Troubled Times 3
The names have been changed here to protect the privacy of the family.
So Marcus was born, and he was a joy and a delight. Such a sweet baby. I suppose every grandma thinks the same thing, but he really was. He was a perfect baby, and we all loved him. Mary got married shortly after that to a young man that she had met in town called Todd, and we found that she was pregnant again. They moved into my basement and made their own apartment down there. After the next baby was born, Suzie, they moved in with his parents for a while. Everyone remarked on the change in Mary. She appeared to be the best mother in the world, and she seemed so capable. But I was her mother, and when people would say things like that, I just said, "It seems that way." Mothers have an uncanny ability to see down deep, and I could see that the problem was not taken care of. It was only covered up for a while.
When Marcus was about five years old, Mary came to me and told me that she couldn't take living with Todd any more, and that she was leaving him. She was going down to Arizona, and was going to start a new life. She wanted to leave Marcus with me, and Suzie with Todd's parents. I told her that I would think about it, but I just didn't know. I only hesitated, because I didn't have much money. I was struggling to make it myself, and with my job, and the price of child care, I didn't know how I was going to be able to swing it. With the amount of bills that I had, I knew that this would be impossible. If you have a child, you have to pay for child care, and you have to pay for housing, and electric, and food, and if you can't pay for these things, then you either can't go into work, or you go and can't pay for child care, which cuts you off from your job. I told her my reservations, and asked her if she would be able to help me out with support for Marcus. She said that she could not, and I told her that I couldn't do it. She got very upset with me, and stormed out of the house, and told me that I would never see her or Marcus again.
My Grandma and Grandpa loaned her the money to move, and she packed up all of her belongings, and Marcus and left for Arizona. I didn't hear from her for a long time, and had no clue where they were or what they were doing. Every day, I would lift them up to the Father in prayer. What else could I do?
One evening, I had just gotten back from church, and went to bed. I was just drifting off to sleep when I heard somebody come in the house. "Mom," I heard Annie call out. "Mom, are you awake?"
She came into my bedroom and told me that she had just had a call from Mary, and that she was up in Canada, and was in a terrible situation, and needed us to go and pick her up in Thunder Bay. I got ready, and we started driving up there. Annie was determined that this was a life or death situation.
I asked how and why she was in Canada, and Annie told me that she was with some guy up there that she had met on the phone. He had offered to pay her way up to Canada, and sight unseen, she had agreed to go up and live with him. She had left everything else in Arizona, packed a few bags, and left for Canada with Marcus. Then Mary found out that this man did not like kids, and I still don't know what he did to Marcus, but Mary sent Marcus back to Arizona to live with a woman that she knew there. However, this man was now becoming abusive to Mary, and Annie said that he was holding her captive, and wouldn't let her go.
We made the long trip up to Thunder Bay, and finally found where Mary was. I was surprised that she was still with this man, who was supposedly holding her captive, and that he helped her put her bags in the car, and gave her a kiss. I didn't know what to think. She got in the car, and we left. I tried to ask her about what had happened, and where Marcus was. She became very resistant, and told me that she had done what she thought best for her child. She was his mother. She said that the woman that had Marcus was doing this out of the goodness of her heart, because she wanted to give him some stability, and let him finish out the school year in Arizona. The rest of the trip home was pretty quiet, because she was obviously upset that I had even questioned her judgment, but who wouldn't?
It wasn't long after we got home, that Mary and Todd got back together again. She always seemed to be more stable when he was around. But she still maintained that what she had done with Marcus was the best thing for him, and that she was his mother, and I shouldn't be questioning her judgment. Both Todd and I tried to reason with her, and tell her that normally people do not just volunteer to take someone's child (not in their family), let them stay with them without charge, with no strings attached. I told her that this woman wanted something, and the longer that Mary let Marcus stay down there, the more time that this person had to do something legally. This wasn't right. I knew it, Todd knew it, but Mary didn't. And she was the mother, and I was just the grandmother.
I considered going to court, to have Mary declared mentally incompetent. However, that would take time. In the amount of time that I would spend in the court, the school year would have ended, when Marcus was supposed to come home anyway. I decided to wait and see what developed. The woman had told Mary that after she got settled, and her life was back in order, then she could pick up Marcus when the school year ended.
Two weeks before the end of the school year, Mary tried to call down to this woman's house, to talk to Marcus. The woman told her that she could not talk to her son, and that she was sending up papers for her to sign, and that she had better sign them, because this woman was taking custody of Marcus. Mary came home, and told me "Mom, you were right." I found no pleasure in that. I told her and Todd that they should get all of their papers together, and go down to Arizona and get him. They needed all of their papers to prove that Marcus was theirs. Quickly, they did this, and then they were gone.
I was in shock. I had known that this was a possibility, and had warned Mary of this, but when it became a reality, it was different. My mind stopped, and I couldn't think any more. I called a lady who was the leader of the prayer group that I was in, and told her the situation, and asked her to pray.
