May 14

Let my cry come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to thy word.
Ps 119:169

You cannot
delegate prayers
to someone else -
for from your heart
to the heart of God
must stream
your voice,
your tears,
and your
desires.

M. W. Robbins

I wrote the following short story long ago, but I feel
like I should share it today. And it is dedicated to
all the ones in the Lord's service and for all the
ones who share in the cost....

The Marvelous Day
by M. Robbins

Even before 10 year old Casey peeked out from under
the bed covers, he knew the day was going to be more
than just a Saturday. It was the day after his birthday
and he had $20 just waiting to be spent.

“I’m going to make this day marvelous,” Casey said
to himself as he dressed.

“I’ll help you make this a marvelous day,” volunteered
Casey’s older brother, Donald, during breakfast. “You’ll
need help in spending all that money.”

As Casey glared across the table, Donald laughed.
“No, really, I’ll just walk with you to the stores.”

Now Casey really didn’t want his brother to go along,
but Casey knew his mother wouldn’t let him walk
to the shopping mall alone. And since Donald was
almost 14 years of age.......”You can go,” said Casey
grudgingly. “Don’t forget that it’s my money and
I get to say how I spend it.”

So after breakfast, Casey and Donald rushed
to the shopping mall. Neither boy spoke a word.

“I’m going to have a marvelous time with my money,”
thought Casey as his feet crunched the dry winter leaves.

“Maybe I can get him to spend some on me,”
contemplated Donald as he made sure for a change he
didn’t outrun his momentarily rich brother.

The first store they visited was the sports shop. In there
Casey ran his hands around a bright orange basketball.
It felt rough - almost like a kitten’s tongue.

“That’s a special ball,” urged Donald as he thought of
the fun he could have himself.

“But it isn’t marvelous,” stressed Casey as he put
the ball down.

In the hat department, Casey and Donald gazed
at baseball caps. Casey grinned as he imagined himself
wearing a blue Kansas City Royal’s cap.

“Oooooo,” said Donald as he fingered a St. Louis Cardinal’s
cap and twirled it around his hand.

“But they’re not marvelous,” argued Casey. He walked on.

As they walked out of the store and continued down the mall,
Donald tried to lead the way.

“Look at that black and white rabbit,” said Donald as he stopped
at the pet store. Then Donald grabbed Casey’s arm and led him
into the store.

Soon Casey found himself looking at the cuddly looking rabbit
as it wrinkled it’s nose. He felt its fur. Not even Casey’s tiny
baby sister’s skin felt as soft. He held the rabbit close against his
shirt. And there for a moment he stood with the rabbit....
heart to heart.

“Here is something marvelous,” Casey found himself thinking.

But the rabbit’s price was marvelous too....$35.

Casey and Donald walked out of the store.

After seeing the rabbit, Casey was in no shopping mood. That is,
until he saw the magic shop.

In there every item was unbelievable.

There were magic wands.

There were vases that disappeared.

There were flowers which reappeared.

And then there were the magic ropes.

Casey like the magic robes. He watched as the store clerk
cut a piece of rope into 3 pieces and then made the 3 pieces
become one again.

“Fascinating!” exclaimed Donald.

“Fascinating?” asked Casey. “That’s simply marvelous!”

Then as Casey reached with one hand for the magic rope, he
reached into his pocket with the other hand. But the $20
was gone! Casey had forgotten to put the money into his pocket.

As both boys walked back home, Donald only said
one thing, “Dumb!”

But Donald repeated that same word all the way back
to their house.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re home,” greeted their mother as the boys
walked angrily through the kitchen door. “We have a chance
to go to the pastor’s house and eat lunch with a visiting
missionary. Since we don’t have much time, don’t bother
changing clothes.”

Donald walked back outside, but Casey raced up the steps
to his room. Reaching into a birthday card, he brought out
the $20 bill. He tucked it in his shirt pocket.

“Just in case we stop at the mall later,” he explained
to the hidden bill.

At the pastor’s house, Casey politely ate chocolate chip cookies
with his brother and all the grownups. But when the missionary
started doing magic tricks, Casey almost spilled his hot chocolate.

“I didn’t know missionaries had fun....especially with magic
things,” said Casey. “I thought they only preached.”

“Well, I do preach, Casey,” said the missionary. “But kids and
many grownups like to watch magic tricks. So sometimes
I do tricks to get a crowd of people around me. Then I tell them
about Jesus.”

Suddenly Casey had a marvelous idea. Reaching into his pocket,
he brought out his $20. “Could you use this to help tell others
about Jesus?”

As the missionary smiled and accepted the gift, Casey knew
he had done something marvelous. "In fact,” Casey thought,
“today hasn’t been marvelous at all. It’s been a SIMPLY
BRILLIANTLY MARVELOUS DAY.