Week of August 29
Bill and Cindy are a wonderful Christian couple. For years Bill has taught Latin in the Manchester Public School System. Cindy was a youth counselor when she first met Bill. They are married, have six children and are running a retreat center in Hebron, Connecticut called Mary's Field.
The Pfeiffers have a modest home for themselves and their children. Despite having a large family they opened their home to unwed pregnant girls who had nowhere to go and wanted to deliver their babies. The family agreed on the need to find a separate place for Mary's Field and expand its reach to anyone seeking deeper spiritual meaning.
Bill said the whole family discussed what an ideal center would look like. Each of the children had things they wanted. The younger children wanted an indoor pool to swim in year round and not have to worry about leaves or cold weather. The youngest boy wanted "a neat robot thing that cleans the pool." One teenager wanted a tennis court and another a jute box. Bill wished for a room large enough to house a small chapel and Cindy visualized a spacious kitchen suitable for volunteers to prepare meals for groups.
Bill, an ordained priest, lead the family in prayer and presented these requests to the Lord. Bill then suggested to the children that they give up something they like, to show their seriousness in making these prayer requests. The children decide to give up watching television.
Almost a year goes by. No television. No retreat center. “Then came God's answer,” Bill said. Bill receives a call from a Mary’s Field board member who reports a local bank had foreclosed on an estate. A developer had built the mansion as his personal residence during the real estate boom of the early 1980’s. The housing bubble burst, the developer had committed suicide and the bank was left with the property. It has been vacant for more than a year and the bank “is anxious to unload this white elephant.”
The Pfeiffer family went to take a look. A long secluded driveway leads into the property that includes 23 acres, mostly wooded. A large two-story house sits on a hill overlooking woods and a pond. In front of the house there is a paved area for parking and a lawn with a flagpole. Adjacent to the house is a hard surface tennis court and down the hill is a carriage house large enough to serve as a chapel.
The sprawling contemporary house has a rustic interior with four bedrooms, three baths, and a spacious dining room off of a large kitchen that is suitable for cooking for groups.
There is an indoor pool and yes, it is equipped with a self-cleaning robot. One thing the Pfeiffers hadn't requested was a party room with a built in wet bar. However, in one corner of this room stands a shiny jute box.
"And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:22)
Bill Pfeiffer
Hebron Connecticut
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Mriacle in Providence
Week of August 22
I was graduated from Holy Cross High School in Waterbury, Ct., Class of 1975. One of my best friends, Bobby Blacker heard there was going to be a faith healer appearing at the Providence Civic Center. A small group of us decide to make the trip from Waterbury to Providence Rhode Island to ask for a miracle of healing for Bobby’s brother who has been severely handicapped, physically and mentally, since birth.
The Providence Civic Center was packed by the time we got there. I couldn’t make it inside so I hung around one of the corner entrances hoping for a chance to get inside. Nearby a small group gathered in prayer.
I wandered over and listened to the young man who was leading the prayer. I also noticed a young woman standing in the circle who seemed to be pregnant but only on one side of her stomach. After the group prayed for some other people, the young woman spoke up and told the prayer leader that she had been suffering from a disease that had left a very large tumor in her abdomen. She said the doctors could not help her condition and she asked for healing prayers to be lifted up over her. I decided to join in the prayers.
The prayer leader placed his hands on her abdomen and the group prayed out loud and silently for Jesus to heal the woman. To my amazement I watched as the tumor began to shrink and her stomach begin to flatten out. It must have been about ten minutes that we prayed for the woman, and by the time it was over, she was weeping and thanking everyone because her tumor had vanished.
I did make it into the Civic Center that day before the rally was over. Bobby’s younger brother was not healed, but I had witnessed a miracle healing that day. Praise the Lord.
