Heart-Shaped Potatoes 
 
Greetings!

 
Friends:
 
     I want to share a beautiful testimony from a friend named Bonnie who lost her job and was close to penniless. This is a incredible story of faith and perseverance. Bonnie trusted in God to provide for her needs at a time when the future looked hopeless. I pray this story will inspire someone who might be experiencing similar trials right now, especially during these depression-like times.  
 
May God bless you too,
Danny Vierra
 
 
 Here is Bonnie's story:
 
 "I waited patiently for God to help me; then he listened and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair..." "He has given me a new song to sing of praises to our God. Now many will hear of the glorious things He did for me, and stand in awe before the Lord, and will put their trust in Him. (Psalms 40:1-3). Recently I found myself unemployed and discouraged with today's job market. I plead with God, "Please, please help me." I am all still alone with my two children who depend on me to support them. I prayed this prayer for months.
       I was living off the little money I had managed to save. As the money started to dwindle away, fear began to overtake my heart. I had tithe money hidden at my parents' house because I had been robbed a few times in the past year and even God's money had been stolen. My parents, knowing my situation, encouraged me to borrow God's money to support my family. I tried to explain that it wasn't mine, and for me to use it would make me no better than the thieves who had stolen it in the past. I told them that I would trust in God to help me.
      Yet, they still didn't understand and became angry with me. At this time, I am jobless and my parents are mad at me. I am really depressed and can't even look my children in the eyes, because I know we are on the brink of disaster. I found myself hiding in my bedroom crying and pleading for God's help. Day after day, night after night I stayed hidden, trying to keep the stress I was feeling away from my children. Yet, they knew I was hurting. All the while, I told them God would raise me up again. I told them that their grandmother was angry with me for not using God's tithe money. I explained to them that grandma didn't understand that its God's money, not mine. I told them I would rather God strike me dead than to touch His money. That God would take care of us.
      Still I am waiting for an answer from God-for a miracle. I'm still crying and begging God to please remember my children. We need you, God. Then I received a hand-written letter from Danny thanking me for supporting the ministry and asking me to call him for prayer. Danny has never written me and we have never spoken to one another. I knew by his letter that God was speaking to me. I must have read the letter at least twenty times before I made the call. I explained to Danny what was going on, and that I only had $270.00 to my name with children to take care of. He prayed with me that God would help me with a job and also for a special little girl named Jaclyn who has muscular dystrophy. I recently had found out that she had an interview with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I asked Danny that we ask God to grant her the wish she had made. After the phone call, I wiped the tears from my face and went to cook supper for my children.
      I reached into the bag of potatoes and pulled out a potato in the shape of a heart. I knew, then, that God had heard my prayers and that everything Potatoes two whitewould be okay. The next day I was going to make potatoes again for supper, remembering what I had found the day before, and I reached into the bag and pulled out another heart-shaped potato! Danny called me three days after we had spoken the first time. I told him that I was still unemployed, but how I had found these potatoes. Even though my situation hadn't changed, I knew everything would be okay.
      Danny then told me that the two heart-shaped potatoes represented a double blessing. Now my tears of sorrow became tears of joy. That God saw fit to bless me with a double portion of His blessing. Wow, was I worthy of such kindness? Still I waited and watched for the blessings.
     I bought another bag of potatoes of the same brand from the same store and found five more heart-shaped potatoes. Danny then called me a third Potatoes five whitetime, about a month from the first time we had spoken. "How have you been?" he asked. I said, "Great! You will never believe what has happened." I told Danny that I was visiting Jaclyn's mother when she received a call from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. "Jaclyn's wish has been granted! Also, my former employer (a restaurant) of eleven years has called me to come back to work!" I had received my double blessing! I told Danny that while I was gone, they had lost business. Customers were walking out because I wasn't there. The outcry from the customers was so tremendous that my boss was told by his boss to get me back in there! I lost nothing! I came back making over $10.00 an hour, got back over 75 hours vacation time, and lost no seniority. If that wasn't enough to overwhelm me, I was being publicly honored before my employer, co-workers, and even the home office. I've been publicly honored before my family and friends who referred to my job as a "Mickey Mouse" job.
     God showed them that even fast food workers are important to Him. I am very grateful to God for His love and kindness. I can honestly say, "God blesses those who are kind to the poor. He helps them out of their troubles. He protects them and keeps them alive; He publicly honors them and destroys the power of their enemies." (Psalms 41:1, 2).
 
Thank you,
Bonnie B.
CYHC
Christian Youth Health Conference
 
Don't forget to mark your calendars for CYHC - Christian Youth Health Conference. This conference is absolutely free: free admission, free lectures, free camping, and free food. The dates are June 12-14, Lodi Grape Festival, 413 E. Lockeford St., Lodi CA. For more information click on CYHC. A wonderful line-up of speakers and strength demonstrations.
 
"
There is no class of persons capable of accomplishing more in the cause of temperance, than our God-fearing youth. If the young men who live in our cities would unite in a firm, decided army, and set their faces as a flint against every form of selfish, health-destroying indulgence, what a power they might be for good! ... Intemperance, Licentiousness, and Profanity are sisters. ... Let every God-fearing youth gird on the armor and press to the front. Councels on Health, p. 441.
 
We are also offering free health advice to our subscribers. If you have any health questions and want an alternative solution, please write me at [email protected]. I will be happy to help you.  
 
See you there,
Danny Vierra
Modern Manna