mouth. He wanted to attribute the ice as having a lot to do with it, but he accepted the fact that David was miraculously healed from this wound to his mouth.

Dr. Cat’s faith level rose and I know in my heart it allowed his love and faith to work for others. The doctor was beaming and he was refreshed in his spirit seeing a miracle of God for himself.   A tiny scar remains above David’s lip, which the doctor said could not have been smaller if it were surgically done.  This serves as a reminder that the true Surgeon had been there and had healed all his wounds as the song to the Lord became true, as He was the Lord our Healer!

I must have dozed off for a bit, as the sun was now peeping into the same window on the east side of the house where the street light was the night before. Joe was also just waking up.

All of a sudden I remembered last night.  David!  I looked at Joe and we looked at David. My hand, which was now holding a bag of water instead of ice, had fallen off his lip. We both looked at his face as tears flooded my eyes.  There was the most beautiful lip back in place exactly as it should look. He was bitten on the upper portion of his lip and the tear had gone through the area above his lip, only it was altogether and closed tightly and both pieces of skin met naturally without swelling or even blood.  I held him again thanking God for healing David.

Then David awoke as though everything was alright. He looked at where he was and even wondered why he was in our bed.  I told him that Jesus had healed his lip and face perfectly, he was fine and made whole.  His big brown eyes were glistening as he remembered what happened last night.  We closely watched the freckles that marched across his nose and cheeks as this big, beautiful smile beamed across his face with his lips that looked brand new!  He knew Jesus was real, oh so ever real.

I did exactly that, with all my heart I asked the Lord to come, I trusted Him as our Healer and Deliverer as God had sent Jesus to heal my son.  My prayer turned into a song, “You are the Lord that healeth thee, you are the Lord my healer, You sent your Word and healed David, you are the Lord my healer.”

After the first few verses the presence of fear was gone and we were at peace. Joe stood in the doorway of the bathroom in astonishment. I can see him even now, with the hall light shinning behind him casting him into a sillouette, just watching, not saying a word, just listening.

I never could carry a tune and Joe song beautifully, but this song was of the Lord. The room echoed with notes and they were all in tune, filling the room with the presence of God.  The song of the Lord continued from my heart, to David’s heart, to the throne room of God and into Joe’s life as well, becoming one of the times Jesus showed His presence to him.

I loved this song, it was real and full of life.  I was holding my son so close and he was so full of belief as my heart was pouring out into him.  He was warm and cuddly, and I held him tighter and tighter with one arm while the other arm held the ice against his lips.  It was such an awkward position and yet so peaceful, it had to be the Lord who held him.

As my love poured out towards David, my heart poured out to my Lord. The combination of this love was overwhelming, all encompassing.  I became caught up into a rapture of melody, trust and peace that it seemed as though it went on forever and I forgot where I was and why I was there. I heard the singing when the echo sang back to me as I was on the next verse.

Joe was still watching from the doorway, so I knew in my heart that I must stay in the Spirit and not think of anyone’s doubt, there was no room for it here.  The praises to God’s throne had to rise above everything, I had to stay focused on Him.  My son lay in my arms trusting Jesus and the praises of God to remove the hurts, fears, burdens and also the horrible ragged tear that tried to disfigure him across his mouth.  We both had confidence that Jesus had healed him.

After what seemed like several hours, but in reality was only two, we went back to our bed.  I still held David in my arms so Joe went and got fresh ice for David’s lip. Then all three of us climbed into bed.  Joe and David fell asleep, but I lay there resting and praying in tongues, in thanksgiving so forever grateful to my Lord for being so real as He came to our aid healing our son.

 The room was pretty dark except for the street lights that tried to glimmer between the curtains. I realized I was being nudged, and thought it was Arnold.  Only it wasn’t, it was my 8 year old son, David, trying to get my attention.  He didn’t have a chance to tell me why he came upstairs to our bedroom.  Arnold didn’t recognize him and lunged at his face ripping into his upper lip with his teeth.  All I saw was blood and heard David screaming.

 Joe realized that David would be badly disfigured if we didn’t act immediately.  As he jumped into his clothing to rush him to the emergency room, we couldn’t contain David’s fear of going.  He was terrified of the thought of getting stitches in his face. I didn’t know what scared David more, the blood pouring from his face or the fear in his heart.  Joe wanted to know why I wasn’t getting dressed to go to the ER and I realized I was still holding David tightly in my arms.

Compassion filled my heart for my son.  At that moment I knew what to do.  I wasn’t taking David anywhere. I said to Joe, “Please agree with me that Jesus is going to close this wound and heal David right now.  I’m not planning on leaving this house.”  It was important that I had his full agreement, and even though Joe didn’t fully understand, he trusted me as a Mother.  I asked him to get some ice from the kitchen and I took David to my bathroom where I sat down still holding him in my arms as he continued to bleed profusely from his face. I knew we needed the presence of God and peace in David’s heart.

