It was one of the hottest days of the dry
season. We had not seen rain in almost a month.
The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving
milk. The creeks and streams were long gone back
into the earth. It was a dry season that would
bankrupt several farmers before it was through.

Every day, my husband and his brothers would go
about the arduous process of trying to get water
to the fields. Lately his process had involved
taking a truck to the local water rendering plant
and filling it up with water. But severe rationing
had cut everyone off. If we didn't see some rain 
soon...we would lose everything. It was on this day 
that I learned the true lesson of sharing and 
witnessed the only miracle I have seen with my own
eyes. I was in the kitchen making lunch for my 
husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year old
son, Billy, walking toward the woods. He wasn't 
walking with the usual carefree abandon of a youth but
with a serious purpose. I could only see his
back. He was obviously walking with a great
effort...trying to be as still as possible.

Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, 
he came running out again toward the house. I
went back to making sandwiches; thinking that
whatever task he had been doing was completed.

Moments later, however, he was once again 
walking in that slow purposeful stride toward the
woods. This activity went on for an hour: walk
carefully to the woods, run back to the house. 
Finally I couldn't take it any longer and I
crept out of the house and followed him on his
journey (being very careful not to be seen...as
he was obviously doing important work and didn't
need his Mommy checking up on him).
He was cupping both hands in front of him as he
walked; being very careful not to spill the water
he held in them...maybe two or three tablespoons
were held in his tiny hands. I sneaked close as 
he went into the woods.

Branches and thorns slapped his little face but
he did not try to avoid them. He had a much
higher purpose. As I leaned in to spy on him, I
saw the most amazing site.

Several large deer loomed in front of him. Billy
walked right up to them. I almost screamed for
him to get away. A huge buck with elaborate
antlers was dangerously close. But the buck did
not threaten him...he didn't even move as Billy
knelt down. And I saw a tiny fawn laying on the
ground, obviously suffering from dehydration and
heat exhaustion, lift its head with great effort
to lap up the water cupped in my beautiful boy's
hand.

When the water was gone, Billy jumped up to run
back to the house and I hid behind a tree. I
followed him back to the house; to a spigot that
we had shut off the water to. Billy opened it all
the way up and a small trickle began to creep
out. He knelt there, letting the drip drip slowly
fill up his makeshift "cup", as the sun beat down
on his little back. And it came clear to me.

The trouble he had gotten into for playing with 
the hose the week before. The lecture he had
received about the importance of not wasting
water. The reason he didn't ask me to help him.

It took almost twenty minutes for the drops to
fill his hands. When he stood up and began the
trek back, I was there in front of him. His
little eyes just filled with tears. "I'm not wasting",
was all he said. As he began his walk, I joined
him...with a small pot of water from the kitchen.

I let him tend to the fawn. I stayed away. It
was his job.

I stood on the edge of the woods watching the
most beautiful heart I have ever known working so
hard to save another life. As the tears that
rolled down my face began to hit the ground, they
were suddenly joined by other drops...and more
drops...and more. I looked up at the sky. It was
as if God, himself, was weeping with pride.

Some will probably say that this was all just a
huge coincidence. That miracles don't really
exist. That it was bound to rain sometime. And I
can't argue with that...I'm not going to try. All

I can say is that the rain that came that day
saved our farm...just like that actions of one
little boy saved another.

This is not one of those crazy chain
letters...if you don't forward it to anyone,
nothing bad will happen to you. If you choose to
forward it, you won't receive any riches in the
mail. I don't know if anyone will read this...but
I had to send it out. To honor the memory of my
beautiful Billy, who was taken from me much too
soon.... But not before showing me the true face
of God, in a little sunburned body.

Author Unknown

The music you are listening to was Composed, Arranged and Played by Yuko Ohigashi and is copyrighted. Please visit her web site for more beautiful music. The song is called "A Song For You."