God Is Always With You!

Kidslife | by Clayton Hurst

The Memory of the Righteous is Blessed

Kidslife | by Clayton Hurst

This time of year I often remember those in school.  Thinking of all the exams and projects that will bring this school year to a close reminds me of the challenges I faced in school.  For many years when I would take a test, my mind would go completely blank.

Something changed for me the last week of college. I studied so hard for my last test because I really needed to ace it.  The morning of the test my mom called.  She said she had been praying and that the Lord had given her a scripture just for me.  It was Proverbs 10:7(NASB), “The memory of the righteous is blessed.”

Later that morning, I was sitting at my desk preparing to take my last test. I was so nervous.  My professor entered the room and began to pass out the exam.

Just like many times before, as soon as I saw the first question my mind went completely blank. Thoughts of failure, pity, and embarrassment began flooding into my mind.  Then the scripture that my Mom had told me came back to my memory.  I put my pen down and began to pray.  “Father, your Word says that the memory of the righteous is blessed. Thank you for helping me to remember all that I have studied. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!”

I looked at the first question again and then remembered the answer. I began to remember all that I had studied. 

The next day, I went down to where the professor would post our grades. The list was being pinned up on the board. I didn’t just ace the test but got the 25-point bonus as well. Proverbs 10:7 has remained in the deepest part of my heart and mind ever since.

Next time you come across someone about to face a challenge or test remind them that God is always with them and their memory is blessed!

 

Lasting Impact...

Kidslife | by Clayton Hurst

It was early morning on a cold, wet Monday in mid-January. My oldest daughter and I were sitting in the car waiting on my wife. We were about to leave for what would be our last scheduled doctor’s appointment before my second daughter was to be born.

As we waited, I decided to listen to the weather report on the radio. The weatherman predicted ice and colder temperatures on the way for later that afternoon.

When my wife got into the car I turned to her and my daughter and said, “Hey, the weather might be getting bad. Let’s pray before we go.” I grabbed their hands and prayed a simple prayer for protection over us and then we were on our way.

Everything went great at the doctor’s visit, and we would be expecting our second daughter any day. We left the doctor’s office and headed towards the church. That afternoon we had planned a Kidslife video shoot and needed to get there early to make preparations.

We drove past the hospital where my second daughter would be born. As we looked out the window of our car, my wife and I began explaining to our daughter the excitement to come and what the plans were for that big day.

In the midst of our excitement we heard a loud crash and soon screaming filled our car. While we were driving under a bridge that was under construction, a huge piece of wood fell off the top of the bridge and was headed right for us! Strangely it seemed to be flying toward us in slow motion as it landed on the edge of the hood and then onto the windshield of our car. The impact sent our car, inside and out, into chaos. In an instance, there was glass everywhere and crying mixed with screams abounded.

Fortunately, there were no other cars around and we were able to guide our car to the curb in the midst of the craziness. I turned to my nearly full-term pregnant wife to make sure she and the baby were okay. Even though her eyes were filled with tears and her lap filled with glass, she was able to communicate that she was fine but her nerves and emotions were shot. My daughter was nearly at a point of hysteria, but after some coaxing she was able to calm down once she realized we were all going to be okay.

Sitting in the car on the side of the road that cold January morning, I was reminded about the prayer we had all prayed sitting in the garage at our home. I quickly turned to my daughter, who was down to a small sniffle, and asked her if she remembered what we had pray earlier. Wiping the tears away from her eyes with her shirtsleeve she nodded her head up and down. I asked her, “What did we ask God to do?” she said, “We asked God to watch over us and keep us safe.” In an attempt to help her process the actions of the previous few minutes, I began to explain to her what we needed to do next. “Sweetheart,”  I said. “God heard our prayer and He answered it. We need to thank Him for keeping us safe!” We spent the next few minutes thanking God for keeping us all safe and turning a potentially bad situation into a lasting, impactful testimony for our family and others. 

Our favorite scriptures for parenting has always been Deuteronomy 6:5-7. As parents, we want to do everything we can to help our girls love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. And as verse 7 says, we want to impress this on our children in every situation, and talk about our amazing God everywhere we go.

On the way to church

Kidslife | by Clayton Hurst

A few months ago, on a cool Sunday morning, my family and I left the house and began our drive to church.

Our Sunday mornings are typical for most people with kids. My wife and I always have a plan. We were fully dressed and the kid’s clothes were ironed and laid out before getting them out of bed. I happily volunteered to help my wife get our 9 year old daughter dressed and ready to go, especially since my 9 year old pretty much does it all herself. This meant my wife was on her own with our then 2 year old. Thinking I was in the clear, I quickly realized that it was going to take both of us on this particular morning to get our 2 year old ready.

After about 20 minutes of serious negotiations, we were finally on our way to church. Normally, as we’re heading out of the drive way, we stop and I pray over my family and for our church. Then, we pray for all of the kids that will be coming to hear the message of Jesus, and that God will be made real to them in His own way.

After praying, as we were heading out of our neighborhood, my 2 year old began screaming. This wasn't a small scream this was an ear- piercing, wake you out of a dead-sleep scream. I brought the car to a stop and turned around to find out what my 9 year old had done to cause this outburst. I was wrong. What we found out was that my youngest had accidently poked herself in the eye. In our attempt to console her we tried everything... juice, crackers, iPhone, etc. Nothing worked! She suddenly stopped crying and said, 'Daddy, you need to pray for my eye!' Wow! I immediately began to pray for her and asked God to heal her eye and take the pain away. After that, she calmed down considerably.

We were amazed that my 2 year old daughter knew that if there was pain or problems, the first thing she should do is get God in on the action. My wife and I are amazed at how our children watch and listen to what we say and how we respond to different situations. This day we were so thankful that we had modeled the right response.