They were having some special meetings at our church, so the next day I got ready to go into church. The first person that I saw was Jane, the Evangelism Pastor's wife. I had resolved that I was not going to say anything to anyone, and that I needed to keep a watch over my mouth. Sometimes, if you talk about a situation, you can make it worse, not only in your mind, but through your confession of your mouth. This was so important that I wanted to do this right. But Jane saw me, and she picked up on something in the Spirit. She came over to me, put her arm around me and took me aside. She made me tell her what was wrong. Then she started to pray for me, and for Marcus and the situation.
Her prayer seemed to snap me out of the frozen state that I had been in. I went into the sanctuary, and sat down with my Bible. I needed to get some scriptures to stand on. I opened up my Bible to Isaiah, and the first thing that I found were all of these scriptures about fear.
Isaiah 43:1&2 -- But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passeth through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
Isaiah 54:14-17 -- In righteousness shalt thou be established; thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear; and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me. Whoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.
Isaiah 54:13 -- And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
I looked up and saw Marie, the Prayer Leader that I had called the night before. I went over to her, and she wanted to know if I had heard anything, and of course I had not. She told me that she had been getting some scriptures when she was praying about this, and then she told me the same scriptures that I had just read. I told her that I had been getting the same scriptures, and then I went back and sat down for the service.
The next day, I didn't have to work, so I thought that I would spend it in prayer for this situation. I thought to myself, you know, I have been in this prayer group learning under Marie for the last couple of years. This prayer is intercessory prayer, and if it is really true, and if it works, then I am going to do this for my grandson. I do it for everything else under the sun, and most of the time I have no idea where we are going when we pray, but I am just going to pray in the Spirit, and let the Spirit of God take me where ever I am to go.
I went down by the waterfall in downtown Osceola, and started to pray. I always went there to pray. It is one of the most beautiful and quiet places that I know of, and it was not far from my house. It was one of my "prayer places." The most unusual things started to come out of my spirit, but I just prayed them out. "No," I would cry out, "No, don't go there, it is the wrong place." "Devil, you can't have them. The Word of God says 'great is the peace of my children', and if this happens to Marcus, my daughter will have no peace, and I will have no peace, so this is not going to happen." I prayed all of that day, and then it was drawing close to the time to go into church.
I started driving, and got about ten miles from my house when suddenly it hit me. I remembered one of our pastor's wives the week before in the Wednesday services. She had gotten up, and told the congregation about this absolutely horrible day that she had been having. To start out her day, her hair wouldn't do what it was supposed to do. Then, she saw that their kitty had scratched the screen, and then she saw that the kitty had scratched the furniture. And then she had gone outside, and saw that the kitty had thrown up on the driveway. But what do you do in famine and destruction? In famine and destruction, you laugh... and then she had a little song that we sang.
Well... I thought that this situation would qualify as famine and destruction (maybe more than her bad hair day with the cat), so I started singing that song. "In famine, and destruction, I will la-a-ugh! In famine, and destruction, I will la-a-a-ugh!" And then I started to laugh, and as I did, God dropped it down into my spirit that it was done. It was over. He filled me with His Love and Joy, and I knew, that I knew, that I knew that things were OK, and that God had taken care of it.
I got into that service, and I saw a lady that co-pastors a church in Osceola. She came up to me, and told me that she had heard what was going on with Marcus and Mary and Todd, and started to gently chide me for not calling her, and told me that I should have called her to ask her to stand with me in prayer. I stopped her, and told her, "Linda, I am sorry, but it is already taken care of. It is over." Of course in the natural, I didn't know, but I knew in the Spirit.
I found out the next day, that it was over. At exactly the same time that the "Holy Ghost laughter" had hit me, the woman down in Arizona turned Marcus in to the police station and released him. It was over, and I also found out later that those things that I kept getting in prayer, were the very same things that My daughter and her husband had been going through in their journey.
Marcus was safe, and he was home, and God had taken care of it. We found out later that this woman, that had befriended Mary, was a family friend of Marcus's natural father (who was residing in the Arizona State Penitentiary). They had made an agreement that this woman would befriend Mary, and talk her into letting Marcus stay with her, and then save Marcus for him until he got out of prison.
When Mary and Todd got down to Arizona, the first place that they went was to a police station, but it was the wrong one. There was a man working in that station that was this woman's son in law. When he overheard that Mary and Todd were there and looking for Marcus, he called his mother in law, and warned her. They promptly took Marcus out of school, and placed him in another town with some friends of his, and then they disappeared. No one knew where they were.
The Police were calling their house repeatedly, and left them messages that if Marcus was not turned in by a certain time, then they would be charged with kidnapping. The authorities were preparing for a manhunt, but evidently the phone calls scared this family enough, that they turned Marcus in at the appointed time. Which just happened to be the same time that I got the answer to this thing in prayer. I don't think anything ever happens to us in our lives by chance. This was truly an answer to prayer, and shows the awesome power of God, when we pray. Never underestimate the prayers of a grandma.
"No weapon formed against us shall prosper," and "great is the peace of my children."
I thank You and praise You, O God for your mighty deliverance, for nothing is too hard for You, and we praise You.
Continued....
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