When Joe returned I asked him not to say another word except to thank the Lord for what He was doing.  Absolutely not another word!  He agreed, and that, was a miracle in itself!

After an hour of music, prayers and miracles it was time to leave Bedford Maximum Prison. Time to leave those once hardened women who had been changed by the power of God. Women who had no hope, no faith, no desire for anything better. Until God showed them, through Grace, that there is a reason for living and that no matter what they did in the past He has forgiven them and they needed to forgive themselves. They needed to open their hearts to Him and receive Him and then they can live the rest of their lives in His honor and glory.

Grace wasn’t there to get those women out of prison physically but to be used as God’s vessel to get those women out of their mental prison. Out of the despair and hopelessness they felt. Grace’s faith was unwavering.  She knew that when she went in there God would change their lives whether they wanted it or not. She knew that God would work in His mysterious way as always. She let Him use her to bring hope and healing to the women. Women, who would hopefully go through and spread the love of Jesus to the rest of the prison. We may have left that day but Jesus stayed and would be with those women for the rest of their lives.

All of a sudden Grace stopped singing and got right in front of those women and forced them to make eye contact with her. She started talking about her childhood. How she was beaten by her own father, abused by a man who was supposed to love her unconditionally, and how she was saved by Jesus himself.

She started getting their attention now. She shared with them deep personal things that had happened to her by her father and how Jesus was the one who helped her out of the horrible situation that she was in. By the end of her story all eyes were focused on her. She began to sing again and the women started to loosen up. They were all standing up now, some would even sing, clap or even raise their hands. Her lawyer and the author were amazed that Grace was getting through to those girls. Even the guards were starting to get into it. Everyone was relaxed. God was really there!

As she was singing, the anointing of God moved through her and started melting the hearts of these hardened women. She told them if they wanted to have a relationship with the Jesus that helped her when she was a child to come down and receive Him in their hearts. If they needed healing to come down and receive that healing from Jesus, the One and Only true Savior. One by one they started coming forward to be healed and saved, one by one they slowly gave their lives to Jesus and one by one the miracles started showing. Even Big Momma who had nothing but smart aleck remarks and crude jokes to say before, melted in God’s presence and gave her life over to Him. The healings were amazing.  One young women was healed from a deaf ear while another from arthritis. Several women were healed from depression and anxiety. Grace prayed specifically for one lady who had a deformed foot and her foot was healed and transformed right in front of their eyes. Whoever had held back from Jesus before had changed their minds after that and gave their lives to God.

Finally we were able to enter the prison walls. The first thing you noticed were yellow nicotine stained walls. The floors were old looking and the glass looked smudged and dirty. The yellow fluorescent lights flickered on and off making it feel dark and cold. All around us you heard hollow sounding loud noises, cells being banged shut, and women yelling. The guards were unfriendly and just looked sad and lonely. A feeling of despair  surrounded you. A depressing sense of death and failure, a sense of never ending doom.

There were about 15 of us and the guards checked our names, IDs and searched us and our belongings before allowing us to enter the auditorium. They took us inside the room a few at a time, and we were told we had to stay in the front left corner at all times. Then they started letting the women in a short while later. They came in two by two dressed in olive green jumpers with sneakers that had no laces.  Escorted in by a guard they were taken to the front to be seated. About one hundred women were in the room with us.

Slowly all the seats were filled and the guards both male and female were lined up on either side of the room just watching and waiting for someone to get out of hand. One very large woman in the front row kept making wise cracks all through the service. She seemed to be the boss, the leader of the group, and all the women would follow her cues.

Those women sat in those chairs hardened off to anything good ever happening to them. Their faces were vacant looking. They were only there to get out of their cells for an hour, anything to pass the time, the dread, the lonely hours. They were just living to get through another day till they died. They had no hope, no love, no Savior.

We all met at the prison parking lot around 5pm in Bedford Hills, N.Y.  The prison was surrounded by brick and stone walls. There were 15 foot metal fences with rusty coiled barbed wire on top of it surrounding those walls. The parking lot was covered in dense, eerie trees. It was a very scary and ominous setting and to make it worse it was cold, rainy and dreary outside. As we got there the prison guards told us it would be another hour before we were allowed to enter the prison and we could stay in the trailer in the back. The trailer had no heat, leaked and smelled. We all decided to huddle together in Grace’s ministry van.

Grace used that time to tell us why she wanted us to come to the prison. She said those women were not just in a physical prison but a mental one also. They were not just locked away inside those prison walls but inside themselves as well.  Filled with despair and helplessness they needed to know that someone loved them, that there was still hope for them. That God cared. We knew Grace’s heart was to lead those girls to Jesus. She wanted to bring the power of God in there to reach those girls’ hearts.

She made it clear to us earlier on the phone and again that evening how she felt she was consumed with compassion knowing their only hope was Jesus. She felt strongly impressed by God, no matter what it took,  to give them all He wanted them to have. With that in mind she started to pray, asking God to use her to bring life and joy back to the women.