Paul Boiano
Vernon, Connecticut
I was graduated from Holy Cross High School in Waterbury, Ct., Class of 1975. One of my best friends, Bobby Blacker heard there was going to be a faith healer appearing at the Providence Civic Center. A small group of us decide to make the trip from Waterbury to Providence Rhode Island to ask for a miracle of healing for Bobby’s brother who has been severely handicapped, physically and mentally, since birth.
The Providence Civic Center was packed by the time we got there. I couldn’t make it inside so I hung around one of the corner entrances hoping for a chance to get inside. Nearby a small group gathered in prayer.
I wandered over and listened to the young man who was leading the prayer. I also noticed a young woman standing in the circle who seemed to be pregnant but only on one side of her stomach. After the group prayed for some other people, the young woman spoke up and told the prayer leader that she had been suffering from a disease that had left a very large tumor in her abdomen. She said the doctors could not help her condition and she asked for healing prayers to be lifted up over her. I decided to join in the prayers.
The prayer leader placed his hands on her abdomen and the group prayed out loud and silently for Jesus to heal the woman. To my amazement I watched as the tumor began to shrink and her stomach begin to flatten out. It must have been about ten minutes that we prayed for the woman, and by the time it was over, she was weeping and thanking everyone because her tumor had vanished.
I did make it into the Civic Center that day before the rally was over. Bobby’s younger brother was not healed, but I had witnessed a miracle healing that day. Praise the Lord.
Paul Boiano
Vernon, Connecticut
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Led by the Spirit
Week of August 15
Some people think I'm a stodgy, cranky, Yankee. Well, they are right-but that's how God restored me. I wasn't always so conservative.
I spent the sixties and seventies searching through drugs, radical politics, rebellion and anger. I spent my adolescence as a ski-bum, working on a
riverboat and looking for extremes. I rode motorcycles and did every reckless thing to excess. I believed that life was just an existential malaise of meaningless, random events and if there was no reason to life, I thought I would at least make it
exciting. I fought the system, institutions and all the things my generation rejected. I joined the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and I was tear gassed more than once. I tried a lot of things to fill that God-shaped vacuum at my center, but nothing fit. Atheism was my religion. Nothing meant anything in light of death.
Then things I couldn't explain began to happen. I bought a Bible and actually began reading it. God was laying the groundwork.
When I decided to get married, I chose the church to which my family had belonged for centuries- First Church of Christ, Wethersfield. In order to be
married there my fiancée and I had to join. The church preaches the Word of God in the Spirit.
My fiancée's relatives, who are from a long line of Christian evangelists in China, were praying for me. So were the faithful at First Church. I believe all these prayers prompted God to save me.
The Holy Spirit began to move. It was as though the Bible had been written solely for me. Every time I opened it, the passage I read spoke directly to my needs. Every church bulletin, letter or post card from church seemed to minister to me as though I was the only person for whom it had been written. Sermons seemed prepared just for me as did the worship. And I saw the Holy Spirit in people's faces at every church event. Jesus was everywhere.
One night I even had a dream that one of the pastors at the church told me "you will receive a message from your shoe." My cat awakened me, I got up, and went about dressing quietly. I remembered the dream and looked down at my shoes but there was
no message. I did notice my suit was wrinkled and changed into another, which was a different color than the first one. Now I had to change my shoe to match my suit. As I was leaving the house I noticed a sticky note stuck to the heel of my shoe. On the sticky note was a Bible verse. " I am the Vine, you are the branches, abide with me."
I've been to the peaks and struggled with valleys. I've had doubts and downs and faith and ups. God is slowly and I must say, painfully at times, remaking me in His Son’s image.
I know God is at work in me, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. He is crucifying my fleshly ways, as I learn to be led by the Spirit.
I am confident of this, "that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6 NIV)
Jesus Christ saved me from myself. Praise God.
Leigh Standish
Wethersfield, Connecticut.
Some people think I'm a stodgy, cranky, Yankee. Well, they are right-but that's how God restored me. I wasn't always so conservative.
