An Easter Story

Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio , Texas . She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips. Dr. Phillips was a gentle doctor who saw patients as people. His favorite patient was Edith Burns.

One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because of Edith Burns. When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her.

Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way:

"Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved.

Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse, Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood pressure.

Edith began by saying,"My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?"

Beverly said, "Why yes I do."

Edith said, "Well, what do you believe about Easter?"

Beverly said, "Well, it's all about egg hunts, going to church, and dressing up." Edith kept pressing her about the real meaning of Easter, and finally led her to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Dr. Phillips said, " Beverly , don't call Edith into the office quite yet. I believe there is another delivery taking place in the waiting room.

After being called back in the doctor's office, Edith sat down and when she took a look at the doctor she said, "Dr. Will, why are you so sad? Are you reading your Bible? Are you praying?"

Dr. Phillips said gently, "Edith, I'm the doctor and you're the patient" With a heavy heart he said, "Your lab report came back and it says you have cancer, and Edith, you're not going to live very long."

Edith said, "Why Will Phillips, shame on you. Why are you so sad? Do you think God makes mistakes? You have just told me I'm going to see my precious Lord Jesus, my husband, and my friends. You have just told me that I am going to celebrate Easter forever, and here you are having difficulty giving me my ticket!"

Dr. Phillips thought to himself, "What a magnificent woman this Edith Burns is!"

Edith continued coming to Dr. Phillips. Christmas came and the office was closed through January 3rd. On the day the office opened, Edith did not show up. Later that afternoon, Edith called Dr.. Phillips and said she would have to be moving her story to the hospital and said, "Will, I'm very near home, so would you make sure that they put women in here next to me in my room who need to know about Easter."

Well, they did just that and women began to come in and share that room with Edith. Many women were saved. Everybody on that floor from staff to patients were so excited about Edith, that they started calling her Edith Easter; that is everyone except Phyllis Cross, the head nurse.

Phyllis made it plain that she wanted nothing to do with Edith because she was a "religious nut". She had been a nurse in an army hospital. She had seen it all and heard it all. She was the original G.I. Jane. She had been married three times, she was hard, cold, and did everything by the book.

One morning the two nurses who were to attend to Edith were sick. Edith had the flu and Phyllis Cross had to go in and give her a shot. When she walked in, Edith had a big smile on her face and said, "Phyllis, God loves you and I love you, and I have been praying for you."

Phyllis Cross said, "Well, you can quit praying for me, it won't work.. I'm not interested."

Edith said, "Well, I will pray and I have asked God not to let me go home until you come into the family."

Phyllis Cross said, "Then you will never die because that will never happen," and curtly walked out of the room.

Every day Phyllis Cross would walk into the room and Edith would say, "God loves you Phyllis and I love you, and I'm praying for you."

One day Phyllis Cross said she was literally drawn to Edith's room like a magnet would draw iron.. She sat down on the bed and Edith said, "I'm so glad you have come, because God told me that today is your special day"

Phyllis Cross said, "Edith, you have asked everybody here the question, "Do you believe in Easter but you have never asked me."

Edith said, "Phyllis, I wanted to many times, but God told me to wait until you asked, and now that you have asked." Edith Burns took her Bible and shared with Phyllis Cross the Easter Story of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Edith said, "Phyllis, do you believe in Easter? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is alive and that He wants to live in your heart?"

Phyllis Cross said, "Oh I want to believe that with all of my heart, and I do want Jesus in my life "Right there, Phyllis Cross prayed and invited Jesus Christ into her heart. For the first time Phyllis Cross did not walk out of a hospital room, she was carried out on the wings of angels.

Two days later, Phyllis Cross came in and Edith said, "Do you know what day it is?" Phyllis Cross said, "Why Edith, it's Good Friday."

Edith said, "Oh, no, for you every day is Easter.

Happy Easter Phyllis!"

Two days later, on Easter Sunday, Phyllis Cross came into work, did some of her duties and then went down to the flower shop and got some Easter lilies because she wanted to go up to see Edith and give her some Easter lilies and wish her a Happy Easter.

When she walked into Edith's room, Edith was in bed. That big black Bible was on her lap. Her hands were in that Bible. There was a sweet smile on her face. When Phyllis Cross went to pick up Edith's hand, she realized Edith was dead. Her left hand was on John 14: "In my Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

Her right hand was on Revelation 21:4, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."

Phyllis Cross took one look at that dead body, and then lifted her face toward heaven, and with tears streaming down here cheeks, said, "Happy Easter, Edith - Happy Easter!"

Phyllis Cross left Edith's body, walked out of the room, and over to a table where two student nurses were sitting. She said, "My name is Phyllis Cross..

Do you believe in Easter?"

YLouie and MichelleY

Home, Tired, and Happy

My sweetie is home. He played pool until after 2am, this morning, and didn’t get to bed until almost 3am.  He got back up and was back down to the River Center to collect the team’s winning check by 8:30am.  He was a tired boy when he got home around 10am this morning. He tried hard to stay awake to keep my company, but he played too hard over the last four days and nights, and tiredness got the best of him. He went downstairs to his favorite chair, and now the tv is running and my sweetie is snoring.  Ah…the sight of my baby back home, and the sound of his snoring is just the most beautiful sound I can imagine right now, and that makes me content and happy.

