Answered Prayer: Hot Water Bottle and a Doll

 Someone posted this on Facebook.  I have copied it exactly as it was written.

This story was written by a doctor who worked in South Africa ...
One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator).
We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in.

Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle.
She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates). "And it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.
"All right," I said, "put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm."
The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who choose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle and that the baby could easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year old sister, crying because her mother had died.
During prayer time, one ten-year old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children . "Please God" she prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon."
While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, "And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?"
As often with the children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say, "Amen". I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything, the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator! Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door.
By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the veranda, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children.

Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting.
Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend.
Then, as I put my hand again, I felt the... could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out - yes, a brand-new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out,"If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly too!"
Rummaging down the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted!
Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really love her?"
That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year old to bring it "that afternoon".

Lady Liberty

I know you're probably very knowledgeable about things that are important to Americans, such as Lady Liberty.  However, I'm sure I can still tell you at least one thing that you didn't know before or that you had forgotten!

• Lady Liberty has seven rays shining from her crown.  They represent the seven seas and continents of the world.

• Liberty Island was called Bedloe's Island before The Statue of Liberty was placed there.

• There are 354 stairs to reach the crown. Or, you can take the elevator! 

• Liberty Enlightening the World is the official name the sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi,  gave to the Statue.

• The total weight of the Statue of Liberty (not including the foundation) is 225 tons (or 450,000 pounds).

•  Emma Lazarus wrote the poem that is engraved on the base of Lady Liberty.  It is called "The New Colossus"--"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

• Lady Liberty has a 35-foot waistline!

•  There are 25 windows in the crown.

•  Winds of 50 miles per hour cause the Statue to sway up to 3 inches and the torch up to 6 inches.

•   Read,  Lady Liberty, How She Came to Be an American Symbol of Freedom.