I spent the sixties and seventies searching through drugs, radical politics, rebellion and anger. I spent my adolescence as a ski-bum, working on a
riverboat and looking for extremes. I rode motorcycles and did every reckless thing to excess. I believed that life was just an existential malaise of meaningless, random events and if there was no reason to life, I thought I would at least make it
exciting. I fought the system, institutions and all the things my generation rejected. I joined the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and I was tear gassed more than once. I tried a lot of things to fill that God-shaped vacuum at my center, but nothing fit. Atheism was my religion. Nothing meant anything in light of death.
Then things I couldn't explain began to happen. I bought a Bible and actually began reading it. God was laying the groundwork.
When I decided to get married, I chose the church to which my family had belonged for centuries- First Church of Christ, Wethersfield. In order to be
married there my fiancée and I had to join. The church preaches the Word of God in the Spirit.
My fiancée's relatives, who are from a long line of Christian evangelists in China, were praying for me. So were the faithful at First Church. I believe all these prayers prompted God to save me.
The Holy Spirit began to move. It was as though the Bible had been written solely for me. Every time I opened it, the passage I read spoke directly to my needs. Every church bulletin, letter or post card from church seemed to minister to me as though I was the only person for whom it had been written. Sermons seemed prepared just for me as did the worship. And I saw the Holy Spirit in people's faces at every church event. Jesus was everywhere.
One night I even had a dream that one of the pastors at the church told me "you will receive a message from your shoe." My cat awakened me, I got up, and went about dressing quietly. I remembered the dream and looked down at my shoes but there was
no message. I did notice my suit was wrinkled and changed into another, which was a different color than the first one. Now I had to change my shoe to match my suit. As I was leaving the house I noticed a sticky note stuck to the heel of my shoe. On the sticky note was a Bible verse. " I am the Vine, you are the branches, abide with me."
I've been to the peaks and struggled with valleys. I've had doubts and downs and faith and ups. God is slowly and I must say, painfully at times, remaking me in His Son’s image.
I know God is at work in me, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. He is crucifying my fleshly ways, as I learn to be led by the Spirit.
I am confident of this, "that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6 NIV)
Jesus Christ saved me from myself. Praise God.
Leigh Standish
Wethersfield, Connecticut.
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Lost Wallet
Week of August 9
Jim lost his wallet and that affected the whole family. It happened sometime Sunday although he didn’t realize he had misplaced his wallet until he was getting his things ready Sunday night for the morning commute.
He had washed two cars and detailed them Sunday afternoon so that was the first place he looked. The rest of us started the search inside the house, starting with the obvious places like the nightstand by the bed and the buffet in the dining room. We progressed to feeling in the crevasses of the cushions on the couch and inside the levels of the Lazy Boy chair. Soon we were trashing the house. All was for naught.
Monday morning Jim drove off to work without his wallet and of course without his license, I prayed the wallet would be found. Monday night we resumed the search perhaps more frantically than the day before. Jim and the kids went out and checked the cars again and I looked around inside revisiting many of the same places I had searched before. No wallet. I prayed some more
Tuesday Jim was obviously still upset and began grumbling about the prospect of having to apply for a duplicate license and call the credit card companies to close the accounts. As he stood by the door he said he was going to take my car this morning because the SUV was low on gas. I suggested we pray together, something we hadn’t done for awhile. So we did.
We didn’t ask that the wallet would be found but we praised the Lord for all that we did have confessing that we didn’t have to worry about these things but just give it all over to Him. I felt better after praying.
I walked him out to the car. As he opened the door he shouted, “There’s my wallet!”
I took a step forward and then I saw it too. It was on the floor in front of the back seat right in plain sight. He and the kids had searched both vehicles twice, most recently as last night. That wallet could not have been out in the open like that.
We looked at each other in disbelief. How did it get there? What if he hadn’t decided to take my car instead of his today?
