Shadow of His Wings
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FIRSTWORDS Dear Reader, It seems like only yesterday, but it was a long time ago that I asked the Lord to give me something fun to do. I was between jobs and decided writing might solve a lot for me. I had wanted to write a book since I was in fifth grade, and I always need a creative project to spice up my life Imagination and creativity allow a person to consider the alternatives and all sorts of new possibilities. Being creative allows you to be spontaneous and not always do things the way they used to be done. Creativity, developing faith, and learning to follow God is radically cool. It is also a lifetime project. I decided to write for young people, having been a classroom teacher. There were many good experiences with my students, and I wanted to provide reading material for the age group I was most familiar with (fourth, fifth, and sixth grade). The book offers some stories mainly about boys and others centered on girls. They should be enjoyed by both boys and girls. When I finished writing ten stories, I began to wonder what in the world would hold them together. There didn’t seem to be any cohesive theory, just a few unrelated stories. I started to back out. Finally, I prayed, and the Lord gave me the “contents” for this book. All of the stories fit into one section of the book or another. Then I wrote ten more stories to complete the book. It was nice to know Someone like God was on my side. Although you can attain to knowing God anytime, remember He is much bigger than we are and much more powerful. Sometimes our plans may not work into His plans, but He answers our prayers with yes,or (often) wait. He always knows the best answer, but believe me, I don't always agree with Him until sometimes much later. Every now and then I disagree strongly with the way He did something, and then I look back with surprise to discover He was just right and His timing was perfect. Sometimes I would like to think I am smarter than God in certain areas, but He has always proven me wrong. He is perfect, but He is also kind. His wisdom is always tempered with mercy. I am sure you have heard the verse about ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door will be opened. In the original Greek, the implication (what it really seems to say) is beautiful. It tells us to ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking. Keep your efforts up no matter what. For if God can answer you with a yes He will. And if He doesn't, it is not because He is not able, but rather because He always chooses with your highest good in mind. Remember, he sees your life as if He were in a helicopter looking down on a parade. He sees it all at once—from beginning to end. Think what watching a parade from the ground is like. You see each float go by one at a time. That is how we live our lives, one thing at a time, one experience right after the other, but God sees it from beginning to end all the time It is like the man in a helicopter over a parade. He can constantly relay information about any part of the moving parade, because he can see the parade in its entirety. That simply means he can see from beginning to end all at one time—like God sees our lives. Learning to talk to God and listening and waiting for His answers promotes peace and wisdom and awesomeness. God loves us and knows why we think the way we do, and why we do the things we do. There is no one like us, not now or ever has there been or will there ever be. We are singularly, distinctly, forever ourselves, but without God things can get all messed. Have you ever seen the back of a beautiful cross stitch? The back of the cross stitch looks nothing like the picture. There are knots and long threads and all sorts of You can't tell from the backside what the front will be, and yet it represents our lives as we see them. There is quite a difference from the front that God sees and the back we puzzle over. God has His eyes on the beautiful final product (the front of the handwork). God has improved my whole existence. That is why I write. He reached out to me in a moment of my true helplessness, picked me up, dusted me off, and began the lifelong process of changing me into the very best me I could be. God is making of my life the most wonderful tapestry, but sometimes I keep my eyes on the back side—a knotty mess. Having a God who loves us and is near does not mean life is perfect. Life is up and down. Sometimes there are some very hard knocks. I still eat too much sometimes, have bad moods, and hurt people I love. God's timing in our lives can be split-second perfect, but you still have to do things you would rather not do, mess with people who can really try your patience, and find yourself alone right when you wanted someone around. That is life. There is nothing better. But when things are as they should be for me, I have time to stare out the window and think. This book offers some pretty unusual fare. It is fiction (I made it up), but it is not false. I made it up based on facts and from my imagination.* It is not from real life per se, but it really lives (I have faith**). Enjoy! And may God bless you! In love and in Him, Rebekah *Imagination is more important than knowledge Know who said that? Einstein. Know who he was? He was one of the most brilliant geniuses who ever lived. He could never have done what he did with genius and common sense alone. He used flights of fancy to give this world incredibly brilliant knowledge, and I’ll bet he knew our God. **Faith is being sure of what we hope for and assured of what we do not see. Life is made of many changes; and no state be it bright or cloudy, will always continue. C. H. Spurgeon
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About the Book
Shadow of His Wings is a book of twenty faith-based short and longer stories for ‘tweens (between children and teens). The stories are built on tried and true scriptural principles and concepts. The book is fiction, but it is not false. It is like little snapshots of life. The stories all have different characters, settings, and lessons. For example, “Productive Fear” is a story about Mark who wants to help Tony begin to care about his schoolwork. Mark tries praying several different ways until one day Tony opens up to him about his problems. Mark decides then and there he will help Tony in any way he can. “First Step” is about Brian who is a bully who goes too far and injures another student. He is disturbed when he discovers that the boy is in the hospital pending surgery, and he takes his “first step” toward change: he listens to his mother as she tries to help him to rediscover God in his life. The story “Lackluster Love” is about Kristie who doesn’t understand her friend’s lack of love for Jesus. Her mom tells her to pray about it. Kristie does, and her friend begins to change. Kristie wants to know what changed her friend, but her mother tells her not to ask but to pray about it again. After prayer, Kristie discovers Sandy and her family were not really saved. It makes all the difference once they turn to the Lord. It would take a lot of time and space to tell about all twenty stories. All of the stories are different. Some of them are centered around boys, and some are centered around girls. Both girls and boys should enjoy them.
About the Author
Rebekah was born Mary Rebecca Mitchell (Becky) in Beaufort, SC where she still lives on Lady’s Island. She received a BA in speech/drama at Columbia College and a BS in elementary education at Winthrop College. She worked as drama coordinator for the Department of Leisure Services for the City of Charleston, SC. She helped initiate “The Child in Everyone,” a mini-festival for Spoleto festival, an annual arts event in Charleston. She taught fourth, fifth, and sixth graders in the classroom and creative dramatics lessons to 5-12 year olds.