Manna From Heaven

     It was time for dinner, and Mother knew she had to find something for five hungry children to eat. I was the youngest, just turned seven. We never had a lot, but Mother and Daddy always found some way to provide for their family with a bountiful garden, and each one of us had a job to do in that garden. When harvest time came, we all worked, snapping green beans for canning, digging potatoes to be placed in the root cellar, helping Mother can tomatoes, corn, squash, turnips, and many other wonderful vegetables. However, during the winter months our food supply had been used up, and Daddy had not been able to find work for some time. There was little food, and even less money, to go around.

     I was hungry, so like a little shadow, I followed Mother into the pantry to see what she would choose for dinner. Only now that I am older, can I realize the heaviness of my Mother’s heart as she stared at shelf after shelf of nothing. There was no food to feed her children.

     We turned, Mother and I, and I watched, wide-eyed, as she pulled a chair from the scarred, old, round, oak table in our dining room. She sat down, bowed her head and folded her hands in prayer. Her request was very simple, "Lord, my children are hungry and I have no food. Please help me!"

     Then she stood up and turned to go back into the pantry. Again, like a small shadow, I followed her. To my surprise, the pantry was not empty any longer! There, gleaming more brightly than any precious gem, lay a large bag of Navy beans. Imagine, if you can, this child’s "wonderment" as I watched Mother lift that bag of beans from a shelf that I, myself, knew had been empty two minutes before. Imagine, if you can, the joy in a Mother’s heart over a God who ‘inclines Himself’ to hear the cry of our hearts.

     Does Jesus answer prayer? Oh, yes, He does! He sent "manna" from heaven in answer to my Mother’s prayer!

Barbara Bender