Cathy Pansa
Shorewood, Illinois
Jim lost his wallet and that affected the whole family. It happened sometime Sunday although he didn’t realize he had misplaced his wallet until he was getting his things ready Sunday night for the morning commute.
He had washed two cars and detailed them Sunday afternoon so that was the first place he looked. The rest of us started the search inside the house, starting with the obvious places like the nightstand by the bed and the buffet in the dining room. We progressed to feeling in the crevasses of the cushions on the couch and inside the levels of the Lazy Boy chair. Soon we were trashing the house. All was for naught.
Monday morning Jim drove off to work without his wallet and of course without his license, I prayed the wallet would be found. Monday night we resumed the search perhaps more frantically than the day before. Jim and the kids went out and checked the cars again and I looked around inside revisiting many of the same places I had searched before. No wallet. I prayed some more
Tuesday Jim was obviously still upset and began grumbling about the prospect of having to apply for a duplicate license and call the credit card companies to close the accounts. As he stood by the door he said he was going to take my car this morning because the SUV was low on gas. I suggested we pray together, something we hadn’t done for awhile. So we did.
We didn’t ask that the wallet would be found but we praised the Lord for all that we did have confessing that we didn’t have to worry about these things but just give it all over to Him. I felt better after praying.
I walked him out to the car. As he opened the door he shouted, “There’s my wallet!”
I took a step forward and then I saw it too. It was on the floor in front of the back seat right in plain sight. He and the kids had searched both vehicles twice, most recently as last night. That wallet could not have been out in the open like that.
We looked at each other in disbelief. How did it get there? What if he hadn’t decided to take my car instead of his today?
Cathy Pansa
Shorewood, Illinois
Lost Keys
Week of August 2
It was my junior year of college and I was studying abroad in Strasbourg, France. My roommate was another American student. One evening she realized she had misplaced her keys. She began frantically searching the room, growing more frustrated and angry with each place she looked and not finding her keys.
I have a habit (as silly as it may seem) when I lose something to ask the Lord for guidance as to where it may be. My roommate was not a Christian so I left the room and walked down the hallway toward the floor bathroom.
I prayed, “Lord, Elizabeth doesn’t know You as I do, and she doesn’t know to ask You where her keys are. But I know she’s very upset and worked up, so Lord, I am asking You for her that You might help her find her keys.”
When I returned to the room, a calmer Elizabeth said, “You’ll never believe it! Shortly after you left, I looked under my mattress and there were my keys.”
Why am I not surprised.
Marybeth Henry
Arlington, Virginia
It was my junior year of college and I was studying abroad in Strasbourg, France. My roommate was another American student. One evening she realized she had misplaced her keys. She began frantically searching the room, growing more frustrated and angry with each place she looked and not finding her keys.
I have a habit (as silly as it may seem) when I lose something to ask the Lord for guidance as to where it may be. My roommate was not a Christian so I left the room and walked down the hallway toward the floor bathroom.
I prayed, “Lord, Elizabeth doesn’t know You as I do, and she doesn’t know to ask You where her keys are. But I know she’s very upset and worked up, so Lord, I am asking You for her that You might help her find her keys.”
When I returned to the room, a calmer Elizabeth said, “You’ll never believe it! Shortly after you left, I looked under my mattress and there were my keys.”
Why am I not surprised.
Marybeth Henry
Arlington, Virginia
Friday, August 6, 2010
Prudent Wife
August 5
Joy exclaims, "Oh! I had the most wonderful feeling when I was in the mall today; you know how you feel when you first love, like the butterflies you get. I had them again today for you and I said to myself; I get to go home to him today."
Wow what a loving thing to feel and share. Truly a loving wife is a gift from God. I am blessed.
"Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers,
But a prudent wife is from the Lord." (Proverbs 19:14)
Joy exclaims, "Oh! I had the most wonderful feeling when I was in the mall today; you know how you feel when you first love, like the butterflies you get. I had them again today for you and I said to myself; I get to go home to him today."