Marriage Takes Three

I once thought marriage took
Just two to make a go,
But now I am convinced
It takes the Lord also.

And not one marriage fails
Where Christ is asked to enter,
As lovers come together
With Jesus at the center.

But marriage seldom thrives
And homes are incomplete
Until He’s welcomed there
To help avoid defeat.

In homes where Christ is first,
It’s obvious to see,
Those unions really work,
For marriage still takes three.

Author Unknown

I’m glad you’re home, honey. I missed you!

Love,

MichelleY

A Late Evening Visitor!

I was almost asleep last night (8:30…hey! In my defense, was up early yesterday!) when I heard a truck pull up in the front of my house. I wondered who it could be?! I had expected a package yesterday, but when it didn’t arrive by 6pm, I figured I would just have to wait until Monday. I looked out the window, and didn’t realize what the truck was, but then I saw a man running up my driveway. Oh! I know who that was! The Fed-Ex man!

 

Ok, so it wasn’t THIS Fed Ex man, but you get the drift! Wanna see what he brought me? Eight spools of Hemingworth Polyselect thread! Since I have been trying new things, I want to try quilting with this thread, but in the meantime, I’m just going to enjoy looking at them!

Aren’t they cute????

I am happy that my shopping can be done via the internet, as my home town has absolutely no places to shop for specialty items like this, (or anything else, for that matter..all we have is Walmart) and if I were to drive to bigger neighboring towns to look for what I wanted, I would spend a whole lot more of my money in gas, plus lots of my time, and I still might not find what I am looking for. ‘At my door’ delivery is wonderful for me. The closest quilt shop is about 40 miles away, and not every quilt shop carries every item I might like.

My Magna-Glide bobbins were delivered on Thursday, so I should be set.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful, wonderful weekend!

Be blessed,

MichelleY

ISPA Pool Tournament 2009

My best friend and sweetie, LouieY, is doing what he loves to do best….playing pool. He is at the 14th Annual ISPA State Pool Tournament in the Quad Cities. (Click HERE for the story.) Louie has been playing pool competitively for about 30 years now. He is very serious about the game, and he is also very good at it.

 

The competition started on Wednesday for 9 Ball in the Singles division. I am proud to say that Louie finished in the 17th spot (out of 354 players) and he won $150. I am very proud of him, and he is very pleased at where he ended up.

Thursday at NOON, Louie was scheduled to play his first match in the Singles 8 Ball competition. He didn’t win his first game, but he was still in the competition. His second match was scheduled for MIDNIGHT—12pm—11 1/2 hours later. Yes, you read that right. Midnight. His car was in the ramp, and if you take your car out of the ramp before 11:45pm, it costs you $7.50.  You could take your car out of the ramp several times in that time frame, so what did he do? He waited. He watched other pool players, he found a soft comfy couch in another area of the River Center, and he took a few cat naps. (Had I not worked 10 hours yesterday, and had I not had a million things to do last night to get ready for the activities today, I could have driven down, picked him up, and spent some time with him.)  My sister took pity on him about 10pm and picked him up and they went out for supper. By the time he got back to play his second match at MIDNIGHT, he really didn’t care anymore. He was tired, and he was tired of waiting. He lost his second match, and he didn’t care anymore. He did take an opportunity to tell the tournament director what he thought of his match scheduling, which went on deaf ears. I don’t know how they think people can play well when they are weary, but life goes on. 

This morning(Friday), he came home for the day. I was scheduled for a dentist appointment, and he was scheduled to have his pool table recovered. The whole pool recovery project started out as a surprise, to be done while he was away for the weekend, but a few details spoiled that gesture. All worked out for the best though. The pool table recoverers got here about 12:30pm, and finished about 4pm.

Here is Louie’s newly recovered pool table (I mean, quilter’s cutting/work table!) Louie was a very happy guy when the table was finished and he headed back to the tournament to watch the professional pool players exhibition this evening. If he could find a partner, he could also be playing in a Scotch Doubles tournament tonight. Team tournaments start at 9am Saturday morning. Matches are scheduled every 1 1/2 hours so hopefully things will move a little faster for him.

Here are a couple pictures taken of Louie at the same River Center, and same name tournament two years ago. There are professional photographers who wander around, take pictures, then sell them to you. I think he’s pretty handsome, and I’m glad he bought them for me!

Thanks for the stopping by for a visit!

Be blessed,

MichelleY

God Will Make A Way!

I don’t know why, but today God was impressing on me to listen to this song with my heart, and to share this video with my blogging friends.  I believe He is telling me that someone needs to hear His message, so I will obey. I love this song. It holds promises and is so soothing.

We all have worries and concerns, especially in this economy. God tells us not to worry. I know that is really difficult, and that is just being human, but we need to place our trust in Him. He has never failed me. Has He failed you, when you put your total trust in Him?

Philippians 4:6-7

^6-7Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Be blessed today!

MichelleY