Our kind Father has invited each of us to take shelter from life's storms
                                in the shadow of His wings.  What a wonderful place to ride out a storm!
                                When our only child was stricken with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
                                we were devastated.  JRA not only cripples, it also can cause blindness
                                and/or death (it attacks organs as well as joints).  There is no cure.

                                Watching our son gradually losing mobility in his knees was heartbreaking.
                                Then he developed a problem in his kidneys -- then his eyes -- then his
                                back...it was an ongoing nightmare!  While whirling through the chaotic
                                throes of this nightmare, one evening I caught a glimmer of hope, and
                                beneath the roar of the storm I heard a still, small voice say simply,
                                "He's allergic to onions.  Take him off onions.  It will get worse before
                                it gets better.  Trust in Me.  I love you."  The nightmare was over!!!
                                It was still dark.  It was pitch black!  But it was no longer a nightmare.
                                My heavenly Father had heard the cries of my heart.

                                From that moment on as I watched the disease progress (it did get worse
                                before it got better) I was faced each day with a choice:  I could either
                                let the circumstances overwhelm me, or I could seek shelter in the shadow
                                of Father's wings.  I sought shelter.  Each and every day I was tempted to
                                doubt, to fear, to run away;  but with each temptation the One who loves
                                me made a way of escape.  As I continually chose to take refuge in Him,
                                He led me beside still waters. While my son's body was being unmercifully
                                ravaged by an unrelenting force, the One who loves me was restoring
                                my soul and renewing my strength.   And today -- my son is a healthy
                                testimony that God comes to the aid of a broken and contrite heart
                                whose hope is in Him!!!

                                Jon David Banks

                                P.S.  I always let my wife read these letters before I mail them.  After she
                                read this one I noticed that she was troubled and asked her about it. She
                                said, "Words can't describe the pain we endured.  They won't have a clue
                                how painful it was."

                                You see, we watched JRA attack our son for over a year.  We endured the
                                first five months without a word from God.  After He revealed his allergy to                             to onions, we literally hoped against hope for another nine to eleven months in                             in God's faithfulness to confirm His word to His most unworthy servant.
                                At the time of the revelation our son could straighten his legs all the way,
                                but couldn't bend them all the way.  By the seventh or eighth month he
                                could bend them even less and was beginning to lose the ability to
                                straighten them.  By the tenth month his ability to straighten his right leg
                                had decreased quite a lot and his ability to bend both legs had drastically
                                reduced.  He was slowly but surely becoming crippled right before our
                                eyes.

                                But we walk by faith and not by sight -- and the Lord had said to trust in
                                Him -- and we did.  Each day we endeavored to look past what our eyes
                                saw and unto the hills from whence our help came.  And by the grace of
                                God, the darker the night became -- the brighter His light shone;  the more
                                deeply our pain stung -- the more compassion His presence exuded.  To
                                our most kind and gracious and loving and wonderful Father be glory and
                                honor and praise forever.  Amen.  He is so good, so wonderfully good.
                                We are forever indebted to Him for this kind work He did for us and in us
                                --  so indebted and so thankful.

                                P.P.S.  Our gracious Father has already begun to help my dear wife
                                through menopause.  (He promised this only days ago.)  He has already
                                revealed three things to help her -- a calcium supplement, one aspirin
                                a day, and the rekindling of her art talents (she's painting a mural on our
                                kitchen wall as I write).  She felt -- and I saw -- a dramatic change in
                                her disposition when she followed the Lord's advice.  He is so good.
                                Pray for us.

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