Flapjacks for Flo

By Flo

What I'm about to tell you will sound unbelievable and I doubt many of you will believe me but when you witness a miracle from God you have to tell somebody.

My name is Florence but most of my friends call me Flo. My husband and I had just divorced due to irreconcilable differences - doctrinal differences, that is. He was the pastor of a small church. The divorce was nothing compared to the things that had happened during the previous years. I had come home early one afternoon to find my husband molesting our nine-year-old daughter in the living room. At first he was apologetic and told me it would never happen again but then he became threatening and said if I told anyone he would make things very bad for me. I never told anyone.

Perhaps I should have. A few years after the incident, my daughter committed suicide. This was before the divorce and I wonder to this day if he had broken his promise. I never said anything about it to anyone and it doesn't matter now because my husband is also dead. He was only 53. I'm 49 with no brothers or sisters and both parents also dead.

Throughout it all I prayed to God, asking him for help in bearing such a burden. I questioned God, too. I already had my doubts whether Christianity was true or not. Looking back it seemed that God was not interested in answering my prayers.

Recently, I had been studying the Bible from a doubters perspective. I never really studied the Bible before. I just relied on my husband to tell me what I needed to know. I had lost so much in life and was about to lose my faith in God as well. I became desperate and asked God if he was really there, give me an undeniable sign so that I will know he's there.

The next morning I felt strangely better. It was a Saturday so I slept late - later than I wanted to but maybe the extra sleep did me good. I went into the kitchen to make some flapjacks. I got out some bacon and opening the cabinet where I keep the flapjack mix, I saw that I was out of luck. That good feeling just turned sour and I went outside into my backyard to cry. Just as I rounded the corner of the house, I saw something in the yard. Not one thing but several things. At first I thought they were mushrooms. But then it all became clear. My prayer last night. The missing flapjack mix. I walked closer to get a better look. I then began to cry as I had originally planned but not from depression or sorry but from pure joy.

These weren’t mushrooms. I saw five beautiful flapjacks floating just above the grass! All my doubts vanished.

God had provided a sign - and breakfast to boot! There were five flapjacks and I pondered the significance of the number. If he had provided six flapjacks that may have been too many, not to mention that six is the imperfect number of man (I remembered that from one of my husband’s sermons). If he had provided four, that may have been too few and we all know that God provides just what we need right when we need it. It was the perfect number of flapjacks.

God also provided a way to keep them off the ground by supporting each one with its own pedestal. It reminded me of the story in the Bible were God provided mannah to the Israelites. The size of each flapjack was perfect. Roughly seven inches across.

I walked over to the first one and with a shaky hand plucked it from its support. It was a very light tan color but almost white in the bright morning sun, soft and supple just like a good flapjack should be. To my surprise, it felt rather cold. But I didn’t question God because He wasn’t the one who got up late. They probably would have been hot if I had gotten up on time. I gathered the other four and went inside for a breakfast I would never forget.

Once I had all the rest prepared, I sat down and could not keep from crying immediately. God had answered me in spades and I would never doubt again. I gave thanks for what he had truly provided and ate. Now, the flapjacks were a bit bland but who was I to question God’s cooking after he had given me such a wondrous sign? Besides, it was probably all that crying I had done that affected my sense of taste.

As I said, most of you won't believe me but I did take a photograph of these flapjacks as proof that God does answer prayer and he really does exist. I believe now that God wants to give each of us a sign to seal our faith so we can live for him without doubts and my prayer is that each of you would ask God for your own special miracle. Ask him today and expect nothing less than a miracle!



"Flapjacks for Flo" was written by Tim Simmons.

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