Sheila Walsh - Extraordinary Faith: Gods Perfect Gift for Every Womans Heart

EXTRAORDINARY
FAITH

OTHER BOOKS BY SHEILA WALSH

All That Really Matters
A Love So Big: Anchoring Your Child to the Heart of God
The Heartache No One Sees
God Has a Dream for Your Life
I'm Not Wonder Woman
Living Fearlessly
Stories from the River of Mercy
Stones from the River of Mercy
Life Is Tough but God Is Faithful
Gifts for Your Soul
Honestly
Bring Back the Joy

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Gigi, God's Little Princess
Gigi, Gods Little Princess #2; The Royal Tea Party
Gigi, Gods Little Princess #3: The Perfect Christmas Gift
Gigi, God's Little Princess #4: The Pink Ballerina
Will, God's Mighty Warrior #1: Will, God's Mighty Warrior
Will, God's Mighty Warrior #2: The Mystery of Magillicuddy's Gold
God's Little Princess Devotional Bible
God's Mighty Warrior Devotional Bible
In Search of the Great White Tiger (# 1 in the Gnoo Zoo series) Chattaboonga's Chilling Choice (Gnoo Zoo #2)
Einstein's Enormous Error (Gnoo Zoo #3)
Miss Marbles's Marvelous Makeover (Gnoo Zoo #4)
Big Billy's Great Adventure (Gnoo Zoo #5)
Hello, Sun! A Morningtime Tale of God's Great Care
Hello Stars! A Sleepy time Tale of God's Loving Presence

COAUTHORED WOMEN OF FAITH BOOKS

Women of Faith Devotional Bible
The Great Adventure
Irrepressible Hope
Sensational Life
The Women of Faith Daily Devotional
The Women of Faith Study Guide Series

Copyright 2005 by Sheila Walsh

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scriptures noted NKJV are taken from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Walsh, Sheila.
Extraordinary faith : God's perfect gift for every woman's heart /
Sheila Walsh.
p. cm.
ISBN 10: 0-8499-1856-1 (trade paper)
ISBN 13: 978-0-8499-1856-8 (trade paper)
ISBN 10: 0-7852-6291-1 (hardcover)
ISBN 13: 978-0-7852-6291-6 (hardcover)
1. Christian womenReligious life. 2. Faith. I. Title.
BV4527.W349 2005
234'.23dc22

2004027612

Printed in the United States of America

07 08 09 10 11 RRD 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is dedicated
with love and gratitude to
Gilbert Kirby, whose life
has illumined my path.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: AN UNCERTAIN BEGINNING:
When Our Plans Fall Apart

Chapter 2 : THE BEST OF TIMES AND
THE WORST OF TIMES:
When We Receive the Answer We Prayed for
or the Answer We Dreaded

Chapter 3 : A FAMILY STORY:
When God Says Go!

Chapter 4 : MUSTARD-SEED FAITH:
When We Fix Our Eyes on Jesus

Chapter 5: GOD'S TRACK RECORD:
When We Recognize the Hand of God
on Our Lives

Chapter 6: SURPRISED BY DOUBT:
When Our Faith Is Shaken

Chapter 7: TRANSFORMED BY CHRIST
When Our Faith Is Tested by Fire

Chapter 8: A CLOUD OF WITNESSES:
When Gods Light Shines Through Us

Chapter 9: A NEW BEGINNING:
When We Need a Fresh Start

Chapter 10: GOD Is IN CONTROL:
When We Trust in What We Cannot See

Chapter 11 : MY HEROES:
When We Are Changed by
the Faithfulness of Others

Chapter 12: WHEN FAITH IS PUT TO THE TEST:
When God Seems Far Away

Chapter 13: THE REWARDS OF FAITH.
When We Share the Heart of the Shepherd

Chapter 14: THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES:
When We Walk by Faith Until We See His Face

Word quickly spread through the small English village that a healing evangelist would be holding a crusade on Friday night in the village hall. People met the news with both great excitement and skepticism. Some members of the small church on the corner of Elm and Main thought it a disgrace, believing that faith healings did not take place anymore, while others were curious, even hopefulnone more so than Tom.

For as long as he could remember, Tom had been plagued by a stutter. It made social conversation very difficult. He was fine when he was hanging out at home; he could be exceedingly verbose with his cat.

But whenever he found himself in a situation with another human being, it was as if his words became backed up like a traffic jam on market day.

Tom's best friend was Sammy, and Sammy had an impediment of his own. Due to an unfortunate event at a soccer game in high school, something he referred to only as "The day the ball went one way and I went the other," his right knee would not hold his weight. Sammy used one crutch and thus limped his way through life. Tom and Sammy decided that on Friday night they would be at the village hall in plenty of time to get good seats for the crusade.

The evening arrived and the small hall was packed to capacity, with Tom and Sammy right in the center of the front row. After a few announcements of upcoming village events, the local vicar welcomed the evangelist to the platform. At first sight he was a little disappointing. It was obvious to most that he was wearing a rather bad toupee. Tom decided that it looked like a tired gerbil or something borrowed from Mr. Potato Head. The evangelist spoke for what was only twenty minutes but seemed like an hour, then invited anyone who was expecting a miracle that night to come up onto the platform. Tom and Sammy shot to their feet and with the help of an usher were soon right beside the evangelist.

"There must be more," he said. "Is no one else expecting a miracle tonight, O ye of little faith?"

Mrs. Trotter considered going up for prayer for her bunions but decided the excitement might be too much for her. Anyway she had an appointment with the chiropodist next Tuesday.

"Very well, then," the evangelist said. "Just these two brothers will receive their miracles this evening!"

"Were not brothers," Sammy whispered. The evangelist ignored him.

The guest speaker then asked an assistant to bring a large screen that had been off to one side into the center of the stage. He positioned it in front of Tom and Sammy, obscuring them from the audience. He moved in front of the screen and announced to the crowd, "Now you will see what faith can do. Sammy, throw away your crutch!"

There was a loud bang that woke Mr. Trotter.

The evangelist continued, "Tom, say something!"