Last evening my daughter-in-law brought me some of my husband's old Preachers Magazines, books, periodicals, etc. that she had found and thought I would enjoy. As I was trying to sort through them, I noticed this title on the front of a little pamphlet. I sat down to read it, and it touched my heart. I trust it will minister to you today!
"Some years ago, on February 13th, a first year representative in the New York State assembly received an urgent telegram at his Albany, New York, office containing a single three word sentence: 'Come home now'! The day before, his wife had given birth to a baby girl. So, as the train made the five-hour trip back to his home in New York City, the new father wondered if something had gone wrong. As he read and reread the telegram, he prayed that all would be well. Walking into his home, the man's brother greeted him with this sad lament: 'There's a curse on this house.'
The new father dashed up the stairs to his bedroom where he found his wife, Alyce, dying. Holding her, he could be heard pleading: 'Let her live. Let her live.' At one point during that long night, someone slipped into the bedroom and whispered into the man's ear: 'If you want to see your mother before she dies, come downstairs now.' The man slipped away and walked down a flight of stairs into his mother's room where he held her until she died at 3 a.m.
Returning upstairs, the man then held his wife until she also died at two that afternoon. The grief in the air of that household was periodically punctuated by the cries of a two-day old motherless baby. Before the man went to bed that night, he opened his daily diary and slashed a huge X across the day's page and scribbled: 'The light has gone out of my life.' The date was February 14, 1884, Valentine's Day.
Two days later, the man followed identical rose-wood caskets down the center aisle of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church where he had married Alice four years earlier. The sanctuary was packed with some of New York City's most distinguished citizens. During the funeral service, cries could be heard throughout the congregation. Even the minister, as he led the service, wept as he tried to offer some words of hope to the grieving son and husband. After the service, the man had to be led like a child to and from the graves. Friends described the man as being in a 'dazed, stunned state.' Others said: 'He does not know what he does or says.' Many concluded that the twin blows of death would leave him emotionally damaged permanently.
Yet, the man who experienced such a devastating Valentine's Day did recover. Over time, his wounded heart was healed. He would continue on, marrying again, serving as assistant secretary of the Navy, governor of New York and President of the United States! His name -- Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt!"
If your heart is wounded today, I trust that your heart will be encouraged as you meditate on these blessed promises from God's Holy Word:
"The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart". Psalm 34:18
"He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds". Psalm 147:3
"For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord". Jeremiah 30:17
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness". Isaiah 41:10
I love this beautiful promise -- Claim it as your own today!
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