Wow what a loving thing to feel and share. Truly a loving wife is a gift from God. I am blessed.
"Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers,
But a prudent wife is from the Lord." (Proverbs 19:14)
Specialist Johnson
August 5
Specialist Johnson worked in personnel when I was at the Officers Candidate School. at Ft. Benning. I was from his hometown so he befriended me. On graduation day I wanted my first salute to come from Specialist Johnson so I could give him the traditional dollar. He saw me and waved. I said sternly, "Specialist is that the way you greet an officer?"
Isn't God like that, making us humble ourselves first, then comes His blessings"
Spc. Johnson was a blessing to me at OCS.
“There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18:24)
Specialist Johnson worked in personnel when I was at the Officers Candidate School. at Ft. Benning. I was from his hometown so he befriended me. On graduation day I wanted my first salute to come from Specialist Johnson so I could give him the traditional dollar. He saw me and waved. I said sternly, "Specialist is that the way you greet an officer?"
Isn't God like that, making us humble ourselves first, then comes His blessings"
Spc. Johnson was a blessing to me at OCS.
“There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18:24)
Barred from Prison
August 3
Our prison services were suppose to start in February. I had April. I asked people to pray for me and they did. We never got into the Prison. The clearances hadn’t come through. We prayed for the men through the barbed wire fence.I was reassigned to December. A call in late November cancelled our group.
God didn't want me in that prison. Why? Wasn't I properly prepared? Wasn't my heart right? A year later I heard God’s reply, "You never asked Me." It wasn’t His will that I go, it was mine.
“For without Me you can do nothing.” (John 51:5)
Our prison services were suppose to start in February. I had April. I asked people to pray for me and they did. We never got into the Prison. The clearances hadn’t come through. We prayed for the men through the barbed wire fence.I was reassigned to December. A call in late November cancelled our group.
God didn't want me in that prison. Why? Wasn't I properly prepared? Wasn't my heart right? A year later I heard God’s reply, "You never asked Me." It wasn’t His will that I go, it was mine.
“For without Me you can do nothing.” (John 51:5)
Strange Island
August 2
We paddle a skiff to a small beach and walk up the trail to the huts. Clothes hang on racks, two smoldering fires and chickens mill about but not a soul in sight. It is eerie. Now I have an inkling how missionaries must feel going to a remote area to share the Gospel. Their faith must be bigger than their fears. Is mine?
“Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and know I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”(Matthew 28:19-20)
We paddle a skiff to a small beach and walk up the trail to the huts. Clothes hang on racks, two smoldering fires and chickens mill about but not a soul in sight. It is eerie. Now I have an inkling how missionaries must feel going to a remote area to share the Gospel. Their faith must be bigger than their fears. Is mine?
“Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and know I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”(Matthew 28:19-20)
Baseball Lesson
August 1
The coach is chiding his third baseman.
A grounded heads for third and the baseman, thoroughly rattled misplays the ball. As the inning ends the player storms off the field and slams his glove down.
The catcher tells him “cheer up, the coach only rides those he thinks have potential. It is his way of trying to bring the best out of you.” The third baseman lifts his head.
God is like that coach. He is trying to bring out our best. He knows what is inside. He put it there.
“For whom the Lord loves He corrects; even as a father the son in whom he delights.” (Proverbs 3:11)
The coach is chiding his third baseman.
A grounded heads for third and the baseman, thoroughly rattled misplays the ball. As the inning ends the player storms off the field and slams his glove down.
The catcher tells him “cheer up, the coach only rides those he thinks have potential. It is his way of trying to bring the best out of you.” The third baseman lifts his head.
God is like that coach. He is trying to bring out our best. He knows what is inside. He put it there.
“For whom the Lord loves He corrects; even as a father the son in whom he delights.” (Proverbs 3:11)
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