Bread, Ducks and Angels: How Jesus Meets Our Needs

                                 
                              Bread, Ducks and Angels:
                                  How Jesus Meets Our Needs
Dear Friends,
     This story has to do with ducks, angels and bread.  Jesus fed the people with bread, miracle bread, broken bread, the bread that gives life. 
     Children love ducks. A friend recently showed me pictures of her children playing with a cute yellow duck that came up to them for attention and it reminded me of a special story.  Sometimes God allows things to happen that give a glimmer of hope and confirmation of His presence. These glimmers are like the 5 loaves of bread that Jesus blessed and broke in Matthew 14. He then fed the multitude with that bread.  Loaves of bread can feed the hungry and also nourish the soul. He provided the bread for both reasons.
     When our daughter Autumn Sunshine, who has disabilities, was less than 3 years old she would look at the ceiling and seem to follow something with her eyes and she would say "duck".  Once when we were at a large meeting with lots of people and noise she was very upset and suffering from sensory overload. She looked up at the ceiling, calmed down and said "duck".  I was glad she settled down but was confused about the duck that she saw.  
     I took her to enroll in a private Christian preschool and she walked over to a book rack, picked up a story book that had a picture on the cover of a dove flying upward with its wings looking almost like angel's wings. She said "duck"!  Now I understood! She could see something that I couldn't see.  Shortly after this she was at a point that she wanted to go up and down stairs without help. I was hesitant to walk away from her because she was on a flight of steep, wide stairs, not near the railing. She was so insistent and she did need to learn so I took a breath, let go of her hand and took a few steps away from  her. She started to fall! I was terrified that she would be badly injured. She went down one step then stopped falling and looked up at the wall and said, "duck".  I understood God's provision of protection! 
     In Matthew 14:30-31 shortly after Jesus fed the multitude with the  five broken, blessed loaves of bread the disciples were fishing and a storm started.  Jesus went out on the water toward the boat and Peter left the boat to meet Jesus. The wind and waves frightened him, "... and he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him..."
     When we are hungry He provides the bread we need.  In John 6:48 Jesus said, "I am that bread of life." Autumn's ducks were a sign of His protection and His Presence. They filled a need that I as a parent couldn't provide. When we are falling or sinking He stretches out His hand to help us.  I'm so thankful for those glimmers of His Presence.